It was the third and final service of a collaboration between logy and Le Côté LM. With two teams integrated into one kitchen, it was no wonder that there was a distinct energy, which oozed out from the open cooking area into where I was seated.

ZEA, the hot new Latin American restaurant in town, has been stirring up a warm buzz amongst industry professionals and curious foodies since its opening in May, and for good reasons.

The highlights are the quintessentially spring ingredients – fukinoto, white asparagus, peas, loquat…These are extraordinary little treats, better, to my mind because their prime season is so short.

[Taipei 台北] Cafe Megane 眼鏡咖啡

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Cafe Megane 眼鏡咖啡

Add: No. 6, Lane 52, Siwei road, Taipei
Hours: 10am~8pm (closed on the last Wednesday of each month)
Website: coffeemegane.com
Price: 200~400 NTD/person
Visited: Dec 2016

I had already blogged about Cafe Megane years ago. This low-key Japanese-style coffee shop, hidden inside one of the small lanes of Siwei Road, has always been one of my favorites in Taipei. Revisiting it years later, it was comforting to find it mostly unchanged. The interior is warm with dark wood and yellow lighting, doesn’t fit more than 20 even when fully packed, and there are indeed glasses everywhere (“megane” means glasses in Japanese). The coffee here is perfect, the onigiri delicious, and I heard the matcha waffles are amazing as well. If you are fortunate enough to be living in or visiting Taipei, do find a quiet time to enjoy a cup of coffee here.

其實早在 2011 年剛開始寫部落格不久時,就介紹過眼鏡咖啡了。這家隱藏在台北四維路某個巷子裡的日系咖啡店,低調而有個性,一直是我很喜歡的地方。好幾年後再訪,安心的發現裏面一點也沒變。內部的裝潢是溫暖的原木和黃色燈光,店裡坐滿了也只能容納十幾個人,小小的店內到處都可以看到眼鏡的出沒。這裏的咖啡完美,飯團好吃,聽說抹茶松餅也做得極好。如果你很幸運的住在台北或去旅遊的話,絕對要挑個人少的時候來享受一杯安靜的咖啡。

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[Taipei 台北] VVG Hideaway 好樣祕境

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VVG Hideaway

Add: No. 136-1, Jingshan Rd, Taipei City
Tel: (02) 2862 6488
Hours: 12-9pm
Price: 500-700 NTD
Visited: Dec 2016

This time in Taipei, I headed to Yangming Mountain to explore one of Taipei’s more popular cafe/restaurants, called VVG Hideaway. Online, this place has been described as “secret little white house nestled in the mountains” or “heaven-like dreamy secret hiding place”, which I found exaggerated to a point of being funny, but it is true that the photos look quite stunning. Though I was never a big fan of the food from VVG group, I was still willing to trek out there just to take a look at the space.

這次在台北,抽了一天上陽明山探了探當前人氣網紅店之一的 “好樣秘境 VVG Hideaway”。之前看到對這家店的描述,大多是 “坐落于山林間的秘密小白屋”,或著 “天堂般夢幻的白色秘境” 這類的。心裡想著這也太誇張了,不過看了照片後還是忍不住被吸引。雖然知道好樣集團出品的食物向來 “…”,不過爲了美麗的環境硬是要去踩個地雷 - 大概是這樣一個心態。

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To get to VVG Hideaway by public transportation, you need to take the MRT to “Jiantan Station” and hop on Bus #303 to “Qinshanli #2 Stop”. Personally I find that quite troublesome – apparently some people waited for an hour because they missed the bus – but if you happen to have a lot of time, or are lucky enough like I was to have a friend drive you, then why not explore?

如果搭乘公共交通前往,得坐捷運至 “劍潭站” 再轉搭 “303號公車” 在 “菁山里二站” 下車。個人覺得這太麻煩了(聽說有人沒看好公車時間,等了一個小時的),不過如果你剛好很閒,或著和我一樣幸運的有朋友開車載上山的話,倒不妨去瞧瞧。

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[Taipei 台北] Quelques Pâtisseries 某某。甜点

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Quelques Pâtisseries 某某。甜点

Add: 34, Lane 102, Section 1, Anhe Road, Taipei
Tel: (02) 2755 4097
Hours: Wed-Sun 1-7pm (closed Mon & Tue)
Price: [pastries] 160-200 TWD [tea] 110-120 TWD
Visited: Jun 2016

There has been a burst in growth of French-style pastry shops in Taipei during the past few years, and actually, quite a few of them were opened by fellow alums from Ferrandi, where I had completed my professional pastry training. On this recent trip back to Taipei, I visited one of them called Quelques Pâtisseries, which literally means “a few pastries” in French.

台北近幾年來法式甜點店一家接著一家開,其中不少是由和我在巴黎同一所學校(Ferrandi費杭第高等廚藝學院)的校友所經營。這次在台北短短幾天,在僅能擠出時間探訪一家的情況下,我選擇了去年底才開幕的 “Quelques Pâtisseries 某某。甜點”。

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The shop was started by two classmates – Lai, who is in charge of the kitchen, and Jiou Jiou, who takes care of everything front of house. I met both of them at Ferrandi and, knowing the perfectionists that they are, it’s no surprise that Quelques Pâtisseries is lovely from head to toe – the interior design, furniture, and of course, the pastries.

Quelques pâtisseries 法文直譯的意思是 “幾個甜點”,很可愛的名字。負責外場的 Jiou Jiou 和內場的 Lai 都是我在 Ferrandi 的好朋友,兩個完美主義者組合在一起,也難怪某某從店裝到甜點的每個細節都令人無可挑剔。

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