i think it's a good idea to post cannes photos before i post austin photos, right?

escargot @ le petit lardon (3 Rue du Batéguier)

assorted provençale appetizers @ la cave (9 Boulevard de la République)

tasteless steamed cod and overcooked veggies saved by the crock of aioli that
accompanied @ la cave (9 Boulevard de la République)

poire et chocolat tarte @ la tarterie (33 Rue Bivouac Napoleon)

seafood risotto @ pierrot 1 er (51, rue Felix Faure)

scallops and vegetable fondue jammy @ pierrot 1 er (51, rue Felix Faure)

three man bouillabaisse preparation for sadly, not us @ pierrot 1 er (51, rue Felix Faure)

raspberry macaron

delicious frenchie snacks!

lobster veloute amuse @ le mesclun (16 Rue Saint-Antoine)

roasted sea scallops with potato gnocchi and truffle whipped cream
@ le mesclun (16 Rue Saint-Antoine).

dourade, baked onions, parsley and Chioggia beets
@ le mesclun (16 Rue Saint-Antoine).

orange souffle pancakes, candied peel and caramelized citrus butter sauce
@ le mesclun (16 Rue Saint-Antoine)

petit fours @ le mesclun (16 Rue Saint-Antoine)

take home panettone type bread @ le mesclun (16 Rue Saint-Antoine)

18 Hours in Madrid

What do you do when you have 18 hours in Madrid? You drink a lot and you eat a lot.

Our first stop was Madrid Madriz. After a long day of flying, nothing like a heuvos fritos con bistec amid a sea of cigarette smoke to stave off the jetlag.

Molly agrees.

Lolo went with the morcilla.

And then it was off to the Mercado de San Miguel, a renovated, covered market with a couple dozen stalls each with their own speciality: pinchos, oysters, beans and grains, cheese and more. This was the jamon stand. We were too stuffed to try anything after that huge meal, but we got in a drink at the vermouth stand.

Expert carving at work.

Afterwards, we hit the restaurant at the top of an El Corte Inglés department store, where Lolo promised the best view of Madrid. I drank many of these - cañas - basically a small draft beer, kind of like a half pint you'd find in England. This is the only way I want to drink beer from now on.

He wasn't joking! It was overcast, but the view was still great.

And then it was off to meet some more people at another location which I can't remember, where more cañas and pinchos (patata bravas and tortilla de patatas). What I do remember is that despite the tiny size of this place, they had their own jamon and jamonera! I'm sure this is standard.

Our final stop was at Txangurro with Molly's friends Carla and Ernesto - more cañas, more tapas, more cigarette smoke. Pretty awesome despite the latter. We had bonito, and pulpo and more tortilla de patata and to end night, a round of gin and tonics. Want to know how gin and tonics are served in Madrid? You get brought a glass of ice and a bottle of tonic. The server then proceeds to pour and keeps going until you say when. You can make them pour all the way to the top of the glass and that would be fine. These people are crazy!

Amsterdam Part II (mostly about pancakes)

Caulils is a fantastic "delicatessen" that was down the street from our apartment (Haarlemerstraat 115). For an early lunch/late breakfast, while someone was still snoozing, I picked up an assortment of meats and cheeses from Caulils as well as an unremarkable baguette from the Albert Hein. I also bought a couple bottles of the house label AH beer that might have cost 20 Euro cents but we didn't get a chance to drink them. We alternated between yummy bites of Jamon Serrano Reserva, a fennel salami called Finnochiona, chorizo Pamplona and a wonderful organic Gouda called Wilde Weide. The next morning, the leftovers were turned into a sandwich that was a great alternative to dreadful, overpriced airport food.


After a fruitless search the night before, we finally found Japanese Pancake World (2e Egelantiersdwarsstraat 24a). The restaurant was a lot smaller than I had imagined. It was a bi-level space with a few tables downstairs and a couple stools upstairs at the grill.


Okonomiyakis in progress.


Dan ordered the o7 Shogayaki special with beef, spinach and onion, Osaka-style. The bonito shavings sprinkled on top are charmingly referred to as "dancing fish flakes."


I ordered a Hiroshima-style Butama, which came with pork, cheese and mushrooms, in addition to the noodles which are standard in this type of okonomiyaki, and one of the main differences from the Osaka-style.

After pancakes part 1, we weathered the line for the nearby Anne Frank Haus. We had been gauging the line our entire stay in Amsterdam and it never appeared to get shorter (except for once at 7:30PM when we walked past and there was no line). It was very cold outside. When we were finished with the tour, we were greeted with snow. We started walking back to the apartment but as we passed The Pancake Bakery (Prinsengracht 191), Dan decided we needed to end our trip with more pancakes.


This was the traditional style with cheese and green apples. Rod Stewart was playing on the hi-fi and if you watch the movie above, you'll notice Dan rocking out to our favorite bocce namesake.


