Each time I visit Paris something is different and every visit I make a mental note of the changes I see.

This visit I noticed more Velib bicycle stations – Yeah!

I also noted fantastic improvements in the public transportation system.  Changes included renovated, cleaner metro stations, with improved signage, and new digital panels displaying the current time and estimated time of arrival for your bus or train.

I also noticed American cookies everywhere.  They have become a staple next to the brownies in many boulangeries.  With all the sophisticated pastries and chocolate wonders in France who would have thought a basic chocolate chip cookie could be so popular.

However, there are things in France that never change and in January that is les galettes des rois (the king’s cakes).  The galette des rois are the traditional pastry of Epiphany celebrated on January 6th, but the French seem to celebrate it all month – perhaps an excuse to eat more galette des rois.

If you visit France in January you can’t miss les galettes des rois as they are displayed, front and center, in the window of every boulangerie in France.

This round flaky puff pastry is filled with almond paste or frangipan (a combination of almond cream and pastry cream).  They come in an array of sizes and are purchased by the number of people you will be serving.

If you are lucky enough to celebrate Ephiphany with a French family or friends you’ll know the novelty of the galette des rois is not just the quality of the pastry but the fève (little figurine) that is hidden inside the pastry. The youngest at the table, will hide under the table and call out who gets each slice.

Whoever finds the fève (which can be plastic, porcelain or even a fancy jewel) gets to be crowned king or queen for day.  Paper crowns (alla Burger King) are typically included with your galette des rois.

If you have never tasted a galette des rois, they are worth a try.  Make a note in your January 2011 calendar to reserve a galette des rois from your local French baker to share with friends or family (with or without the crowns).

A trip to France next January would definitely ensure you taste a galette des rois.  If not you can always enjoy the experience right here without the calories or risk of cracking a tooth on a fève.

Enjoy!

Leslie

My neighborhood is not just home to Grand Central it’s also home to what I call Tokyo Central.

In the dark abyss of Midtown East food choices Japanese markets, restaurants and a culinary center have been quietly taking over, squeezing in almost unnoticed between the newsstands, Irish Pubs and check cashing stores.

There are so many places to enjoy but as I’m on a budget one of my – transport me to Tokyo – budget favorites is Oms b omusubi for rice balls (white rice traditionally formed in the shape of a triangle, filled with various fillings, and often wrapped in seaweed). (more…)

I haven’t been writing as much about food these past few weeks, possibly due to my tight fitting pants.

But after a recent lunch with two friends who freely admitted to carrying some extra baggage on their waistlines (and no holding back on dessert), I thought “I need to get back in the game”.

One of these friends lives halfway around the world, in a bone dry climate, and when he visits New York there is always a pilgrimage to Tarallucci E Vino, on 18th Street, between 5th Avenue and Broadway.  Whether stopping in for a meal, coffee, or an aperitivo here’s why this restaurant is a perennial favorite.

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I understand that riding a motorino (scooter) isn’t for everyone.  But as a New York Times online article recently noted “Urban America is Catching the Scooter Craze”. And my friend and dedicated passenger, Fara, can attest to how great it really is.

But for those of you who still aren’t convinced I have another Motorino option that is sure to please.

Located at 349 East 12th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, Motorino is a new Neapolitan style pizzeria (in the former Una Pizza Napoletana space).

I like pizza on occasion but it isn’t something I eat regularly, until tasting Motorino’s brussels sprout pizza with smoked pancetta, garlic and pecorino cheese.  Yum!  It also doesn’t hurt that it has a great name.

But what I really like about Motorino, is their small menu starting with the oven roasted brocollini seasoned with garlic, chili and pecorino cheese, followed by one of the seven pie choices (one size only) as the smoked scamorzza (a smoked Italian cow’s-milk cheese) pie flavored with squash, pancetta and sage and finishing with the every-bite-is-delicious tiramisu or the surprising, yet perfect, chocolate and vanilla twist soft serve.

The restuarant is small and doesn’t take reservations, so at night be prepared to wait outside on the sidewalk for a table.  And for those of you sensitive to noise, the decibel level can creep up in the evening, with the sound of local New Yorkers bouncing off the clean white tiled walls and marble table tops.

Fara (who also doubles as my eating and photography assistant) and I prefer the, I’m currently job searching, $12 lunch special (a fresh mixed green salad and selected pizza or selected pizza with the soft serve flavor of the day).  Otherwise pies cost between $9 and $16, antipasti between $3 and $14 and with a nice selection of wines, this could be one of your more moderate dinner-out choices in the city.

So if you are not ready to get on a motorino, get yourself over to Motorino to at least experience some delicious Neapolitan style pizza.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Leslie

Motorino 349 E 12th Street  Tel (212) 777-2644

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I’m taking a writing class and my first assignment…a restaurant review.

PERFECT!!!  FOOD!!!  And an opportunity to satisfy some reader requests for longer posts and more New York food coverage.

So here you are my first restaurant review, can’t wait to here your comments!

Leslie

CAFFÈ FALAI

There is no shortage of restaurants in Soho, but just a few blocks east of Soho lays Caffè Falai, a small, modern Italian gem.  Located on Lafayette Street between Prince and Spring, Caffè Falai is an Italian lovers’ escape for fresh regional pastas, salads, paninis, and pastries.

Serving breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, Caffè Falai is a café-bar with a welcoming atmosphere of white tiled floors and walls decorated with flea-market-find mirrors and crystal chandeliers.  An open kitchen and bar offers solo clients space to enjoy a meal alone or stand alla Italien to enjoy an illy coffee.  The restaurant seats 35 inside and in warm weather a small front terrace offers additional seating.

The restaurant attracts a mixed clientele of locals, professionals and passing tourists seeking quality food in a casual environment.  Client favorites of Chef Iacopo Falai include the Prosciutto Panini, with mozzarella and tomato, and the Gnudi, spinach and ricotta dumplings in a sage-infused brown butter sauce.  I love the fresh Rughetta E Pere salad, baby rucola and sliced pear topped with candied walnuts, hard ricotta cheese and a lemon dressing, but ask them to top it with a little prosciutto for a hardier salad.  And for pasta the Tortelli di Patate con Ragu’ Alla Bolognese is perfection, a potato puree stuffed tortelli in a delicious Bolognese meat sauce.

The dinner menu offers a selection of second course classics as Saltimbocca alla Romana, thinly sliced veal with prosciutto served with broccoli rabe, finger potatoes and a Marsala sauce and Branzino, a pan seared sea bass filet with porcini mushrooms.  Portions are not large but satisfying.

A selection of Italian wines and prosecco are available, but even more tempting are Falai’s own bread and pastry selection produced across town at their Panetteria on the Lower East Side.  The Bombolone (Italian donuts) filled with chantilly, custard, chocolate or jam, dusted with a coating of sugar, are a must for breakfast or dessert.

Other sweets and bakery items include fresh focaccia plain or tomato, sweet cornetti (sweet Italian croissants) in plain, almond and chocolate, and mini ricotta tartes.  And luckily these sweets and baked goods are all available for take-out at the bakery counter.

Caffe Falai – 265 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012  Tel: 212 274 8615   www.falainyc.com

Hours: Breakfast 8 – 12pm  Lunch 12 – 4pm  Afternoon Tea 4 – 5pm  Dinner 5 – 11pm

$$ Moderately Priced.

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