The AmiGo Edit 29: Guest Edited by Paris Starn

During our honeymoon, my husband Théo and I spent 48 hours in Hokkaido. Though it was a short trip, we made sure to book a night at Yoichi Sagra, an inn and restaurant in the countryside. We were there during the depths of winter, and after a day out in the snow, it was so nice to be at such a cozy and peaceful spot (with a great tub). The restaurant at the inn only has three tables, and the menu is led by the seasons and changes near-nightly. The first dish was a sticky, savory-sweet, and chewy roasted sunchoke. We had seen them in their freshly dug-up state outside the restaurant when checking in just three hours earlier (talk about farm-to-table). The entire meal was delicious, but the highlights included the best piece of salmon I have ever had (it just melted on the tongue) with a bright and bitter salad on top, as well as their fried dough topped with cured fish and horseradish. The wine pairing is also great, and the bottles were not revealed until the end of the meal (very fun).

The following morning we were served an unbelievable breakfast. There was cured salmon, ikura, roasted deer, soup, and some of the best rice we had on the entire trip (among other great dishes). Before returning to Sapporo, we took a walk through one of the neighboring wineries. It was the perfect end to a beautiful stay.

Sam Youkilis and Katie Merchant are my favorite follows on AmiGo! Any time I'm going to a city I will check and see if Sam has been there and what he recommends. His recommendations are always fantastic. On my birthday, I walked into a bar that only had a few people inside, but there was Sam! Not only was it a great birthday surprise to see an old friend, but I knew we had gone to the right place to celebrate. Katie also has amazing recommendations, and she always suggests the most beautiful spots (and, like me, she has a strong penchant for sweets).

I recently wrote an article for my substack on the making of my wedding cake, which was inspired by the swan pies in the artwork The Sense of Taste by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel The Elder (1618). I saw it at The Prado the day I got engaged (p.s. I have a guide from that trip to Madrid on AmiGo). Funnily enough, a few weeks after the wedding, I walked into the Cecily Brown show at Paula Cooper in New York and immediately noticed her own rendering of the swan pie from The Sense of Taste, the same work that inspired me to make the cakes.

Since I just got back from a long trip I am staying put for the foreseeable future. Over the past few years, [NYC]()'s bakery scene has exploded with so many amazing spots. My plan is to spend more time in the city eating my way through the bakeries (and adding my favorites to AmiGo!). I can't wait to go to the new Radio Bakery location in Prospect Heights that just opened and go back to Hani’s and Librae. I’m looking forward to trying Alf, Burrow, Bench Flour Bakers, Le Fournil, Mah-Ze-Dahr, Miolin, Nik + Sons, Somedays Bakery, and Thea. I'm not quite sure how long it will take me, but I’m excited to try them all!.

Dining at Naruse back in January was one of the best experiences of my life. Getting a table at this tempura restaurant is not easy and requires taking an hour-long bullet train from Tokyo, but if you can get a table, it is so so worth it. At the beginning of the meal chef Shimura and his team prepared the vegetables. According to my time stamps, the sweet potato was scored and put into the fryer at 12:46 pm and removed about 90 minutes(!) later. At 2:33 pm it was cracked into pieces for each guest and topped with some flakey salt. it was one of the most heavenly bites of food I have ever tried, warm (but not too hot) and impossibly creamy with a little bit of crunchy salt and some crunch from the fry to balance. It was one of the best desserts I have ever had and has changed my perception of what a dessert can be.

My husband and I have made it a routine of dining at Auberge Bressane whenever we visit Paris. It's one of our favorite nice-meal-out restaurants in the city.

There is an excellent wine list with some occasional well-priced gems. The decor is super charming, and the energy is so happy and warm (we always end up chatting with our neighboring tables) and French.

As for the food, it can be excellent, but you have to know what to order. Definitely order the soufflés, and as many as you can fathom (the special when we went recently was an incredible crab soufflée with lobster bisque, the chocolate one is my favorite for dessert but the grand marnier is also fantastic, and if they have the chestnut one in season please do try that too). Steak frites are a solid choice, and then we usually like to stick to the specials as they are known for their seasonal game meats and fowl.