Thomas Keller’s London

The star chef, filming an upcoming travel TV show with Everybody Loves Raymond producer Phil Rosenthal, picks his new favorite spots. Thomas Keller picks his favorite London spots. Photo courtesy of Deborah Jones.

Keller wasn’t hungry when he went to this French bistro. “And then I ate everything. A beautiful French vegetable soup, garbure and braised hare.” bistrotbrunoloubet.com.

Chef James Knappett met his wife, Sandia Chang, at Keller’s Per Se in Manhattan, then moved to London. “Sandia wanted to do hot dogs; James is committed to fine dining. They split the place in half,” says Keller, who tasted 12 dogs (including the Per Se-inspired truffled BLT), then ate 15 courses at Knappett’s Kitchen Table. bubbledogs.co.uk.

“We bellied up to the bar and they just sent out plates,” says Keller of this high-energy tapas spot. “The prawns were simple, a la plancha. But it was one of the most compelling prawn dishes I’ve ever had. I pulled off the tail and extracted all the lingering flavor from the head.” josepizarro.com.

Mark Hix’s newest restaurant specializes in chicken and steak, but Keller was obsessed with the converted Citroën food truck out front, where Hix serves fish dogs: a bun topped with a fish stick, mushy peas and tartar sauce. chickenandsteak.co.uk.

View the original article here

Thomas Keller-top-5-NAPA restaurants

Superstar-chef and unofficial Mayor of Yountville, is Thomas Keller of The French Laundry, the bistro and bakery Bouchonand his casual offshoot of Ad-Hoc, fried known for his cult chicken nights. The NAPA powerhouse here shares his favorite local spots. Chef Thomas Keller shares his favorite restaurants Napa.

"In Yountville, Richard speeches thing sound Redd, is a wonderful restaurant," says Thomas Keller of slender spot new American from New York architectural firm Asfour Guzy designed. Flower Bowl in San Francisco with the region of ingredient-driven principles for dishes like pork belly with soy caramel speeches thing sound fuses his experience at the Masa and Sonoma duck with stone fruit mostarda jus.

"Oenotri I like that a lot, is a large, simple restaurant in the downtown Napa," says Keller. "Great pizza and great salads." Chefs Curtis Di Fede and Tyler Rodde change their menu almost every day, channeling South Italy attention pizza and vegetables. Often they combine both, like a pie topped with wood-oven-roasted cauliflower. Defying the local tradition, former French Laundry-sommelier, the sur Lucero focuses on Italian wines.

For something more formal, like Keller, Perry Hoffman Étoile, located in Yountville within Domaine Chandon. Hoffman specialty is globally influenced nouvelle cuisine, this goes also with the winery sparklers, such as an ox tail corn served aspic with sweet white and paired breeding with a 2007 Yountville vintage.

Quick and cheap meals can be hard to get in an area with such a high concentration of world class restaurants. A favorite Insider has cellar select: "I like the tacos Garcia truck in the parking lot outside of Pancha karma." Beef of burritos, it's very easy, "he says." The truck also benefits from the ideal location: the Pancha is a popular dive bar with billiards and beer.

Chef Nick Ritchie worked for five years before taking over these years Rutherford restaurants, which recommends cellar for Michael Chiarello. Ritchie created traditional Ligurian dishes like creamy Lasagnette with pesto Genovese and béchamel sauce.

"" It depends really on someone's sophistication about wine", says Keller."Going to Mondavi or Franciscan is a good way, begin to try on the other hand, in boutique wineries previously must make an appointment. "If you can make time, Ann Colgin Colgin produced beautiful Cabernet and Bordeaux style blends, that are exemplary for the terroir of Napa Valley cellars in St. Helena."

View the original article here

Beaches, Mountains, and Great Food - The Wonders of St Thomas

Have you been looking for a beautiful tropical place to visit away from the cold of the winter months? Then you should consider going to the island of St. Thomas in the Caribbean Sea. It is an absolutely gorgeous island and I have many reasons why I visit it as much as I possibly can.

Let's talk about some of the reasons that you might consider going to St. Thomas.

The beaches of St. Thomas will just take your breath away with their beauty and gorgeously blue water. Many smaller, less crowded ones are there also, where you will be able to completely relax and unwind.

There are quite a few upscale restaurants on the island and all of them have chefs who are extremely talented. The food is plentiful and there is a nice assortment of restaurants offering gourmet foods and well-prepared meals, so you will have a lot of options when it comes to dining.

The island has a very unique topography which accounts for the nice mixture of mountains and beaches. Of course, if you were visiting the Rockies, you would see the snow-capped mountains; nevertheless, when you visit St. Thomas, you are going to get to see some high points here where the view of the water is spectacular.

It is very convenient that the native language on St. Thomas is English. How much easier it is to go to a place where everyone speaks the same language, not a different one. The fact that all the people on the island speak perfect English should make you happy.

The fact that no passport is required in order to go to the island is something that people like. St. Thomas is a part of the US Virgin Islands, which makes it an American destination. Therefore, you will not need any type of international identification or passport when you travel there.

Here is something that you need to always remember if you rent a car when you visit St. Thomas - the cars drive on the left side of the road. This can be quite confusing and, combined with the very steep hills that are on these roads, can make your driving experience somewhat difficult.

Felicia Cranston has a new site about solar panels for homes, which can be accessed at http://solarpanelsforhomes.org.