Wechselberger done at Cin Cin
Executive chef Andreas Wechselberger is on his way out at Cin Cin. No word on whether he will open his own restaurant across the street.
Archive for March, 2007
Keith Talent Leaves France for London
The Tate Modern
After waiting in the mother of all immigration lines at Stansteed, famished, we caught the train into town. It was about two in the afternoon by the time we checked in, dropped our bags and headed back into the street for a pint. Went into the first pub we saw – the crowd was gathering for the Six Nations match between England and France. No kitchen service during the match. Seriously? (So that nothing interferes with getting your drink on while watching France destroy the English side?) Have a quick drink and set out. Fast food and not much else. Go across the street into an M&S Food, grab a couple pre-made sandwiches and eat while strolling the neighbourhood. (We stayed very close to the Earls Court tube station in Kensington.) The sandwiches were excellent. No joking. BLT. Ham and cheese with Branston pickle. Curried shrimp. All excellent. How Subway stays in business in Britain I do not know.
Talent in the South of France Part III
by Keith Talent
We aimed ourselves at Châteauneuf du Pape with stops enroute in Vacqueyras and Gigondas for tasting and buying for the next couple days as we went. Not a bad day’s wine touring, and nothing, and I mean nothing, will make you as green with envy as the assorted Mercs with Swiss or German plates, popping down to the south for a short holiday and loading the trunks with cases to take home. Bastards! Châteauneuf was a very quaint little town studded with caves to slake the tourist’s thirsts. On the way out we made a pilgrimage to the wine drinkers Mecca, assuming one worships at the church of Kermit Lynch, Vieux Telegraphe. Situated outside of town proper, the five km trip winds one through the famous vineyards set on boules-sized stones. We get there and it’s empty – closed up for the season. A young girl is loading a pallet of wine on a truck and tells us she’ll be right with us. This charming, vivacious, tres fashionable even-while-driving-a forklift girl finishes her duty and leads us to the tasting room. Yeah, Worksafe BC would probably take issue with a long flowing scarf on a lift truck operator…
Update on Chow
On my way to the Wild Wild West dinner at…er…West last night, I stopped by the construction site of Jean-Christophe Poirier’s restaurant, Chow, to see how things were coming along.
Talent in the South of France Part II
by Keith Talent
We left Sète and I was in far better form, appetite back and ready to roll. Thus began the day devoted to the Roman ruins of the south, first to Van Gogh’s stomping grounds of Arles to see the Colosseum, then back tracking to Nimes to see it’s Colosseum (memo to fellow travellers, there’s never a need to see two colosseums in one day. Arched pile of rocks, arched pile of rocks. Got it). Then onwards to Avignon with a quick detour to see the Pont du Gard aquaduct. We found a great little hotel on the courtyard of the Chateau Neuf du Pape, literally new House of the Pope, from a time when the papacy was housed in southern France instead than Rome. Asked the girl at the desk where to go for dinner. She made a couple recommendations, the first choice being closed for some unexplained reason that night, but if appearances were indicative, it would have been excellent (hyper modern design meets classic Provencale cooking). Damn. Went to her second choice, the excellent La Fourchette, a quirky yet elegant joint with the owner’s small dog roaming the bar, and superb food coming from the kitchen. My entree was the standout dish, an excellent plate of grilled calf’s liver in a raisin sauce with a lentil pancake served separately. My wife’s dessert of meringue studded with pralines and bissected with a layer of ephemerally light vanilla ice cream sweetened just-past-savoury egg custard. It was a triumph of restraint.
