The Enlightened Traveler: Bargains Await in Exotic Morroco

The Saudi royal family notwithstanding, most of us want a first-class travel experience and wouldn't mind saving a few $$, to boot.

London's great Financial Times – a must read for savvy travelers and shoppers – reports that there are high-end bargains to be had in exotic Marrakesh, the result of a surprising luxury hotel building boom.

Five new hotels open this year, with more to come.

"Whether there will be sufficient guests to fill them, however, remains to be seen,"the FT hypothesizes.

The spectacular Palais Namaskar, run by the same folks who own the Hotel du Cap

That is because tourism is already down in Morocco, a drop of about 20% in the last two years. Half of the country's visitors come from France. The Eurozone financial crisis isn't going away anytime soon.

The country's top five-star hotels – the fabled La Mamounia included – are already discounting, even before the addition of the new luxury properties.

Here's a quick rundown, according to the FT, on what's just opened or coming shortly:

The Palais Namaskar is noteworthy because (1) a third of the 12-acre grounds is under water, thanks to the 28 swimming pools, multiple ponds and the great reflective sheet of cooling water that bisects the property, and (2) it is run by the Oetker Collection, owner of the super deluxe Hotel Du Cap in Antibes and Le Bristol in Paris.

Small is also beautiful: bedroom at the boutique Mosaid Palais Aziza

The Taj Palace, from India's Taj hotel group, opens in the Fall with Indian chefs in its restaurant and Indian ayurvedic doctors in its spa.

The 28-room Mosaic Palais Aziza stands opposite the ritzy palace of its owner, Saudi Prince Bandar.

The FT describes The Selman as having"the most opulent, most technologically advanced spa in the city, an 80m swimming pool, a water garden redolent of the Generalife in Granada, as well as a stable of Arabian thoroughbreds." The traditional (but plush) Moroccan interiors are the work of Jacques Garcia, the architect behind the extensive renovations at La Mamounia a few years ago.

La Mamounia: Grande Dame of Marrakesh hotels since 1922 and still fabulous

Garcia is also designing The Delano, the first Moroccan property from New York's Morgans Group. It opens in September.

At least six more deluxe properties are planned through 2014, including a Mandarin Oriental, a hotel from Monaco's casino operator, Societe des Bains des Mer, and a second inn from Morgans.

Competition is already fierce – all the better for you, dear Enlightened Traveler. Now's the time to do your  research and snap up a dream Maghreb vacation at a favorable price.

The full FT post, with links to the hotels mentioned, is right here.

The Enlightened Traveler: When In Tel Aviv, Do as The Tel Avivim Do

The dynamic residents of Israel's bustling second largest city know how to live.

On every block, in every Tel Aviv neighborhood you'll find a cozy cafe, chic wine bar, funky coffee joint, tantalizing ethnic eatery, or world-class restaurant. Enthusiastic diners spill out onto sidewalks where they perch at tables and carry on until two or three in the morning, even on weekdays.

It's hard not to fall in love with a city whose population derives so much pleasure from good food and lively conversation.

Modern Tel Aviv has stunning beaches and charming
neighborhoods, if you know where to look

("Lively" is an understatement. The Tel Avivim don't converse, they debate – about everything from politics to who makes the best pizza. Or as the old joke goes, "Four Israelis, five opinions!")

Tourists congregate mostly at the large, graceless chain hotels that hug the city's shimmering Mediterranean shoreline; along Dizengoff Street, its hit-or-miss main shopping boulevard; or at the bars and restaurants of the renovated, crowded Old Port.

While its  beaches are fabulous, Tel Aviv isn't really a resort destination. Nor do you go there to shop.

Much has been written in the last few years about Neve Tzedek, one of the earliest Jewish neighborhoods dating from the last quarter of the 19th Century. It was neglected until the 1980s when gentrification and preservation efforts brought boutiques, wine bars, and restaurants.

Today it is one of the city's most fashionable and expensive districts, frequented late into the night by tourists and locals alike. Particularly notable: The Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance, home to two of the country's leading troupes, Inbal and Batsheva.

While Neve Tzedek remains a popular entertainment quarter, savvy locals often head in the other direction at night toward the less well known Ibn Gvirol Street, home to some of the city's hottest and most interesting eateries.

Elba: new addition to Ibn Gvirol's many restaurants

The municipal government upgraded and refreshed this modern, wide boulevard a few years ago. Its arcaded buildings provide shelter for a stroll on a rainy or stifling day. Tel Avivim flock here because they know that there's something for everyone to enjoy on Ibn Gvirol.

Elba (at No. 36) is a sophisticated, pricey wine bar that opened to great anticipation a few months ago. It's minimalist interior would look right at home in New York or London.

