The first Monday of September is always Labor Day in the United States. It honors American workers and their contributions to the strength of the country. It's also considered the unofficial end of summer... le sigh. DRINKS AT THE WATERGATE HOTEL We kicked off the weekend with happy hour at the Next Whisky Bar in the newly opened Watergate Hotel. Of course, everyone knows of the Watergate from the history books and the role it played in the demise of president Richard Nixon. But today, it's a complex of 5 buildings right by the Kennedy Center. One of those building is now a landmark hotel overlooking the Potomac River and I hadn't been yet since it reopened in June (it was closed for ...
Miam Miam
Les 5 Produits Français que j’Achète à World Market
Vous connaissez World Market? J'adore!! C'est une chaine de magasins ici où l'on trouve un peu de tout que ce soit pour le décor, les meubles, mais aussi des bijoux et de la nourritures venus ou inspirés des quatres coins du monde. Le mien est un peu plus petit, on n'y trouve pas de produits alcoolisés (certains ont un super choix de vins et de bière) ni de meubles, vaisselles etc. En fait, c'est juste un petit rayon dans mon Bed Bath & Beyond local près du Verizon Center. Mais c'est le rayon le plus important! Celui de l'alimentation ;-) Voici quelques uns de mes produits français préférés que j'achète à World Market. LE SEL DE GUERANDE Le sel de Guérande est un sel de mer naturel ...
What’s the Best Baguette in Washington, DC?
I've lived in the District for over 10 years now and as the French expat one of the top question I usually get asked is "where can I find good bread?" Usually it's recent transplants from France asking... The answer partially depend on where you live I guess. I mean, Bread Furst probably makes the best baguette in the city. But I live in Shaw. It's bad enough I have to spend close to $3 for bread, I'm not trekking all the way across town on top of it. So I get my baguette mostly at A Baked Joint now, and occasionally at Paul or Le Pain Quotidien. Two places where I would never buy bread back home...but hey, I have limited options here ;-) Of course, Parisians take their bread very ...
A Taste of Lille ~ Méert’s Legendary Waffles
No visit to the Northern French city of Lille would be complete without a stop at 27 rue Esquermoise. This address has delighted local gourmands since 1761. Initially, it was a humble chocolaterie and ice cream shop until it was taken over in 1849 by Michael Paulus Gislinus Méert who turned the shop into a local institution with its signature thin, gaufres filled with Madagascar vanilla. Today, the former confectionery is an elegant patisserie, salon de thé and gourmet gourmet restaurant and a must-visit sight if you're in the area. I don't remember the first time I had one of Méert's waffles, but I must have been a baby -- I'm a second generation Lilloise after all, though we moved to ...
Weekend Highlights ~ Restaurant Week, Caipirinhas & Grilled Peach Pizza
Definitely another low-key weekend... sometimes you just need some of those you know, especially as I gear up Diner en Blanc next Saturday. Friday night, I had a couple of girlfriends over for rosé on the roof. My friends Jean and Aparna can't make it to diner en blanc, so we thought we'd dress in white and have a bit of a test run. I'm being a bit of a rebel this year and sprinkling hints of gold into my tablescape so I wanted to check out how it looked. Plus I love any excuse to host. I think it turned out pretty well no? I wanted to keep things simple for the menu so I made Martha Stewart's Grilled Peach Pizza recipe as well as a pitcher of caipirinhas (check out my recipe here, along ...
A Taste of Spring: Cherry Blossoms Everything
Cherry blossoms season is almost done here in Washington. The actual blossoms faded away late last week. Who can blame them? It's been barely 40 degrees for the past two days... and don't get me started on the wind! But officially, the festival ends on April 17 so there's still more than an entire week to celebrate our city in boom and enjoy festival events, like the fireworks on the 9th, the Sakura Matsuri street festival and the official parade on the 16th, or all the different themed eats, which let's be honest are my favourites anyway! Now, I'm not a huge fan of the official "cherry picks" gimmick co-sponsored by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington that sees ...
5 Things I Ate While I Was in Chicago
Another week, another express work-cation, this time to Chicago in the mid-west. I'd been to Chicago a few times before, including for a hot 16 hours last July 4 and back in 1994 during one of my very first trip to the United States. Despite having a lot of meetings, I tried to squeeze in as much sight-seeing as I could in 36 hours, including catching the Van Gogh's Bedrooms exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago. And eating of course... Here are some of my favourites from my express “work-cation” in Chicago: LIQUID ENERGY AT INTELLIGENTSIA COFFEE First things first after a 6AM flight from Reagan to O'Hare, I needed caffeine! But not just any coffee would do. I wanted some Intelligentsia ...
Beaujolais Nouveau Cranberry Sauce
There are two celebrations I particularly look forward to at the end of November. Both owe their dates, on the third Thursday and last Thursday of November, to laws in their respective countries. I'm of course referring to France's Beaujolais Nouveau celebration and the United States' Thanksgiving. Thanks to some rather brilliant promotion from Beaujolais' PR people, the purple-pink Gamay wine is now often paired with turkey, stuffing etc. at tables across the country. This year, I decided to combine the two holidays in one festive dish: a Beaujolais Nouveau cranberry sauce. Since the recipe only requires about a cup of wine, it's a perfect way to finish off a bottle! For one 12oz pack of ...
A Taste of Nice: Farmers’ Market Petits Farcis
Last Christmas, I spent a few days in the South of France with my family. We started in Marseille, where my mother was born and where she grew up, then made our way to Gould to spend the holidays with my uncle Philippe who lives there with his family. Afterwards, we made our way to Nice, on the French Riveria. France's fifth largest city gets a pretty bad rep. It's like the Florida of France, where grandparents retire (my grandmother herself considered moving there for a while) and older Brits winter. It's no Cannes and it's no Monaco. But it's got a lot to offer: stunning Art Deco architecture, great museums (Chagall and Matisse both used to call Nice their home), the promenade des ...
Dine at These 6 French Restaurants During Restaurant Week
Between August 17 and 23, some 200 restaurants will be offering three-course prix-fixe lunches for $22 and dinners for $35 as part of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington's Restaurant Week. I'll actually be in France that week so I'll be missing out on the biannual promotion. Which, let's be real, is ok because I'd rather be in France ;-) If you'd like to pretend you're in France too that week, may I recommend you make a reservation at these French restaurants: BISTROT LEPIC WINE BAR Did Tom Sietsema's (glowing) review of Bistrot Lepic in the Post recently made you wonder why you don't go to one of DC's best French restaurant more often? Now that the circulator goes up ...
