Dining in Paris - "From Paris With Love"

Roving 

Global Around Town

Senior Travel Correspondent

Doug Wingate

just got back from a 

calorie filled visit

to Paris.

Here's his report:

For my short 4 day stay, I decided to try several Michelin starred, upmarket places (all at lunch time; I took the evenings "off," choosing a simple baguette sandwich instead), including dining at 2 of the 3 current Parisian offerings of uberchef Joel Robuchon (currently the chef with the most Michelin stars worldwide to his name). The first JR spot I dined at, on my 3rd day in town, was my return to the original "L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon"in the 7th Arr. http://www.restaurants-joel-robuchon.com/modele.php?resto=2&ville=Paris&rub=pratique&image=1&langue=eng

L'Atelier de JR was everything I could have hoped for, and as good as I had remembered it. It was just one faaaaaaantastic mouth orgasm after another, esp. as I opted for the 9 course tasting menu. I also let the sommelier choose a complementary wine-by-the-glass for each of the many courses (including a customary coupe du champagne upon being seated, mais oui). None of this came cheaply of course. With the rotten Euro to Dollar exchange, I ended up dropping over USD$300! But ... it was worth every penny (or Euro, to be precise)!!

The first day I arrived, I dined at a more modestly priced place, but with a nonpareil pedigree as well. I dined at "L'Atelier Maitre Albert" in the Rive Gauche 5th Arr.. http://www.ateliermaitrealbert.com/  It's a beautifully modern interpretation of a rustic rotisserie restaurant, created by Chef Guy Savoy (whose eponymous Parisian flagship is a Michelin 3 star joint too of course). I had a special lunchtime set menu of 3 courses that was a relative bargain: I chose a fancy crabe millefeuille starter, followed by a superb free-range roast chicken with heavenly whipped potatoes, finished by an extraordinarily delicious and unique pamplemousse terrine dessert, which was the perfect light ending to an otherwise hearty meal. All of this, plus the wine, for "only" about USD$70. Again however, the price-to-quality ratio exceeded expectations. 

On my 2nd day in town, I tried New York uberchef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's first foray into the Paris market, with a "casual but trendy" spot in the fancy schmancy 8th Arr., called simply "Market." See http://www.jean-georges.com/ Mr. Vongerichten, who has 3 Michelin stars for his eponymous Manhattan flagship, Jean Georges, was the only one who disappointed me at all (too bad for him as he's a lousy ambassador for the USA to France!). His expensive chicken dish was not even as good as the chicken stuffed with foie gras that they served me in my upgraded Business class seat on my return American Airlines flight!!! Shame on Jean Georges! Don't bother (In fairness, the starting butternut soup was very good, but the main chicken dish was genuinely virtually inedible! I did NOT bother with a dessert there, but instead rolled around the corner to the Champs-Elysees, to stop at one of the many cafes).

I chose a cafe called Le Deauville ( http://www.myparistrips.com/pariscafes.html , near the George V metro stop) mostly because they advertised that they serve Paris's justly famed Berthillon ice creams! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berthillon  A couple of "boules of Berthillon glace" and a very good double espresso made for a superb dessert, and almost erased my bad memory of MARKET.

On my final full day, I tried Joel Robuchon's 16th Arr. entry, "La Table de Joel Robuchon," introduced after his success with L'Atelier. http://www.restaurants-joel-robuchon.com/modele.php?resto=1&ville=Paris&rub=pratique&image=1&langue=eng  Things didn't begin well there, as they called me in the morning to ask me to come at 1:45 PM instead of my original res. of 1:30. No biggie of course. But, when I got there at 1:45, they had no table yet, and sadly they have no bar area either. So, I had to wait in a small vestibule, next to the coat check for about 45 minutes more. However ... Chef Robuchon's staff knows how to "make good" for a problem like having an earlier party NOT vacate their table. After I'd been standing there about 10 minutes, they offered me a complimentary coupe du champagne (a 25 Euro tab at L'Atelier!!), then they brought out a chair for me to sit upon, and also offered me a platter of their best Iberian ham, one of their specialites de la maison (de rigeur in Barcelona, but all the rage in Paris right now too).  And finally when I was seated, they happily were perfection. They also had a special lunchtime-only "Menu 'Club'" that offered an hors d'oeuvre, main dish, cheese course, dessert, coffee and a demi bottle of wine, all for "only" Euro 59 (around USD$80)!!! As my meal was again just superb, and they had already "comped" me over 40 Euro worth of food and wine while I had waited, I was most content! VIVE LE CHEF ROBUCHON!!!

