chicken with vin jaune  / spinach from last night:

e and i went to paris for a couple of days - overall we had a fun trip.  on friday we had lunch at guy savoy which was a pretty big let down - i would place it a way behind many other restos i have been at this year, and certainly behind places i have previously been to in paris.  however, we had a fun evening at juveniles, and on saturday i went to joel tiebault to get some veg - this was excellent (see below) and i would heartily recommend.

some thoughts on lunch at noma yesterday (thanks so much to martha for organising).  the food is great - lots of focus on delicious vegetables and skilful technique (especially cooking over flame).  particular highlights for me were a grilled leek dish with cod roe, fermented plums served with roast beets and an amazing piece of zander / pike-perch / walleye grilled in a cabbage leaf, but all of the dishes were excellent.  there were some elements of trickery but, perhaps other than a live shrimp which was overpowered by a burnt butter sauce  these were tasty and added to the pleasure of eating.  the accuracy of the flavour reminded me of the sportsman in kent, which in my mind is very high praise indeed.

however, the difference between noma and every other restaurant i have been to was the warmth and pacing of the service.  the meal is begins with snacks which arrive thick and fast, served on a single place and shared by passing around the table.  the servers just gave us enough info to gets us talking about each snack but didn't stop the flow of our conversation - i think most of the service was done by the captain for our table.  after a rapid fire 40 mins or so, the table was cleaned down and re-set for larger dishes and a wine order was taken.  each of the main dishes and deserts was presented by a different server at a much less frenetic pace - it took me a little while to realise these are the people who have actually made the food and work the pass.  the give away was a pair of tweezers tucked into a lapel - the presentation and placing of herbs and seeds on each dish seems to be the signature and i am sure the chefs need very steady hands.  again, there was a final stripping down and building back of the table setting for dessert / coffee etc.. and an opportunity to linger in the low sun.

noma was a very memorable meal - if you get the chance i would thoroughly recommend a visit.

weekend cooking (quince, hare, porchetta):

a couple of saturday morning tracks - am excited about making braised oxtail in olorosso later on.