Ha Miznon: modern twist on a pita joint

Chef Yair Yosefi was born in Tel Aviv, cooked in Paris (at Le Grand Vefour and Lasserre) for ten years, and returned to start Elba. Yosefi is offering new interpretations of Israeli, French, and Mediterranean dishes, including a signature slow roasted chicken that undergoes a 48-hour preparation and cooking process.

At the opposite end of the scale sits Ha Miznon, a tiny street food joint serving up fluffy, warm pitas filled with a remarkably delicious assortment of unlikely ingredients: short ribs, chicken livers, and shrimp plus house-made tahini sauce, pickles, peppers, and other condiments.

Another specialty is a whole cauliflower, unhurriedly roasted to delicious, tender perfection.

Eyal Shani, who previously ran several noteworthy high-end restaurants, is the talented chef behind this very affordable, locally popular establishment.

The scene is so casual and the food so original and tasty that you will want to come back again before you leave Tel Aviv.

Ha Miznon is at No. 23 Ibn Gvirol. The sign is in Hebrew only, so ask to make sure you're at the right place.

We'll have more on the many pleasures to be found on trendy Ibn Gvirol plus hotel recommendations and additional Tel Aviv travel tips in a subsequent post.

Letter from Buenos Aires:The Cost of Visiting Argentina Is On The Rise, Sort Of. Plus Where To Eat Now in BA.

Regular readers of The Luxury Life know that we love pretty much everything about Argentina.

It used to be a great bargain, but is it still a good value for budget-conscious visitors?

The answer is yes – and no – according to our friend and correspondent Alexandra Lazar, author of the terrific, informative blog on food and restaurants in Buenos Aires, Pick Up The Fork.

Pick Up The Fork recommends this hot new eatery
in the oh-so-hip Palermo Hollywood quarter of BA

Allie writes:

Argentina isn't as great of a deal as it used to be. Inflation is a killer, and prices are constantly rising. 

Those who have already traveled to Argentina within the last few years will notice that it is much more expensive now. That being said, for first time visitors Argentina would be quite the bargain. 

They can find great deals staying in very nice apartments (instead of hotels) and eating out at wonderful restaurants, spending a fraction of the price that they would in the U.S. Shopping (leather and wine, for example) is more affordable. Public transportation and taxis are relatively cheap, too. 

Superclassico: River Plate vs. Boca Juniors. Not to be missed!

The type of things that are more expensive, or the same as the U.S., are small items like a good cup of coffee (which costs around US$ 3-5). Ethnic food is expensive compared to the U.S. (although tourists probably won't be eating much of this). So are toiletries and, of course, anything imported.

Even though it's about 4.39 pesos to the dollar, and local prices are pretty inflated, it's still a good time to travel to Argentina. 

Allie adds that Spring or Fall are the best times to be in Argentina.

She also makes this recommendation:

Those who want to experience Buenos Aires to the fullest should contact Madi Lang, who runs BA Cultural Concierge. She'll organize a customized itinerary for your visit, book you into a smart boutique hotel or charming apartment (at a fair price), arrange a guide, driver, or cell phone, and generally ensure that your entire visit will go smoothly and be memorable.

That's good enough for us, and it should be for you, too.  Contact Madi at www.baculturalconcierge.com.

Alexandra Lazar's lively blog, Pick Up The Fork, is our go to source for anything and everything to do with food in Buenos Aires. We especially recommend her recent post Eat As The Porteños Do – Lazar's take on the best places to eat the most typical local breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Residents call themselves Porteños because BA is a port city situated on the Rio de la Plata, or River Plate, after which the beloved Argentine soccer club is named. 

Be sure, too, to catch an Argentine soccer match. It's an experience. Because the fans are usually more excitable than the players, don't go on your own unless you speak Spanish well and feel very comfortable in a dark alley around 3AM. Your hotel, or Madi Lang, will make arrangements for a group visit with an escort.

The Artful Traveler: Budapest's Spectacular Summer

The Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti once remarked, "If you come from Paris to Budapest you think you are in Moscow. But if you go from Moscow to Budapest you think you are in Paris."

While that may have been true a few generations ago, Budapest today is a major destination for savvy  travelers.

We haven't visited in some time. We are itching to return after reading a dispatch in The Economist on the grand Hungarian capital's summer arts and festival scene.

"This central European nation’s dazzling cultural and musical heritage is now enjoying a renaissance," gushed A.L.B. in The Economist.

The Danube divides the two halves of Budapest, gloriously illuminated at night

While the Budapest Spring Festival just ended in March – a show starring John Malkovich and based on the autobiography of Jack Unterweger, an Austrian serial killer, apparently was one of the highlights – April brings both the Titanic International Film Festival, a mammoth celebration of Hungarian cinema,  and Budapest 100, paying homage to the city's arresting architecture with tours of  the city's historic buildings and lesser known treasures.

Many other festivals and cultural events abound throughout the Summer.

