0 Maison Blanc UK

Maison Blanc Petits Fours, watercolor, 9" x 11" Last May I was forced to immerse myself in petit four pastries day AND night. Really the correct French word is mignardises for these cuties.

I was forced to wolf down great quantities to find my inner, ultimate petit four self...

How else can you paint something?

If you don't know it...

Up close and personal?

I was commissioned to paint illustrations for Maison Blanc Patisseries in the UK.

June a year ago, by chance I stopped in at the Fulham Road Maison Blanc for a spot of tea...

A pleasent combination of Frenchness and British afternoon tea don't you think? Tres charmant French chef Raymond Blanc is their maitre in charge of every bite and their desserts are quite stupendous.

I had a bite of their luscious Concerto chocolate cake

Naturalemente I took a shot of the menu...

Inside and out...

And this past May I was immersed in doing illustrations for their new menu thanks to Paris Breakfast.

That's why all the petits fours and chocolate gateaux torture around here.

And it's why I spent my birthday in May getting upclose and personal with a tunafish sandwich too. If you're in the UK do stop in and say bonjour for me.
Bonjour MAISON BLANC & Bonne Fourth to YOU!

0 La Seduction

Gateau Chocolat, watercolor, 9" x 11"

An American friend, who worked at Restaurant Guy Savoy for 3 years, made an observation I've never forgotten - 'Everything in France is layered'. I think of this each time I cut into a piece of French pastry... Elaine Sciolino's new book (out today), La Seduction, cuts through the complexity of French culture, politics, mores and most of all the layers of 'La seduction'. My copy is a mess of yellow markings. You won't be able to put it down either...

You can 'bite' a chunk at Amazon...

Sciolino mentions those petite details of seduction in an interview with lingerie queen Chantal Thomass. As New York Times Paris bureau chief for 5+ years, no one is out of her reach including a gastronomic 3-star chef Guy Savoy - she even gets to have a meal with his mother in the country!

This little blurb in an old Elle magazine sums up the books premise, 'Sexy, mais pas trop' (Sexy, but not too much) Suggestion in seduction is everything.

Wear something you can take off. And take a class on exactly how to take it off seductively!

Perfume is an essential in the game of French seduction - but all the senses come into play...

Obvious makeup is a non, non.

But traitment/skin treatment of the peau? Absolutement oui!

Much is summed up at a dinner soiree given by a French friend, so Sciolino can ask questions (with the essential politesse) of French experts in all arenas of the arts of seduction. You'll be enthralled.

Sciolino dissects the French seduction the way I cut into a piece of cake to know it and paint it, layer by layer. And her bibliography is a goldmine on essential Frenchness. Many books we've discussed here like: Deluxe, The Perfect Scent, What French Women Know, French Women Don't get Fat, Almost French, The Essence of Style, plus I've added others into the sidebar...

The only oversight was the seductive powers of the French dog. woof

BONJOUR LA SEDUCTION!

0 Tuna Birthday!

You don't plan on spending your birthday doing hand-to-hand combat with a tuna sandwich. But life is full of little surprises. And when the challange is to paint a tuna sandwich. And you have a deadline, the tuna sandwich takes precedence over champagne et macarons. I'm always saying I never eat birthday cake...
 Last weekend I took myself off to Soho to do chocolate cake research for the same illustration project.

First I went to very 'Frenchie' Ceci Cela patisserie.

And got this layered affair to practice on.

I did manage to get a sketch out of it before I was compelled to eat it. It was melting under the table lamp. What else could I do? Next I headed to Francois Payard's new patisserie.

Tres mignon.

Payard's little Sacher cake didn't even make it to the sketch page.

But it did help immerse me in essence of chocolatie cake research. Just what a pastry artist needs...

The tuna sandwich will not be eaten. It has dried up under the lights. But there is nothing like having real props to work from. The new Ladybug kitchen timer is from the Soho Pylones by the way.

BONJOUR TUNA BIRTHDAY!