Last week i joined three lady friends I met at a Jacques Pepin event here in May and we headed to Chef Cedric Maupillier's new fine dining destination BARBOOUZRAD. It has been open only two months and the place was heaving, yet it still had a reserved, refined air of elegance in the gorgeous decor. There is a long bar on one side, and the very large open space has dividers, but tables are well spaced. The noise levels were muted due to carpeting and very comfy padded furniture.
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
DC's BARBOUZARD is BRILLIANT (10-15-25)
Friday, October 17, 2025
Boston's KRASI is Greek cuisine that is cool and creative (10-12-25)
After attending Macbeth at the opera, we were joined by the two royal leads for a fabulous dinner at Boston's KRASI in the West End. On arrival, there was a mix-up with our reservation, but it was indeed partially my fault as the person who made it used our soprano's last name, not mine! The manager was fab though and despite claiming overbooked, he cleared a large, raised table at the rear for 8 or more people and we got to occupancy half of it for three hours until the other group on the other side arrived as we were having dessert! The space is small and narrow and long with a long bar on one side and a tad noisy, but the food and superb service we got from Jorge made up for everything.
Monday, October 13, 2025
Boston's DEUXAVE does it well but too also overdoes it! (10-11-25)
We arrived in Boston a day before our opera performance to ensure no delays and chose to dine at the elegant and classy DEUXAVE. On arrival, we were warmly greeted and impressed by the cozy feel, super comfy tall back seats with little lumbar pillows and the excellent service. Deuxave is elegant French, but the one big problem was BIG..the portions are huge. The place was full of all kinds of people and seating were occurring up to our departure at 10pm, so its popularity is undisputed. We were handed tasting menus and asked to see the a la carte as the tasting seemed t be five HUGE courses to start; that should have been a hint. Will ordered a glass of rose and I settled on a bottle of red for the two of us for the rest of dinner which was an excellent Burgundy from Domaine Martin-Dufour "Chemissine" 2022 Chorey-les-Beaune full of fruit and great body to boot.
Friday, October 10, 2025
DC's CRANES is Spanish/Kaseiki cuisine that conquers (10-8-25)
I often don't get to new places in DC for ages and then regret my decisions, but at last year's March of Dimes Signature Chefs Chef Paco Moncayo of the Michelin starred CRANES in downtown DC wowed me with his dish at the event and I had to buy his tasting dinner that night. We decided to head over this past Wednesday for Will's birthday and had an immensely spectacular meal which they also did a vegetarian tasting for Sam and even he was mightily impressed.
Saturday, October 04, 2025
DC's The RED HEN always rocks (19-30-25)
Tuesday night we joined friends for a fab dinner at THE RED HEN here in Dc where we have been away from for way too long. Chef Mike Friedman cooks some of the meaning Italian food around town with some wonderful spices and an American flair.
Saturday, September 13, 2025
Minneapolis' Bucheron may be the best in the Upper Midwest (9-12-25)
We are in St. Paul, MN for a wedding this weekend and had one night free for dinner and chose Bucheron located on the south side of Minneapolis, just across the river. It was a brilliant choice indeed. While Bucheron boasts family ownership by Chef Adam Ritter and his wife Jeanie Janas Ritter, they have assembled a friendly, courteous and helpful team which works in sync and was led at our table by the charming Adriana. They just won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant 2025, which is no small feat to beat!
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Monday, September 08, 2025
Bordeaux's LA TUPINA is terrific traditional food (9-4-25)
Our last dinner in Bordeaux before returning stateside was with our friend Hugo at his favorite place in town, LA TUPINA. It is an unassuming space with some outdoor seating, and we worried hearing English spoken at first, but as we moved deeper inside this old old house with cute small rooms and very old wooden tables, it was largely locals enjoying a wonderful evening. We arrived at 8pm and the place was virtually full! We saw dishes going by and marveled at the smells and choices and we were thrilled when the exciting and different menus arrived showing the variety of the traditional local dishes going way back. Hugo mentioned that he had not had Sanguette since his mom made it when he was younger and I decided to give it a go. But first, we consulted with our server, Davide, who had a super sense of humor and went on to choose a Chateau Haut Bertineries Sauvignon Blanc (old vines) from Cite de Blaye just to the north. It was a great wine with lots of acidity and was ideal with the Sanguette which was a thick crepe made with pork blood in the mix and scattered with pieces of duck neck inside the batter as well. WOW, this was a revelation, and I tried to finish it, but knew we had main courses coming. Hugo adored his gorgeous Foie Gras terrine and Will tried another new dish Calamars façon Pibales, which was calamari cooked in the style of "Elvers" or eels so that they were cut up into pieces and seasoned with garlic, espalette pepper and lemon. It was so flavorful and yummy and again ideal with the wine.