a day of eating and drinking in nice

late breakfast at the hotel: chicken pan bagnat, pineapple salad, and a splendid view



wine tasting at chateau de cremat

followed by vineyard-plundering

standard afternoon snack

dinner at le grand balcon

salad with crab, grapefruit, and avocado

scallops, mashed potatoes, truffles

raspberry tiramisu

chateau eza

imagine having lunch here with this view...

the restaurant and hotel chateau eza sits at the tippy top of the ancient village of eze, france, lined with centuries-old stone paths and azalea covered walls...

the entire time, i couldn't really believe i was awake.

as we ate watermelon granita with lychee jelly,



chilled carrot soup,

fig bread,

sea bream,

and macarons,

my eyes drank in the views surrounding me --

the sea stretching out ahead, the hairpin bended roads we had taken to get here, the toy train tracks far below us, and the pink flowers clinging to the side of the mountains all around me.

like this, only a thousand times more beautiful in person

the sea blends into sky, the line between them dissolving. a sweeping rothko canvas in azure and lapis.

this was a meal i will never ever forget.

nice, france

... is a complete dream.

a very very good dream, filled with macarons, gelato, good bread, wine, wild strawberries, and dulce de leche ice cream...

and art museums and tanned sparkly young things and old cobblestone streets and pastel wedding cake buildings and cute little squares with fountains and opera singers...

oh, and how can i forget the sunshine and the palm trees and the blinding blue waters from my window :)

dessert after an amazing meal at la petit maison. les fruits rouges du pays, glace de confiture de lait.

recent eats

the past few days have been filled with very simple, delicious eats. stomachs finally rumbling out of protest of their emptiness around 9 or 10pm, we look on opentable or yelp for something that piques our interest -- something simple, quick, yummy -- before stumbling outside in search of our appointed meal.

grano trattoria, in the west village. so cute and low-key, complete with outdoor seating and a woodburning oven in the corner from which pizzas bubbling with cheese and tomato sauce emerge.

the pastas are superb -- dare i say better than del posto's. (and a fraction of the cost!)

i had the casarecci pasta with wild boar sausage & mushrooms. DIVINE. the black linguine with calamari was also very good.

tiramisu, which i found to be a bit odd since it was served atop streaks of raspberry sauce, which i'd never seen paired with tiramisu before. i think i would have preferred it with a puddle of coffee like i usually see, but this certainly wasn't bad at all

late dinner at gobo the other night. it's a vegetarian restaurant, which at first scared me, but the food turned out to be really, really good.

the sliced seitan in ginger sauce was insane. i think i'm addicted to the texture now -- rubbery, gluteny (okay that doesn't sound so good but i promise it was) -- served atop kale with a cute seaweed-wrapped pyramid of brown rice.

sweet and sour tofu was also really good, though it could have come with a side of carbs to feel more balanced...

this is why i love having dinner at 10pm. uncrowded dining :)

went to a tibetan restaurant called tsampa. it was my first time ever having tibetan food, and it tasted like a cross between the methods and ingredients of chinese cooking (stir-fries) and the spices of indian cooking. we had the special seat directly under a giant portrait of the dalai lama :)

we had the tsampa roll (a sort of pan-fried spring roll filled with tofu and vegetables, which was incredible), spicy shrimp, and bhutanese chicken.

the pièce de résistance, however, had to be the barley cake. kind of gritty, hearty, sweet, and rustic, topped with vanilla ice cream and cubed peaches. it was insane -- so, so good. truly one of the best desserts i've had in the city this summer. i've been dreaming about it ever since. go just for this if nothing else!

there was also brunch at blue ribbon bakery & cafe, where we had the most amazing eggs benedict (coming from a girl who orders eggs benedict every single time i see them on a menu, this means a lot). the french toast with whipped cream and berries at the next table also looked incredible (though, when does french toast not look incredible?).

we drew out this meal and picked at our food and chatted away for probably close to three hours, because it was raining and we didn't want to venture outside with only our tiny umbrella. delicious food, unrushed atmosphere, enormous windows, and fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice makes for the perfect sunday brunch.

going to barcelona and nice 8/19 - 8/28

CAN'T WAIT TO EAT ALL THE FOOD! :)

a day in eats

unpictured late (1pm) breakfast of rioja, dark chocolate, and cherries

late afternoon snack at le pain quotidien

smoked salmon, chopped dill, and avocado tartine

avocado & chickpea tartine in the background

sandwich at lincoln center during the intermission of an all-beethoven program. it was delicious. hunger is the best chef.

a post-concert snack / light dinner at morimoto. p.s. aren't the names so cute?

half dozen oysters

hamachi tartare with caviar

dipping sauces included wasabi, creme fraiche, seaweed something, avocado, and crunchy rice puff things? ahah i have a bad memory

smoked salmon ravioli with japanese sweet yams, salmon roe, and yuzu gelee... topped with a lot of foam

the awesome mind-boggling bathrooms

kyo ya

wah i'm so sorry for being MIA... the amount of time i have to eat good food is pretty limited right now. it's usually just delivery from seamless and office bagels.

last, last week though, i went to kyo ya following a tear-enducing harry potter 7. snape... lily... omg. it made me crave the comfort and warmth of butterbeer, though we ended up with just hot green tea at kyo ya, which we found by yelping the nearest and most highly rated japanese restaurant in the east village. kyo ya was first, so we went. (also, what is up with japanese places not having websites?! jewel bako, i'm looking at you.)

its architecture was just as interesting and unique as its food. a spiral staircase next to a wall of glass led down to a subterranean entrance, and inside, the warm gleaming wood and curved angles exude a sort of sexy zen vibe.

at first i thought these disposable wooden chopsticks were kind of ghetto and out of place, but then a friend later informed me that the best japanese restaurants all use disposable wooden chopsticks (something about the elegance of minimalism and not imparting flavours)? what?! somehow i've never noticed before...

there was a daily menu listing the sashimi and chef's specials for the day, as well as pressed sushi. we had no idea what pressed sushi was, or that it was even different from regular sushi, but we ordered it anyway.

we also got the chawanmushi -- steamed egg custard cup with seafood, chicken and vegetables. it tasted just like the steamed eggs my parents (and all chinese parents) feed their kids when they're little! really really really hot, which i didn't realize when i took the first bite, and left me gasping for cold water lol.

this was the pressed eel sushi. when it first arrived we were puzzled by the lack of soy sauce, but upon asking, we found out that the rice was already seasoned. 

each rectangle was the perfect proportion of salted rice, topped with buttery, slightly sweet eel. it may not be as showy as the typical multicoloured roll, but this was soooo good.

roasted duck, rolled with chives, mustard, and onion (which i didn't use), dipped into plum sauce. simple and very well done.

rice topped with lobster, roe, and seaweed -- basically deconstructed sushi in a bowl. it reminded me of bibimbap, with the stirring of the different ingredients and each bite filled with so many flavours and textures. the roe, in particular, was so fun to eat, like popping bubble wrap in my mouth, each little explosion releasing a tangy saltiness that mingled with the warm rice.

and then we walked to chikalicious for dessert, which i will detail fully another day!