Jackie du Monde

If you are interested in food porn, just scroll to the bottom and ignore my flowery words.  :) E-mail, May 1 Hi, Ok, I booked the hotel for San Sebastian (with a view of La Playa de Concha).  Should I make the reservation to Arzak for Thursday night? ------- Hey there, So exciting.  YES!!  Though I don't think you'll get a reservation this late.  But I'll keep my fingers crossed. E-mail, May 2 Hi, Ok you were right, it is impossible to go to ARZAK but...we will go to something better.  Arzak is number 8 in the world's 50 best restaurants and Mugaritz is number 3!! I booked a table for the 24th at 21:30 :-) Have a great day. ------- Hi, Number 3?  I suppose that will have to do.  ;) Real life, Thursday, May 24th - 21:40, somewhere in the Basque countryside near San Sebastian No trip to Basque is complete without basking in the Michelin star.   This region in Spain has one of the highest Michelin star pe...

My friend Mike owns a champagne importing company in Connecticut, called Transatlantic Bubbles.  I met Mikey on an unforgettable trip to the Russian River Valley many years ago, when I was invited along to celebrate his and a friend’s 30 th birthday. Each year, Mike and his business partner, Jeff, put together a week-long trip to Champagne to visit some of their marquis producers.  They invite some of their best clients and an occasional charming American living in Europe (or three) to partake in some of the festivities. The bottle that started it all... This year, I was able to join the group at the end of their week to visit one of my favorite producers, George Laval.  Mike introduced me to Laval on a beautiful spring night in London, when he brought a bottle to our dinner picnic on Islington Green, a very small park, a patch of grass really, in the north of London, near where I used to live.  It was an unassuming bottle, with a simple label.  M...