Hot dinners - various restaurants - How To Forget The Election - Cover Story

National Review, Nov 25, 1996 by John O'Sullivan

The three great cuisines are supposed to be French, Chinese, and Turkish. Italian must be added to this list since the forerunner of French haute cuisine came from Northern Italy and was imported into the French court by Catherine di Medici. So when in Rome, try Al Bolognese on the Piazza del Popolo, which, as well as serving the superb food of its patron city, has replaced the Via Veneto as the haunt of the.beautiful people. Casina Valadier, on the edge of the Borghese Gardens with a fine view of the city, is ideal for an al fresco lunch in spring or early summer. And NR's Rome correspondent (and former Italian foreign minister) Antonio Martino recommends Al Ceppo for "wonderful food, excellent wines, reasonable prices." Any drawbacks?

"Yes," he said. "It's always full."

But even Rome is hard put to compete with New York, notably NR's eclectic "house restaurant," Paone's, or such recent successes as Campagna and Da Vittorio, respectively the chic and cheerful ends of the local Italian scene.

I would also take in the rich, spicy cooking of Hungary with its goulashes, peppers, dumplings, sour cream, palacsintas (thin cr -pes), and above all its infinite variations on goose liver. My taste for these dishes was formed twenty years ago in London's Gay Hussar, still going aromatically strong. (Try the smoked goose and scholet.) When the Cold War ended, I headed East to Budapest's celebrated Gundel, restored by Hungarian-American George Lang (of New York's Cafe des Artistes) and Ronald Lauder, a former mayoral candidate for the New York Conservative Party. With its haute cuisine Hongroise, its Belle Epoque decor, and its gypsy orchestra, Gundel is a step back into the Austria - Hungary of Lehar and Kalman -- the place to go when you want to forget not merely the election, but the twentieth century as a whole. Waiter, more champagne.

Of Turkish food, all I can say is that ten or twelve of its starters (mezze) make a tasty meal on their own at New York's Turkish Kitchen or Sahara. Aa. Ar Chr Che food, my usual rule is to visit the restaurants with a large Chinese clientele. But this is of little use in Hong Kong. So visit the restaurant ont on Pea Peahich has a wonderful view.

Finally, to France. Hazlitt, when asked what was the best of Burke, replied, "The only specimen of Burke is all of him." Similarly, when asked where to eat in France, I reply: Anywhere. A good example of anywhere is the Le Relais St. Jean in the little village of Aspremont about fifty minutes' driving into the mountains north of Nice. Perched above a river valley, it gave me, the historian of Arabia J. B. Kelly, and Danish foreign correspondent Ulla Terkelsen (two tough critics) a meal of local specialties, notably the thick nicoise ravioli stuffed with beef daube, that was -- well, we went back that night for dinner.

La Mcre Barral in Nice's Old Town is closed in August, when I last had one of my rare trips to the Cote d'Azur. But it is the stuff of legend. Mother Barral serves drinks and the customers sing songs until the place is full enough for her to start cooking the meal that she has ordered on the basis of what looked good in that morning's market. Digby Anderson would approve. So will I -- in time.