expire-images:2008-11-18

The Eiffel Tower Gets The Star Chef Treatment

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels

It's been my experience that restaurants with an amazing view are a mixed bag. Some are nothing special, assuming that you aren't there for the food as much as you are for the view, others go all out. The Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower takes a move into the latter category with the announcement that star chef Alain Ducasse will be opening the newly updated restaurant next month. The restaurant has a view of Paris from the second level of the tower. The challenge for Ducasse was to create a restaurant that both tourists and locals would love. He also had to deal with the unusual requirements of the setting including furniture that met the tower's weight limits and a kitchen that cannot use gas that would produce flames.

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Tags: alain ducasse, AlainDucasse, eiffel tower, expire-images:2008-11-18, jules verne, paris, restaurant

Natalie MacLean's Thanksgiving Wine Picks

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Wine goddess and author Natalie MacLean has made her picks for wines for this year's Thanksgiving feast. MacLean, the author of the book Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass also has some simple rules for Thanksgiving wine pairing:

Starting off with a Champagne, Prosecco or other sparkling wine sets a festive note and makes a great aperitif.

Red wine or white wine with the turkey? You can do either. A crisp white like a Riesling or Pinot Grigio works but a juicy red like a Zinfandel also works well (it sort of mimics the berry note of the cranberry sauce). You can also go for the practically fruit juice appeal of this year's Beaujolais Nouveau.

You can also match your wine to the sides, offering other wines such as a buttery Chardonnay to complement the stuffing and veggies or a Sauvignon Blanc to add a little pep to a palate numbed by too many cream sauces. .

She suggests a late harvest wine or ice wine to pair with dessert to add the perfect finishing touch. In my experience, I have found that a Port or a late harvest Zinfandel works well with pecan pie while a late harvest Chardonnay can work with pumpkin pie.

After the jump, her top picks for reds and whites for the table.

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Tags: expire-images:2008-11-18, red wine, RedWine, thanksgiving, white wine, WhiteWine, wine, wine pairings, zinfandel

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Could the Airbus A380 Get Even Bigger?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

The Airbus 380 is barely into its official reign as the ruler of the skies and Airbus is already planning a bigger model. Airbus says that the A380-900 would be able to carry as many as 900 passengers in a single-class configuration. The current configuration seats 500 to 800 depending on the configuration. Development on the supersized version of the already supersized jet would start in 2010, after the A380 reaches full production.

Of course, Emirates is already getting their deep pockets ready to buy this plane too. Their plan is to likely outfit the plane with around 750 seats so that it would have both premium and first-class accommodations for higher-paying passengers. There is also the possibility that other carriers could go in the opposite direction, putting as many as 1,000 seats on the plane. The new plane will likely be ready in 2015.

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Tags: a380, airbus, airplane, expire-images:2008-11-18, jet, jumbo jet