"Evita" at the Budapest Summer Festival in 2009

From June 8 to September 8 the Budapest Summer Festival offers scores of open-air concerts, dramas, operas, and musicals on Margaret Island in the middle of the Danube. This year there's a musical based on Count of Monte Cristo, Moliere's The Misanthrope in Hungarian, and Puccini's Turandot, presumably not in a Magyar translation.

On June 23 the city's varied fine arts, history, science, and specialty museums remain open until 2:30am for the popular annual Night of the Museums. One ticket affords admission to all of them, as well as free transit on the municipal bus system until 5:00am, with special bus routes between collections to speed you safely on your nocturnal itinerary.

And then there's Sziget, one of the largest indie and alternative music festivals anywhere. Some 400,000 high-spirited spectators are expected this year between August 6-13.

With seven venues, including a pop-rock mainstage, a Europe stage, World Music stage, a Rock and Metal stage, and a party arena, there will be something for nearly everyone.

On the program are international stars, such as the Chemical Brothers, Judas Priest, Kaiser Chiefs, Good Charlotte, and The Gotan Project plus less well known acts with intriguing names like Manic Street Preachers, Flogging Molly, Gogol Bordello, La Shica, Goran Bregovic Wedding And Funeral Band, and The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77.

And those are just the ones we can pronounce. Coachella is bound to be pretty tame by comparison.

Certain to prove less intense is the Festival of Folk Arts, taking place from August 18-21. The event brings the finest Hungarian craftsmen and their work to Buda Castle from across the country. A variety of different folk crafts ranging from woodcarving to egg painting will be on display, and visitors can partake in many of the activities, as well as enjoy live folk music and dance performances.

When you've had your fill of music, drama, arts and egg painting, Budapest's summer food festivals are just the ticket.

Restore yourself at the Foie Gras Festival (May 18-20), Budai Gourmet (June 7-20), Czech Beer Festival (June 6-12), or the Palinka Festival (May 10-13). Palinka is a type of potent Hungarian brandy. Three hundred different varieties will be offered, assuring both a good time and a splitting headache the next morning.

Budapest's famous Széchenyi Bath. Not too shabby!

That's when you should take the day off and head to one of the numerous spas and thermal baths for which Budapest is famous.

Two of the most famous are the spa at the Hotel Gellért and Széchenyi Thermal Bath, a sprawling Baroque complex built in 1913. This palatial bath "includes a whirling corridor, underwater effervescence production, neck shower, water beam back massage installed in the sitting banks and many other services," according to budapest.com.

The translation may be a bit shaky, but you get the idea.

After a heady week or two of concerts, plays, brandy, quaint crafts, and raucous partying at Sziget, what could be a better way to bring your Hungarian idyll to a satisfying close?

The Enlightened Traveler: What's Going On In Paris And London

If you think you are a savvy traveler, then you'll want to always know what's going on in Paris and London.

Here are two web resources we rely on to keep au courant:

There's so much to do in Paris, one of the great destinations for art, food, strolling, and... shopping! That is why we frequently check Chic Shopping Paris for the latest boutique openings and sales. Lots of terrific shopping tips, too.

We also are dutiful readers of the weekly arts and culture e-mail published by London's Telegraph. In it you'll find useful, up-to-the-minute information about theatre, art exhibits, music and more. Sign up for the paper's Arts Agenda here.

The Enlightened Traveler: Brazil, Mexico City - What Are You Waiting For?

If you believe the Wall St. Journal – and you should, so long as you avoid the editorial pages at all cost – two of the top tourist destinations right now are Mexico and Brazil.

Then, again, we've been saying that for years now.

Despite drug wars and scare inducing headlines, Mexico ranks 10th globally in tourism. Americans still make up the largest group of visitors. Tourism overall has picked up in Mexico and is expected to reach record levels on 2012.

Most of the drug-related violence has been concentrated in the North.

Not to be missed in Mexico City: murals by Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros

Mexico City remains one of the safer parts of the country. That's a good thing, as the seat of government is home to the kind of world-class cultural institutions, restaurants, and shopping that artful travelers appreciate.

Another plus: it's one of the less expensive major capitals and can be reached by plane from the U.S. in just a few hours.

Read our post from 2009 on what to do in fabulous Mexico City.

Brazil, too, has experienced an uptick in violence, although we've never felt unsafe in the parts of Rio de Janeiro that tourists prefer.

Rio's Santa Teresa hotel, its highly rated restaurant, and arty
surrounding neighborhood are hot, hot hot right now

If anything, Brazil is more secure and more enjoyable today than ever, thanks to a booming economy, rising standard of living, and government preparations for the Olympics in 2016 and World Cup in 2014.

Don't wait for those events to visit. Brazil is ready right now for its close-up.

