A GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT!
The Hound in Heaven (21st Century Lion Books) by John Mariani is a  novella, and for anyone who loves dogs, Christmas, romance, inspiration, even the supernatural, I hope you'll find this to be a treasured  favorite. The  story concerns how, after a New England teacher, his wife and their two daughters adopt a stray puppy found in their barn in northern Maine, their lives seem full of promise. But when tragedy strikes, their wonderful dog Lazarus and the spirit of Christmas are the only things that may bring his master back from the edge of despair. 

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    Little that happens in Europe seems to affect the super deluxe hotel market in Paris.  True, there was a downturn after the economic crash of 2008 and the terrorist attacks had a momentary impact, but Paris is nothing if not resilient and Parisians are dedicated to the proposition that life must be lived to the hilt at hotels like The Plaza-Athenée.

    The hotel underwent a 200 million euro ($268 million) expansion and renovation, and the day it re-opened in 2014, every one of its 154 rooms and 54 suites were booked. By integrating with three buildings that surround the hotel, including two luxury townhouses, The Plaza-Athenée has added 14 sumptuous guest rooms and three event spaces.  Outside, its famous bright red awnings are fresh and new, its geraniums in full bloom.

      The hotel debuted in 1913, managing to stay open during the First World War and expanding in size in the 1920s. In 2001 it was acquired three years later by the Dorchester Collection, whose properties include Le Meurice in Paris, The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan, Hotel Eden in Rome and the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel–Air in Los Angeles. Each is geared to its location, so that the Plaza-Athenée, set squarely on the Avenue de Montaigne, made sure during the restoration that dozens of rooms and suites have dramatic views of the Eiffel Tower.  And every night throughout the year, the Tower lights up and sparkles for ten minutes at a time. What better vantage point than a terrace at the Plaza-Athenée?

    As at all the grand palais hotels of Paris—the Crillon, Ritz, Le Bristol, and others—restoration and enlargement were needed at Plaza-Athenée, not just to bring back what had been a regular, if aging, clientele but also to attract a younger generation for whom light, color and every modern amenity for the business traveler would be available.  (I recall that some years ago most of the  deluxe hotels actually charged for Wi-fi, which struck many as the height of penny pinching; today Wi-fi is free.)

    There is new white Carrara marble in the grand lobby (above) of the Plaza-Athenée, and heavy curtains have been removed in order to let in the natural light. The place is awash with huge displays of flowers, while roses of every color are everywhere. In 2008, the Dior Beauty Institut was opened at the hotel (left).
 
  Alain Ducasse’s namesake restaurant (three Michelin stars), which was once quite staid back in 2001, now shimmers with pale gray and white colors, curved mirrored installations, sparkling crystal snowfall chandeliers and dramatic dining alcoves, while the tables are now polished wood, all punctuated by works of art by Pierre Tachon, Shinichiro Ogata, Rina Menardi, Gérard Crociani and Tina Frey (right).

    I did not have a chance to dine at Alain Ducasse this time around, but he has taken a sharp new direction with his menus, inspired by what he calls “the fish-vegetables-cereals trilogy,” with chef Romain Meder. The natural flavors of  unusual ingredients are the menu’s focus in dishes like hemp seeds, leaves and butternut squash and pumpkin (95€); green lentils and caviar, with flavored  jelly (190€) and sea scallops, cauliflower and Comté cheese in pastry crust, with white Alba truffles (195€).  There is also a “Menu Garden-Marine” of three-half dishes and dessert at 390€.
    Head sommelier Gérard Margeon classifies his wines by generation, ten years, 15 years and back to 55 years, rather than region.

      Because the hotel’s more casual, and less expensive, Le Relais restaurant (left) is a historic landmark—opened in 1936 and used as a cafeteria for American soldiers after the Liberation of Paris—the room still looks much the same, but everything about its original art déco posh has been brightened and better lighted. Chef Philippe Marc features contemporary bistro cuisine.  (Ducasse runs both restaurants.)

    At Le Relais my wife and I enjoyed a dinner that began with excellent duck foie gras mi-cuit with figs (34€) and risotto with black truffles (72€), then moved on to a succulent roast chicken from Landes carved tableside (48€) and crispy pork belly with creamy polenta and olives (34€), ending off with a superb baba soaked in aged rum (20€) and a pecan-studded, cream-filled Paris-Brest (20€) by pastry chef Angelo Musa.  There is also a very well-priced three-course for both lunch and dinner at 54€.

    La Galerie is yet another venue, this one for breakfast, a light lunch, afternoon tea and from now until December 31, a repast of pastries, sandwiches and cakes along with the hotel’s special hot chocolate for 48€.

