Paris 1930, Landis Hotel

Been wining and dining without stopping since mid October when Joel Robuchon was visiting Taipei. It was of course very  nice but a little bit too much since my metabolism's getting slower and I'm not rich. Thank God because since the holiday season is coming, hotels and restaurants are all focusing on X'mas and new year  celebrations, so they're going to stop bringing famous chefs or hosting wine tasting diners for a while. I can therefore let my palate rest a bit and also save some money for traveling, start  swimming, doing yoga, hiking, going to hot springs, etc.....(Still going to be hard since my sister's cooking gourmet meals every night, serving them with nice wines from our cellar, and very fine Taiwanese teas.)
Jean-Michel Lorain is one of the most honorable chefs in Burgundy, France. I went to some similar type of restaurants before he came(like Forchetta, a3, Marco polo and of course Robuchon)because I wanted to compare them so I could give a fair opinion.

Romantic flower arrangement on the table

a3 Italian restaurant, Bella Vita. Dinner with Dan

Dan had to pick up his surf board somewhere in this area. He hasn't tried this restaurant yet, so I took him here. Food has improved a bit since last time. Service is usually pretty good here.

Bread was better than before.

2 kinds of butter: "butter" butter, and "beef, Nori(Japanese style sea weed), sesame" butter

So Miso Japanese restaurant

Apple's turn to choose a restaurant. It's a nice little place. The ambiance during lunch time was nice and quiet, quite suitable for us to have a little chat. Food quality was good, the service was nice enough, (you could tell that they were trying hard to make their clients comfortable), but with some little defaults. Overall, the lunch set menu was NT580, way worth the price.

An elegant cellar, could still smell the wood. Although the collections needed to be expanded. Was in a mood to order a smooth, light red to pair with my beef main course, but there wasn't a satisfactory choice. Ordered a Sake instead.

First course:  Sashimi and salad, orange yogurt dressing

Sashimi part: seabass and tuna. Tuna was slightly cooked outside, covered with some sesame seeds. Inside part was raw.

Robuchon's new chef and sommelier #1

Came alone to try the new chef Angelo's cuisine. Usually I can be more concentrated on my target: food and wine when I am by myself. Met  Angelo and Benoit (the new sommelier) in October when Joel Robuchon came. Angelo is very  hospitable, and Benoit? He's very "Unique".

Sitting at the bar. It was a perfect place to spot the operation in the kitchen and talk to their very concerned, precise and helpful staff. Angelo came over several times to chat a bit about the food, too.

Dan and I both love the bar seats. It's very elegant but not too formal, and very welcoming and has a warm atmosphere.

Amuse Bouche

Pumpkin soup with snow pea and bits of ham. Good but a little bit watery.

Gillardeau Oyster

Great appetizer if you are not too hungry. Very fresh and good ones only need a little bit of lemon juice on top of it. One of my French friends sometimes only ordered half dozens of several kinds of oysters for dinner. One time I was invited to his place in Aurillac for X'mas, we had oyster and champagne for dinner, which was pretty nice followed by his home made turkey. But the next morning when I saw the oysters and champagne on the table, it was really too much. Personally, I prefer to just order one for a starter.

Robuchon's new chef and sommelier #2

Love Angelo's pasta, so I came back with Dan.

Pouilly-sur-Loire

Loire white made from Chasselas grape, never tasted it before.

Not very impressive drinking alone but went well with the dish below.

Saumon tartare with caviar, capers

Someone ordered it the other night, it looked luxurious. So I got it, too. There was some mist around it while serving(from the dry ice), tasted a bit salty but very good with baquette and the Loire white.

Lunch at Shanghai Pavillion 39F Far Eastern Hotel

A bit tired of all the recent gourmet French and Italian cuisine, I decided to visit the Shanghai Pavilion again. Although the service and food quality sometimes weren't as expected,  I really like the view and settings and atmosphere here.

stylish settings

Starters: cold chicken slices(flavored with rice alcohol); beef; cabbage heart; rose duck

Diner at Forchetta

Heard about this restaurant a while ago about the special chef who gave up his original career to open this place because of  his passion of traveling and savoring all kinds of good food around the world.
Our friend Chris (also in the hotel business) prearranged a menu with the chef, which contains Spanish style tapas, Italian Ghocchi, and some part of fish that Japanese really love to use in their cuisine(only male fish have it). Ingredients and styles vary but blend in together nicely. Also a good value for the quality: NT2500 per person.

Starters: Spanish tapas

Sardine fish puff, scallop, Chorizo served with mixed salad and sherry vainegrette

Paul's brunch

Provencal vegetable soup

simple but hearty

Mumm champagne

A good bottle of champagne  to start with has become our Tuesday "Lady's Meeting" tradition.

Unfortunately,  we still have to bring our own "flute"( Lady VCP invented this kind of wine glass to better appreciate champagne) with our champagne to some restaurants in Taipei.

Michelin wine dinner with Alba truffles and Barolo wines

Head chef Antonio Tardi invites one-star chef Andrea Gabin to create a wine gala together.  Topped with the aroma of Alba truffles and Barolo wines.

menu:

*truffle crusted scallops served with veal sweetbreads and "scorzanera"
Ingredients went well together. Can't taste the veal though. Probably because it was a bit over prepared: cooked so many different ways before served so you can't taste the original flavor any more. Though scallops and truffles went OK together.

pairing wine: casa langhe favorita doc., gagliardo 2006
grape type: Favorita
Nice golden amber color. A bit too oaky drinking alone. With food brings out some rose and sandalwood aroma, quite interesting.

Diner at Joel Robuchon

lamb with white beans

amadai(the former Japanese chef cooks fish dishes very well. The new Italian chef did it a bit more salty but I like it as well.)

calamar farci(stuffed some vegetables inside, very Mediterranean)

lunch with Joel Robuchon

excellent house champagne

Antoine (Robuchon's top sommelier) chose a bottle of northern cote de Rhone red for us. Very elegant aroma, the finish is a little bitter but went beautifully with our dishes.

assorted breads right out of their bakery oven

three kinds of cheeses with their special breads (I still prefer to have them with bagette)

Today, we met Robuchon kingdom's Joel, phillipe and Antoine. They are unpretentious, knowledgeable
and very nice.

Bella Vita A3 restaurant

Billecart-Salmon champagne

Gillardeau oyster

 prawn rissto

 fig smoked cheese salad

quail asparagus

                                             
  Oyster,prawn rissto are really good. Go really  well with blanc de blanc champagne. Fig salad is probably better with a Viognier. Quail goes well with a Tuscan red.

This is my First post!!

This is a picture of Danny and Taili with Maurice