Tucked away on a barely-there side street between the Quai de la Douane and Place Saint-Pierre is Porte Quinze, bistro gastronomique of Ivorian Chef Gilbert Okoin. With its modest capacity of just 20, the ambience is intimate, and the interior as discreet as the location. Light wooden surfaces, touches of taupe, grey and white here…
A long time has passed since my bachelorette trip to Mallorca back in April, and many things have happened since then. I got married, for one. As I think back on that trip now, it’s all a blur of excellent wine, one-on-one’s with four of my favorite people, endless gin tonics and hungover brunches with…
Our Assumption Day long weekend got off to a patchy start this year. Too tired after the wedding to plan any big adventure, we decided on a peaceful retreat in the Pyrenees. Ben picked the spot, a spattering of lakes in the Néouvielle National Nature Reserve. We prepared our packs for one night of camping…
On the hottest day ever recorded in the history of Bordeaux, two friends and I made a reservation at a pint-sized pizzeria where the dining area is about 1 meter from a 350° C wood fire burning oven. After some hesitation and a few longing glances in the direction of Aphrodite, a breezy Greek terrace…
It’s been a year now since our hike up to the base of Vignemale, the highest peak in the French Pyrenees. A morning that started out gloomy due to rain and fog (and the realizaton that we had left at home some of the instant meal packets we had so carefully prepared the night before)…
If it’s a bit of history, a great wine list, decent food and unbeatable views of Lake Balaton you’re after, Kisfaludy-ház is the spot for you. Constructed in the 18th century and still rocking the classic thatched roof, this place once served as a kind of winery, where grapes were pressed after harvest. At this…
Ahh the wonders of rue Notre-Dame… The precious little brocade (antique shops), a very special bridal boutique, and historical facades overgrown by florals gushing forth from every terrace, the heart and soul of the trendy Chartrons neighborhood of Bordeaux. Get a beer at Zhytho or sit out on the terrace of the Halle de Chartrons,…
Café Sushi is my mom’s go-to sushi spot on the Left Bank of the Charles. As it turns out, it’s the go-to sushi spot for many, and an industry favorite that has been serving the Cambridge community for over three decades. Nestled inside a kind of vintage strip-mall style building on Mass Ave between Central…
While the perfectly made and frothy-as-all-hell almond butter latte at Mantra on Veres Pálné utca will always be my first choice to sip during catch-up sessions with my sister-in-law during visits to Budapest, Fekete is a close second. This place is the perfect example of what this city is just so damn good at: converting…
As soon as I saw Belvárosi Disznótoros on Karolyi utca, on a breezy morning stroll through downtown Budapest with my parents this past May, I knew I’d be returning there to eat, that same day. This place, whose name translates literally to “Downtown Pig Feast,” is a kind of double-duty butcher shop and restaurants specializing…
Three former colleagues at a new restaurant each month or two, chatting over the world of Bordeaux fine wine over a bottle of non-Bordeaux. Such is the nature of what’s becoming a regular kind of dinner club, meetings of which I look forward to with enthusiasm every time. Our June pick was Cent33, a gastronomic…
A few weeks back, on a somewhat rainy May morning, my mother, my sister-in-law and I took the drive down from Budapest to the Balaton to figure some things out for my upcoming nuptuals, and (more importantly) remind ourselves why all the logistics are, after all, worth it. On our densely-packed schedule for the day…