There's so much to do in the planet's third largest democracy. The Wall St. Journal has just devoted its entire weekend edition to amazing Brazil. It's full of great, up-to-the-minute restaurant and shopping tips. Make sure to devour it before you plan your trip.

Read The Luxury Life's Rio de Janeiro suggestions right here.

The Artful Traveler: Musée d'Orsay – Renewed, Refreshed, Remarkable

The Musée d’Orsay in Paris, home to a spectacular collection of Impressionist masterpieces and other late 19th and early 20th Century artworks, has reopened all of its galleries to the public after two years of extensive renovation and a dramatic rethinking and rearrangement of its holdings.
Housed in a 1900 Beaux-Arts railway station and boldly transformed into a museum in 1986, the d’Orsay has become one of the most popular attractions in the City of Lights. More than 60 million have visited over the past two and one-half decades.

New Musee d'Orsay galleries

What has changed?

For one, the ubiquitous white walls are a thing of the past. In their place are deep purple, midnight blue, red and lavendar-grey ones that critics feel are more hospitable to the vivid colors of the Impressionist works on display.

Lighting has been redesigned throughout. There is more natural light in some galleries, while the sometimes harsh natural light in other rooms has been replaced with a carefully designed artificial scheme that shows off the paintings to better effect.

Unchanged, Gae Aulenti's 1986 main hall

Some of the ceilings have been removed to reveal structural beams in a nod to the building’s original industrial purpose.

Exhibition space has been expanded considerably, allowing more of the world's largest collection of Impressionist works to be shown.

What has not changed is the museum's impressive, massive arched main hall, designed by the Italian architect Gae Aulenti.

The renovations are the work of four architectural firms.

Noteworthy is the stylish Café de l’Horloge, also known as the Cafe Campana and described as an aquatic Jules Verne-inspired fantasy. It's housed in a former clock tower. Brazil’s Campana design duo is responsible for the transformation.

What's for lunch? Who cares?

Still, the main draw at the d’Orsay are its art treasures from the likes of Manet, Rodin, Courbet, Van Gogh, and Gaugin – paintings and sculptures that reside not merely in a former railway station but live on in our collective cultural memory and continue to enthrall and inspire, even as we hurtle into the vast unknown of this 21st century.

For more on the Musee d”orsay click here.
To see our other posts on Paris, click here.

Closer to home: Two singular exhibitions featuring Impressionist masterpieces have just opened in the U.S.

Atlanta’s High Museum is offering more than 100 works of art borrowed from the Museum of Modern Art in a show they are calling “Picasso to Warhol: Fourteen Modern Masters.” On view until April 29, it aims to reveal the connections and deep influences between modern masters of the past century.

Tip: Don't miss the Maple Bacon Brittle ice cream at Morelli's on Moreland Ave.. For more on what to do in Atlanta, read this.At the Milwaukee Art Museum, “Impressionism: Masterworks on Paper” includes more than 100 pastels watercolors, and drawings by Degas, Monet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and others. The comprehensive overview is said to be the first of its kind in the U.S. It runs through Jan. 8.

While in Milwaukee, be sure to sample the dense, sticky, chewy Morning Buns, hard to find outside of this part of the country. And, as you may well fly through Chicago, you’ll want to stop at the extraordinary Art Institute for Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.” This large, absorbing masterwork enchants and mesmerizes – no matter how many times you have seen it.

The Annals of Luxury: A Warm Reception for Cold Cash

Joy comes not through possession or ownership
but through a wise and loving heart – Buddha

Tell that to the new money, logo-crazed strivers of Ulan Bator.

The latest luxury shopping mecca just may be this booming if remote capital of Mongolia. Or so opines The Wall St. Journal Magazine.

Vuitton: it's everywhere you don't want to be, like downtown Ulan Bator

Louis Vuitton opened a store there in 2009. It shares the same Central Mall location with Burberry, Zegna, Hugo Boss and Emporio Armani. Dunhill and Ferragamo are expected to be there soon.

"How could it be that luxury retailers have come to Mongolia?" wonders author Maureen Orth. "The country has only 2.8 million people, almost half of them living in a capital built [in the 1940s by the Russians] for 500,000, including 700,000 destitute former nomads whose gers [huts] crowd the surrounding hills."

Paris of the Steppes it's not.

Ulan Bator by day...

...and by night

Orth goes on to explain that democratic Mongolia – independent for 21 years now after seven centuries of Soviet rule – has entered into multi-billion dollar deals to exploit its vast deposits of gold, copper, coal and other natural resources. The burgeoning nation's $7 billion GDP is projected to increase 20% annually over the next decade.

But luxury retailers don't require a large number of customers, even in this heady fiscal environment.

"One to two thousand is all you need," says Vuitton CEO Yves Carcelle in the Journal report.