    Most glamorous of all is the new Le Bar, with its violet blue ceiling clouds of fabric, transparent resin bar, an array of signature cocktails, and a menu of club sandwiches and sushi, all accompanied by live jazz.

    My wife and I, just off a ten-day trip through Brittany and Normandy, sank deeply into our beds in a Junior Suite, which had one of the longest marbled bathrooms I’ve seen in Paris.  The colors of taupe and shades of violet, the delicate furniture, the vase of pink roses, and the view of the Eiffel Tower all contributed to a sense of 21st century elegance such hotels never had back when what was old was venerated and what was new was suspect.  Yet, no one would ever mistake the Plaza-Athenée for any other hotel, not even in Paris.        
     Those lipstick-colored awnings stay with you and bring back memories, and that view of the Eiffel Tower at night is something you never forget.

NEW YORK CORNER
By John Mariani

NIRVANA

346 Lexington Avenue (near 40th Street)

212-983-0000

 

    Back in the ‘90s, by the time the late Dr. Atkins had declared carbohydrates the Great Satan of weight gain, an obtuse book editor rejected my proposal for an Italian cookbook by saying, “Nobody’s eating pasta anymore!” Since then about a thousand Italian cookbooks have been published, and there seems no end in sight, for good reason. Fad diets aside, people everywhere just out and out love Italian food, and, Grazie Dio!, more and more authentic regional Italian cookbooks are coming out.  Here are some new ones I like very much, most of them first published in Italy, so they have some backbone.

 

AUTENTICO: Cooking Italian the Authentic Way by Rolando Beramendi (St. Martin’s Press, $35)—Despite the simpleminded translation of the title into a subtitle, this sturdy volume pretty much lives up to its claim.  Beramendi has a refreshing viewpoint: He’s founder of the Italian fine food importing company Manicaretti, so he’s wholly familiar with the best and the worst products available to make authentic Italian cuisine, both the familiar, like cacio e pepper and farro soup, but more unusual dishes like canaroli rice custard wrapped in chard leaves and Abruzzese fish stew.  The instructions are clear and concise, the photographs excellent.

 

I HEART ROME: Recipes & Stories from the Eternal Cityby Maria Pasquale (Smith Street Books, $35)—Another dubious title, but Maria Pasquale’s passion for Rome is palpable in this finely illustrated volume that sticks to real Roman dishes, from fried artichokes and puntarelle to coda alla vaccinara and cassola cheesecake.  There is good advice on Italian markets and lively profiles of expert cooks and purveyors. The cooking directions are longer than they need be, which can be off-putting for simple biscuits like brutti ma buoni.

 

SICILY: The Cookbook By Melissa Muller (Rizzoli, $40).  Now, there’s a straightforward title, and the book delivers.  The author has opened three Sicilian restaurants in New York and has migrated to a farm in Sicily to pursue her great love for the vast, fertile island.  She wisely shows how Sicilian cuisine and chefs have come squarely into the 21st century without losing any of the region’s soulfulness, so you’ll find recipes for grilled octopus and chickpea puree, seafood risotto with mint pesto, grated pasta with pumpkin and ricotta, and sweet and sour swordfish.  Typical of Rizzoli, it’s a beautiful work.

 

SICILIA: The Cooking of Casa Planeta By Elisia Menduni (Mondadori Electa,  $35)—How many Sicilian cookbooks do you need? One or two or three or more.  The Planeta family has a long heritage—their award-winning wines and olive oils are described in the appendix—and Italian journalist Elisia Menduni has a deep respect and affection for the family’s traditions, especially the cooking of the Planeta women, evident in simple dishes like eggplant cutlets and chickpea fritters, stuffed peppers and stuffed meatloaf.  The pastas, like caserecce with fava beans and ricotta, are hearty and seasonal, and the pastries  show the versatility various food cultures brought to an island as Greek and Moorish as it is Italian.  

 

CORSICA: The Recipes By Nicolas Stromboni (Smith Street Books, $40)—Yes, I know,  Corsica is a French territory, but only because they robbed it from the Corsicans, who themselves freed it from centuries of Genoese rule. So, the island is much more Italian in its cooking than it is French, as Nicolas Stromboni, a wine merchant based in Ajaccio, clearly shows in a volume that begins with charcuterie like coppa, prisuttu and pancetta.  Vegetables figure largely in Corsican cooking, as in lentils with figatelli sausage, and the cheeses of the region are highlighted.  Corsica is an island, so seafood abounds in wondrous dishes, like fish soups and mussels with peas and artichokes.  Pastas, however, are few--cannelloni with whipped brocciu cheese is very local.  And, once you make the very simple Corsican cheesecake called fiadone, it will become a treasured favorite. 

 

NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR

WHAT I'M DRINKING FOR CHRISTMAS
By John Mariani