Thanksgiving in Paris 2012

Our dear friends in Paris

Is it me, or is Paris becoming Thanksgiving friendly. Last year it was quite the challenge to find “American” ingredients for our Thanksgiving dinner. (see my previous post),  "Thanksgiving 2011" .  This year, it’s quite a different story from our adventures a year ago.

Our beautiful 90€ turkey

  

• Turkey – In the past you had to pre-order it from either an American grocery store such as “Thanksgiving Store” in the 3eme, or you had to order it from your butcher. Today, you can actually pre-order it from major grocery stores such as Monoprix, Carrefour or La Grande Epicerie. Who knew?

• Cranberries --  In the past you could only buy this at international supermarkets such as “La Grande Epicerie” for 6-7€ for what looks like a small bag of peanuts. Now you can actually find them at Monoprix or Carrefour for 4€ for a nice size bag.

• Pecans --  As a general rule, nuts are extremely expensive in France; hence, you very rarely see tarts or pies made of nuts. Normally, the price of about a kilo of pecans goes for about 18€, you can actually find them for 14€ at the "Barbès-Rochechouart" market.  It doesn’t seem like such a reduction, but euros add up when you’re on a budget.

• Cream cheese – Last year, this was only available at very few grocery stores. It has now become quite popular and a staple. You can find it everywhere from Carrefor to Auchan to Géant. And, you can also find them in different flavors from salmon to dill to garlic.

• Fried onion rings – These are what we put on our string bean casserole. You can actually find an Asian version at Tang Frère or some major Asian markets in the 13eme. They’re like the “durkees” brand we get in US, the onions are smaller, but they taste just as good. In fact, you can get the fried garlic as well, so you can mix the two together to get that oh so wonderful flavor.

• Molasses – Yep, you can also easily find this at any health food store such as “Naturalia” or “Bio” but it’s called “mélasse”, but be forewarned, it is much, much stronger than the American version so I would suggest if a recipe calls for 2 tablespoons, just use one.

• Peanut butter -- You can find peanut butter easily in Chinatown; however, they’re laden with sugar. You can actually get peanut butter at the health food stores as well that’s more natural for better tasting peanut butter cookies.

Traditional American desserts

We’ve come a long way in just one year. My guess is that there’s a lot of American ex-pats living in Paris; hence, a lot of vendors are making it easier for us to shop. And, a lot of French are very familiar with our Thanksgiving celebration. In fact, as we pine to get invited to a traditional French Christmas dinner, the French pine to get invited to our Thanksgiving dinner.

What I’m hoping for next year, so for the grocer buyers out there who happen to read this, please listen to my pleas:

• Turkey – I wish the price goes down as demand increases. A typical 9 kilo (almost 20 lbs) turkey is about 90€ (almost $120).  And, the butchers leave the neck and gizzards, without having to ask.

• Cream of Mushroom soup – I know one could probably make it, but it’d be fun to have some.

• Pumpkin and sweet potatoes – To save time, I hope we can buy them canned next year!

Best to all of my readers for the coming holidays. Please be safe, and more importantly, enjoy the simple pleasure life has to offer!

Restaurant Review -- LaDamedePic a Paris

Front window of restaurant prominently featuring the Chefs

Address:  20 Rue de Louvre

Tel: 01 42 60 40 40

Open:  Monday - Saturday (closed Sundays)
Metro: Line 1 (Louvre-Rivoli) 

Website:  www.ladamedepic.fr 

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  3 - Star...............................................................€€€€.................................................................2 - Bell

This restaurant has been much awaited. Afterall, the Chef, Sophie Pic comes from a long line of 3-star Michelin pedigrees, starting with her grandfather André Pic, and father Jacques Pic at restaurant “Maison Pic”.  And, on September 24, 2007, Chef Sophie was elected "head of the year" by the eight thousand heads listed in the Michelin guide. This is the first woman to receive this award, established in 1987. She was also named best woman Chef in the world by Veuve Clicquot. In addition, she has a 2-star Michelin restaurant in Lausanne Switzerland, Restaurant Anne-Sophie Pic.

So, there has been much hype and fanfare about the opening of her new restaurant, La Dame de Pic.  Right away as you walk by the restaurant, the chefs are prominently featured through the window. I loved the décor of the restaurant with it’s white on white (wall paintings are actually white paper cuttings) and simplicity. For Paris it has a large number of tables.

