Behold The Holy Grail!

The Centurion Club in GRU (Sao Paulo airport):

My Trip To Sao Paulo

Here I am posting on my blog from Brazil! This has been a very tiring trip!

Our first flight of the day was a domestic one to Paris-CDG where we were supposed to have a little more than an hour to enjoy the AF Business Class lounge before boarding our second flight to Sao Paulo (GRU).

It unfortunately didn't work out that way as our first flight was delayed and took off 1 hr 1/2 later than scheduled. This meant that, eventhough we were met by a car at the exit of our first flight, we still had to rush through terminals in order to make it on time!

We hopefully made it and eventhough our journey did not start off where it should have (AF Business Class Lounge), we did enjoy our flight.

Let me emphasize the fact that I have always been amazed by the quality of the food in business class aboard AF! My "foie gras" was very good. I then had some lamb which was almost perfectly prepared and followed by a nice selection of cheese! I also had good wines and champagne, as well as a pear "eau-de-vie" with my coffee!

A very nice meal which, in my experience, exceeds by far what I have eaten in Business Class aboard other carriers.

Our second meal was only ok though so not worth writing about!

After more than 11 hours in the air, we finally landed in GRU, only to find out that one of our bags hadn't arrived! This is the third time for me this year and a bit too much in my opinion, particularly considering it was on business class flights and that I am a Flying Blue Platinum member... The one bag that arrived hadn't been tagged with a priority label meant for business class passengers. This happens very often with Air France and is very annoying to say the least. How can they advertise benefits that they don't actually enforce?

2007 Highlights

In the grand scheme of life, we all try to deal with our most archaic anxieties one way or another. The majority of us humans go from one small and insignificant pleasure to another. In that spirit, let me list here my 2007 highlights:

- Watching "Lost in Translation" in February
- Trip to Tokyo in March where we stayed at both the Mandarin Oriental Hotel & The Park Hyatt
- Eating at the Tapas Molecular Bar (Mandarin Oriental Hotel) in Tokyo
- Eating Ramen in Tokyo
- Attending a pool party at the Mondrian Hotel in L.A. in May
- Family vacation in Miami in August
- Eating at The Restaurant at the Setai in Miami
- Eating at Nobu in Miami
- Laying my hands on an iPhone for the first time in August
- Buying an iPhone
- Celebrating my birthday with my friends in November
- Eating at "L'Arnsbourg" in Baerenthal
- Trying to improve my knowledge in Champagnes by tasting La Grande Dame 1996, Dom Perignon 1998 & 1999, Cristal Roederer, Krug Grande Cuvee, Bollinger R.D. 1988, Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle, Dom Ruinart 1993
- Eating at JY's in Colmar
- Eating at "Casserole" in Strasbourg
- Finding and buying oversized Martini Glasses
- Entering the Web 2.0 world

Tapas Molecular Bar At The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Tokyo

My recent post about "L'Arnsbourg" brought back memories from my dining experience in Tokyo last March at the Tapas Molecular Bar which is located at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Tokyo.
It was a wonderful molecular dining experience with an impressive selection of small dishes. The Foie Gras cappuccino was wonderful. We also had carrot caviar and spaghettis made of Parmesan cheese.

We had the opportunity to taste the "miracle fruit" for dessert and it was a very intriguing experience!

A must-eat if you're in Tokyo!

L'Arnsbourg - Baerenthal (France)

My wife and I went to "L'Arnsbourg" yesterday evening to have dinner with our friends Bob & Franny.
We had a wonderful time and probably one of the best food experiences in our lives.

I will never forget the mustard ice-cream wrapped in crispy red cabbage as well as the potatoes & truffles cappuccino. The "solette" was absolutely delightful and so was the duck Foie Gras.
We had about 20 different dishes from their tasting menu and would recommend this place to anyone looking for creative food!

L'Arnsbourg does deserve its 3 Michelin stars!

http://www.arnsbourg.com/

La Grande Dame vs. Dom Perignon

We popped open a bottle of 1996 "La Grande Dame" yesterday evening and must say we still strongly feel we like it better than Dom Perignon.

Feel free to comment on that!