The Olympics we sorely needed

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So the Olympic Games are finally over. Paris 2024 has provided us with more than 2 weeks' of excitement as well as a fair share of controversy. I think the overwhelming sense from many people is that Paris put on a really good show, and the athletes were genuinely excited about being in Paris and competing at many of the venues with iconic backdrops.

This time around the TV rights in Hong Kong were bought by the government, who granted the four broadcasters rights to show whatever they wanted. So we had, at times, up to 7 different channels with live coverage of the games. However, the channels prioritized events where Hong Kong or Chinese athletes were participating, and since each broadcaster wanted to attract viewers, there were many instances where I would see 4 different channels - one from each broadcaster - showing the exact same event. Yes, there were times when I could only watch two different events out of 6 channels broadcasting the games.

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Nevertheless, I got to see plenty of action in beautiful Paris. Shots of fencing competition in Grand Palais, where Hong Kong's Vivian Kong Man Wai (江旻憓) took the gold in the Women's Individual Épée under that gorgeous glass ceiling on the first day of competition after the Opening Ceremony. Triathlon athletes bicycling and running, as marathoners did, on Pont Alexandre III and past the Tour Eiffel, and shots of them on Champs-Élysées with the Arc de Triomphe in the distance. Skateboarders jumping over obstacles with the Obelisk of Luxor as the backdrop. All memories I will cherish.

The DEI Olympics Opening Ceremony

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It's that time again. The Olympics are back, and ever since the closing ceremony almost 3 years ago, I have had high expectations for the show that the French would put on for the world. In fact, the short clips from Paris 2024 that aired during the Closing Ceremony of Tokyo 2020 was the best part of that show.

I went to bed after dinner tonight, and got up a few minutes before the 1:30 a.m. start time of the Opening Ceremony of Paris 2024 to watch it live. This time around the Hong Kong Government had purchased the broadcasting rights for the Games, and we are able to watch events via the city's four free-to-air broadcasters.

The show started with a humorous clip of Jamel Debbouze carrying the Olympic flame into an empty Stade de France with no one in sight... except for Zizou tapping him on the shoulder and offering to take the flame from him. After Zizou buys a ticket to hop on a Paris Metro train but gets stuck, he passes the flame to three kids who run through the underground tunnels, catacombs, and gets invited to hop into a rowboat on a canal - probably Canal Saint-Martin - by a figure in period costume. This was the first appearance of the Mysterious/Masked Torchbearer - and we would see them run through famous sights in Paris as well as on Parisian rooftops à la Arsène Lupin - one of four inspirations for this character along with Belphégor, Fantômas, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the Phantom of the Opera, and the Man in the Iron Mask - hence the fencing mask obscuring the identity.

From early on, it's clear that the show would have both light-hearted as well as dark, brooding elements. It would also be obvious that with the national motto of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité included as chapters along with Sororité, this would be the "DEI Olympics"... at least when it came to the Opening Ceremony.

The best dishes I had in 2023

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Another year of eating pretty well, now that we've been released from the shackles of the pandemic and resumed travel around the world. Revenge travel, it is called, and I've made no less than 6 trips to Taiwan just to see the Parental Units. Of course, there were other trips, too... and I finally made it outside of Asia towards the end of the year.

Once again I have compiled a list of dishes I've enjoyed during the year which drew the most emotional reactions from me. I've had many, many delicious dishes over hundreds of meals, and as always it is no easy task to pare the list down to a manageable number. The dishes were tasted in Hong Kong unless otherwise indicated.

Golden roast pigs from New Territories Farms (新界農場大金豬), from Red Seasons Aroma Restaurant (季季紅風味餐廳) - it had been four years since I was last able to taste this roast pork... where the pigs were roasted in underground ovens and the very crunchy crackling come with that beautiful smoky flavor. Just so, so happy to be able to enjoy this with friends again.

The French triangle day 8: from Ministers to McDo

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I woke up to clearer skies this morning, which put me in a good mood. It's my third and last day in Paris, and I really wanted to see some blue skies before I left France. Once again I stuck around in my hotel room and didn't get myself any breakfast, because I had been sternly warned that the portions at lunch today would be humongous.

