Through the bpb Dessert Box (It’s a pretty box featuring a variety of bpb’s favourite desserts, hand-delivered to you on a designated day every month) we've unwrapped and jarred a whole bunch of awesome dessert vendors from five star hotel patisseries and small, pink dessert shops to some rising star home bakers. While we build this into a downloadable dessert directory for you - it's going to be sweet! - here are the lovelies we featured in our last box.

Parfait

We still remember our office plastered with pink boxes way back when we discovered Smriti Mehra and her pretty Parfait. For our dessert box she did fun marshmallow pops and M&M cupcakes that instantly transport you to your childhood, but are sophisticated enough to bring you right back. Also see waffle cone cupcakes and Ecuador chocolate raspberry cake.

To order call 9769203959 or log on to the website on www.parfait.co.in

Pixie Mojo

Endearingly hardworking and passionate about baking, Stephanie had all the dessert-ers raving about her dark chocolate and anise biscotti and little tubs of crème brule. She’s also doing a mean mango version for the season.

To order call 9819317305 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Healthy Treats

The moniker Healthy Treats might sound fairly non-glamorous, but here we discovered sexy dark chocolate-orange and coffee-cinammon muffins, frequently ordered by stars like Sonam Kapoor. Divya also does other icing-free, fresh fruit sponge cakes that will have you rise to the occasion.

To order call Divya on 9820154550.

Getting there: To order a Dessert Box, call 09867885533/09820228582, Rs 2,250 for three months (one box a month), next delivery is coming up in April.

Posted by: Kakul Gautam

In preparation for their next soiree, 14 of our Delhi subscribers (Hi Guys!) gathered around Amici's warm, fire blazing oven to learn that the dough is key. To life and a great pizza, that is. Other relevant lessons, disguised as pizza-speak included:

Careless abandon should be tempered with a sharp eye (while tossing your pizza)

Recall your favourite tastes and don't be afraid to put them together (When deciding which sauce and toppings to use)

Details ensure that things stay fresh (when storing your dough, temperature is key)

Some things are more suited for you. Learn the difference (cube cheese on pizza works better than grated cheese)

Presenting a picture collage of our Amici and BPB Class. Scroll down for a pizza recipe by Amici's chef Prashant, that's just how much we love you. If you like what you see, remember that next week we've lined up a South Indian brunch class at Carnatic Cafe.

Quattro Stagioni

INGREDIENTS
Pizza Dough ball (1 Nos.)                       165
Pizza Sauce (1 Ladle)                               80
Mozzarella diced(Impero)(Y. Boat)      80
Onions sliced (Y. Boat)                           40
Artichokes                                                 35
Mushrooms sautéed                               40
Local Ham Sliced                                   30
Tuna canned (sealect)                           35
Refined Flour(Delhi flour mill)            8                                

----------------------------------------------------
Yield raw recipe                                    513  
Yield actual                                            516
Yield cooked                                          480
----------------------------------------------------

OTHER INSTRUCTIONS*
Oven to be preheated at 250°C .
Dough ball must be rolled out round and even.
Pizza sauce must be kept inside the circumference of the base.
Use separate cutter for Veg. &Non Veg. Pizza.
Extra parmesan or any other cheese can be served as per guest’s choice.

----------------------------

MIXING/ARRANGING /COOKING PROCEDURE

Apply dry refined flour onto the surface and on the pizza dough ball.
Flatten the ball with hands initially.
Using a rolling pin flatten the ball fully (diameter 12 inches).
Spread pizza sauce on the rolled out dough ball in circular motion using
designated ladle (80/grams).
Spread diced mozzarella (80/grams) evenly on the sauce using yellow boat.
Lay onion slices (40/grams) evenly on mozzarella cheese.
Press artichokes (35/grams) with hands and lay on quarter slice of the base.
On second quarter lay sautéed mushrooms (40/grams).
Then lay ham slices (30/grams) on third quarter.
Finally lay tuna (35/grams) on fourth quarter of pizza.
Using a large spatula place the base in-side preheated oven.                                                         
Bake the base for 2 minutes and 20 seconds changing its position  on regular
intervals onto its own axis to ensure even cooking.
Again using a large spatula take out the pizza and place it on a wooden
skillet.
Using a pizza cutter slice the pizza in 8 equal slices cutting  through the
through the diameter.
Serve with light condiments.

