Osvaldo and the Gauls

folks, its been a great ride, but sadly all things come to an end sooner or later. unfortunately this is far, far to soon - well it is for me anyway.

cheers for joining my self indulgent - err self? along the way. Writing for an audience has been a real privilege, and I'm overwhelmed at the growth in readers since this little exercise began. I know what you're thinking, - readers? surely theres no more than a very few onliners arw taking in this little blog. well thats what I would have thought as well, but the stats say otherwise.

what began as maybe 12-15 people in the know, has grown to around 580 reads per entry! I don't understand it either !!

mind you I'm not completely stupid or vain and do realise my folks have probably read most entries many many times over. I could even believe some crazy interweb spiderbots have been trawling through all your virus infected computers passing me around as spam. hey, perhaps word of mouth has reached the benevolant editors at vogue or marie claire magazines and I'm considered for an o/s blogging junket sometime soon. sweet.

'ill also take this oportunity to apologise for my sometimes bad grammar and and often poor spelling. the iPhone has been a treasure and invaluable friend in this experiment but it is also a complete fucking nightmare when it comes to reviewing, editing and managing my words and if my laziness or annoyance has won out at times I am sorry.

a quick shout out to mr harry ganavas, who not only planted the seed for this blog, but is one of only two readers whom i know have salivated at the food described in some of these entries. (screw the rest of you, after all it was supposed to be a food blog).

while I'm at it i should also give the following nods to:-

Benny Ras for his facilitation of comedic ideas and the numerous stories that are far far to unfit for the written word and this blog. Rassy, Arris and the hairy nipple monster will haunt you for all time.

my spiritual guide in life mr Chucky Maharaja.

Paris and the incredible wealth of culture it has shown me in food, architecture, the arts and boozy le marais bars.

and at this, the end of the 2008 award for "I'm a blogging wanker and think I have as much right as anyone to be heard" acceptance speech. I say thank you. and then I say piss off - go read a book, get outside in the sun (or rain if you're lucky), enjoy and savour the taste of a great meal and if you can, maybe even do some travelling.

.......................

"true travel is neither a holiday nor a break. it is a journey into yourself, a destination affording perspective and appreciation of life." - JM. 2008

As the athletes of the world hurry to purchase themselves respiratory equipment and other smog inhibiting devices in preparation for the start of the Beijing Olympics, ive found myself in very similar circumstances these past few days. Bangkok is another Asian city renown for its traffic congestion and thick syrup-like smog. Given my preferred mode of transportation here is on the back of a motorcycle i'm considering donning the ole white mask like the locals do - as these pearl black monsters ive been pulling from the interior of my nose are starting to be a cause for concern.

To wrap up this past week... I have of course been eating some amazing thai food, relaxing by the beaches and pools of Koh Phangan and Koh Samui, partaking in numerous singhas and gin and tonics, smoking dunhills (no it wont last), suit fittings, designing my own line of shirts and developing prototypes, a small amount of shopping and generally reflecting on the my past 4 weeks and preparing for the reality of a homecoming.

I leave tomorrow evening (sat) around 6pm. Its a business class flight home to spoil myself, as i think the cattle class is not only beneath me but with all the recent qantas shenanigans i want to be as close to the front door of the plane as i can be.

After a great relationship these past weeks, the iphone has chosen to opt out of our friendship and is no longer working. I have a theory that i spiked the battery with a low voltage thai power supply. Oops. So that sucks and im now resorting to internet cafes once more. On the plus side, there should be a noticeable improvement in my grammar for all future posts.

• * * * * * * * * *

On a even more worrying note. Who the fuck wants to be flying Qantas at the moment. With less than a week until i climb on board one of the flying rat mobiles all these mid-flight incidents are a slight cause for concern. Yikes.

(please note that I began writing this entry on the evening of Thursday 24th July, and yes it is a week later but I can't be expected to sit around writing for you lot when I'm out tasting life).