That is because Mongolians culturally like to display their wealth; they are willing to spend a lot on jewelry and other luxury goods to let their neighbors know how well they are doing. Of course, while the upper classes flaunt their prosperity, most working class Mongolians barely make ends meet by toiling in mines, herding livestock, driving taxis or selling imported goods from China.

And never mind that Ulan Bator was founded in 1639 as a Buddhist monastic center. That was then. Today's boom town is another story.

Read Orth's article here.

If you're planning to go Ulan Bator, better think twice. While your shopping excursion to Mongolia will earn you major bragging rights at any dinner party, be aware that the city is noted for it's extreme isolation. It's not close to anywhere and hard to get to. It's also the coldest capital city of any nation in the world.

Living to Eat: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

So you think you know restaurants?

You've dined your way through the finest that New York and Napa have to offer. You know what soft openings are because you get invited to them. When a hot new place comes to town, you get a table at 8:00 pm. (This sentence, "We only have 6pm or 10pm," doesn't exist in your world.)

Maven that you are, you'll recognize many of your favorites on The San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants of 2011 list.

Or will you?

The annual awards have just been published in Britain's Restaurant magazine, a co-sponsor along with San Pellegrino.

Noma's squid legs with potatoes, mayonnaise, brown butter

Topping the list this year is Denmark's Noma for a second year in a row and succeeding El Bulli, the 2006-09 winner. Even if you haven't been there yet, you might have heard of it. It's been getting a lot of media attention lately, especially from the British press.

Chef Rene Redzepi uses only seasonal, locally foraged ingredients – nothing imported, including olive oil. Some of his creations: beef tartare with a tarragon emulsion and wood sorrel; fresh cheese with axel berry shoots and watercress; and radishes in edible soil.

Restaurant magazine says that dining at Noma is an "emotive, intense, liberating way of eating." (Affective writing like that just makes you want to drop everything and jump on the next flight to Copenhagen, doesn't it?)

D.O.M., Sao Paulo, Brazil

You also might know The Fat Duck and The Ledbury in Britain, Pierre Gagnaire and Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee in France, and Le Bernardin, Per Se, Daniel, and Momofuku Ssam Bar in New York. (Although we cannot recall Momofuku, while popular, making anyone else's best restaurant pantheon).

From here, the road moves into unfamiliar territory, at least for a lot of Americans.

Not many will have heard of the modernists Mugaritz and El Celler de Can Roca, two of the five Spanish restaurants on the list. Or Le Quartier Francais in South Africa, Chez Dominique in Finland, or Amber in Hong Kong?

And then there's Biko in Mexico, Iggy's in Singapore, Astrid y Gaston in Peru, De Librije in Holland, or Steirereck in Austria.

Chocolate nougat at Vienna's Steirereck

They were chosen by an international academy of some 800 chefs, restaurateurs, food and restaurant journalists and gourmands representing 27 geographic regions around the globe. Sounds impressive, but, apart from Mark Bittman, Wolfgang Puck, and Charlie Palmer, it's unlikely you'll recognize many of the members. Doubtless you will be familiar with the group's sponsor, Electrolux, famous in Europe for making high-end, high-design stoves, refrigerators and appliances – and in the U.S. mainly for producing vacuum cleaners.

Some journalists have called into question the group's choices and methodology. The list is not universally accepted as definitive.

Still, it's not necessary to approve of every establishment on the World's 50 Best Restaurants to enjoy the thought of dining at every one of them.

If you decide to try it, just make sure you have an understanding spouse, an ample supply of Pepto Bismol and a few million frequent flyer miles.

The Artful Traveler: Egypt's Time Is Now

There may be no better time to visit Egypt than right now.

Popular attractions such as the Valley of the Kings in Thebes, the Great Pyramids in Giza, and the spectacular Egyptian Museum in Cairo would normally be inundated with thousands of tourists each day. Newspapers here and in the UK report that these and other sites are virtually deserted.

At the same time, some airlines and many hotels have reduced prices to lure back the 1.1 million tourists who left during the revolution.

England and other European nations have lifted travel advisories. Correspondents from the Guardian, The Independent and The Wall St. Journal all say that the country is safe despite the recent upheavals and that tourists are receiving a warm welcome.

Business is business, after all.

When we were in college, we used to get very cheap flights to Africa and the Middle East by booking with British travel agencies and tour operators. To get the best deals today, you should try the same approach. (Use your frequent flier miles to get to London for even greater savings.)

For example, The Independent reports that On the Go Tours has a nine-day cultural tour of the Nile valley for £649 per person. The price includes return flights from Heathrow to Cairo on 29 March, transfers, two nights sailing on the Nile on board a traditional Egyptian felucca (sailing boat), four nights' accommodation in four- and five-star hotels, two nights on a train, breakfast each day and some meals. A local tour guide, with a degree in Egyptology accompanies the trip (+1 (866) 377-6147; www.onthegotours.com).