Posted by: Kakul Gautam

As one of us Scouters heads West for a week, we get bpb’s junior editor and former London resident Kakul Gautam, to design our itinerary (find Kakul's personal blog here). The result is so awesome that we had to share. So once you’re done sipping on an Aztec Martini and hitting on the hot bartender (who likes Indian girls) at Frevd's Bar; or scarfing down brunch at Bill’s Electric Diner; you know who to thank.

Drink

Frevd (High Holborn): My favorite place in London, if I could drink here every night, I would.

Recommended are Holy Freud Lemonade and Aztec Martini - chocolate martini with Tabasco; not everyone can stomach it, but for those who can, it's wicked. Get here early, it's VERY popular and gets cramped. They have a bartender here called Noah (I checked with my friend he's still there) who has the hots for Indian girls and is quite yummy himself. He will get you your drink fastest :).  Also. If you visit their Facebook page, you'll notice someone stole their cushion. We must help them find it. 

Gordon's Wine Bar (Trafalgar Square): Because you love wine and hidden places underground. Oldest wine bar in London, crazy collection, and not tourist-y.

LAB (London Academy of Bartenders, (Soho): Don't pick anything over Frevd - but this is fun with very interesting cocktails. All the bartenders are students at LAB and will make you a potent drink if you ask. This has both standing (upstairs) as well as seating; I like the seats much better. They have a lot of original cocktails, so go nuts.

Dirty Martini: My favorite branch was in Covent Garden, but the one in Regent Street is very hip. Martinis of all sorts and they have a good happy hour deal.

Cafe Pacifico (Covent Garden): I will recommend this in the food section of this guide as well, BUT BEST MARGARITAS EVER. This is not hyperbole. I would definitely do a boozy lunch here.

Sketch Bar (Regent Street): This is also very new and hip. You must go here if you're shopping in Regent Street, just for how fun and stylish this is.

Boundary Rooftop (Shoreditch): One of my favorite places to enjoy London in the open. This weekend was beautiful, so hopefully you will hit great weather.

PS: In case the weather is good and you want to drink outside by the river, these are some very nice English pubs - Prospect of Whitby and Old Salt Quay.

Breakfast: For When You’re Hungover 

Counter Café: Many people would rank The Breakfast Club over this, but I prefer Counter Cafe because 1) not everyone goes here 2) their brunch is killer.

The Breakfast Club (Shoreditch): Most Londoners love this. There's always waiting here. Again, everything is good. They have other locations as well.

Bill's Electric Diner (Notting Hill): I haven't visited this, so it's not a personal recommendation. But my friend claims they have the best Bloody Mary's. Worth doing a fact check?

Meals

Cafe Pacifico (Covent Garden): Mexican cantina, good for vegetarians as well. Like I said above, they do the best margaritas ever.

La Bodega Negra (Soho): Excellent Mexican food. I do prefer Pacifico over it (but perhaps this is memory association baggage). Again tons of choices for vegetarians and great cocktails.

Ping Pong (Oxford Street): It has a million outlets but I still love it. Excellent dim sum (crazy variety) and a really fun flowering tea.

Hong Kong Dinner (Chinatown)- Greasy Chinese, always a good thing. 

PS: If you're shopping on Bond Street/Oxford Street wander over to St. Christopher's Place, it's a very tiny alley opening up into a beautiful courtyard - on the street opposite Primark on Oxford Street, there is a NATWEST bank and it's around there- the alley is teeny tiny, but it's a nice place to chill. There's a Ping Pong here as well.

Strangely I can't remember more food places. Clearly my priorities were sorted.

Miscellaneous Recommendations

Pick Borrough Market on the weekend over Portobello (unless you want to shop).

Giraffe has nice smoothies and outlets all over, if you want to stop for a drink.

Ben's Cookies - also outlets all over and delectable cookies.

New York's theatre and Broadway scene is debatably better, but if I can convince you, do catch a play in the open at Shakespeare's Globe. Tank up on Pimm’s. It's a blast, always.

The London Eye is fugly and pointless.

Southbank has a lot of independent bookstalls on the weekend.

I wasn't sure if you wanted to go clubbing, but my favorite is Mahiki, though people love Fabric more. I don't like Ministry of Sound.

One of my favorite stores is a London store called Paperchase (outlets all over), check it out if you like stationary too.

I know they might be done to death, I can never get over David & Goliath (Covent Garden) t-shirts.