What caught my eye as soon as we sat at the table was the water goblets. They were baccarat crystal. And, being as nosey as I am I checked the silverware and the knives were made special by "C&B Lefevre" with Madame Pic's monogram and, for the first set of silverware, were stamped, which lead me to believe they were sterling.

This is not an inexpensive restaurant. You had 4-choices for lunch. The prix fixe menus were 49€ (menu déjeuner), 79€, 100€ and 120€ respectively. Two of us opted for the 49€, which included an entrée, plat, and dessert, while one person opted for the 100€ special, which included 2 entrées in addition to the plat and dessert. The wine selection was extremely expensive. We got 2-bottles of the “Domaine des roches neuve” which was the most affordable at 27€ each.

Firstly, we were given 3-strips of fragrances. At first I thought it was scratch and sniff: The strips composed of vanille ambrée, iode et fleur, and sous bois épice, which were the names of the 3 expensive pre-fix menus. We were told to sniff these as sort of a start of the meal. They seemingly had no correlation  whatsoever with the meals we were having. I thought it was bizarre and way too gimmicky. And, we actually thought they smelled awful, oh well.

Secondly, we got an amuse bouche of two types of buttered manufactured by Madame Pic, with various types of bread.  As all butters in France, they were good, but really nothing out of the ordinary.

We’ll start with the 49€ menu. For the entrée we had the “Le veloute de potiron” (orange, café, cardamone verte), I actually like this dish a lot. It was a pumpkin soup with finely ground coffee lightly sprinkled on top. And, then you had a nice surprise, because as you dug into the soup you got a panna cotta like custard which gave the dish a dual texture. It gave it a little more complexity and sophistication.

For our plat we had the “Les Supions, gnocchis aux épices douces, grenobloise fève tonka”  a squid, and gnocchi dish. The dish was good, but it was way, way too tart for me. It was bathed in a vinagarette of lemon and olive oil with capers. Do not order this dish unless you like tart! The squid was very tender and nicely poached, and the gnocchis were firm, cooked well without it being “mushy.”

For our dessert we had the “Les myrtilles au thé matcha.” Blueberries with a green tea cake. The presentation was absolutely beautiful. I thought the green tea cake was delicious. The little purple egg like pouch hid some confiture of blueberries. Once I broke into the pouch and tasted it, it was way, way too sweet for me. It was basically sweet on sweet.

 

Now for the 100€ menu. For the entrée our friend had the “L'huitre speciale gillardeau, chou-fleur, jasmine” which were oysters, cauliflower, jasmine.  The oysters were surrounded in a cauliflower sauce or thick soup. We all thought it was kind of bland, and the oysters were good, but nothing out of the ordinary.

For the second entrée, he had the “La Sardine de mediterranee poireaux, thé matcha”, sardines with leeks and a green tea. The dish was served warm. We all liked the sardines, because they tasted like sardines should taste, strong and bold.  The poireaux (leeks) were really good (actually he said orgasmic). And, the accompanying green tea sauce was very subtle and good. But nothing really out of the ordinary or outstanding other than the 'orgasmic' leeks.

For his plat, he had “La poularde fermiere, couteaux, épinards, fleurs d’oranger”, which is free ranged chicken, with spinach orange blossom. Although it was cooked nicely and moist, for the French it might have been perfect, but for us, we found the dish really dull and uninspiring. Almost like cooking chicken breast without any seasoning.  And the spinach was nothing out of the ordinary.

For the dessert, he had the “La poire William, reglisse, violette”, a pear with licorice and violets. The pear was a bit over-poached. It almost felt as if the pear could’ve come from a can. The soft almost set ice cream was very non-descript. He also had the pouch, but it was filled with a sort of lemony simple syrup. And, as for the licorice flavor, it didn’t exist. 

In addition, we were also also served little cookies

Summary: The restaurant is beautiful in its simplicity. What I found odd was they had these beautiful baccarat water glasses and some sterling silverware and some cutlery especially made for Madame Pic with her monogram, but they served wine in cheap restaurant glasses, strange in its inconsistency. This is definitely an upscale restaurant. Madame Pic’s name brings caché. The service was impeccable. We must’ve had 5 different people serving us, but it wasn’t at all intrusive. The maitre’d would occasionally stop by and ask us how our food was. And, before each meal, the wait-person explained each dish. Now for the overall experience, we thought it was very pretentious and even gimmicky. Some of the dishes were really good and extraordinary while others lacked any depth or the “wow” factor expected from a Michelin star Chef. The 100€ pre-fix was absolutely not worth the money. Some might even argue the 49€, which is the lowest priced lunch menu is a better deal. So, if you love “pomp and circumstance” you will love this restaurant. But I personally prefer a more “down-to-earth” eating experience. Total bill for 3 with wine came to 267€.  My 3 star overall rating reflects the extremely poor 'price to value' ratio and was actually buoyed by the non-food experiences- superior welcome, service, and decor.

