Until recently, all I knew about Clermont-Ferrand was that it was a place smack in the middle of France that one passed through on the way to other places and that it is the home of the Michelin tire company. … Read More
It takes a talented cook to get me excited about any kind of fish other than shellfish, and Breton chef Anthony Hamon at Cézembre knows how to do it. You won’t find any boring, overcooked fillets here.
It may seem unlikely, but Chantilly Castle, for many years the home of the Condé dynasty, has only now devoted an exhibition, “Le Grand Condé: Le Rival du Roi-Soleil?,” to perhaps its most illustrious inhabitant, Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Condé … Read More
François Ozon’s already prolific output of films is evidence of one of two things. Take your pick: 1. He is an outrageously talented director who revels in the variety of themes and styles that filmmaking affords him. 2. He is … Read More
Like all tragic figures, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) fell from on high. He had it all, except perhaps beauty, but he made up for that with his brilliance, charm and wit, which were rewarded with fame and fortune. It all came … Read More
I’ve been waiting a long time for Sicilian chef Fabrizio Ferrara, who made his name in Paris with the minuscule Caffè dei Cioppi, to open the new restaurant he promised when he launched the deli and lunch spot La Dispensa in the 10th arrondissement last year. Ça y est. I ate at the new Osteria Ferrara the other night and was overjoyed on all counts.
The plot of Juste la Fin du Monde (It’s Only the End of the World), the latest film by French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan, feels more appropriate to the last two decades of the 20th century than to 2016. Not surprising, … Read More
Director Justine Triet admits that for her third film, Victoria, she set out to make an American-style comedy. Being French, however, she chose as her chuckle-generator the subject of depression, not everyone’s idea of a barrel of laughs. But what … Read More
At first glance, the newly rebranded Loiseau Rive Gauche (formerly Tante Marguerite) seems irredeemably stodgy and old-fashioned, decorated with orange-accented gray banquettes and colonial-style wood paneling, with insipid, unnecessary music playing at low volume in the background.
There is something especially moving about seeing clothing once worn by an admired historical figure that goes beyond the impression given by a visit to the person’s former home or grave, I suppose because clothing is so personal and often bears … Read More
