France

A Flea in Her Ear

Long Beach Playhouse

Geeta Bansal Interviews Pierre Albaladejo About Alain Senderens, Legendary Michelin-Star-Shunning French Chef!

Every Monday, Clay Oven Irvine executive chef/owner Geeta Bansal shares an interview that she's done with some of the heavyweights of European cooking. Today, she regales us with a chat with Alain Senderens. Enjoy!

David France on the Plague Years

The history and survival of ACT UP

'How to Survive a Plague': Who Saved the World?

David France on the stirring history of ACT UP

Anita Tijoux

Constellation Room

Julie Delpy Rocks 'New York'

Always more than an ingenue, she's taking on everything that's wrong with movies—and she's bringing Chris Rock

'New York' Vacation

Julie Delpy brings the 'Paris' gang to the city

Police: Welcome To Anaheimistan; Now Obey Our Whims or Die

It's a historical fact that the biggest threat to the citizens of any nation isn't outsiders but their own government's police and military--the folks with all the guns, arrest powers and unwavering insistence that their own violence is committed only as a means to peace.For proof, glance at the his ... More >>

New Music: Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra's 'Last Odyssey'

There's something geographically astounding about a Costa Mesa-based record label putting putting out a band from France who specializes in the fiery polyrhythms of Ethio and Nigerian funk. That's pretty much the situation when it comes to Ubiquity Record's latest signee, Afro Latin Vintage Orc ... More >>

The "World's 50 Best" List Is Published, Is Usual Steaming Pile of Irrelevance

Oh, look, this year's edition of "The World's 50 Best Restaurants", sponsored by San Pellegrino and its subsidiary Acqua Panna, has come out. Cue the precious online debates and the bored yawns from the rest of the world.Ranked lists of the best anything are patent bollocks: they necessarily reflec ... More >>

McDonald's McBaguette Debuts In France

This week we learned that Brits get a hot dog stuffed into the crusts of their Pizza Hut pizza, and the French? Why they get their own custom sandwich catered to local tastes from McDonald's.The French branch of the Golden Arches announced Tuesday that it will launch the McBaguette on April 18th for ... More >>

Harold Chapman Asks: Will the Beat Go on?

OMC Gallery's Parisian bohemian retrospective of the legendary photographer evokes a yearning for yesteryear

Macarons and Cooking Classes Highlight New Rocq Cafe in Lake Forest

​For some reason, the rest of Orange County thinks South County is a culinary black hole. As someone who lives south of the Spectrum I take offense to that. First, haters, let's not forget that we have Break of Dawn. But we're also home to the boss burgers at Riders Club in San Clemente, the impre ... More >>

Chanel Owns a Winery--And Karl Lagerfeld is Designing the Label of a Special-Edition Bottle

​Hey, fashion-savvy friends. Your new must-have label for spring is . . . a wine label. According to Glamour, Chanel owns a winery, the centuries-old Chateau Rauzan-Segla in the Bordeaux region of France. Next month, it will release a special 2009 Gran Cru Classé to celebrate the chateau's 3 ... More >>

Silent Protest Against Turkey's Armenian Genocide Denial Campaign to Happen Tomorrow at UC Irvine

​Earlier this week, the French Senate passed a resolution making it a crime in France to deny the Armenian genocide, a historical reality accepted by everyone except the Republic of Turkey and many of its citizens. As a result, many Turkish-American organizations in this country are already blasti ... More >>

Why is McDonald's Doing So Well in France?

​Fascinating article out on the Motley Fool yesterday. Written by a trio of students from Wharton, the paper chronicles in detail how McDonald's managed to succeed in France in spite of initial push-back from French society in general.McDonald's now boasts more than 1,200 restaurants in France, th ... More >>

Japan Has More Top Restaurants Than France Says Michelin Guide

​In the battle of sushi versus foie gras, sushi wins. Or so says the Michelin Guide, which has decreed that Japan has more top restaurants than France for the first time since the book started rating restaurants in The Land of The Rising Sun in 2008.

French Baker Creates 24-Hour Baguette Vending Machines

Flickr user roboppy It's well-known that the Japanese have gone vending machine crazy. Not only can you get a cup of instant ramen (which is child's play) by inserting a few coins into the machines, you can also pick up fresh produce and even lobsters.

French Restaurants Realize They're Too Expensive

Flickr User WallyG​Reuters had a report that fancy eateries across France will cut down their prices for a week in September (from the 19th to the 25th) to attract those who were previously put off by the pretentiousness and scared away by the cost. For example, a three-course meal ... More >>

Cheddar? Please. Five Proposals for New Burger Cheeses

Flickr user chiropractic​Not that a slice of really great Cheddar isn't a treat by itself, and not that we're attempting to foment rebellion here, but can we please have a break from the same old five cheeses on our cheeseburgers? Cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, pepper Jack (oh look, now it's a spicy ... More >>

Why Can't We Have Café Gourmand in OC?