Hurry and go soon, because travel experts think tourism will bounce back quickly (months, not years as in Yugoslavia, for example).

Read more about Egyptian travel at attractive prices in The Independent, the Guardian, The Wall St. Journal.

For a list of international travel companies offering tours to Egypt, click here.

The Enlightened Traveler: This is London

The first in a series of reports over the next few weeks
on what's new and noteworthy in London.

Just when you thought that you had to drop everything and head straight for Dubai, Shanghai, or Berlin – or risk compromising your "I've been everywhere cool and you haven't" status – along comes no-nonsense London with a few surprises of its own.

Not to be outdone by upstarts, the British capitol is on the ascendant. Or should we say, London continues to rise, perennially reinventing itself in ways that underscore its rank as one of the planet's favored destinations.

The hottest table in town for some time to come is Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. Opened a fortnight ago, it is the latest conceit from the brilliant, experimental chef who brought modern British cooking to the forefront at his three-Michelin-starred restaurant, The Fat Duck.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal's dining room

This time around Blumenthal has dipped into Britain's culinary past for inspiration. He reportedly spent 18 months researching recipes that go as far back as the 1300s. Of course, he doesn't just recreate them for modern diners. What fun would that be? He has reworked them into a menu of "perplexing unfamiliarity," one that is a "startlingly original read," according to one newspaper critic.

Meat fruit

Hmmm?

His signature Meat Fruit (c. 1500) consists of chicken livers whipped into a mousse, formed into the shape of an orange, and covered with mandarin jelly. There's also the quaintly named Rice and Flesh (c.1390) which rests braised calf tail on a bed of saffron rice, and Ragoo of Pigs Ears (c.1750) with anchovies, onions and parsley.

And those are just the starters!

The main courses sound tame by comparison. Sirloin of Black Angus (c.1830) comes with mushroom ketchup, red wine juice and triple cooked chips. There's also a Spiced Pigeon (c.1780) with ale and artichokes, Cod in Cider (c. 1940), and Beef Royal (c.1720). This last is a short rib of angus cooked for 72 hours sous vide, the vacuum sealed water submersion method Blumenthal pioneered. (Intensifies the flavors but diminishes the texture, according to those who know a thing or two about food.)

At least some of London's food critics have worked themselves into an unabashed frenzy of adulation.

"If there has been a more flawless and exhilarating restaurant opening in the past decade, I missed it," gushed Matthew Norman in The Telegraph.

Others are offering a more restrained view. The Daily Mail labeled Blumenthal’s "interpretation" of traditional British food "a brilliant and original concept," then opined, "Yet eating at his new restaurant remains an interesting experience, rather than a delicious one."

Time Out's Guy Dimond was only moderately impressed. The restaurant is just "another smart, five-star-hotel restaurant, not the culinary equivalent of the Second Coming." Apparently he didn't ask the patrons who have to wait until June to get in or the guy who already has auctioned off his booking on eBay.

You'll find Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge. The airy dining room overlooks Hyde Park. Service is professional and friendly, not stuffy.

Finally, it's not cheap. Although by London standards it's not exactly exorbitant either. Check how your stocks are doing to see where you stand on the issue. Or go for the set lunch at a reasonable £28 – if you can get a reservation.

Want to know more? Here are a few recent reviews and articles from British publications: The Telegraph, The Independent, The Daily Mail.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is at 66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7LA, tel. +44 (0)20 7201 3833, www.dinnerbyheston.com.

Click here to read our other articles on London.

The Enlightened Traveler: London's Charlotte St.

Even if you're a frequent visitor to London, you might not know Charlotte St.

Tucked away a few blocks north of Oxford St. and west of bustling Tottenham Court Rd., it's a quiet byway noteworthy for its many restaurants. These aren't London's finest eateries, though many of them are very good.

That makes Charlotte St. your preferred destination when you don't know where you want have dinner. You can work up an appetite as you stroll the area, inspecting your many options.

No phony Sicilian decor at Mennula, just simple, up-to-the-minute elegance

One that currently is attracting attention is the recently opened Mennula at No. 10. Sicilian-born chef-owner Santino Busciglio has worked at some of the city's better Italian restaurants, Rosmarino, Zafferano and Alloro.

We haven't been there yet, but we have been impressed by the reviews.

Time Out notes that Busciglio's "style of cooking is much more contemporary and refined than Sicilian home cooking, a fact underlined by this Fitzrovia site also being self-consciously smarter than London's other Sicilian restaurants."

The Independent writes: "There's nothing particularly flashy about Mennula; the lion's share of the work has gone into getting the food right, rather than "the concept"... If you're after simple Sicilian food, lovingly prepared by a talented chef, this is the place to come."

We cannot wait to try it.

