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Sunday at the Marché de Wazemmes

Lille's many charms - great beer, friendly people, a freshly restored historic center - are not necessarily obvious on a Sunday, when shops and restaurants pull down their shutters for families to gather round a steaming pot ofcarbonnade flamande, beef cooked in beer until caramelized, or share a potjevleesch, an assortment of jellied meats.
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New York and a fresh start

I have always taken New Year's resolutions very seriously. This year, though, too many are whirling around in my head: Blog more often. Listen to my acccountant. Start each day with sun salutations. Meditate. See more of nature. Teach my son to cook. Let my friends know how much I appreciate them.

Sam at the Restaurant Zen in Paris
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On being vegetarian in France

A few months ago, my son Sam declared himself a vegetarian. Now, if we lived in California this might not sound unusual, but this is France, proud land of steak-frites and saucisson, andouillette and tête de veau.

Bread
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A new chef at the Louis XV

It was potatoes that first cemented my friendship with Franck Cerutti, chef for ten years at Alain Ducasse's Louis XV restaurant in Monaco…

Pramil, Paris
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Paris restaurant: Pramil

When it comes to restaurants, I'm not really that demanding. I want the basic ingredients to be seasonal and good. I want the cooking to show restraint: nothing puts me off more than an overly complicated plate. And I want the chef to have a heart that shines through in the food.

Big Ben, London
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Ready, prêt, go: Eating on the run
in London

For the school holidays, I took Sam to London to brush up his English. Well, that was the official excuse.

L'Ecole des filles: centrepieces
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L’Ecole des Filles

The surreal extravagance of our last meal in Liguria left us with a quandary: how could any restaurant live up to that experience, which was all the more incredible for having caught us off guard?

Raibaudo
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Sunday in Liguria

When I want a complete change of scenery, I get in the car and drive for 40 minutes. As soon as we cross the border into Italy, everything is suddenly different: the people, the language, the music, the clothes, the coffee (especially the coffee).

Pissaladiere
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Pissaladière reinvented

I usually think of pissaladière as one of those dishes that it's best not to toy with too much, so when I saw that it had been reinvented for the Hi Beach by ultra-creative chef Mauro Colagreco of Le Mirazur in Monaco, I couldn't resist ordering it.

Breads
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Lunch at the Abbaye de la Celle

I had my first taste of the Hostellerie de l'Abbaye de la Celle a few years ago when Philippe and I, with two-year-old Sam in tow, spent a few days meandering through Provence, stopping at all the country auberges run by Alain Ducasse.