Through the bpb Dessert Box (It’s a pretty box featuring a variety of bpb’s favourite desserts, hand-delivered to you on a designated day every month) we've unwrapped and jarred a whole bunch of awesome dessert vendors from five star hotel patisseries and small, pink dessert shops to some rising star home bakers. While we build this into a downloadable dessert directory for you - it's going to be sweet! - here are the lovelies we featured in our last box.

Piccoli Tortini

This cute dessert shop in Bandra did yum tiramisu and a fresh fruit strawberry slice. She also does a mean Belgian chocolate mousse made sans transfat, artificial colouring and gluten. Organic love!

Piccoli Tortini, Shams Palace, 98, Hill Road, Bandra (W), ahead of Mocha, call 69996000.

Sonali's Cupcakes

From the girl who prompted us to coin the word 'cuffin' (cupcake + muffin), Sonali Gonsalves gave to the box double chocolate cuffins and chocolate brownies. This pretty Bandra home baker does fun dessert boxes for ocassions, so call her when something big is coming up. Or just when you feel like some cake.

To order call 9820781209.

The Baker's Dozen

These awesome bread bakers sent hefty loaves with our last Dessert Box, studded with cranberries and raisins. Formerly just a delivery service, The Baker's Dozen now has a shop in Prabhadevi that sells an amazing variety of breads.

The Baker’s Dozen, 9 Jayant Apartments, Appasaheb Marathe Marg, Prabhadevi, near Century Bazaar, call 8655331313 / 67431313.

Getting there: To order a Dessert Box, call 09867885533/09820228582, Rs 2,250 for three months (one box a month), next delivery is coming up in April.

Posted by Kanika

So The Goa Project is happening this weekend. And while the bpb crew had to opt out of the sunny talks because of some other bright ideas that needed tending, I am social story teller for The Goa Project under my Twitter fiction handle @kahanibythekilo, doing quick 140 character tales around some of their talks. You can find the full program here, and some of the stories below. Hold this post to your ear to hear the ocean, and also the sound of new ideas. If you're going to Goa, use this bpb guide for 8 cool things to do this season. Enjoy~

Tales Around Talks

She steps on his heart & leaves, bits of it still stuck to her shoe. Missing valves will be crowdsourced tonight. #Crowdsourcing at #tgp2013

They spread out a world map in the garden & picnic on it. The ants turn into tourists. #BudgetTravel at #tgp2013

Children discover new planets after lights out & dunk them in chocolate milk so gown ups won’t ruin them. #Astronomy at #tgp2013

They have elbow joints & even get jealous. But revolving doors still confuse the robots, new to the city. #Robots at #tgp2013

Rose tinted laugh trapped in a champagne flute, a rant recently escaped from a boiling pot, loud peace at the end. #DIYSound at #tgp2013

Pressed out of his heart, the pain is clear, liquid & perfumed. She dabs some behind her ears & leaves for the party. #Fragrance at #tgp2013

The mirror bears the brunt of her many moods. #ActingForDummies at #tgp2013.

This package contains: silvery threads, venom, red rubber, 1 upside down kiss. #FriendlyNeighbourhoodKit a #tgp2013.

The giant donut sent women in slips running up to sky scrapers. #MonsterFoods at #tgp2013.

Their love was lost. A missing poster was taped to an electric pole. #PowerofPosters at #tgp2013.

All You Need Is Love plays on the radio. He breaks the radio. #Startups & #Funding at #tgp2013.

Posted by Kanika

Allahabad: Lost and Many Found

If cities were sold in a marketplace, each vendor trying to make a louder sales pitch than the other, you would at some point, stop by the Allahabad stall. Not for the Kumbh Mela, well, not just for the Kumbh, but for the man who marketed it using this: Laila ki jhanjri – they’re potato wafers so delicately sliced, he told us, they're named after the gauze-y veil that Laila longingly gazed through. "Only in Allahabad. Buy now". We bought some of course, without haggling, because who can resist poetry and potato chips?

For all its restricted streets and strangely depressing malls, the romantic in me would return to Allahabad. Not for the Kumbh, but for all the people we found while trying not to get lost. Pre-Laila liaison at Jyoti Stores, we met the very awesome and smart KK Bajpaiji, a professor at a Banares university and documentary filmmaker, who acted as our guide and new-found friend on this two-day trip. He made me want to learn more, back to school or not.  Super well connected, he got us hotel rooms in a city that was being visited by 80 million people and even accompanied us to the secret lair of one of the biggest babas this side of the Ganga. Crystal necklaces were worn. Questionable cake was eaten.

