Looking for her roots in Normandy, an American writer fell in love with pungent cheese and discovered the importance of terroir in French culture and gastronomy. The sky of Normandy is so blue that painters whose work hangs in the Musée d’Orsay had to find new pigment to paint it — so a guide told me. The sun that shines...
Famed for his potato purée with lightly salted butter, the Frenchman was far more than a cook. For many years he embodied French cuisine de terroir from Paris to Las Vegas. “To describe Joël Robuchon as a cook is a bit like calling Pablo Picasso a painter, Luciano Pavarotti a singer, Frederic Chopin a pianist, “wrote American Patricia Wells. The...
Known as the first wine bar in New York City, the French bistro Le Bateau Ivre will be participating in French Restaurant Week through July 15. The owners of Le Bateau Ivre are from India. The chef is from Venezuela and the kitchen staff is from Ecuador, Mexico, and Guatemala. Yet the French atmosphere can be seen from miles away....
As a third of all bottles of rosé sold in the United States are produced on American soil, some domestic rosés now offer the same quality as imported, French wines. Keith Mabry, Rhone and Loire Valley Buyer for the K&L wine stores in California, presents his selection of must-try French and American rosés. * Casa Smith, ViNO Rosé, Washington ($11.99)...
Atelier Crenn made a name for itself with a multi-course tasting menu experience at 325 dollars and dishes garnished with gold leaf. But French restaurant owner and chef Dominique Crenn is now putting her talents into simpler things. Her new restaurant, Bar Crenn, set to open in San Francisco on February 20, promises to serve the standards of the French...
While Americans watch expectantly for the groundhog to emerge on February 2, the French will be flipping crêpes with their families. Known as Chandeleur in French and "Candlemas" in English, this event mixes pagan, Celtic, and catholic influences, and is named after the candles used for a pagan ritual celebrating the arrival of the harvest. In 472, Pope Gelasius I...
French-American restauranteur Nick Ronan is known as "the Kissing Chef" in San Francisco, where he greets customers with a peck on the cheek as they step into his aptly-named bistro, Bisou. The eatery will be taking part in San Francisco Restaurant Week from January 22 to 31, 2018. Nick Ronan found himself in the restaurant world in the same way...
As the French baguette enters the race to be given Unesco World Heritage status, American historian and French bread expert Steven Kaplan teaches us how to recognize and enjoy a good baguette de tradition. Six criteria matter: appearance, crust, crumb, mouth-feel, aroma, and taste. Viewed as a "fancy" food reserved for the bourgeoisie in the early 20th century, the baguette grew in popularity before...[Subscriber]
Since January 2017, France-Amérique explores each month the history and the traditions behind a famous French pastry or candy. On the first Sunday of January, France celebrates the Epiphany by sharing a Galette des Rois — a King's Cake. There are countless stories, legends, mysteries and unexpected anecdotes surrounding this emblematic French cake, an irresistible, sweet delight open to a whole host of interpretations!...[Subscriber]
Le Cirque will be closing at the end of the year. This restaurant has been a shrine to French gastronomy in New York since 1974, and helped kickstart the careers of two generations of French chefs living in the United States. Eight of them shared their memories and experiences of Le Cirque with France-Amérique. Alain Sailhac, dean emeritus of the...
Due to close on December 31, Le Cirque was once considered New York’s best French restaurant. The famed institution was held up as an ideal for fine-dining in the U.S. and acted as a starting point for many French chefs that still influence the culinary scene today. At Le Cirque, the show was in the dining room as much as...
Yule logs are a French culinary tradition par excellence, and abound in American pastry shops and supermarkets during the holiday season. The yule log was originally part of Celtic culture. During the Winter Solstice — the shortest day of the year — the Celts would keep a wooden log burning throughout the night to celebrate the rebirth of the sun....
French pastry chef Eric Kayser has sold yule logs since he opened his first store in the United States in 2012. For the holidays, he shared with us a recipe for a traditional French Christmas dessert, the coffee yule log. Preparation time: 45 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes Yield: 6 to 8 servings Ingredients For the coffee syrup: 1⁄2 cup...
Tired of the traditional turkey? This year, why not celebrate Thanksgiving the French way — with a duck confit! Take inspiration from the world's most decorated chef, French culinary superstar Joël Robuchon, whose duck confit recipe is featured on the menu at his latest restaurant, L'Atelier. [For 2 persons] Ingredients For duck: 2 duck legs 2 Ib (1 kg) duck...
France-Amérique has selected some of the best American grocery stores in the French capital, so you can prepare your special dinner as if you were back home. Happy Thanksgiving! Rachel’s Grocery Rachel Moeller made a name for herself as a purveyor of cheesecakes for the most fashionable establishments in Paris. Buoyed by her rapid success, she opened her own grocery...[Subscriber]
American immigrants are full of ingenious ideas when it comes to perpetuating the tradition of Thanksgiving abroad. A large number of Parisians have been won over, and now also celebrate this U.S. holiday with family and friends, at home and at church. The fourth Thursday in November is one of the rare dates every U.S. citizen marks on the calendar....
Five years after the closing of his famed restaurant, Joël Robuchon, the world’s most decorated chef, is returning to New York. L’Atelier, a high-end dining establishment influenced by Japanese sushi counters, is set to open in Lower Manhattan on November 1. Mr. Robuchon has been planning his return ever since the original L’Atelier, which was located at the Four Seasons...
Alice Waters has always wanted to live like the French. Inspired by a year in Paris, the American chef brought seasonal French cuisine to Berkeley, California, where she opened the country’s first farm-to-table restaurant in 1971. Almost fifty years later, Chez Panisse remains at the forefront of “the delicious revolution” and the sprightly 73-year old is touring the United States...
The rise and fall of this uncommon, classically French spectacle made out of something as simple as an egg is the specialty of the Rise restaurants in Dallas and Houston. The latter, which makes some 300 soufflés a night, will be participating in Houston Restaurant Week through September 4. Often described as “magic,” soufflés come out of the oven airy...
Years after his humble beginning in the United States, Mexican chef Carlos Gaytan still calls on his classical French training to help him reimagine Mexican gastronomy. His restaurant will be participating in Chicago’s French Restaurant Week through July 23. From a dishwasher to the first Mexican chef to be awarded a Michelin star, Carlos Gaytan’s journey to success does not mean...
While its candlelit tables and jazzy French music may seem similar to the many other French bistros in New York, La Ripaille is unique in its longstanding history of 37 years. The interior, largely unaltered since its opening in 1980, stands proudly as a grandfather example for the many new French bistros that have opened recently during the re-emergence of...
