I could never tell if my friend the French actor Eric Elmosnino was amused, annoyed or merely bored when he was ribbed about being born to play Serge Gainsbourg. Although Eric’s scruffy appearance bears a strong likeness to the late singer-songwriter in his early years, it was the prominent bump in his nose that invariably [...]

Table preference is often determined by features unique to a particular brasserie. At Bofinger, for example, first-time diners and habitués alike feel privileged to land any table under the brasserie’s resplendent stained-glass cupola. Sadly, reserving a table beneath the Belle Époque verrière is not always possible. You do the math: With only 74 or Bofinger’s 270 [...]

Published in The Los Angeles Times – May 13, 2009
At a glance, the cross-cultural dessert pairing of chocolate and matcha, the prized Japanese green tea powder, may not seem the sort of combination to elicit uncontrollable cravings. Among the many terms used to evoke matcha’s elusively complex character — grassy, spinachy, watercress-like, seaweedy, earthy, floral, [...]

Parisian bistro chefs invariably prefer the sizzling sear of a frypan to that of a charcoal or wood-fired grill for their steaks. They’re after the reddish sheen mastered by chef Thierry Laurent at the marvelous Le Bistrot Paul Bert. To ensure your steaks have that same caramelised lustre without a burned or blackened taste, be sure [...]