Where to Dine Alone; Julia Child's Ghost Still Loves Butter

In a list of the world’s best restaurants to dine alone, the Modern Bar Room is right up there with London restaurant Itsu, where the former Russian spy is thought to have been poisoned with radium. [Forbes] Related: No, Just Me [NYM] "Page Six" figures out almost a year after the Times that Alain Ducasse is opening a space in the St. Regis Hotel. Ah, August. [NYP] Two researchers spent a year compiling a book of New York gourmet shops; two favorites were Yonah Schimmel and Christopher Norman Chocolates. [NYDN]

Posted 08/22/07 in Grub Street : Mediavore

Tags: alain ducasse, christopher norman chocolates, julia child, mario batali, mediavore, page six, tomatoes, yonah schimmel

A Hotel's ‘Chocolate Covered Weekend’

If Rob and Robin's gifts for chocoholics weren't extravagant enough for you, the Exchange Hotel is offering a "Chocolate Covered Weekend" — and starting Saturday, December 16, the price drops from $1,200 to a mere thousand. What does a grand get you? According to the hotel Website, the deal includes a two-night stay in a suite (typically a winter rate of $289 per night); a three-hour tour of Christopher Norman Chocolates, Vosges Haut-Chocolat, Kee's Chocolates, MarieBelle, and Jacques Torres; and Mexican chocolate mojitos or non-alcoholic Aztec iced chocolate in the on-site lounge. (The visit to the high-end chocolatiers is led by a guide from Zoom Chocolate Magazine.) General manager Rani Carr tells us that the package launched earlier this fall through a partnership with the Chocolate Show, but the word is just starting to spread. "It's so new that we haven't had anyone actually book it and confirm it," she explains. — Lori Fradkin Calling All Chocoholics! [Exchange Hotel]

Posted 12/13/06 in Grub Street : Foodievents

Tags: chocolate, christopher norman chocolates, foodievents, jacques torres, mariebelle, vosges haut-chocolat