I am in the Las Vegas airport waiting for the bus which will take us to the MGM Grand Hotel where Robuchon’s three Star Michelin restaurant is located. A young girl, apparently bored from the long wait, is chanting this tune over and over again.

The next day, while leaving Las Vegas for the greater pleasures and promises of California, I can’t help but murmur the same tune. With one difference:

“Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder WHERE I am
……..

Actually, WHERE is ROBUCHON ?

I am happy to report that both restaurants are holding the highest standards, and both Pacaud and LeSquer are perfectionists albeit in different ways. Le Squer’s cuisine is still evolving and has not yet reached the impeccable maturity displayed by the 60 year old Pacaud who is still at the helm and looks very fit. While Le Squer is still tinkering with tradition and introducing some new dishes and amuses, Pacaud has attained a level of self confidence that should secure his name alongside the greatest chefs of this century.

Here are some short notes from the recent visits.

There is also good food to be had.

This time we chose Roque Gageac as our place to stay. Hotel LA BELLE ETOILE has a great location, prices don’t hurt, and the owners are friendly.

One wouldn’t have been far off but only if all ended there. It doesn’t. The essential creative act in Gagnaire’s case undoubtedly operates at a higher level. It is almost palpable how he is guided by intuitions. Gagnaire’s decisions are not necessarily rational but deeply personal. They are forceful but contained. Impulsive but focused. Passionate yet contemplative, even introverted at times. Vulnerable.

When such artistic qualities are matched with a kitchen of extraordinary precision and techniques of great refinement the results are brilliant even if they are not always absolutely perfect.

I knew about a Roellinger dish where he used pineapple and grapefruit for a turbot. While not having tasted it I had quite a strong mental reservation against this association.

When I saw what I assumed to be a variation on this dish on the menu I was intrigued. Roellinger was insisting on the theme with an obvious show of confidence but had toned down, I thought, the sweetness by using kumquat this time. Bitter aspect of this fruit being much more complex than grapefruits & its aromas less overbearing than the tropical pineapple, I was rather attracted.

On the other hand, the season and the place had dictated for us a couple of dishes we absolutely wanted to try. Young European spider crabs (moussettes), local lobster and pré-salé lamb fed at the neighboring salt marshes must be at or near their peak flavor in this beautiful part of Brittany in June.

I have over the years been rather dismissive of the gastronomic restaurants of inland Tuscany. I have been to almost every Michelin starred restaurant in that area and I cannot say I have had a particularly interesting meal anywhere. Meals have been tainted by average ingredients prepared with an execution level that leaves a lot left to wish for. The wine lists of these restaurants are almost always a treat to browse with their vast selections of wines often priced just above retail prices or below for older vintages stored by each respective restaurant.

When commenting on the state of affairs in Tuscany I have often been told with withhold any final judgment before visiting Arnolfo, the reputed 2-star Michelin in Colle di val d’Elsa, a town famous for glassworks.

The exterior of Arnolfo on a narrow street in the old town belies its fantastic exposition on the other side of a picturesque Tuscan landscape. Well, that is to say you benefits from that if seated in the rooms facing the windows. For anyone going to Arnolfo it is good advice to avoid the small square room with no windows containing four tables, each seating two people, set up in such a way that guests are all starring at each other.

Joan Gatell

It is a treat to eat on the second floor terrace of Joan Gatell on a sunny day overlooking the harbour in Cambrils. As expected, Joan Gatell provided some excellent dishes prepared with fantastic seafood such as the salt baked red gambas.

It has been a good summer, with a lot of good eating and I have discovered one of the most impressive and interesting young chefs I have ever seen. More on that later.
/Mikael

Following another 10 day trip to the South of Spain last month in March 2007, I have an unequivocal answer: Yes and No.

It is no, if we equate Spanish cuisine with the “in” places favored by international gastronomic traveler and glossy publications whose business is to create hype. At the high end, with the exception of Con Fabes, the top of the Spanish scene does not equal France in terms of the rigor and precision of the celebrated chefs.

It is yes, by all means, if we are searching for great ingredients or singular dishes cooked expertly, rooted in gastronomic traditions. Spanish cuisine is especially interesting because certain kinds of seafood (from Galicia and also the Mediterranean) and certain products are either unique to Spain, or nearly so.

Last month, on March 12 to be precise, my wife and I have spent a wonderful evening at le Meurice. We concocted a menu, combining dishes from the degustation menu and a la carte dishes. The underlying theme was to devise the menu around the last truffles of the season. Here is what the menu looked like:

1. Delicate gelee de bulot aux langues d’oursin
2. Truffe Noir, poireau et lard-en declinasion
3. Now de Coquilles St. Jacques poelees
4. Pigeon Du Maine-Et-Loire—confit de choux blanc a l’essence de truffe.

To sum up, all but the third (scallop) dish were memorable.

It is getting increasingly rare that the talented young chefs in France open their own restaurants. Instead they are more often absorbed by larger hotel chains or restaurant groups that can offer them security and reasonable employment terms. Opening a restaurant in France, and elsewhere for that matter, is a risky and costly project that requires patience and enormous amounts of hard work. Mirazur, a de-funk restaurant once opened with the participation of Jacques Chibois, was brought back to life in April 2006 by Mauro and Alain. I was told about it by a food writer friend some time after it had opened. My instant reaction when I heard about the project was that it was very risky, yet brave, to try to launch a serious gastronomic restaurant in Menton, especially on a very tight budget.

So why do I continue to go back? The simple reason is that every now and then rumours surface that Chibois has made important progress. The latest wave of such rumours were possibly initiated by the at the time surreal and incomprehensible nomination by Michelin of Jacques Chibois as an espoir for 3-stars. It recently made me to one more time take the road to Grasse to check out if Chibois finally had made progress and produced food that would merit the prices and the ratings in various guides.

To Chibois’s defense it can be said that his food is rarely overly complicated and it is often based on a marriage between two or three components. This is something we normally appreciate, if the food is well made that is and made with good produce. The problem is that Chibois food has the taste and feel of mass produced food from - for this level of expectations - not acceptable ingredients. Also, surprising for this level is the sloppy execution, general sourcing of ingredients and often careless plating. One always gets the impression when eating at Chibois that the food has been pre-made in large quantities and with one result being that the flavours lack clarity and definition.

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L'AMBROISIE

Le 23 Janvier, 2007: Après 3 visites consécutives en l'espace d'un an, je suis encore plus convaincu de la réalité de mes sentiments ci-dessous captés la nuit même de mon premier repas à L'Ambroisie, le 2 Février, 2006.