And blue sky it was! I didn't have a ton of time before lunch to walk around, but I did stroll to the river bank to catch a glimpse of the Assemblée Nationale as well as the Pont de la Concorde.

Café des Ministères came highly recommended by two friends, one of whom would join me today. The name is appropriate, I suppose, as it's located right smack in the middle of a number of government ministries. Jean and Roxane Sevegnes run the well-regarded restaurant, and I'm lucky to be able to visit on such short notice.

The French triangle day 7: a Table in Paris

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As I was planning this trip, arguably the first meal I actually booked was tonight's dinner. The name of Bruno Verjus has been known to me for quite a few years as we have a number of mutual friends, and I've heard praise of his cooking for the last few years. Then two of my close chef friends put on four-hands dinners with him this year, and that put Table at the top of my list for Paris. The added bonus was that, unlike another restaurant which has been on top of my hit list, they accept bookings from single diners.

The restaurant is a short walk from my hotel, passing the viaduct along the way. I arrived a few minutes before the restaurant officially opened at 7:30 p.m. so I waited patiently to be seated. Once through the door, I was surprised to find Bruno seated just inside, greeting all the guests as they came in. He inquired where I came from, and we had a short but friendly exchange.

From what I could see, most of the seats in the restaurant consisted of counter seating, and I was led to my seat in front of the open kitchen. From there I could see all the ingredients before and during the cooking process. While I'm normally nonplussed about getting a view of the kitchen, this turned out to be very nice when one is dining alone.

I was asked whether I had any interest in taking the white truffle menu in lieu of the "regular", and some of the dishes would have white truffle shaved on top. As it's in season and I am much closer to the source than I normally would be, I agreed to the premium and wondered what the extra 300 Euros on top of the 400 I have already paid would get me.

The French triangle day 7: miserable rain

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It's raining in Paris today. After the blue skies yesterday, it's now miserable. So much so that I didn't want to leave my hotel room this morning to even get some breakfast.

I met up with a pair of Parisien foodies for lunch today, and they suggested I try Tanguy, a crèperie in their neighborhood. While we do have some decent places in Hong Kong for galettes and crèpes Breton, it's been more than 10 years since I actually tasted them in France.

I don't normally drink much at lunch, but decided to have a glass of cidre from Coat-Albret.

The French triangle day 6: le plus beau restaurant de Paris

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Years ago after during my second trip to Paris, my friend Cathy - whose apartment I was staying in during the trip - gave me a present for Christmas. It was a book entitled Les Plus Beaux Restaurants de Paris, and on the cover was a picture of Le Train Bleu - the historical brasserie inside Gare de Lyon. That was the moment I found out the location of the famous scene in Nikita - the Luc Besson film I had loved so much. I did manage to visit the restaurant for dinner some years ago, but while I was stunned by the beauty of the decor, the food was not enticing enough for a return visit.

As I was planning this trip a few weeks ago, I discovered that there was a 6-hands dinner at the restaurant tonight. Since my visit years ago, the famed restaurant has been under the care of the legendary Michel Rostang, with Samir Balia running the kitchen day-to-day. For tonight only, Jean Sulpice of Auberge du Père Bise has been invited to present some of his dishes along with the host chefs. I quickly moved my original plans to accommodate for this special event.

There's some renovation work being done on the restaurant, but the interior is as grand and stunning as it's ever been. The Belle Epoque decor with its series of paintings and brass fittings never fail to take my breath away.

I'm very grateful that they take bookings for single diners, even for a special event like this. Having walked through the restaurant a few times during dinner, I'm pretty sure I was the only singleton tonight.

The meal started with une coupe de Champagne de bienvenue:

Bollinger Special Cuvée - an easy drinking wine. There's acidity here but the palate is definitely more on the sweet side.

Croq Mégevan, par Michel Rostang - on top of the hazelnut Parmesan tart was a layercake of Tomme de Chèvre and Viande des Grisons.

Mousse des bois, par Jean Sulpice - the vegetable mousse came with a sponge biscuit, sliced mushrooms, and cream. This really does taste like the woodlands as it was green and grassy.

Royale de foie gras, topinambours et anguille fumée, par Michel Rostang - this was all about Jerusalem artichokes, and the flavors from the foam on top were very strong. We've got pickled chunks of Jerusalem artichokes as well as some pink radishes, bringing their acidity to help balance out the richness of the foie gras. The smoked eel were delicious and brought their texture into the mix, and surprisingly they were also a little acidic.

