Feast in a Rustic Bistro

Chez L'Ami Jean was often quoted as a prime example of one can dine well in a restaurant in Paris without the bestowment of a Michelin star and without breaking the bank. And we went there for lunch on another sunny, super hot afternoon.

Another Evening in Milan; Another Pop-up Restaurant

It's already quite late when I finished the Italian Pavilion at the Milan Expo after an hour-long wait outside, so I thought it's time for dinner before heading back to town. Totally exhausted by all the walking and sweating under the sun, I was looking for somewhere comfortable that I could sit down and enjoy a quiet meal. Inside the Expo site, there are actually quite a number of restaurants offering something fancier than food hall-type of food, and I looked no further than Peck a Palazzo Italia located above the main exhibition of the Italian pavilion at the site known as Palazzo Italia.

Lunch in a Paris Chateau

Saint James Paris didn't look like anything we would normally find in the middle of a city - a chateau in the secluded 16th Arrondissement, built in the late 19th Century by a wealthy widow in memory of her late husband, and at one time served as a student residence and even an airfield for hot-air balloon. Now it has become an exclusive members club, a Relais & Chateaux hotel and a Michelin-starred restaurant.  

During the day, the bar and restaurant are accessible only by club members and hotel guests for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, but we took advantage of the reciprocal benefit of our new club membership at home to make arrangement for lunch there on a Monday afternoon as guest members.

On the hills of Trezzo Tinella

Over the week in Piedmont, we stayed in a lovely house on the hills at Trezzo Tinella, a small commune not far away from Neive and Barbaresco in Langhe. It's not the first time we chose not to stay in a regular hotel but went for a short-term rental option - we did that 2 years ago in Tuscany, and with websites like AirBnB getting more popular and into mainstream it's easier now to find more information about such accommodations.

Journey to Piedmont: The Land of Truffles and Wines

We have encountered the following conversation countless times in the past few months:

"So, heard you guys are heading to Italy soon. Where about are you going?"
"Oh, Piedmont" we replied.

Usually that would lead to an awkward silence. Even when we tried to explain that Piedmont is an area in Northern Italy close to Milan, many were still a bit confused at where exactly we were heading to, and why.