The British Museum, Bloomsbury, Oxford St. shopping, Wigmore Hall, and West End theaters are 5-15 mins. on foot from Charlotte St. Goodge St. is the nearest tube stop.

The arty, chic Charlotte Street Hotel is a show business favorite and a luxe place to stay if your budget allows. Even if you are not in residence, you can enjoy a drink in the hotel's stylish Oscar Bar before dinner at Mennula or another Fitzrovia restaurant.

At the1955 Cannes Film Festival "Marty" Won The Palme d'Or and Grace Kelly Met Her Prince

The Cannes Film Festival opens tonight amid a circus of directors, producers, studio executives, talent agents, sales reps, paparazzi, mimes and street performers, film critics (who isn't?), provincial tourists by the tens of thousands – and, of course, genuine movie stars and would-be stars from every country and every strata of the film business.

At the 1955 festival the mood was less frenzied, though still festive. Then, as now, film royalty from Sophia Loren to Grace Kelly to Brigitte Bardot descended on the Riviera to show off their wares.



It was a great year to be in Cannes:

Jeanne Moreau attended for the first time.

The first Palmes d'Or were handed out. Before that the top prize was called the Grand Prix.

The inaugural Palme d'Or went to Delbert Mann's Marty.

American films were strongly represented at the festival. Direct from Hollywood: Elia Kazan's East of Eden, John Sturges's Bad Day at Black Rock, Otto Preminger's Carmen Jones, Edward Dmytryk's The End of the Affair, George Seaton's The Country Girl, and Marty.

The U.K.'s Daily Mail reported that Sophia Loren was the most photographed star at Cannes in 1955. If so, she faced stiff competition from the likes of Bardot, Kelly, and Gina Lollabrigida.

Dino Risi, Vittorio de Sica, and Carol Reed also brought films to Cannes in 1955.

Grace Kelly, whose The Country Girl screened in competition, was introduced to Prince Rainier at the Carlton Hotel. A year later they were married.

Melina Mercouri traveled to Cannes for the Michael Cacoyannis film Stella and met her future husband, the director Jules Dassin. Dassin was named best director for his in-competition Rififi.

Other notables at Cannes in 1955: Gene Kelly with Betsy Blair, Silvana Mangano, Esther Williams, Olivia de Haviland, the French actors Eddie Constantine, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Nadia Gray, and directors Otto Preminger, Jean Renoir, Nicholas Ray.

The beloved novelist Marcel Pagnol served as president of the jury. Also on the jury: director Anatole Litvak, short filmmaker Juan Antonio Bardem (the uncle of actor Javier Bardem), and French playwright Marcel Achard, who would write the 1962 comedy l'Idiot on which the second Pink Panther film A Shot in the Dark was based.

Fifty-five years and another lifetime ago!

The Enlightened Traveler: Venice With Julie Christie in the Winter

As we grew up and still live in Southern California – where it can be 80º on Christmas day – our idea of a winter vacation has very little to do with Hawaii, the Caribbean, or (with the exception of Rio de Janeiro) anyplace tropical.

What is more romantic than Venice in the winter?

Au contraire! We enjoy donning our toasty Loro Piano cashmere scarves and sweaters to go shopping and museum hopping in Paris, London, or New York during November or December.

We also like taking long afternoon walks on the deserted, gray beaches of Cape Cod, then snuggling by the fireplace on a long January's night.

Thus, it does not at all seem odd to suggest that now is a wonderful time to visit Venice, Italy. Or so we read in the estimable Financial Times.

Who can resist Venice when described like this?

Even on the dullest days the lagoon has an opalescent glow, and there are times in late February when the light has an almost African brilliance and a clarity you don’t find at any other time of year, when the snow-covered Dolomite peaks 100 miles to the north appear in the shimmering sky over the lagoon.

Or like this:

Venice becomes a different place [in winter]. The sense of this ancient, decaying city as a slightly sinister labyrinth – unforgettably captured in the 1973 film "Don’t Look Now" – comes to the fore.

Okay! We're checking the flight schedules right now. You can read the FT's article in full right here.

As for Nicolas Roeg's memorable movie, a '70s favorite, what wouldn't we have done back then to be in Venice with the incandescent Julie Christie?

Or with Susan Anspach, radiant and unattainable in Paul Mazursky's still enjoyable Blume in Love, a good deal of which takes place in a fog shrouded Venice?

Or with the ambrosial Daniela Bianchi (at right) in the great second Bond film, From Russia With Love, which starts in Turkey and concludes in Venice (with nary a stop in the Soviet Union) as the evil Rosa Krebb (the original Frau Farbissener, Lotte Lenya) gets the drop on Bond, and holds him at gunpoint, but the gun is knocked away by Romanova (Bianchi)?

Klebb releases her poisoned toe-spike (ouch!), but Bond pins her to the wall with a dining chair. Romanova grabs the gun and shoots Klebb. Riding in a gondola, Bond throws the compromising film of him and Romanova into the water, and they sail away. Whew!