La Maison Du Jardin -- Restaurant Review

Address:  27, Rue de Vaugirard, 75006

Tel:01.45.48.22.31

Open:  Monday - Friday
Metro: Line 12 (Rennes) 

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  3.75 - Star...............................................................€€...................................................................2 - Bell

The other day, 3 of us stopped and had lunch at La Maison Du Jardin.  One of my friends had already been there.  The restaurant is cute, albeit small and extremely tight.  In fact, although we had a nice window table my chair was actually hitting the table behind me. The poor woman sitting behind me, my back was right up against her food.

They had a pretty nice selection on their menu.  For our entrées, one friend got the paté de canard. She said it was really good, and it came with a nice toasted slice of bread.

 
Two us got the mussel salad. Although it was extremely tasty, the mussels were smothered in a rich, rich mayonnaise type of dressing and the salad itself was dripping in oil.  I did like it, but I think they really need to tone down the oil. If I poured the oil in a cup from that plate, I couldn't have easily fried an egg. My other friend who had this dish also agreed.

For our plat, both friends got the steak and I got the duck encased in phyllo, served with grilled figs.  So, we'll start with the duck. It had alot of flavor and the top of the phyllo dough was nice, crisp and flaky.  The duck was pulled, so it had the texture of pulled pork, but in a heavy dark almost demi-glace like sauce. Again, I thought it was tasty, as I neared the bottom, parts of the bottom of the casing were actually burnt black. I tasted it, it tasted burnt, so I stopped eating it.

My other two friends ordered the steak, one of my friends told me she had something similar the other night that was much better than the one she had this particular day. Whereas my other friend said it was cooked perfectly.  I was really surprised when they ordered the steak that the wait-person did not ask how they wanted it cooked. My guess is since that alot of Americans frequent this restaurant, and many of us like it "a point" which is medium-rare,  they stopped bothering to ask.  I tasted the steak, and it was actually very good. It was accompanied with different vegetables and potatoes.

And, for dessert we shared a quartet of chocolate. A chocolate ice cream, chocolate mouse, chocolate gâteau and something akin to a chocolate ganache.  We agreed that it was delicious albeit sweet and very rich.







All-in-all I thought the meal was definitely above average. The dishes were very tasty, albeit some where executed poorly (e.g., burnt phyllo), and the service was excellent. For the 3 of us with a half a bottle of wine the bill came to 37€. Would I go back, I would. It's a good meal for a good price. To me it was nothing outstanding or wowed me, but much better than your run of the mill Bistros.  And, for those who do not know French, the wait staff all speak great English.   

Restaurant review -- Abri

Address:  92 rue du Faubourg Poissonniere 75010

Tel: 01.83.97.00.00

Open:  Monday - Saturday
Metro: Line 7 (Poissonniere) 

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  4 - Star...............................................................€.....................................................................3 - Bell

A gem in the 10eme

We haven’t even been back to Paris a week and already we’ve had two great meals with friends.  Comme habitué (as is common) we met our good friend John for a lunch at a new place in the 10eme. I’ve been feeling under the weather because of the jet-lag, so this was a nice way to get back into my routine of eating my way through Paris, when I’m suppose to.

Finding the restaurant was difficult because there really isn’t a sign, and the signage out front says, “City café sandwiches”, afterall, it was once a sandwich place.  It has now been taken over by a Japanese team of Chefs and servers.

It’s a really long narrow restaurant with the kitchen smack dab in the middle and probably took up half of the restaurant.  It’s a really small restaurant, with at most tables for 20-people. So, as we were sitting we saw several people being turned away for lunch. I’m partial to eating near a kitchen where I can see the action (kitchen ring-side), so for me it was the perfect atmosphere. In fact, we were so close to the kitchen I could actually feel the heat from the stove top once they cranked the gas over 15,000 BTU’s.