Many thanks 

to Doug 

for keeping us abreast 

of 

The Culinary World in Paris.

Old Friends, New Friends - Once Upon A Time In Rio

I've just finished watching this

fantastic

but heartbreaking film.

Like some of the characters in it,

I am trying to reassure myself that everything will be OK

by saying

"calme, calme"

to myself.

I guess it was naive of me to have hoped that

this modern day  Romeo and Juliet

set in Ipanema and one of the favela's

surrounding it,

(where the joys of life and the violence of death exist so closely)

could've ended up

"happily ever after".

I guess that was the romantic in me.

I am hurt,

and I am saddened

that this was

(yet again)

not the case.

Once Upon A Time In Rio

is a very powerful, moving drama

with great acting.

A film that I cannot recommend more highly.



There have been many fine films

coming out of Brazil in recent years.

City of God

and City of Men,

are also not be missed.

Old Friends, New Friends - The Adventures of Prince Achmed

Welcome back Dear Readers.

For this weeks edition of

Old Friends, New Friends

we go back to

a simpler time,

when the pyrotechnics

necessary to create stunning animation

consisted of many

beautiful, and intricate

stencils.

Ornate cut outs that reminded me

of Balinese Shadow Puppets.

All of this is combined with

a fantastic story

and

an exotic and colourful score

that brought

 to mind

the music of

Aram Khachaturian.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed watching

The Adventures of Prince Achmed.

I was swept off

to a faraway land.

You'll be too!

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (German: Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed) (Arabic: مغامرات الامير احمد‎) is a 1926 feature-length animated film by the German animator Lotte Reiniger. It is the oldest surviving animated feature film (two earlier ones were made in Argentina by Quirino Cristiani, but they are considered lost^[1]), and it featured a silhouette animation technique Reiniger had invented which involved manipulated cutouts made from cardboard and thin sheets of lead under a camera. The technique she used for the camera is similar to Wayang shadow puppets (though hers were animated frame by frame, not manipulated in live action). The original prints featured color tinting. The story is based on the elements taken from the collection 1001 Arabian Nights, specifically The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanoufeatured in Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book. With the assistance of Aladdin, the Witch of the Fiery Mountain, and a magic horse, the title character battles the evil African sorcerer to win the hand of Princess Pari Banou.

(Synopsis from Wikipedia)

Django Reinhardt's 100th Birthday

Happy 100th Anniversaire Django Reinhardt!

Dear Friends, Dear Readers,

Today would have been Jazz Great/Guitarist

 Django Reinhardt's 100th Birthday!

This amazing musician had a profound effect 


on the Music World.


Here's what Global Around Town 

Senior Music Correspondent Don Yaffe 

has to say about Django.

Born January 23rd 1910,  Django (meaning "I Awake" in Romany) grew up in a family of traveling performers: his mother an acrobatic dancer, father a noted bandleader among the Gypsy tribes. His first instrument was the violin, then the 6 string banjo common at the time as the rhythm of the "Bals Musette"  dancehall music of the 20's in France. Barely a teenager Django's reputation grew playing for coins on the streets to the point where he was offered work in the "Bals Musette" along side the greatest Accordion masters of the time. By the age of 18 he had abandoned the Banjo (in a cab, the story goes) for the guitar and made some of his earliest recordings. Then tragedy struck, a fire in his trailer one night severely burned Django's fretting hand and he lost the use of two fingers. 