Its been pointed out to me that ive not been the kindest soul of late to the americans. truth be told ive been downright harsh on them - as they generally do themselves no favours with their boisterous commenting and da Vinci code seeking naivety. besides, I'm still smarting about one of them calling me a kangaroo loving peckerhead !

until the other thursday night ...

when a lone American single handedly redeemed the whole gun toting, SUV guzzling, war mongering lot of them.

Daniel Rose is an American, and my new hero.

this unassuming, zen like character signed off on the 'raison d'être' of my trip. where Pierre Gagnaire was a stunning, oblique, gastronomic feast, Casa Olympe a corisican grandmothers home cooked meal and Le Chateaubriand a revolution in french bistro eating, Daniels restaurant 'Spring' is the foundation of a food philosophy - his food philosophy. it is unpretentious, exciting and I am a complete convert.

I'm not going to wax lyrical about the food I ate or the technical prowess of how it is prepared - just take that as a given. and anyway, an epiphany should be a precious and individual experience. and i want to keep this one as such (to be shared only with the lovely, and incredibly generous germans whom I ate with - if anyone ever tells me again that the Germans are boring, unfriendly, tightwads, I will ignore you. these guys even paid for my meal - maybe 80+ euros worth !!)

this meal was not your normal dining experience, take a menu sir, make a selection sir, would you like fries with that sir (you dirty maccas eaters). no. this is a meal chosen by the chef. as he sees fit. and even though I know there IS planning, its limited and i reckon the chef himself might not even know what he is going to serve only hours out from the, mandatory for all, 8.30pm start. and we the diners certainly don't know.

to be fair, Spring is not the only restaurant doing this. le chateaubriand is similar, but there you know what you're going to be served and its a staggered service with repeating dishes. spring is however, far more intimate, edgy, off the cuff and demands more attention than your normal eating out experience.

the trick might be in the scale of it all. the restaurant seats only 16. everyone eats pretty much at the same time. the kitchen is attached to the dining area thus adding to the theatrics. its all rather like a dinner party, sitting with strangers to begin with and who become friends by the end. friends who are fellow food enthusiasts and people who trust the chef will deliver great food. people who are paying for something they wouldn't get at home (after all, surely that's one of the main reasons anyone goes out to eat), people who appreciate and understand what daniel is trying to do and how its different to your favourite Italian or Thai place down the road. well at the very least that was what it was like for me.

Daniel Rose plays by his rules, something I'm incredibly receptive to - 'you can go your own way' by fleetwood mac comes to mind. and not only has he done it his own way, but he's winning. big time.

......................................................................................................

ps: I'm a spring baby and its my favourite season. It's also the name of my new favourite restuarant. Such a shame its so far away from where i live and pretty unlikley i'll eat there again anytime soon. I somehow strongly suspect though that Daniel has plans that might change this. Be prepared for the travelling circus folks.

ok, so ive been a little neglectful in reporting on my Pierre Gagnaire experience. its a tough ask though, capturing everything I experienced in that 3 hour long marathon of gastronomy. there's also the translation and then the actual tasting notes.

so in the interests of keeping the ball rolling, here's just a rough account of some of the dishes (sans the amuse bouche kick starters and some of the desserts).

mackerel and sardines with a coriander dressing.

beetroot/raspberry sorbet on carrot (super finely diced) in Japanese sake.

anchovy, on a spinach leaf. with a clear bonito tasting rectangular gelee on top.

tuna tartar. foie gras mousse with a wafer of slightly burnt gingerbread.

amazingly fresh goats cheese and sliced fresh almonds. almonds had a green freshly picked give about them. served in a crazy magnet cup.