Fera du lac d'Annecy, eau de cresson, par Jean Sulpice - the fera from Lake Annecy has been cured and smoked, and brings a nice, bouncy texture. We have watercress purée as well as watercress juice, which were not too heavy and overpowering. They just helped to add a little something extra to the fera, with a little acidity and green flavors. Very nice and refreshing dish.

Langoustine, cannelloni de brochet, par Michel Rostang - I gotta say... that langoustine jus reduction was just killer!

The langoustine was pretty nicely done.

The pike cannelloni was sooo rich and creamy inside with citrus coulis, and wrapped with linguine. Very tasty.

So the guy who looked like the manager of the restaurant came to introduce the dish to me, instead of the waitstaff who have done the introductions up to this point. He basically repeated the name of the dish and did not elaborate. It was the most unenthusiastic introduction I can remember, as if he felt his time was wasted even speaking to me. I haven't missed attitude like his one bit in the five years I have been away from France.

Agneau du foin des alpes, caillettes et pistaches, par Jean Sulpice - the lamb was obviously cooked the traditional way and not done sous vide, and it was very tender and moist. It was also very smoky after being treated on hay from the Alps. There was a pistachio crust, which made it pretty nice. There was a small pile of spinach that had been put through a blender.

The little mound of minced lamb was fucking amazing, as the flavors of the lamb fat really shone through. I wish I could have a whole bowl of this and just some bread...

Oseille, agrumes et vanille givrée de St Philippe, par Jean Sulpice - a signature of the chef, this vanilla blanc manger came with a vanilla crémeux and some citrus gel, then surrounded by confit of various citrus fruits and finally, sorrel granité and a tuille on top. The acidity of the granité was pretty nice and worked well with the citrus flavors.

Parfait glacé chartreuse, crémeux chocolat Guanaja, par Michel Rostang - the chocolate sauce was really rich and came flavored with chartreuse. The parfait also came with chartreuse. Like the other dessert, this was also very refreshing.

I was in no position to take a bottle on my own but I still wanted to drink somethng with dinner, so I asked for a glass of red that wouldn't break the bank.

2020 Pagodes de Cos - ripe and jammy cassis, definitely pretty oaky with that vanilla, some smoky on the nose, too. I could feel the tannins a little but the wine was already soft enough to be drinkable. Soooo minty and fragrant on the nose, this was a vibrant wine and drinking pretty well.

I wouldn't say this was an amazing dinner, but I did enjoy some of the dishes - in particular ones from Jean Sulpice. The flavors were more "green", lighter, and more refreshing. As I come up against a little jet lag at dinner time, this kind of flavor profile really appealed to me tonight. I'm happy that I came for a taste, and perhaps one day I can make it out to Lake Annecy.

I'm still happy about having an excuse to come back to this beautiful dining room, and I was smiling the whole way as I walked back to my hotel.

The French triangle day 6: Champagne on the island

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It's time to bid farewell to Strasbourg, but not before one last breakfast! I went back to Boulangerie Woerlé for more goodies and brought them back to the apartment to enjoy with this view one last time.

The French triangle, day 1: horses and dragons

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My flight landed in the early hours of the morning, and going through immigration and getting my luggage went without a hitch. I had more than an hour to kill before boarding my train, and I was looking around for breakfast options. Unfortunately I had passed up hitting McDo at Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2, and I didn't like any of the options at the TGV station, so I decided to suck it until lunch.

It was good to be back at Bordeaux Gare Saint-Jean after so many years, and I took a connecting train to Libourne, where I was picked up to join a late lunch (late on account of me...)

The best dishes I had in 2018

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2018 was particularly good to me from a culinary perspective.  I made a long-overdue return to Europe and hit a few places I had been meaning to visit, and I also managed to scratch a few itches in Japan.  I'm grateful to all the chefs who, no doubt, have spent countless hours creating amazing dishes for us to enjoy.

As in previous years, this is simply listed by chronological order.  These were the dishes which brought out the strongest emotional response from me.