I opted for the poffertjes - mini pillowy pancakes with lemon and syrup, blanketed with powdered sugar. These were soooo good. They were so chewy and delicious and not heavy at all like pancakes can sometimes be.

Amsterdam Part I

On our first night in Amsterdam, we ate at the very cozy Eetcafe Rosereijn (Haarlemmerdijk 52) just down the street from the apartment we rented. We shared the beef stew special and a mozzarella, tomato and pesto salad.


We also drank many little glasses of Jupiler.


The most delicious frites with deliciously unctuous frits saus (aka delicious Dutch mayo) from Cafe Stevens Nieuwmarkt B.V. (Koningsstraat 3hs). I had a couple Palms and Dan also had a mint tea that was made by pouring hot water over a bunch of mint leaves. It was nice and refreshing. Did I mention it was snowing? What started off as a whipping rain, turned into a really beautiful snow of large flakes.


Tampopo (Haarlemmerdijk 168) is a stylish Asian specialty food shop, also located down our street. It looked great, but smelled kinda funky. I didn't appreciate the can of kimchi being lumped in the Japanese section but other than that, it's hard to not love a store named for a movie about the pursuit of a perfect bowl of ramen.


Ok, so we had some special baked treats at went to the Van Gogh museum. Afterwards I tried to lead us to Japanese Pancake World, but as my cognitive functions were still failing me, we wound up getting lost in the tiny streets of the Jordaan neighborhood. Eventually, we got back to the area we were staying in and we were starving. De Vries (Haarlemmerijk 1o8A was right across the street and we stumbled in. We ordered steak sandwiches and I, not realizing our sandwiches came with salads, also ordered a salad. Then Dan thought he saw nachos on the table across the way, so we asked for that. Moments later Dan realized the the nachos were not nachos, but in fact a floral centerpiece. But it turns out that De Vries does serve nachos and they were awful. They were made with paprika flavored Doritos. The food took forever to come out and because the meat was thrown on the grill in a lump half of it was cooked and the other half was raw.

Paris

Chocolate and salted caramel macarons from Pierre Herme (72, rue Bonaparte).


The plat du jour at bistrot Le Troisieme Chinon (56, rue des Archives) on March 18 was a steak bernaise.


Close-up of the crisp and delicious potatoes.


Korean in Paris! Japchae and plump mandoo, washed down with Hite at L'Arbre de sel (138, rue de Vaugirard)




Bulgogi for Dan and dolsot bibimbop for me. I had to request the kochujang! Dan's bulgogi could've used more garlic and sesame oil, but I guess you have to adapt a bit for a culture not accustomed to such spice and pungency.


Kimchi pancakes sound so exotic when written in French.


A beautiful and delicious roasted veggie salad from Il Croccantino (139, rue de Vaugirard), a tiny traiteur we sought refuge at on our rainy, last evening in Paris.


Pizza with parma ham made in the oven at the back of the store and served piping hot. We had the salad, pizza, a large piece of lasagna (nothing notable), three drinks and a couple cookies for 32 Euro, not bad at all even with the crummy exchange rate.


Birra makes DMR a happy man. So does making iMovies about Paris.

miscellaneous photos from france relating to food

Room service breakfast. That there's a glass of jus de pamplemousse. The Europeans really do their juice right. I also liked the way my fruit was cut in a uniform dice.


I would like to spotlight the yogurt from my breakfast, which in addition to being delicious as it was not overly sweet, came in an adorable glass container.


Jambon and gruyere on a baguette from a boulangerie in the old town. A perfect sandwich.


I went to the Monoprix to buy some snacks to go along with my ham and cheese sandwich. I love going to markets in other countries to see what is offered on their shelves. Here we have some hermetically sealed headcheese and a ready-to-go choucroute platter. These did not make the cut. I got some chips and cookies instead.



Picked up some macarons from L'atelier Jean Luc Pele. The guy behind the counter was not very friendly and I was too scared to take photos inside the store. He also shortchanged me 10 Euros. I was 10 steps outside the door when I realized so I was able to get my money back. He handed me my money a little too quickly, which made me wonder if he did it on purpose. Anyway, the jerkiness is worth enduring as these things are delicious and addictive with the most wonderful chewy-crisp texture. They are also expensive as hell and do not travel well. The ones I had purchased totally shrunk overnight or on the plane or a combination of both and the colors lost their vibrancy. Still they made for a nice gift for my parents and nieces.


My last meal in Cannes was via room service as I was too tired to go out. Got a cheese plate and a nicoise salad, which were washed down with a beer I got a stand in the festival hall earlier in the day. The butter they gave me is apparently fancy-schmancy. It's an A.O.C. product and served at places like Le Bernardin. Ooh la la.