Fruit and vegetable juice cocktail. seasonal fruits and veg pureed and almost sorbet like served.

chantarelle mushrooms and baby turnips. accompanied by a veal (pie) on fresh rocket and beans.

monkfish wrapped in iberico ham and on a bed of buttery cabbage. alongside a separate dish of shaved fennel on faro. fennel/beouf tomato ratatouille in the middle.

peach sorbet and peach gelee cubes on a very soft bread type crumble. (super sweet). moscato poured over it.

rasberry and plums with coriander icecream. rocket, flower pistils, a single dried vietnamese mint leaf. crunchy almond paste on side.

prunes with Japanese beans (olive looking but dense). rasberry coulis.

petit fours
clever. the cinnamon stalk coming out of the cherry. its NOT a cherry - fuck! its almond paste with a blackcurrant glaze.

cucumber sitting in a very sweet and thickened nectarine juice. cucumber has absorbed ALL the flavours.

chocolate mix. light & dark chocolates, hard and soft hazlenut covered chocolate biscuits. white custard mousse inside a chocolate drop (large).

foie GRAS and orange brûlée. very very alcoholic.. on a praline. with foie GRAS and orange gelee cubes and spicy cantelope/melon cubes.

3hrs of bliss.

this is a very risky post. i know it.

I know its also likely to rustle a few hairs - oops I mean, bother many of you balding readers (yes'm i am well aware of my good fortune at being graced with solid growth overhead) but it has to be said - bald heads are everywhere in the islands.

when last I was here, dreadlocks still had a stranglehold on all the beach going hipsters. but now the chrome dome is apparently king. the shining skulls of Israeli militarists, not so blond (well I can't tell) scandanavians and kojak wannabe american dropouts abound. and they're mostly young'unsl. sure theres your "I'm going bald so i best hide it by having a shave and living in denial" type, but it appears this sterotypical phenomonem has caught on with the kids and they're balding it up.

so take solace friends, your rapidly depreciating fade-aways and tricky combovers may soon have you back in the cool gang.

So ive moved onwards in my little sojourn and have found myself on a great little beach in Koh Phangan, Thailand. I've been here before and it'll be a great place to wind down from the shenanigans of the past fortnight. Although as i write this a volleyball just wizzed past my head - i'd call that out of bounds. The Thai whisky seems to be flowing amongst the Germans already, the fairy lights twinkling in the breeze and the roar of taxi boats is competing with the waves coming into rest on the beach.

In the coming week i'll be working on that moontan, downing cold Singhas and indulging in the Bamboo Hut's delicacies of Pumpkin Curry, Prawn Red Curry, Fresh Mackerel sashimi and watermelon shakes - from memory one of the best thai restuarants ive ever eaten at - the fact that its perched on a rocky outcropping with postcard views and a whole weeks worth of food here would still cost less than a normal meal in paris might also help the budget.

Last night i ate some streetfood in Bangkok. And here comes the chilli !! Thai food with its potent heat, fish sauce and freshness just sends my mouth reeling and im already excited about changing the pace of my palette. And again, at these prices you can do no wrong - i ordered 5 dishes last night (they were all a normal standard size portion at home, but i was so hungry after ignoring the finnish meatballs and weird asparagus omlette on the finnair flight from helsinki that i went a bit overboard....

- Pork Green Curry (92 cents)
- Shrimp Fried Rice (98 cents)
- Morning Glory in fish sauce ($1.23)
- Crispy Pork Pieces ($1.23)
- Green Papaya Salad (92 cents)

You get the idea on price. Take away anyone?

Its my last night in Paris, and I'm still reeling from the 3 day bender I've been on with a very old buddy whom I don't see enough off. i am however grateful this is the case b/c too much more of the kind of shenanigans that prevail with one benny rasmussen would certainly send me to an early grave. we've seen the morning daylight on 2 occassions, had numerous run ins with some locals, ridden many kilometers and laughed almost the entire time.

its been a great way to round out my trip. although i am tired, hungover and in need of a good sleep there's always the plane trip to helisinki / Bangkok tomorow that can take care of that, as I have a number of adventures yet to fullfil before I leave. I am so, so into this city and am starting to miss it already, it will be hard to say goodbye.