Elegance is in the details and at Mori Venice Bar it’s in the decor and the cuisine. Remodeled in 2010 in a blend of the crisp modern style of Philippe Starck and the refinement of Italy, you know that you are in for a rich experience from the moment you walk in. Murano glassware, Venetian mirrors, chandeliers made by a client–a veritable museum.

Franck Lesage tarted up the place when he took over the reins from his father, Serge, but didn’t disturb the formula that has made it an institution since its inception in 1974-hand cut charcuterie, ripe, runny cheeses and good, inexpensive wines (8cl glasses at the bar for 2 euros) drawn from the barrels that they personally select. As befits a wine bar a wide selection from Beaujolais.

This was my first visit to the Hotel Castille and Assaggio since Chef Giulio Freschi arrived and I was super impressed. For starters the room has been beautifully redecorated for greater intimacy and weather permitting, a lovely, open courtyard awaits diners for an evening under the stars.

I had heard consistently good things about this Latin Quarter bistro and was delighted when my colleague, Alain Neyman, of www.lesrestos.com invited me to join him for a leisurely lunch. I was a few minutes early and owner Bertrrand Bluy served me a Txapa, a rosé from the Pays-Basques with a cherry-like finish. When Alain arrived and ordered a white wine Bertrand delivered wafer-thin slices of a cured ham from the Pyrenées.

On a sunny and cold day  M, the BF (beau-fils) and I were seated at a table ronde by a window from where we could enjoy the beautiful murals that cover the soothingly soft green walls.  They date back to the original restaurant in 1925.

Andreas Mavrommàtis arrived in Paris 30 years ago from Cyprus to study Psychology and thankfully got sidetracked into cooking. Today the Mavrommàtis banner flies over two restaurants in Paris, eight traiteurs and the Four Seasons Hotel in Limassol, Cyprus.

My friend and hostess for my San Francisco literary salons Virginia Reyna was in town. We met in the lobby of her Paris address, the Hotel Jeanne d’Arc in the Marais where she was holding her autographed copy of Alec Lobrano’s Hungry for Paris and after a quick consult we decided to walk to Robert et Louise on the rue Vielle du Temple.

André Jorno’s Tunisian mother opened the first Sephardic grocery on this rue de Rosiers location in the early 50’s when the Marais was still the predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish neighborhood it had been since the Middle Ages.