Richard Hesse
A la Chataigne
Regional Byways Seasonal berries with a melon-ribbon bow. I take real pleasure in seeing a new restaurant open and take off seemingly effortlessly. A la Chataigne opened earlier this year, but when I was there very recently, it felt as … Read More
Hotaru
Simon Says: Don’t Miss It The decor is minimal, the food memorable. Japanese food remains largely terra incognita for me, and I have more than a sneaking suspicion that like other “ethnic” cuisines, Japanese food is dumbed down here for … Read More
Coutanceau
In Love with La Rochelle Seaside dining is costly at Coutanceau. Over the summer vacation, I fell in love with La Rochelle. Like an aging professor who falls for a student, I am besotted. It’s a delightful town, with its … Read More
L’Absinthe
Al Fresco Central The pleasant, restaurant-lined, car-free Place du Marché Saint Honoré. In this clement weather, the quest goes on for restaurants offering car-free al fresco dining. With terraces now being the only place where patrons can smoke, however, this … Read More
Agapé
Feast on Friday Even the tableware is well-sourced at Agapé. Agapé. Now there’s a name to conjure with. It refers to the meal, or “love feast,” early Christians ate together after their gatherings. Not far from sherry with the vicar … Read More
La Cagouille
Marine Oasis in a Concrete Desert One of Paris’s most appealing terraces. A cagouille is a small snail found in the Charentes region on the Atlantic coast of France, yet the restaurant La Cagouille specializes in fish. Go figure. They … Read More
Itinéraires
Going My Way? When have sardine rillettes ever looked so lovely? A new restaurant has opened in my old stomping grounds, the quartier Maubert in Paris’s fifth arrondissement, and is already attracting quite a bit of notice. My own interest … Read More
L’Escargot de Montorgueil
Slow Food The sign of the snail has been there since 1832. Steeped, as they say, in history, is L’Escargot de Montorgueil, with its signature giant golden snail on the facade. It opened in 1832, just a stone’s throw from … Read More
Zum Strissel in Strasbourg
No-Stress Strissel Strasbourg’s picturesque Old Town is located on an island. From time to time, a friend who is an art market insider and I avail ourselves of France’s wonderful and hugely subsidized high-speed trains to go and see an … Read More
Les Papilles
Pushing the Bottle About The wine’s the thing at Les Papilles. Another one of those places that had been sitting on my list for an age, Les Papilles (it means “taste buds” but has overtones of lip-smacking pleasure, which the … Read More