Then there was his friend, an older gentleman, proprietor of suspenders and hat, row house and swing, and a recently excavated Hindi poem he had long ago dedicated to his late mother. Now wondering how the word ‘madira’ had slipped in to this ode to his alcohol-averse mother, he was looking for an appropriate word to replace it. Amrit? Helping an old man finish an old poem in a new city, was how we ended the day.

The Kumbh Mela itself, a logistical wonder, is exactly what you think it will be: a mosaic of all the documentaries you’ve watched about it and the books you’ve read, right down to the 80s Bollywood film cliché of a lost person announcement, the first sound we heard as we entered the fair. Holding hands tightly with travel companions Vish and Arya, I made my way to the sought after river confluence, where you should prepare to see scantily clad pilgrims and a heartbreakingly dirty holy river, where dipping our feet is as far as we would go. There were sadhus of all kinds, many of whom were already making their way to Benares for Mahashivratri.

Benares: Bankers by Day and Night

We followed. Not as groupies, but as a bunch of slightly disillusioned people, who were told that the river in Benares would bring us more calm. We’re not sure if we were seeking peace or it was seeking us (see, we’re sounding spiritual already), but Benares was truly wonderful. Not clean, but still wonderful. We checked in at the Taj Gateway Hotel (aaand the spirituality dips a little), but look how pretty the floral pool is! It makes us hope the river is prettier here in the oldest living city in the world. And it is.

Read more

Posted by Mansi

This is a truncated version of a longer personal essay.

I read Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild as a graduate student in New York, in a single sitting on a Sunday that straddled the cusp between summer and fall. I had watched Sean Penn’s cinematic version earlier that weekend and was trying to fathom my visceral identification with Chris McCandless, protagonist and real-life college graduate who abandoned wealth, family and identity to hitchhike alone across America and into Alaska, where he perished at the age of 24.

We had little in common, McCandless and me, apart from a healthy case of wanderlust and certain disregard for authority. Unlike him I was an avowed urbanite, determined to build a lucrative career and extremely concerned with holding on to my relationships with friends and family, often across wide geographical distances.

But for the first time in my life I was also flat-out broke, and exhausted with the effort of constantly calculating whether I could swing a Corona on Saturday night without the rent check bouncing. McCandless’s insistence that happiness – or even pleasure – was in no way tied to finance was not a new idea, but because of the timing and luminosity with which it was delivered, served as an epiphany to me, escape from the gnawing worry that had lived in the pit of my stomach ever since I started my Masters program at NYU the year before.

So exuberant (and in retrospect, desperate) was I to embrace his philosophy that I donated half my wardrobe, couch and TV to the Housing Works store down the street. I didn’t need these things, I convinced myself – I never watched television anyway and the pretty blue skirt that I had spent my lunch money on could not, as The Beatles sang, buy me love.

Inspired by McCandless’s treatment of poverty as an adventure, I began to scout out inexpensive things to do in New York, taking advantage of student discounts, haunting art galleries, joining an informal language club where I taught Hindi in exchange for French lessons. I grew less stressful, enjoyed my classes at NYU more. So comfortable was I in my new-found asceticism (if you can call an apartment in Manhattan, tiny and rat-riddled as it was, and biannual trips to India, asceticism) that I stuck with it even after securing a lucrative part-time opportunity.

But time often tempers drastic change. I missed Upstate trips with my friends, the thrill of live music at Mercury Lounge, the indulgence in a $5 croissant at the Boulud Bakery. My rapprochement with these was gradual but inevitable.

The phase receded, but it left behind important lessons: there is emotional distance now, between me and material pleasures; the prospect of being broke doesn’t scare me as much. It is this fearlessness that propelled me to commit to a start-up, to protect it against shortcuts, to take it in directions unconventional and risky but ultimately successful. And it is this fearlessness that allows me to truly enjoy the luxuries in my life without worrying about whether I will have access to them tomorrow.

So yes, it's true. A book can change your life.

Posted by Kanika

They're like tame, tender bolts of lightning, the video games that flash and blink at the arcade near the old park. Why do they meet here every evening at 4.45? Is it for the rush of cold pennies in coin slots, a sort of urgent living in time slots? Yellow circles that eat dots, fruit that fade if you don't get there soon enough, glorious victory if you care to avoid doom enough?

No, that’s not it. She hates fruit.