Le canard : Challans duck breast and foie gras duo, mango with ginger vinegar and fresh coriander from Robuchon au Dôme, Macau - I had the proper "tournedos Rossini" a few weeks earlier, but the version made with Challans duck was arguably even better than one made with beef... as the duck breast fused with foie gras seemed more "natural".

Europe 2018 day 17: escape from Paris

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It's our last day in Paris and we have a few errands to run.  After storing our luggage at Gare du Nord - which involved a 1½ hour taxi ride with our luggage as a result of Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées being completely blocked off and jammed - we crossed the river for a quick errand, before coming back to the 8ème. I was looking for an easy lunch spot that wasn't an obvious tourist trap around the Place de la Madeleine when Hello Kitty came upon Chez Nicolas, the wine bar above the wine shop.We got ourselves a table by the window overlooking L'église de la Madeleine, in the comfort of air conditioning. Lo and behold, they even have something that's totally up my alley!

Andouillette Duval 5A, sauce moutarde poivre maison - I get to eat andouillette for my very last meal in Paris!  I would never have imagined that!  This was completely smothered in mustard sauce, which was really rich.  The fat fries on the side were pretty nice, but there was just waaay too much of it.

Europe 2018 day 16: Champion du Monde

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It's Sunday in Paris where many outlets are closed, including your neighborhood boulangeries.  Since we can't get our caffeine fix at Eric Kayser and we were reluctant to patronize a touristy café with tables on the sidewalk, we decided to grab breakfast at... McDo!

Œuf McMuffin bacon et beef

McMuffin jambon Emmental fondu

We grabbed a taxi to visit Fondation Louis Vuitton, which is adjacent to the Jardin d'Acclimatation and not far from the apartment. It's an impressive structure designed by Frank Gehry, with terraces where one can relax while getting a view of the nearby parks and the skyscrapers in the distance.

Europe 2018 day 15: Bastille Day

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I'm finally in Paris on Bastille Day!  I am very much looking forward to the festivities today, especially the fireworks tonight.

We got ready to explore more touristy sites this morning, and just as we were coming out of our apartment not long before 10am, I saw a whole crowd of people standing in the middle of Avenue de la Grande-Armée.  They seemed to be waiting for something.

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A few seconds later I had my answer.  The noise of jets flying overhead reached my ears and I just managed to catch the Patrouille de France fly past us with their tri-colored smoke. I immediately took my camera out of my bag and started filming.

Europe 2018 day 14: under the pyramid

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Today is museum day, and I've set aside the daylight hours for the Musée du Louvre.  It's been more than a decade and a half since my last visit, and it would be interesting to see what has changed over this period.

I'm ever so grateful that I don't have to line up and buy a ticket for this place, so getting in was a breeze.  The place is still massive and a total maze, so we devised a game plan and figured out which sections we wanted to see.  Of course, we had to hit a few of the "must-see" works just like most of the tourists here... and these included Venus de Milo as well as La Victoire de Samothrace.

Europe 2018 day 13: the little white rose

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The afternoon's shopping session brought Hello Kitty some much-needed happiness after a disappointing lunch. After retiring to the apartment to freshen up, we crossed the river for dinner at Neige d'Été.  Like Passage53 last night, and indeed a number of dining establishments we are visiting this trip, it was not immediately apparent that we had come upon the right place.

There is only one menu, and one has the option of adding caviar or truffle with certain dishes as a supplement.

Deep-fried squid and octopus

Potato foam and watermelon soup - with little bits of watermelon and what seemed to be celery, and a purple chip on top.

Tartare de veau, crème de haddock, pomme paille, avec Caviar Kristal - I chose to add the caviar supplement, but not sure it was necessary.  The veal tartare came with anchovies, girolles, crispy strands of potato, haricots verts, fava beans, peas, basil, and tomatoes.  The girolles were chilled and smoky.  The haddock cream underneath the caviar was also smoky.

Europe 2018 day 13: 10 white men

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There's an outlet of Eric Kayser just around the corner from the apartment we are staying in, so naturally this became our go-to place for coffee and viennoiserie in the morning.  It won't be the best in Paris, but it's good enough to keep us happy.
This morning, though, I had something else to sample: the Pierre Hermé x L'Occitane macarons I bought from 68 Champs yesterday.