The menu was on a clipboard. Interestingly, on Monday and Saturdays they serve a lunch meal of sandwiches, probably to retain some of the original history of the place.  On other days lunch for 22€ for a prefix lunch of 2-entrées, a meat or fish dish, and dessert. And, for dinner they have a prefix for 38.50€ for 3-entrees, a meat and fish dish, as well as dessert.  In addition, all the drinks are “bio” (organic)!

As we were perusing we thought we had choices for our entrée/plat/dessert, but I did not understand the waiter at all. I kept on thinking I’ve only been away 2-months, I couldn’t have forgotten all my French that fast, but turns out none of us understood our server's French.  Basically, we later found out you get the 2-entrées du jour and you can select either the fish or the meat they’re serving that day, in our case it was lieu jaune (Pollack similar to cod) or the veal and the dessert du jour.

‘

Our first entrée came and it was the mackerel marinated in citronelle, and "kombu". Right away, you could see they’re big on presentation and the simplicity of Japanese aesthetics.  On top of the mackerel was a kombu nicely softened so it almost melted in your mouth. It was a bit on the tart side, so if you like tart, you will love this dish as did our companion. All-in-all it was a nice, simply composed and delicious first entrée.

 

Our second entrée was the variety of tomatoes, served with dollops of flavored oils.  It was served beautifully and tasted delicious even though it’s the end of growing season. One person commented that both dishes were a bit on the salty side. My comment was, in my experience I find most Asian chefs heavy handed with the salt, as the French are with pork dishes.  Again, in its simplicity it was a very nice entrée.

Now for our plats. Two of us had the lieu jaune. It was served with a coco-citronelle beurre blanc foam. You would think from the sound of it that the coco would be too strong for such a fish, and would need to be spiced up to hold up to the fish, but it was quite subtle and a great sauce. I have to say the fish was cooked perfectly. It was on the medium-rare side, just the way it should be. The only thing I didn’t like about the dish was the wilted green leaf which I think was a "komatsuna" a mustard spinach leaf. It looked like it was boiled and not pretty, I think if they had put some oil or something in the water, then there’d at least been a nice sheen to the leaf.  

The veal dish was equally delicious. It was cooked perfectly. It was so tender it melted in your mouth. It too had the funny wilted "Komatsuna"; a little dab of oil would've given it visual appeal.

For dessert we got a simple chocolate tart. The crust was a bit on the hard side, the filling was a bitter-sweet chocolate ganache over a caramel that got just a little too firm from the cold plate, but none-the-less delicious. It was also accompanied by a small scoop of chocolate ice cream.  Very rich and very good. Thank God they didn’t give us a large portion, than it would’ve been too much. It was a perfect ending to a great lunch.

Summary: This restaurant has only been open for 3-weeks. The service is excellent, albeit their French is a little hard to understand. With a bottle of “pompom rouge”, a glass of rosé, and a café, the bill came to under 30€ each.  Great food, great deal, great service.  I like the atmosphere, it’s definitely tight and cozy! But then again, you’re going for the food. The portions by American standards are quite small, but we thought they were perfect, we did not feel overwhelmingly full, and trust me, I just came back from the U.S. and I always felt like a blob of weights and so bloated when I walked out of a restaurant. Word has already gotten out in the food world that it’s a hit. So, make reservation “a toute de suite” before it becomes impossible to get into.

Restaurant review -- CONTIGO (San Francisco)

Address: 1320 Castro Street (at 24th)
San Francisco, CA 94114

Bus: 24 Divisadero

Telephone:  415.285.0250

Hours: Closed Mondays
Website: Contigo

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30$ and under; $$ = Moderate: 31€-49€; $$$ = Expensive: $50 -75; $$$$ = Very Expensive: more than $76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  4 - Star...............................................................$$$.................................................................3 - Bell

I’ve been concentrating my reviews in France, and in particular the Paris area. However, I had an opportunity to go to my old neighborhood in San Francisco’s Noe Valley where I once lived and came across a restaurant called, “Contigo”, a Spanish restaurant focusing on tapas.  Co-owned by Brett and Elan Emerson it’s been open awhile, but I just never had an opportunity to go there before last month.

The restaurant appears very modern. As you enter you immediately see the kitchen to your left. As most trendy places in US, and especially California, restaurants can be very “lively”, this was no exception. It was noisy, but fun.  We were fortunate because we got seated in the back which is a covered outdoor patio, so it was less noisy and actually quite pleasant.

