The Bazaar At SLS Hotel Review (South Beach, Miami)

The recently opened SLS Hotel in South Beach offers two great dining options: Katsuya and The Bazaar by José Andrés. As I had already dined at Katsuya's in L.A., I opted for the Bazaar.

First off, I have to say I really like the overall design of the hotel. You can see Philippe Starck's touch everywhere and although it is not as original as it once was, it still is very pleasing to the eye.

The Bazaar is supposed to be less adventurous in the molecular gastronomy field than the chef's signature restaurant Minibar in Washington, DC. It, however, doesn't cease to surprise.

One great example is the cocktails menu. I ordered a "clean and dirty Martini" as a pre-dinner drink and was not disappointed. The salt air (the foam on top) combined with the liquid olive at the bottom made for a very original taste for this classic cocktail:

WD~50 Molecular Restaurant Review (New York)

There aren't that many places in the world where one can have the opportunity to eat molecular food. As New York City is one of them, I took advantage of a recent trip there to have dinner at renowned chef Wylie Dufresne's WD~50 restaurant.

First off, let me say that I was surprised by the relatively casual setting of the restaurant which is not necessarily a negative point. If you're sitting at a table, you only have two options: the "Tasting Menu" and "From The Vault". Both are preset menus, the former representing the latest take on molecular gastronomy of the chef and the latter focusing on his all-time classics. We decided to order the tasting menu with wine pairing as it had more items and we wanted to try as many different dishes as possible.

Dinner started with a molecular Grey Goose Dirty Martini with a 2D paprika oil disk just to be in the mood for the molecular dishes to come! This 2D disk is a nice and original attempt at replacing olives with something less common. Then came the "Nigiri, Salsify, Seawed, Sesame" which I found to be tasty and interesting in structure:

Au Crocodile Restaurant - Strasbourg (France) - 2010 Review

Back in January 2008, I posted my first review of one of the best restaurants (if not the best) in Strasbourg, France. As I had the chance to eat at "Au Crocodile" once again last night, let me take this opportunity to give my readers an updated review of this fine dining restaurant.

First of all, it is to be noted that this venue does not belong to Emile Jung anymore as this renowned chef sold it to Philippe Bohrer upon retirement. Phillippe Bohrer is also a distinguished chef, known for his restaurant "A La Ville De Lyon" in the famous city of Rouffach, Alsace, home of a no-less famous Psychiatric Hospital.

As far as the setting goes, we were happily surprised by the remodeling of the place which used to look a bit out-dated. It now boasts a very cozy setting which melts classic and contemporary traits with elegance.

The food was no disappointment either as everything we had was delightful and subtle to the palate and beautiful for the eyes to behold. We chose their "Menu D'Agrément" and replaced the sweetbreads (we're unfortunately not fans of this delicacy) with a beef tenderloin. We did not have cocktails before dinner as we opted for our favorite option drinkwise: a bottle of champagne followed by a bottle of red wine. As I spotted on their wine list that the price of Dom Perignon 2000 champagne was quite reasonable (for such a bottle), we decided to splurge and went ahead and ordered a bottle. In my book, you cannot go wrong with this choice and I still stand by it. The delicate flavors of this champagne were a perfect companion for the first half of the menu.

Our gustative journey started with a chestnut veloute:

followed by lobster:

frog legs:

scallops:

and truffles:

It was, at this point, time to order red wine and we opted for a bottle of Chateau Beaucastel 2005, a Chateauneuf-du-pape from the French Rhone valley. This choice made us enjoy even more the following beef tenderloin:

cheese:

and finally desserts:

The hedonist in me, although absent from this blog for quite a while, just loved it.

Au Crocodile Restaurant gained a Michelin star in March as they had to start from scratch after the property changed owner. Remember that the maximum Michelin (the famous fine food red guide) stars a restaurant can get in France is 3 and there aren't many of them. Having 3 Michelin Stars is the holy grail of gastronomy in France. Au Crocodile used to have 3. I believe that what we experienced last night deserves no less than 2!

If you're in Strasbourg and want to try Fine Dining in France, it's a no brainer, just make a reservation there!