Gayle Brennan Spencer – sending random thoughts to and from South Austin
Above: All-you-can-eat cheese on conveyor belt at Pick & Cheese Seven Dials
Restaurant listings arranged alphabetically might not prove user-friendly in a city as sprawling as London, but I’m stubbornly persisting in that practice. As in the earlier part one, these are scattered all over the map.
Continue reading “Postcard from London, England: Italian, Philippine, seafood and cheese, please”
Above: Vegetable strata at Moon
A few more dishes originating in Sicily are introduced in this second part of alphabetized reviews of restaurants we sampled during our stay.
The first is braciolettine Messina, or spiedini. Thin slices of beef, pork, veal or fish are wrapped around a paste-like filling made from bread crumbs, parsley and provolone moistened by olive oil. The small bites are then threaded tightly together on wood skewers before grilling.
Continue reading “Postcard from Siracusa, Sicily: Restaurants from La to Scu-“
Above, traditional cassoulet at Le Pyreneen
Parts of numerous animals star in the most famous regional dish of Toulouse – cassoulet. A traditional cassoulet often includes pork loin, pork belly, sausage, neck and breast of lamb and duck confit. All are simmered with white beans for hours and finished off under a flame to give the top a tasty, caramelized char.
We decided if we were going to dive into the dish to do it somewhere well-established, an institution, and chose Le Pyreneen. The brasserie opened in 1925 but appears older and set-ready to serve in a period film with little tinkering. The Mister’s dish was indeed meaty, savory and destination-worthy, but I must confess I opted for seafood and was not disappointed. One thing I did learn on this trip was that I do like duck confit, which is cooked ahead of time and preserved in duck fat until ready to use. We encountered it in numerous dishes and always found it tender and juicy.
Continue reading “Postcard from Toulouse, France: Cheese, pastries and menus fluent in French flavor”
Postcards from Barton Springs 