What to Eat Around the World | Page 66 of 70
Le Tiroir: A Lyon Bistro with a Michelin Bib Gourmand
The Bib Gourmand is not a half star but a Michelin award in its own right, for kitchens that keep the bill fair - and Le Tiroir, a modern bistro in Lyon's Vaise district, has held one since 2021. On a lunch menu offering four starters, four mains and four desserts, fried Saint-Marcellin meets beef flank steak and a rhubarb dessert.
French Cheeses
Not even France knows how many kinds of cheese France has - even the quote attributed to de Gaulle circulates with several different numbers. So I'm building this guide to French cheeses piece by piece, starting with Pérail: a soft sheep's milk cheese from the Aveyron that used to be made from the milk left over from roquefort production and waited more than thirty years for European recognition.
Bistro Ansámbl, Prague: Relaxed Fine Dining on Krymská Street
The father brews the beer, the son did the cooking. Bistro Ansámbl on Krymská Street in Prague's Vršovice served modern French-Czech cuisine in the style of relaxed fine dining, a few steps from the taproom of the family's Bad Flash brewery. In the spring of 2022 it was my find of the year. It's gone now; this article looks back at two dinners that were worth it.
Les Halles in Clisson: A Wooden Market Hall from the 14th Century
The covered Les Halles market hall in the French town of Clisson has stood since the end of the 14th century, and markets have been held under its wooden roof timbers without interruption for more than six hundred years. It even survived the War in the Vendée, which leveled the rest of the town. You'll get the best feel for the place early in the morning, when the hall is still almost empty and the market under the medieval beams is only just getting going.
Sel de Guérande: Hand-Harvested Sea Salt from Brittany
Salt from Guérande is still harvested by hand on France's Atlantic coast, with wooden tools and only in summer. The prize is fleur de sel - the fragile flower of salt drawn off the surface of flooded pans before it can sink to the bottom. And you can walk the marshes yourself: from the medieval ramparts of Guérande across the salt fields to the village of Saillé.
V Zátiší Restaurant, Prague: Lunch Menu
V Zátiší Restaurant is a renowned Prague establishment awarded a Michelin recommendation. The Easter menu I tasted this time offered Italian ravioli with ricotta and gorgonzola; the main course was slowly cooked lamb confit with mashed potatoes and wild garlic. The sweet finish was provided by a light tapioca pudding with mango sorbet inspired by Indian cuisine.
Delizia al Limone: The Lemon Dessert of Sorrento and Amalfi
Delizia al limone is a lemon dessert from the Italian region of Campania: two sponge domes sandwiched with lemon cream, soaked in limoncello syrup and coated in a thick lemon glaze. It was created in 1978 by the Sorrento pastry chef Carmine Marzuillo, and it nearly ended up being called a lemon sigh. Today the whole coast from Sorrento through Amalfi to Naples claims it.
Genny street food: Frittatina and Fried Naples in Sorrento
Genny street food is a small bistro serving fried Neapolitan specialties on Sorrento's Via degli Aranci - frittatine, arancini, crocché and montanare, all done Naples-style. The frittatina, a flat fried disc of pasta and béchamel, has barely made it beyond Campania, and in Sorrento nobody pretends it is anything but an import. Reviews put Gennaro and Rosa's place among the best rated in town.
Antica Gelateria Sorrentina: A Family Gelateria in Sorrento
On via Fuoro in Sorrento, an older gentleman and a sign claiming 1860 lure you into a small gelateria. Nobody can prove the date, but the documented version is the nicer one: the Gargiulo family once sold milk here, and from milk it was a short step to gelato. Today the third generation makes it, and the flagship flavor is crema amalfitana, a milky cream with lemon.
Pizzeria da Michele: Sorrento's Namesake of the Famous Naples Pizzeria
Da Michele - a name that in the pizza world means Naples and a chain of more than seventy branches from London to Tokyo. The Sorrento one isn't among them: it's the small pizzeria and rosticceria of Michele Sorrentino, a few steps from Piazza Tasso, where locals come for a box to go. Unlike the Naples family, he needs nothing more than his own first name - and no court case to keep it.