I finally had a chance to sit down and make reservations for a couple of "must-see" restaurants this past week. Like I said in a previous post, I've never felt so unprepared for a trip as I have for our big London/Paris trip. I still made an itinerary for ourselves to make sure that we do certain things, but it's the in-between stuff (cafes, restaurants) that I just haven't had a chance to do properly. Sure, I've been using my map apps to pin various places that we should check out, but I haven't really done my research like I have in the past. I've been frantically doing what I can over the past week and will probably continue to do until we leave. :S Thankfully, I've finally had the opportunity to get this done.
For London, I knew I wanted to try either Heston Blumenthal's restaurant or one of Gordon Ramsay's (many) restaurants. I loved, LOVED Blumenthal's show on Food Network, "In Search of Perfection", as well as "Heston's Feasts". The first was because of the lengths he would go to try and make the perfect version of the dish chosen for the episode (the right kind and blend of meat for lasagna, for example). The second was because his meals are just so creative and innovative. He is also one of the more famous molecular gastronomy chefs (though he supposedly doesn't like being given a title that sounds so very elitist). As for Ramsay, I began to like him more when they started showing "The F Word", which was like "Hell's Kitchen" because of the competition factor with the group of people chosen to cook that day, but also included segments where Ramsay would cook a dish or compete against another celebrity with a dish they've created. His dishes can actually be fairly simple in comparison to other chefs that I enjoy watching (Geoffrey Zakarian the first coming to mind: LOVE watching him cook, but his stuff is so complex!).
After perusing the reviews in my Lonely Planet guidebook and checking out a couple of websites, I settled on Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. The prix fixe lunch is a very good deal (plus that seems to be the trend for most restaurants in either Paris or London: go for lunch at the fancier places, simply for the prix fixe factor). The concept of the restaurant is to modernize dishes that actually existed in the history of England, and the ones that will be available for our lunch all sound very yummy!
For Paris, it is pretty much a guarantee that we will be going to lots of cafes, bakeries, and bistros. I was going to just leave those reservations until we get there, mostly because it seems like there aren't many restaurants that allow one to book online. From my readings, it's better to call and make a reservation, barely any mentions of online bookings. Darn French and their traditional ways. ;) Well, I was flipping through our Paris travel book and I stumbled upon a restaurant they listed under wine tastings, O Chateau. I visited their website and was immediately intrigued by the variety of tastings that they offered at many different price points. We decided to do the wine and cheese tasting for lunch. What better way to cap off our trip by enjoying various French wines and French cheese AND getting educated about them as well? I'm kind of ridiculously excited about this booking, even though I only just discovered it today. :)
No meal plan for this week, as we are basically trying to clear out our fridge as best we can before the trip. Hope all my fellow teachers enjoy the first weeks of vacation; I know I will be. :) Have a fantastic week and happy cooking all!