The Food of France

Why Wine Ratings Are Badly Flawed - WSJ.com

Given the high price of wine and the enormous number of choices, a system in which industry experts comb through the forest of wines, judge them, and offer consumers the meaningful shortcut of medals and ratings makes sense. But what if the successive judgments of the same wine, by the same wine expert, vary so widely that the ratings and medals on which wines base their reputations are merely a powerful illusion? That is the conclusion reached in two recent papers in the Journal of Wine Economics.

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A bottle of wine, a shoe, and a brick wall. (via cptmarco)

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Critics doubt French wine-makers’ boasts of a vintage year - Times Online

It is the harvest of the century in Bordeaux, with exceptional weather conditions producing grapes so fine that dogs are turning vegetarian to eat them. That, at least, is what the region’s wine-makers would have you believe as they lavish praise on this year’s pickings. But the claims have prompted wry smiles from French critics and drinkers, who recall that Bordeaux’s châteaux said much the same thing about the 2005 vintage — as they did about 2003 and 2000.

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Crémant - Wine of the Week - Slashfood

Generally, crisp and celebratory, wines like cava, brut, Champagne and American sparkling wines probably won’t turn any heads if you bring them to an occasion that calls for bubbles. But Crémant, a French sparkling wine, can make a fashionable entrance. Although still a nouveau import to many areas of the U.S. it’s tres affordable. Most Crémants are priced under $20 a bottle.

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Who Says French Food Can't Be Friendly? : NPR

Think of “fine French cuisine” and you imagine pressed linen tablecloths, a lineup of wine glasses, tuxedoed waiters ferrying trays of oysters or silver-domed serving dishes. It’s an experience that has persisted for generations: formal, classical and expensive. But the definition of the quintessential French dining experience is evolving, thanks in part to one Paris chef. For eight years, Chef Christian Constant ran the kitchen at Crillon, one of the city’s top hotels, where he earned two coveted Michelin rating-system stars. But at the height of his success he left the hotel restaurant to branch out on his own.

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France, Land of Epicures, Gets Taste for McDonald’s - NYTimes.com

When McDonald’s France announced a plan to open a restaurant in the commercial mall under the Louvre, the scene appeared to be set for a new French controversy. The New World was about to strike at the heart of France’s most celebrated cultural symbol. The French would not take it lightly. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Owen Franken for The New York Times Some Parisians have not even heard of the plans by McDonald’s to open a restaurant in the Louvre. The basement of the museum already contains a shopping mall and a small food court.

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Ducasse accuses media of ignoring French

Alain Ducasse, the famous chef behind some of the world’s top French restaurants, on Monday accused media of falsely peddling the perception that French cuisine has been left behind by other, newer offerings.

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Pumpkin Eaters - NYTimes.com

M. Farigoule looked at me and shrugged, his expression a question mark. It was clear that he was not familiar with Halloween and its customs.

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Alain Ducasse Means Gourmet Culinary Success - ABC News

Every indicator points to Alain Ducasse having an extra helping of talent under his hat. He cooks dishes no one else could and serves them in ways no one else would. Share Chef Alain Ducasse reveals what tastes best during the Autumn. The results are almost always the same. Wherever he opens a restaurant, crowds and critics flip out. Ducasse comes by Michelin stars the way most people come by tires. His work has changed the world of eating as well as the lives of many of his proteges. It looks like talent — but Ducasse says it isn’t. In fact, the chef says he doesn’t really believe in talent.

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Pernod Ricard sales down 6 pct in first quarter - Forbes.com

French wine and spirits group Pernod Ricard SA says its sales fell 6 percent in the first quarter as crisis-hit European drinkers poured fewer bottles of its cognacs, whiskeys and vodkas.

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The Associated Press: 1788 cognac, 1875 wine on sale at Paris auction

The landmark Tour d’Argent restaurant, which dates back to 1582, is cleaning out its 450,000-bottle wine cellar, considered one of the best in the world. It is putting 18,000 bottles up for auction in December, an event that has captured the imagination of French wine lovers.

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France and Asia Fall in Love Again - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com

Food October 2, 2009, 2:43 pm For the Moment | France and Asia Fall in Love Again By Alexander Lobrano Guilo-GuiloMeg Zimbeck Guilo-Guilo, one of the several Parisian restaurants with a talented Japanese chef. This week, the Paris food writer Alexander Lobrano, the author of “Hungry for Paris” and the European correspondent for Gourmet, joins the T table to share his thoughts (and tips) on dining. Read his previous posts here. In Paris, this is the season of wasabi, matcha and yuzu. If many countries are having a major influence on contemporary French cooking, including Morocco, Italy, Spain and even the United States (check out Frenchie, where you’ll easily detect the tasty influence of a stint at New York’s Gramercy Tavern on the talented young chef Gregory Marchand, or Rice & Fish, where some boys from San Francisco are seducing Parisians with California-style sushi), young French chefs are completely besotted with Asia.

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2009 in France - yet another great 9? | Tasting Notes & Wine Reviews from Jancis Robinson

Any analysis of the outstanding vintages of 20th-century French wine – 1929, 1949, 1959 and 1989 for red bordeaux, 1999, 1989, 1969, 1959, 1949, 1929 and 1919 for red burgundy – suggests that years ending in nine tend to have special properties. This year, 2009, looks, so far, set fair to continue this phenomenon in virtually all French wine regions.

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For the Moment | Finding Pearls in Paris - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com

Hemlines may rise and fall, but one thing in Paris never changes during the fall, and that’s the heart-warming site of mustachioed men in indigo aprons and rubber boots shucking oysters on the sidewalk outside of the many restaurants that serve these much-loved bivalves. They are never better than they are between October and February.

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Fancy French Restaurants Serve Up Economy Meals: Paris Dining - Bloomberg.com

If Paris is a moveable feast, it’s becoming a more affordable one, thanks to the economic slowdown.

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