There were 4 of us so we started ordering raciones (large plates of tapas to share).  We started with a small plate of marinated Spanish olives.  Then something caught our eyes, chili peppers that looked like they were roasted in oil. There was a warning sign that some of them would be spicy, others not. So, basically it was the luck of the draw. We ordered them, and we loved them.  The first batches we had were extremely potent, and as we continued eating them they became milder, either that or our mouths went numb. None-the-less, in it’s simplicity it was a winner.

The second raciones we shared was Jamón serrano with wood oven roasted peaches, black pepper syrup, mint and anchocress.  The jamón itself was delicious, but I personally don’t like sweet on my salty jamón; however, the others liked the juxtaposition of the sweet and salty.

Our third raciones we ordered was the Sauteed greens catalan style with roasted almonds, golden raisins and garlic. It was a simple nice green salad that gave a nice break to the saltiness and spiciness of what we had already eaten.

Our fourth and most favorite dish was the Coca (flatbread) of sweet and hot peppers, bacon, caramelized onions, oregano and manchego.  It was extremely tasty. They were like little mini-pizzettes punched with lots of flavor. In fact, we had ordered another one cause it was so good. Definitely a winner.

And, for our final dish we ordered the Tripe with chorizo and chick peas. We liked this dish.  Surprisingly, it wasn’t as greasy as I would’ve expected it to be.

During our meal, we had asked our wait staff if they had any spicy condiment like "espelette" or even hot sauce.  They did not, but much to our surprise and delight, the Chef made a special concoction of spicy dip… Now that’s a Chef who cares about his customers.

The only weak spot is their ice teas which were very weak. We had asked about it, and apparently they were not making any excuses, their brewing machine was making the tea really weak, oh well. 

All-in-all we had a lovely evening. We had a bottle of Decendientes de J. Palacios red wine for $45 and I had 2-glasses of Garcia revalo white for $10 each, and our meal with the tip for 4 people came to almost $200. Would we go back, absolutely. In fact, I’m planning another trip when I return to US for the winter holidays…

L'Office -- Restaurant Review

Address:  3 rue Richer, 75009

Metro: Cadet (7)

Telephone: 01 47 70 67 31

Hours: Closed Saturday and Sunday

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  4 - Star...............................................................€€.....................................................................2 - Bell

It was an extremely warm and humid day. We had lunch reservations for 12:30 pm, we were the first there and asked since we would be 4, could we possibly have the table by window. Unfortunately, the owner said that that table was reserved for 5-people, understandable.

It’s a very small restaurant and we sat against the back wall. Not a bad table, but air circulation was non-existent.  As our luncheon companions arrived I noticed they too asked about the front tables, and I jokingly told them that I had already asked.  I brought a hand fan so I started manually fanning the whole table. The owner saw me, and he said he has plans to provide hand fans for all the tables “à tout de suite.”  Oh well, we made do.

 The menu was written on a chalk board.  The prices were extremely reasonable: Entrée + Plat 21, or Plat + Dessert, Entrée + Plat + Dessert = 26€, Entrée + Plat + Frommage + Dessert = 31€

After we perused the menu we also ordered a bottle of Syrah 2011 Les Vignes D'à Côté, and I had a glass of their house rosé.

For our entrées: I’m listing them in the order that I really liked them. Two had the “burrata/gazpacho/basilic” (a cold gazpacho soup with burrata cheese, flavored with basil).  I loved, loved this dish, maybe because it was a hot and muggy day, but who cares, it was delicious. I’ve never had gazpacho served with soft chunks of burrata cheese, a soft handmade version of mozzarella cheese. But the addition of it made parts of it creamy which gave it a nice contrast of textures. The flavors were spot on, especially with the green heirloom tomatoes. I could’ve had a whole bowl of this and called it a day.

The second entrée, I ordered, “calamars/tomates/pois chice” (calamari with tomatoes and chick peas or garbanzos, 2€ supplement). There’s a general rule when cooking calamari called the “1-1-rule”, either you cook it for 1-minute or 1-hour and never in between otherwise it becomes too rubbery. Let’s just say they followed this rule because the calamari was perfectly cooked, tender, not chewy and a very good dish. However, to be honest, I found the addition of the garbanzo beans very distracting. Maybe a softer less chewy bean, such as chilled cooked navy beans or fava beans would’ve been a better choice.