It’s for the space between the blinking light, the shadow between on and off, that keeps their illicit love safe. Like today for instance, when they burst into the room, fresh from the rain, an al fresco laugh brought indoors, plus a kiss that should have stayed outside, wet and alone, no one looked up from their controls. No one wants the game to end.

“Do you want to get rid of your coat?” she asks. He doesn’t. She shrugs.

Exact coats don’t matter. Nothing does after 5 pm, when they get one full hour to themselves. All they do is be, but it feels like more – fake wars are waged, monsters are slayed, princesses are saved. What do they do before 4.45 pm and where do they go post 6? It’s strange, but they can’t recall. What did they do yesterday at the arcade? Same as today. Memory is refreshed daily.

“How do we get there?”

“How did we get here?”

It’s almost 5.

“Tie your laces,” he says. And she does. He tightens his. They need to be ready.

It’s almost 5. And love is fashionably worn out. “Like his jeans,” she says, pointing to a 15 year old boy who walks in.

He has a cool hairdo, and yet he’s the kind of boy in dire need of a bonus life. Especially today. He feeds the machine and puts on his 3D glasses.  And they appear in his video game, lovers with guns, lovers with new memory, lovers whose time will be up when the coins run out.

It’s 6 pm at the arcade now and he has to go. His mother is waiting outside.

An Open Letter To Dita Von Teese

Posted by Meenakshi

Dear Ms. Von Teese,

I saw you last night at the Cointreau party at the Leela Palace, looking lovely in a Shivan and Narresh sari. I admired your ridiculously small waist, listened to rumours that you apparently asked for a five-hour headstart to get ready for any appearance. I heard that you had been to the Taj Mahal, had lunch with Delhi’s fashionistas, and so I offer you an invitation. The next time you’re in the city, might I suggest we do these things together?

1)     First, we’ll sort out your sleeping arrangements. Obviously, you’ll want to stay at a five star hotel, but let’s make a small change to your room by adding a customized mosquito net? We could embroider the whole canopy with pictures of martini glasses, just the images you need to keep from being homesick!

2)     I know you’ve had a lot of clothes given to you, but it’s never the same when you go and pick out the design yourself, is it? Here are some awesome tailors, plus a fabric store so vast it’ll knock your stockings off!

3)     You’re divorced from Marilyn Manson now, and you may not miss the man, but do you miss the music? After a little shopping, how about we go jam out at our very own private space?

4)     I hear you maintain your figure by eating several small meals a day. Time for food stop one! A light quiche and some shopping for your boudoir at Les Parisiennes Café.

5)     As a lover of all things vintage, you’re going to get a kick out of Nappa Dori’s leather trunks. I think you could fit your shopping easily into two of these.

6)     Also, let’s totally go buy hundreds of fascinators in Pahargunj.

7)     Quick pit stop for some take away. Do you like Chinese food? Asian Haus is one of my go-to places.

8)     Let’s let off some steam. I hear some unsavoury characters got to you at the party last night. Maybe it would make you feel better to fire off some rounds?

9)     I know you’re in Delhi, but it can’t hurt to have a list of sexy things about another city I love: Mumbai.

10)  I’m not sure if you eat ice cream (probably not) but if you’re feeling like a cheat day, I know a great little gelato van…

11)  That sari looked awesome on you last night, but let me help you explore your options. A trip to Raw Mango?

12)  I know Indian food is your favourite, so I’m packing up some pickle by Chhaya for you to take home.

13)  Let’s end our evening at a speakeasy right after your 1920s-loving heart. We have a choice of two. (With whispers of a third just opened in Gurgaon!)

I look forward to planning our girl’s day out soon!

X

M.

Born and raised in Bombay, Vivek Kagzi currently lives in New York City, where his vegetarianism is considered only slightly less alien than his love for cricket. His column will appear regularly on bpb. You can also find him at http://lonelyveg.blogspot.com or follow him on Twitter (@lonelyveg).

Picture this. A perfect, California blue sky. A bright, shining sun. Mountains surrounding a valley like a frame with not a tall building in sight. And yes, grapes, vineyards and wineries as far as the eye can see. There's not much to not like about Napa Valley. It seems to offer the idyllic, carefree life that most of us yearn for but never get around to, and does so in the most spectacular of surroundings. Add to that an unheard concentration of some of the best restaurants anywhere and Napa almost starts to sound like paradise. I feel like every trip up there will make me want to come back for more - a cause certainly helped this time by a long-awaited visit to the French Laundry.