There are many more memorable movies set in Venice: Summertime (noteworthy because Katharine Hepburn falls into the Grand Canal) and A Little Romance (starring the adorable, unknown Diane Lane and the much less adorable Laurence Olivier), to name just two.

And speaking of Laurence Olivier, remember him as Neil Diamond's elderly cantor father in the misguided 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer? Diamond, in the role of Yussel Rabinovitch (we kid you not!), utters this memorable line of dialogue on the phone to Sir Laurence: "I can't go to synagogue tonight, Pop. I have to cut a record." (Oy!)

All of which brings us to something called The Maori Merchant of Venice.

We discovered this unlikely gem when researching this post. It's a 2002 New Zealand film adaptation of Shakespeare's play in the Maori language, utilizing mostly Maori actors. The film recreates the costumes and settings of 16th century Venice.

Incredible as it seems, the picture got impressive reviews. Alas, it's not available here even on Netflix.

Fortunately, we'll aways have Venice in the winter.

For more winter trips, read our post on Paris at the holidays.

Black and white photo of Venice: Beetle

Things Not Available in the U.S.: Muji Houses Are Elegant, Simple, Affordable

A few years back, Muji – the Japanese chain that offers cleanly designed, inexpensive fashions, furnishings and home wares – started producing pre-fab houses.


The homes embody the company's holistic philosophy: conservation of natural resources, low prices, simplicity, anonymity, and an orientation toward nature without placing disproportionate emphasis on any one attribute.

Designed by Japanese architects, the homes are minimalistic, almost zen-like in appearance. Accordingly, they cost only about $200,000.

Contrast this with the $2.8 - $4.8 million price of the Daniel Libeskind pre-fab home we wrote about last year, and you can see the value the Muji homes represent.

While the Libeskind promises to erect his home anywhere in the world, Muji sells its home kits just in Japan.

If you're not planning to relocate to the Far East, you can get a taste of Muji style by visiting one of Muji's new stores in New York or throughout Europe.

If you want to see one of the Muji houses in person, there's a full-sized installation in Muji's main store in Tokyo.

One Historic Hollywood Restaurant Thrives. A New York Counterpart Quitely Fades Away

Los Angeles restaurants, even famous ones, come and go. The Brown Derby, Chasen’s, Mike Lyman’s, the Seven Seas, Fog Cutter, the Cock and Bull, Scandia, Nickodell’s, Perino's, Romanoff's – all were popular in their day and now are long gone.

We're still crazy about Musso & Frank after all these years

Not so for Musso & Frank Grill, a favored hangout for several generations of Hollywood power brokers and celebs. The fabled eatery, opened in 1919, is undergoing something of a regeneration, reports the Los Angeles Times.

While far short of a thorough overhaul, the changes include extended bar hours until 2:00AM on Friday and Saturday and an upgraded wine list.

In October, Jordan M. Jones, 29, a fourth-generation descendant of one of the early owners, assumed full control of the restaurant.

"All over nowadays you see new places trying to re-create history," Jones told the Times.

"They try to make them look old because that's something everybody appreciates and loves, even the younger generation. Vintage is cool. All these places are trying to re-create it, and we don't have to. We have it right here."

Charlie Chaplin, Rudolf Valentino, Raymond Chandler, F. Scott Fitzgerald and countless others routinely dined at Musso's.

Indeed, today's regulars, who include Johnny Depp and Keith Richards, don't want to see too many improvements made.

The restaurant interior – dark wooden booths with red upholstery – has remained largely untouched for nine decades. So has the menu. Let's hope they never do away with the flannel cakes, chiffonade salad, or roast beef hash.

We expect Musso to thrive another 90 years.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for New York's romantic Cafe des Artistes, which closed without fanfare in August.

It was an elegant hideaway for generations of musicians, Broadway performers, cabaret artists, and socialites.

“If ever a restaurant had fine, aristocratic bone structure it is Café des Artistes,” William Grimes wrote in a review of the restaurant for The New York Times in 2003.

Gone after 92 years!

“Diners have only to take one step inside, and the tumultuous New York world outside disappears in a flash, replaced by lush floral displays, flattering lighting and Howard Chandler Christy’s pastel murals of naked beauties prancing through romantic landscapes.”

The restaurant opened in 1917. Christy, one of the artists who lived in the apartment building above, the Hotel des Artistes, began painting the murals in 1934.

George Lang took over the W. 67th St. establishment in 1975. Now 85, he quietly decided not to reopen after his summer vacation.

The fate of the historic premises and famed murals is unknown.

Cafe des Artistes' website is still online, offering menus, history and photos. Musso and Frank Grill's website also provides a history through the decades. Click here to read the full report on Musso and Frank Grill in the Los Angeles Times.