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(Paris, France) By Dr. Michael Lim, The Travelling Gourmet from Singapore Bibi's ESL comment: This is an excellent example of descriptive writing by The Travelling Gourmet. The spellings are British. |
| MAYBE in your sleep you have dreamed of a restaurant of
opulent grandeur where exquisite food, superb wines and flawless service
come together seamlessly in a symphony of good taste. When you dine at
Le Cinq in Paris your dream will come true. Le Cinq means number 5 in
French because it is on the Avenue George V. This restaurant has not
one, not two.but three Michelin stars and no wonder. Presiding over 80
chefs is Chef Philippe Legendre who is a maitre d'ouvillier de France or
master craftsman of France. Despite being a gastronomic maestro,
Philippe is very humble and is one of the nicest people you could ever
meet.
I adore the lobster here but on my last pilgrimage, I started instead with a super fresh Salade de morilles et d'oseille a l'araignee de mer. The exquisite flavour of the morel mushrooms complemented the sweet crab meat with the rich taste of the ocean in every precious morsel. I carried on in a gastronomic trance with splendid Tarte d'artichaut et de truffe noire du Perigord. The aromatic black truffle assailed and overpowered my taste buds with its seductive flavour. It was heavenly! Paired with crisp artichoke it made for a delightful starter. The wine list here is one of the world's best rivaled perhaps only by Antoine's in New Orleans and the sommeliers are so well trained you can leave everything in their hands even if you are a wine connoisseur. A glass of Monthelie 1er Cru 'les Duresses"Domaine Des Comtes Lafon marries well with both these classic creations. Looking around I felt for a moment I was in Chateau de Pray, one of my favourite castles in the Loire Valley. The gold upholstered chairs, intricate floral carpet and the painting of the French countryside at the far end made me feel happy. I love too the three circular frescos of a beautiful Greek goddess and a cherubic angel near the ceilings. Canard de Duclair au caviar Avruga et a l'huile de pistache smoothly arrived on ultra fine Pierre Yves Rochon porcelain. What a masterpiece of taste, flavour and aroma with the pleasing aroma of the pistachio oil to give that certain 'je ne sais quoi' to the succulent, luscious and flavoursome duck meat! If you know your caviar you'll appreciate Avruga as one of the most sought after by gourmets. Never ever miss dessert for that pleasing sweet finale to an exquisite meal. I fell madly in love with the Du chocolat exclusivement.. Such superb chocolate creations with sinfully good mind blowing Valrhona chocolate. My fingers trembled as I put a gooey spoonful in my mouth..ooooh it was so good I almost had the big "O". Ooh, La La! I have had the honour of cooking in the kitchen of Le Cinq with Philippe and to see how well the kitchen is run and how spotlessly clean it is; it makes me appreciate the food here even more. Having trained in the Harvard of Haute Cuisine, CIA (Culinary Institute of America) I can state categorically Le Cinq is Number 1 in my book. Bon appetit! J NOTE: Le Cinq can be found at: 31, Avenue George V, 75008. Paris. Tel: 33 (0)1 49 52 70 15 © Dr. Michael Lim 2005 |
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ITALY
Wonderful Women and Wines! By Dr. Michael Lim, the
Travelling Gourmet who visits wineries in Italy to find beautiful women
in control...... © Dr. Michael Lim 2005
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| MEN have dominated many things for centuries, but now gorgeous women are also showing their muscle in the world of wines. Recently, I visited medieval Torgiano in Umbria, Italy where svelte and stunning Chiarra Lungarotti, the President of Lungarotti, showed me around her high tech winery. At a special tasting I fell in love with many wines like Lungarotti Torre di Giano Il Pino 2002. Made with typical Umbrian varietals and unknown to many connoisseurs like Trebbiano and Grechetto, this wine is unlike the typical Chardonnay from the new world. The soft bouquet of light wood and honey with the crisp and refreshing acidity made me want to pair it with some lovely Lobster a l'Americaine or even poultry and black truffles. My all-time favourite is undoubtedly the Lungarotti Rubesco 2001. A very dry wine, made with Canaiolo and Sangiovese grapes; the pleasing oak cigar box notes, layers of sweet and bitter black morello cherries plus its voluptuous body almost put me into a coma of sheer ecstasy. Chiarra remarked to me wistfully with a sweet smile, "This wine is our baby, precious wine." Looking into her warm, brown eyes so full of beauty and intelligence, I was her slave. When you are here, stay in the 5 star Le Tres Vaselle hotel at 48, Via Guiseppe Garibaldi. This hotel, in a 17th Century building, has the most wonderful restaurant which was where I savoured Tournedos di manzo ai tre pepi with ravishing Rubesco! And after all the food and wines, the outdoor swimming pool, surrounded by centuries-old olive trees, is great for a calorie-burning swim. Make sure you don't go home until you have visited both the fantastic Wine Museum and the Olive Museum. I learned so much from visiting them. |