Thomas Keller's flagship restaurant has such an aura about it (and how does it not with three Michelin stars and countless other awards under its belt), that it is almost impossible to land a reservation. This fact, however, is better explained on entering the restaurant and realizing how small it actually is. Situated inside what used to be an actual blanchisserie, the restaurant seats just over 60 in a relatively small space. Unfortunately, the space was probably the most disappointing part of my whole experience here. Don't get me wrong - the French Laundry has all the accoutrements of a fine dining establishment and excellent service is the norm. However, given its location, I get the feeling the restaurant would be so much better served if rather than the dim, formal surroundings, a diner could find oneself in an airier, windowed and brightly lit space that would highlight the fact that they were in Napa. One of my favorites, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, does precisely that and it has always enhanced my dining experiences there.

Speaking of dining. The French Laundry offers two different menus - the Chef's Tasting Menu and a Vegetable (and vegetarian) Tasting. Outside of the fact that both are priced exactly the same, the Vegetable menu is a boon to vegetarians, offering as much variety, creativity and heft as the main menu. With nine courses to come, EA, CO, AM and I settled in for a nice, long meal.

Preceded by a couple of amuses (gougeres and an avocado cone), the first course of a "Croquette" of Italian Eggplant was a beautiful first bite, with the piquillo pepper marmalade that it came with really standing out. No bigger than an amuse bouche, however, it left me wondering if that should even qualify as a course. Thankfully, there are plenty more to come and by the end, I had come around to Mr. Keller's small bites idea - leaving you satisfied at the end of the meal, but always having wanted more of each course. 

The salad course came next, with French Laundy Garden Beets served with some fresh tokyo turnips and an absolutely fantastic dill whip that really accentuated the raw vegetables perfectly. The Young Celery "Subric" that followed was probably my least favorite dish of the night - the green apples and the raisin puree adding way too much sweetness for my liking in a savory dish. The night is always darkest before the dawn though, and it was the next couple of dishes that really established the genius of Mr. Keller for me.

A Stinging Nettle "Omelette" (with sunchoke chips, demi-sec tomatoes and parsley) was one of the best dishes I have eaten, EVER. The choice of ingredients, combined with flawless execution, create a completely unexpected flavor explosion in your mouth and left me trying to allow the taste to linger for as long as I could. 

The pot of David Little Potatoes "En Cocotte" did the same thing, except with starch. Tasty litte potatoes and other baby vegetables, over a creamy and satisfying potato mash, surrounded by the aroma of Argan-Truffle vinaigrette - what's not to like? Rounding out the savory dishes, the "main" course of Garnet Yam Agnolotti presented the same problem as the Celery. Given it was the fall, sweet potatoes were to be expected, but even though the brown butter emulsion cut through some of the underlying sweetness, it almost felt like I was getting a half-dessert a course too early.

One of the advantages of serving nine courses is that guests don't have to choose between cheese and dessert. It is always hard to get both at the end of a meal, and as much as I like cheese, dessert always wins. The "Pear Cobbler" though was almost the perfect amalgamation of the two - Moses Sleeper cheese, covered with pear and grated pecans, with pickled pearl onions. Creamy, flavorful cheese, balanced beautifully by the sweetness of the fruit and cut into nicely by the acidity in the onions. I couldn't help think of my friend JW and how much she would have loved getting her cheese, and eating her dessert too. (As an aside, JW also writes an excellent blog - check it out at photo-hungry.com).

 Not to be outdone, the "real" desserts of "Peach Yogurt" and a Fig Leaf "Parfait" left me completely enthralled and still wanting more at the end of the meal. The fresh flavor of the peach yogurt was more than matched by the many textures of delicious figs that were laid out on the plate. My request for more seem to have been heeded as well, with the mignardises at the end including a coffee semi-freddo, chocolate truffles and brioche donuts. You never want a meal like that to end, but I'll admit I was glad when the food stopped coming out. I'd have just continued to eat it all.

A number of people put together a bucket list - things they would like to do before they die. Mine is probably skewed towards the restaurants I want to visit - and between El Bulli, The Fat Duck, and now the French Laundry, I am making decent progress. Its hard to compare across, given the stark differences in their cuisines and methods, but the French Laundry definitely has one thing in its favor - in a Valley of Plenty (great restaurants, that is), it is undoubtedly the star attraction.

The French Laundry is on 6640 Washington Street in Yountville, California. Very Expensive. Very Veggie-Friendly. Highly Recommended. www.frenchlaundry.com.