Flickr user handyandy88​On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to meThree small desserts, two tiny spoons and a minuscule cup of coffee.Orange County, the time has come for you to embrace the Gallic wonder known as the café gourmand, or as we say in American, the dessert sampler.

Can We Please Stop Freaking Out About S.510 (the Food Safety Modernization Act) Now?

Flickr user paullew​The large food safety overhaul has passed the U.S. Senate after a clerical error and a deal between the Democrats and the Republicans to keep it out of the continuing resolution that will keep the government running, and is now headed back to the House for final passage (and, u ... More >>

Bookworms

White-nationalist reads in the United States and Europe reflect anti-migrant hatred in a grim economy

OC's Broken School Lunches

Flickr user bookgrlAs sad as this is, it's better than CUSD's high school lunch.​Earlier this year, the Conseil régional de Bourgogne (Regional Council of Burgundy, France) released a four-year charter called "Qualité de la restauration scolaire"--the quality of school food. It states that at ... More >>

Five Explanations For the French Paradox

Flickr user stuckincustoms​If you've never heard the term "French paradox", it's used to refer to the concept that French people, who are as a rule slim and svelte, seem to eat whatever they want: tons of white bread, cheese, butter, bacon, and far too much dessert for their own good. Everything f ... More >>

Cinco de Mayo 2: Electric Boogaloo

plasticpeople, under Creative Commons license​There were fans running through the streets of downtown Long Beach this afternoon, blowing vuvuzelas like they were in Polokwane, South Africa. They wore Dos Santos, Marquez, Fernandez and Blanco El Tri jerseys because, yes, Mexico just beat France in ... More >>

Daniella Foletto Exhibit

Bayside Restaurant

Champagne With Wild Hibiscus Flowers

​BevMo! carries just about every type of alcohol you could possibly need and if they don't have it in stock, they will special-order it. Their most under-appreciated aisle happens to house all of the non-alcoholic items. There is just about every flavor of rim salt and sugar possibl ... More >>

Cowboy Diplomacy From Our Man In Paris, John Travolta

Treasures of Napoleon

Muzeo

Eight Questions with D-Strutters

​Long Beach has a lot of bands, but none of them exemplify pure rock 'n' roll as well as D-Strutters. The group--singer/guitarist Joe Roads, guitarist George Velvet, bassist Tony and drummer Heath--leave all pretense behind for a straight-ahead bombastic blast like the Stones would be writing if t ... More >>

This Week In Food

So, this week:Edwin revealed that two new local eateries--Sol Cocina (NOT Cucina!) in Newport Beach and Andrei's in Irvine--were finally opening. And that was just a day after Brasserie Pascal threw open its doors at Fashion Island. Vive la France!We also broke news of a new, cheaper three-course me ... More >>

Totally Cosmic

Le Le

[This Hole-in-the-Wall Life] Parlez-Vous Good Food? Taste of France

!Ask a Mexican!(r)

"The same women who complain about ‘sleazy’ Mexican men go to France and giggle about ‘how flirtatious’ French men are"

Tease Me: A Little History

One of the reasons many people still don't know what to say when their sister or co-worker or mom says she's taking an exotic dance or pole fitness class is because many of us only associate what they're saying with one thing: strip clubs – low or highbrow, they are the places where women dance fo ... More >>

We'll Always Have Paris . . .

. . . Well, this Thursday and Saturday at UCI, anyway

A Sweet Life's Work

The Ritzs Jean-Francois Lehuede leaves em wanting more

Sic Transit...

It seem there might be a princess– princess in the sense of being the child of a European royal– somewhere in the Inland Empire. Albert Grimaldi, the ruling prince of Monaco (and one of the least inbred of Europe's royal relics, thanks to the genetic material of Grace Kelly), is reported ... More >>

Gorge Trio

Parlez-Vous Dien Bien Phu?

A tour of Orange Countys French-Vietnamese restaurants

Crepes Cest Bon!

Dreaming of Paris in America

Loaves of Love

Five Cultures, Five Sandwiches

Contest!

Kiss My Cassoulet!

Flabby Francophile defends Gauls, dines at Bistro le Crillon

Fear and Loathing on Death Row

Death Letters explores injustice of capital punishment

Heroes, Villains and the Rest of Us

Now playing at the Pan African Film & Arts Festival

Guillotines and Escargots

Enjoy a bit of Paris in Little Saigon

Without Words

Picking the top movies of 2001

Clip and Save

The year in great movies