He spent a year in the hospital recovering from his wounds,  and relearning the guitar to adapt to his handicap. His revolutionary technique with two fingers changed guitar music forever,  and the public could not believe the power and virtuosity of his playing,  his recording career made him the most influential european jazz musician to this day. In the last 10 or 15 years,  festivals in his honor have sprung up around the world, and "Hot Club" style groups now appear in major cities across America.

Check out his playing here. 

Django really swings!

Many thanks to my dear friend Don Yaffe

who happens to be one of the most brilliant

Guitarist/Musicians I know.

Don and his merry band

Sacrebleu!

can often be found gracing

the Denver and Boulder areas.

Check them out at:

http://www.sacrebleujazz.com/

Old Friends, New Friends - Departures

Tonight I watched this sad,

 beautiful,

and

very moving film.

It is a film about the difficult subject of

death and dying

and the manner in which one

is sent on to the next world.

As is so often the case with the Japanese,

the manner in which they wrap

things is stunning

 as is the ritual

that goes along with it.

And here

I enjoyed watching the

calm,

gentle,

and affectionate way

that Daigo

prepared

those that had passed away

for their

final journey.

This is a Five Star film

that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2009 Oscars.

The soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi, who wrote the music 
for the 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano films Kikujiro (1999), and Hana-bi (1997), is also noteworthy.

Here's the Netflix description:

"Freshly unemployed, young cellist Daigo (Masahiro Motoki) has an epiphany in which he realizes he's been heading down the wrong career path. Retreating to his hometown, he trains for a new professional role as a nakanshi, or one who prepares the dead for burial. Tsutomu Yamazaki provides comic relief as Daigo's eccentric mentor in director Yojiro Takita's Oscar-winning, richly detailed -- if unlikely -- drama about finding your bliss." 


Here's a clip from the film. 

Do yourself a favor

and go out and get yourself a copy,

you won't regret it.

Kenny Wheeler's Birthday Celebration

This just in from ECM. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNY! January 12 , 2010 Kenny Wheeler 80th birthday concert Kenny Wheeler, uniquely lyrical trumpeter and jazz composer, celebrates his 80th birthday with a concert at London’s Royal Academy of Music on January 14. Concert repertoire will include pieces from his ECM albums. A special performance of the ‘Sweet Time Suite’ from that 1990 recording will feature a number of the original participants, including Norma Winstone, John Taylor, Henry Lowther, Derek Watkins, Ray Warleigh, Stan Sulzmann, Evan Parker, Duncan Lamont, Julian Argüelles and Dave Holland. Wheeler, Canadian-born but a UK resident since 1952, gained his earliest reputation as an outstanding soloist with the John Dankworth orchestra. In the 1960s, alongside work in modern and mainstream contexts, he began to play free improvised music with John Stevens and the Spontaneous Music Ensemble -- as did Norma Winstone, Evan Parker, and Dave Holland. Kenny Wheeler’s distinguished ECM recordings include "Gnu High" (with Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette), "Deer Wan" (with Jan Garbarek, John Abercrombie, Ralph Towner, Holland and DeJohnette), "Around 6"  (with Evan Parker, Eje Thelin, Tom van der Geld, J.F. Jenny Clark, and Edward Vesala), "Double Double You" (with Michael Brecker, John Taylor, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnete), “Music for Large and Small Ensembles” (with Parker, Taylor, Holland, Abercrombie, Norma Winstone, Peter Erskine etc ), “The Widow In The Window” (with Abercrombie, Taylor, Holland, Erskine), “Angel Song” (with Holland, Lee Konitz and Bill Frisell) and “A Long Time Ago” (music for brass ensemble and soloists). Additionally he can be heard on ECM albums by the Azimuth trio (Taylor/Winstone/Wheeler), the Dave Holland Quintet, John Abercrombie, George Adams, Pierre Favre, Leo Smith, Ralph Towner, Bill Frisell, the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra and the Globe Unity Orchestra. All Kenny Wheeler recordings are on sale at www.ecmrecords.com

Old Friends, New Friends - Enrico Rava Jazz Italiano Live 2009

Welcome back Dear Readers.