The 3^rd entrée was the “tagliatelles/lapin/petit pois” (wide noodles with rabbit and peas).  In my opinion, this was the weakest of the 3-entrées. I found the dish too ordinary. I’m also not a fan of shredded rabbit meat, I just find the texture off putting. Dishes like this reminds of, what should I do with left-over turkey after Thanksgiving? why shred it, add it to pasta, add a little cream and maybe some peas… Although good, I was not a fan of this dish.

Now for the plats:  Again in order of my favorites:  “bar/tomate fumée/speck” (Fish with smoked tomatoes and a ham).  This dish was amazing. The fish was cooked perfectly, crispy skin with soft moist flesh, and there were little surprises as you were eating the dish. There were specks of ham, ironically “speck” is a ham food term and its made from the hind pork leg in a similar way to prosciutto and used in Boeuf bourguignon for flavoring. Well all I can say, it added a lot of flavor to this dish. Then we found small pieces of baby oysters.  I wish I had ordered this dish, because I would’ve licked the bowl.

The second dish was the “porc/burlotti/scarole” (pork with borlotti beans and chicory). There was a filet of pork which was cooked crispy and on the medium well side, atop some shredded pulled pork, atop some mashed borlotti beans, intertwined with chicory. This dish would’ve been perfect for a winter dish. Although good, it was an extremely heavy and filling dish, and in the muggy weather we were having, I kept regretting that I did not order something lighter.  However, I did like the juxtaposition of the crispy pork filet, with the “shredded pull pork.” I will come back in the winter so I can enjoy it more.

The 3^rd dish was the “canard/prune/riz/amandes” (duck with prunes, rice and almandes).  The duck was cooked towards the rare side, which it should be. I liked the dish, it was a simple well executed dish. It was also served with bok choy, steamed white rice and some julienne root vegetables. 

Onto desserts:  Again, I listed from my favorites: Two ordered the  “tarte aux fraises/citron/basilica” (strawberry tart with lemon and basil ice cream).  Maybe it was because it was hot and muggy, not only did I wanna lick the plate, I wanted to bath in that basil ice cream. I’d give it a whole new meaning to an herbal bath.  The tart was good, but the star truly was the basil ice cream. It was delicious smooth and sweet, and the basil was not overwhelming, but you definitely could taste it.

Next was the “chocolate/cerise/stracciatella” (chocolate lava cake with a dollop of vanilla based gelato with chocolate shavings).  I liked this dish, the gelato accompanied the chocolate cake perfectly. If the gelato had been chocolate, there wouldn’t have been any contrast, but with the vanilla based it gave it a nice balance and contrast.

Lastly, I ordered the “cheesecake/pistache/rhubarbe” (cheese cake with pistachios and rhubarb). At first taste, I did not like it, nor did I like the way it looked, probably because I was expecting an American style cheese cake.  I also found the rhubarb extremely tart, but then again that’s the nature of rhubarb. Putting my prejudices aside I had to look at it with a more open and objective mind. First of all it’s made with chèvre, a goat cheese, and as I took a second, third and fourth bite, the dish actually grew on me. I probably won’t order it again, but it was nicely different in an odd way. One good thing about it, it was light and remember it was a very warm and muggy day.

Summary:  I liked the restaurants a lot. How you feel (e.g., hot and uncomfortable) can definitely impact how you perceive and taste food. I liked a lot of the dishes and some grew on me because of its novelty. The service is excellent. I found it amusing that the owner and wait staff once they detect an English/American accent want to speak English. So, either they’re being accommodating, or they just want to practice their English, because we all spoke French.

Note:  aircondtioning at bistros, brasseries, or most restaurants are NOT the norm.  Parisians do not believe in airconditioning, some “wives-tale” that moving air will make you sick, I say it’s germs, but what do I know.  With that said, and with warmer weather approaching, I say bring a hand fan or ask to sit al fresco, if they have al fresco dining.  But be forewarned, people can smoke at al fresco tables.  I have friends that cannot stand being inside stuffy restaurants, so they literally seek out restaurants that have air conditioning, you may want to do the same. After all, part of enjoying a meal is being able to enjoy it in a comfortable setting, n’est-ce pas?

Also, sadly,  the American Chef, Kevin O’Donnell will only be there for another 3-weeks. But the good news is he’s opening up his own restaurant in his home state of Rhode Island. So, you folks out there be on the lookout. He’s a very talented Chef!

With two bottles of syrah and two glasses of rosé our total bill for 4-people came to 174€.