Pamplemousse and rhubarbe - fruity, but dominated by cloves.

Jasmin, néroli, immortelle - could clearly taste the jasmine, but overall it tastes like L'Occitane hand cream... so I guess that would be the immortelle.

Miel, immortelle and mandarine - much more orange, very sweet.

Europe 2018 day 12: from McDo to Michelin

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After bidding farewell to our hostess and Moses, our host dropped us off at Nice Airport - where we once again put our luggage in storage.  We then took the bus and headed into town for some last-minute exploration.  In all honesty, we really didn't see much of Nice on the day we arrived...

When we got off the bus at Jardin Albert 1er, we crossed the street to the promenade next to the beach for a look.  I was in utter shock.  I had imagined pretty, white sand beaches on the Côte d'Azur... but I saw nothing but pebbles and gravel on the beach.  I'd probably have to lay down 2 layers of towels so that the corners of those stones don't puncture a hole in my ass.  Coming from Asia where we have plenty of beautiful beaches... this was certainly a big disappointment.

We needed to grab some breakfast and coffee, so we stopped by Chez Maître Pierre.  I couldn't resist grabbing a palmier that was literally bigger than my face... and with plenty of sugar, too!

After a not-so-quick stop to acquire boîte orange numero 1, we went back to the airport, retrieved our luggage, and flew back to Orly Airport for our second leg in Paris.

Europe 2018 day 9: a nice day in Nice

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We dragged ourselves up before sunrise, cleaned up the lovely AirBnB apartment we were staying in, saw a beautiful sunrise over the Place de la Bastille, and headed for Orly Airport.  We're spending a few days in the south of France with some old friends of mine, and Nice would be our first stop today.

After landing at Nice Airport, we made our way to Gare de Nice Ville and dropped off our luggage.  There were two museums I wanted to hit while we were here, and the first one seemed just a relatively short walk from the station.

Marc Chagall is one of my favorite artists, and I was very happy to have the chance to visit Musée National Marc Chagall.

Europe 2018 day 8: the Rubik's Cube

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Like many others, I have been following Cedric Grolet on Instagram for a while.  During this time I have been deeply fascinated by his creations, which have ranged from fruity desserts made to look like fruit, to his beautiful apple pie, to that most Instagrammable creation of all - the Rubik's Cube.

I knew that he's the pastry chef at Le Meurice, and that his desserts are being served during tea at Le Dalí.  But neither restaurant lists the Rubik's Cube on their menus, and I couldn't figure out where to go and try it.  And there wasn't a whole lot of information available on the Internet...

Out of pure desperation, I decided to contact someone working with Alain Ducasse - with whom I had the pleasure of dining last year - and inquired about the possibility of trying this special creation.  Thankfully this person came to my rescue, and put me in touch with the right people who secured a table for me at Le Dalí today.

I found out in May that the Ho's would also be in Paris today, and we had discussed the possibility of doing tea together.  I figured that the kiddies would be interested in having some sweets, and the creations seemed pretty fun.  So the four adults and two kids came dressed (well, some of us, anyway...) for the occasion.

The desserts we ordered came in quick succession, and soon the entire table was occupied with various plates, pots of tea, and cups.  Mrs. Ho was ever so helpful by keeping the kiddies in check while I tried as quickly as possible to take pictures and record a few videos.

Tomate - one of the seasonal items on offer as part of tea service.  Like the others in the same series, the shell was created the look like the fruit (yes, tomato is a fruit) while the inside was filled with pieces of the same fruit.  This was surprisingly tasty, but some people - including the kiddies at our table - were probably not used to having savory flavors as dessert.

Europe 2018 day 8: phở in Paris

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Another morning, another visit to the boulangerie for viennoiserie.  Today we're going back to Blé Sucré, an old favorite of mine.  Imma getting me some kouign amann today!  The place is kinda within walking distance from the apartment, so we took a stroll over in order to work up an appetite...

Croissant - this was just OK.  Not particularly impressive.  The one I had here 8 years ago was much, much better.

Chocolatine - pretty sizable and decent, but certainly not as fine as the one at Du Pain et des Idées yesterday.

Kouign amann - the reason why I'm here today.  Must have this wonderful and delicious collection of folds with plenty of sugar added.  Yum.