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Paolo and Noemia d'Amico IN the heart of ancient Tuscia in Lazio near the border with Umbria, I dropped in on my friend Noemia d'Amico who was born in Brazil. Noemia was a top fashion model with Christian Dior for 10 years, but now runs Paolo e Noemia d'Amico winery while her husband Paolo takes care of his shipping business. Over an authentic Tuscan lunch al fresco in her garden, we tasted her wines while her dogs played at our feet. The atmosphere was so carefree and happy, I forgot all sense of time. Her Villa Tirrena Merlot del Lazio made with 100% Merlot has very soft under-stated tannins and its flavours of raspberries and cherries went well with my Scallopina of veal. Her 2001 Falesia IGT Chardonnay wine was a brilliant yellow gold colour and full of rich buttery vanilla from the aging in French oak. I enjoyed the Falesia with a tasty Tagliatelle alla Salmone (salmon) with pasta "al dente", of course. All too soon it was time to travel on. As I bid her Adieu, I told her, "You are as beautiful as your wines." She smiled and waved to me as her silky, chestnut brown ponytail swung playfully in the cool breeze. |
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Villa Medoro In the Eternal City that is Rome, I made my way to one of my favourite restaurants - Al Presidente (named after former Italian President Sandro Pertini who ate there a lot). It is a hop, skip and jump away from la Fontana di Trevi. Dining on classic Roman dishes like homemade pasta with pancetta, tomatoes and Pecorino (sheep) cheese, and lamb in a white sauce of capers, rosemary and garlic, I conversed and tasted Villa Medoro's wines with the President of the company. Frederica Morricone is not only slim, chic and good looking BUT is also a trained lawyer. C'est formidable! I can never forget her name because it is the same as the musician who composed the film music for classics like Clint Eastwood's "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". Believe me, when you taste deep, dark purple Villa Medoro Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2001 with its sweet fragrance, liquorice and spice notes you can't stop at one glass. The same can be said for the rose Villa Medoro Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Cersuolo 2002. The simple nose belies a tempting flavour of oaky, seductive red fruit; it's just perfect with a Bacon "Gianciale" and vegetable tart with Parmesan cream. When it comes to food and wines, there is always something new to learn and enjoy. Buon appetito and Salute!! |
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The
Travelling Gourmet visits Arabia to find…. The Travelling Gourmet is a celebrated Travel, Food & Wine Writer/Editor/Chef from Asia |
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My name is Lim....Michael
Lim. As The Travelling Gourmet I have scoured the world for the best in
food, wine and gastronomy and I found all that and more when I was
privileged to attend the 1st Grand Gourmet Summit in the Middle East
held in the Grand Hyatt It was a culinary rendezvous
to remember. Every day I awoke from peaceful slumber filled with dreams
of champag e and caviar in my luxurious suite on the Grand floor at
0600, to amble down to the high tech Gym. Doing my Ballet exercises
while watching the sunrise over the City of Gold is an exquisite
pleasure to be treasured. After my Ballet and aerobic exercises plus a
swim or two in the superb ,yes, dare I say it "Grand" resort
pool in the style that Haytt is famous for, with lots of luscious
foliage and date palms, as well as waterfalls, it was off to the lap
pool for He told me one day in
German, "Why go to the Banana when you can come here!" The
Banana is an insider reference to the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. If there is
one restaurant you must try here, it is the Pepper Crab where Arabian
guests have fallen madly in love with food from Singapore. It is 90%
authentic, which is good, as Dubai is thousands of kilometers from Asia.
I loved to attend the Cooking classes held by Masterchefs in the state
of the art high tech Kitchen All the best, M. The Travelling Gourmet |
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Dear Bibi, Just a quick note to let
you know that on Fri 16 July I was the first gourmet in the world to match Durian and
Wine at the Marriott hotel in Singapore at a special event for VIPs and
the Press and Media. It was always believed as an old wives' tale that
Durian and alcohol was fatal when consumed together but I have proven
that this is balderdash and has no scientific basis. Durian is a
tropical fruit that is famous for its powerful perfume and was loved by
the famous Victorian naturalist Alfred Russel. Wallace
mentioned the fruit in his book, The Malay Archipelago published in
1869. On August 14, 2003 I was the first gourmet in the world to
match Mooncakes with Wines also at the Marriott Singapore.
Bibi's Comment: Dr. Michael Lim, known as The Travelling Gourmet, has also contributed various favourite philosophies |
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