dines at Sant Pau, Sant Pol del Mar

Sant Pau, the flagship of Carme Ruscalleda, is based in the small town of Sant Pol de Mar, just north of Barcelona. Right on the sea, the restaurant's raison d'être is seasonality and local produce, though often cooked in unexpected ways.  Carme also runs a restaurant in Tokyo, and her strong Japanese influences are palpable.  When we visited, the restaurant was celebrating the 9th anniversary of the Toyko opening, and a number of dishes originated at the Tokyo San Pau.

dines at l'Arpège in Paris...

l‘Arpège is the tiny Lalique-panneled restaurant owned by the legendary Alain Passard.  In 2001 Monsieur Passard declared that he would be be focussing on a more vegetable driven menu, but more importantly a seasonal, home-grown menu.

This statement seems to have lost something in translation, because in 2012 it seems perfectly reasonable, indeed appropriate.  But in Paris a decade ago, turning your back on a very protein-heavy menu, seems to have caused considerable ripples.  Alain had held three Michelin stars since 1996, but maintained those stars after swapping over to his new style - clearly the inspectors felt that the standards were maintained.