Some more tales from other high-end meals. (Food reviews will begin again next week, starting with another excellent Urasawa meal.)

Coi (SF) by A Life Worth Eating – Aaron and I shared a meal at Coi. We didn’t agree on all of the dishes, but we did agree on the best. Coi is better than many, if not most, San Francisco restaurants but it still falls short of what it should be. Aaron sums it up best by “impressed by its potential.”

Sukiyabashi Jiro (Tokyo) by Andi Hermawan – Andi has been to a number of impressive restaurants around the world; this report is from his one of his latest adventure in the very difficult to get into Ginza branch. Sukiyabashi Jiro is one of two sushi restaurants to garner three Michelin stars ¹ and Jiro trained the other, Sushi Mizutani. Lunch is supposedly a torrid affair clocking in at 45 minutes and up to $500+.

Manresa – The Mirazur dinner (Los Gatos) by Sweet and Sour Spectator – I wasn’t paying attention and missed a chance to reserve a seat at the Mirazur dinner. Many people are quite impressed by Mauro Colagreco and his incredible ways with vegetables – you can read the Gastroville report from last year. Steve from OAD also recently went and enjoyed it (he may even write about it some day.) I’m not convinced of the trading-dishes-in-the-same-menu concept, but Sweet and Sour Spectator enjoyed their meal.

Bau (Germany) by Julot-les-pinceaux – Germany doesn’t get much attention in the blog circles but Julot-les-pinceaux has eaten at a fair number of fine German establishments. This is an interesting report to read, partly to help solve his dilemma.

Peirre Gagnaire (Paris) by very good food and Gastros on Tour – Pierre Gagnaire, despite the roller coaster, is a must-do for any serious foodie. It’s interesting to read very good food’s first meal – the conflict and confusion. It can be a tough meal to digest (no pun intended), it does require you to reflect later, and it can sometimes yield the most outstanding meal ever crafted. I think she is also correct that Gagnaire is a journey most of all, where some dishes are probably not meant to shine, something akin to a Japanese kaiseki meal. I almost want to include it on my July Paris trip.

- chuck

1 – Rumor has it that a few others declined the stars and attention.