So nice to see you again.

For this Old Friends, New Friends edition,

(a new-ish feature that is scheduled to appear every Tuesday)

a wonderful new work

from a

Dear Old Friend:

Enrico Rava.

Isn't it nice to have great friends?

My buddy Paolo

just returned from Rome

with a gift

for me.

Enrico Rava's

Jazz Italiano Live 2009

recording is a

rollicking,

freewheeling,

(dare I say?)

gamboling

romp

by one of Italy's

preeminent

Jazz Masters.

I'm not sure if this is available in The States yet.

Regardless,

wherever you are,

keep your eyes peeled for this

fine new disc featuring:

Enrico Rava - Trumpet

Mauro Ottolini - Trombone, tuba

Dan Kinzelman - Tenor Sax

Daniele Tittarelli - Alto Sax

Marcello Giannini - Guitar

Giovanni Guida - Piano

Stefano Senni - Bass

Zeno De Rossi - Drums

This brilliant recording

reminded me of the fine 1978 Enrico Rava Quartet recording on ECM.

For good reason.

Both recordings contain riotous, scorching versions of the tune

- Lavori Casalinghi.

It also happens to be a lot of fun.

Something no one I know has so much of that they can't use a little more.

Treat yourself.

Better yet,

find a wonderful, generous  friend

who might slip this into your Christmas stocking!

Old Friends, New Friends - Z and Iran Today

With "Iran On The Brink"

how sadly topical

watching the new Criterion Collection edition of

Z

was.

I first saw Costa-Gavras's powerful political thriller

when I was a kid.

I watched the recently released

Criterion Collection DVD last night.

How tragic

that the world hasn't learned

in the years since then.

If you haven't seen this great film

you really must see it.

If you have seen it,

you'll probably want to see this meaningful film again.

You won't want to miss the fine performances by

Yves Montand  &  Jean-Louis Trintignant.

SYNOPSIS

A pulse-pounding political thriller, Greek expatriate director Costa-Gavras’s Z was one of the cinematic sensations of the late sixties, and remains among the most vital dispatches from that hallowed era of filmmaking. This Academy Award winner—loosely based on the 1963 assassination of Greek left-wing activist Gregoris Lambrakis—stars Yves Montand as a prominent politician and doctor whose public murder amid a violent demonstration is covered up by military and government officials; Jean-Louis Trintignant is the tenacious magistrate who’s determined not to let them get away with it. Featuring kinetic, rhythmic editing, Raoul Coutard’s expressive vérité photography, and Mikis Theodorakis’s unforgettable, propulsive score, Z is a technically audacious and emotionally gripping masterpiece.

And here's a sadly similar view of Iran today:

In stark contrast to what you've just seen,
 experience this very special piece of music.

In describing composer Kaikhosru Sorabji's intoxicating
Gulistan (The Rose Garden),
Frank Holliday, the original dedicatee said:

"in a flowing panorama of dreamlike beauty,
we behold and are thoroughly immersed in all the exotic magic of Iran:
the Shah Mosque of Isfahan,
the poetry,
 the incredibly lovely works of porcelain, silver, and gold,
its exquisitely carved works of ivory and wood,
 and, of course,
the scented loveliness of the roses of Shiraz.
This work evokes in a masterly fashion delicious
and at times almost overpowering
whiffs of
Iran's "sweet rose-haunted walks,"".


 I hope this breathtaking vision of Iran
 survives
the tragedy of today.

Old Friends, New Friends

Welcome back Dear Readers.

Glad to see you again.

The weather here has been appropriately wintry

and on a snowy day I pulled out this old gem.

Bruce Cockburn's early work

High Winds White Sky 

is almost 40 years old

and I remember hearing this sensitive,

poetic work when it was first released.

I think you will really like this.

Do take a moment to seek this out and visit it.

You won't be disappointed.

High winds
White sky
Wild birds do glide
Tattered smoke fades
Embers in the pipe
Move like
Life beginning
High winds
Pyramids
Glittering ring
Blood of the king
Daughter of the stars
You are
Life beginning
The wind's travellers' tales tease the tops of the trees
the ships have all sailed to the mouth of the sea...
High winds
Wheel turns
The spider spins
Hands draw us in
River-scented skin
Moves in
Life beginning
Falsehood lies panting like a fish in the palm...

A Long Lost Menu

Dear Friends,

Dear Readers,

As many of you may already know,

I just endured

the pain and injustices

of moving.

If there could possibly be

any upside to all this upheaval,

it would be going through ones belongings

and stumbling upon

lost treasures.

If

you ever

have to move,

I hope you will make

some wonderful discoveries.

I found this menu

of a meal I created years ago.

Celebration Dinner

Saturday August 15, 1992

Peppered Seared Rare Tuna

with Papaya Salsa & Epazote

Pouilly Fume

Cuvee Speciale Vielle Vignes

1989

Regis Minet

Grilled Blackberry Quail

served on a Mesclun Nest

Grapefruit Thyme Granita

Chateau La Lagune

1986

Grilled Veal Rib Chop

with Chanterelles,

Haricot Vert Bundles,

& Fritters made with fresh White Corn,

Tomatoes, Roast Peppers,

Scallions & Boucheron

Mocha

Arabica Sanani

Bittersweet Chocolate Tart

served on a Raspberry Coulis

&

a Prune Plum Tart

with an Almond Cream

Sounds pretty tasty, no?

I sure wish I had someone here to prepare it for me!

Best,

David

Music For The 2009 Holiday Season

Welcome back Dear Readers.

I hope you are enjoying

the start of Winter.

Here we're experiencing

the first snow of the year

and it is really quite lovely.

It has gotten me thinking about what music best accompanies it.

Earlier I enjoyed a cup of Lapsang Souchong with Cherry Preserves

along with Ivan Moravec performing the Chopin Nocturnes.

Very nice.

Robert Shaw and his Festival Singers

performing Rachmaninoff's Vespers seemed

appropriate as well.

Oh yes, and I just picked up

a copy of

what is probably

the hippest recording of this Holiday Season -

Carla Bley's - Carla's Christmas Carols.

Don't miss it.

Following you'll find 10 listings from my Library

that I think are great for this time of year.

I hope you'll enjoy them .

1. First up I think you'll love hearing Claude Debussy

playing Claude Debussy. Revel in this special recording and

Snowflakes Are Dancing.

2. Here's Fleet Foxes great rock recording.

You will not want to miss their amazing vocals.

Check out

White Winter Hymnal.

3. Many of you out there know that I think the world of Norma Winstone.

Her ethereal vocals have colored my world.

On the recording Distances you won't want to miss

Snowflakes.

And you will no doubt be thrilled to know that

on December 17th Norma, Glauco, & Klaus

are going back into the studio to record their second ECM release.

Something to look forward to there!

4. Here we have the ever talented Fred Hersch

performing a tune that Norma has sung beautifully on many occasions.

You may have heard Kenny Wheeler perform it as well.

Another great tune for this kind of weather -

Wintersweet.

5. For a breezy wisp of a pop gem you can turn to

Pizzicato 5 and

Snowflakes.

6. From their compatriot Ryuichi Sakamoto

there's Winter

from his

Alexei And The Spring

recording.

7. Another fine soundtrack recording brings us Rachel Portman's

Snow Story

from the Paul Auster movie Smoke.

8. And here we find a super group made up of

Ralph Towner, Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber

& Jon Christensen

performing

Winter Solstice.

9. Jarrett's American Quartet was brilliant

as well and here's their warming version of

Blackberry Winter

for those cold nights.

10. Lastly, no list of wintry delights would be complete

without a tune my Uncle Alan

brought to my attention years ago.

A tune you will want to seek out

when that delicate white stuff starts

a blowin' round in that sky.

Claude Thornhill's

Snowfall

is a real gem from

an earlier time.

Treat yourself.