I Prefer Paris

Hidden Kitchen

Hidden Kitchen is the brainchild of two young, smart cookies Braden Perkins  & Laura Adrian. Braden, professional chef, & Laura, a baker, moved to Paris earlier this year from Seattle barely knowing a soul. They wanted to meet new people and make a social life for themselves, so they concocted this wonderful idea of cooking elaborate 7 to 10 course dinners with matching wines for 12 people at their home. The invitation was extended by word of mouth to visiting friends, acquaintances, and any stranger that found their site and wanted a special dining experience.

For their first meal, they invited some well-known Paris food bloggers such as David Lebovitz and Clothilde from Chocolate & Zucchini for a test run in June. Hidden Kitchen has been a hit ever since, consistently filling up the table for 12 every Sunday night and accommodating the overflow & private parties on Friday’s & Sundays.

I was sent the secret address by email a few days before, and I arrived Sunday night at their apartment at 8PM near Etienne Marcel. Laura opened the door and welcomed me immediately with her pretty smile and a glass of Champagne into their smart & modern but warm apartment. The table was set having autumn in mind, with harvest yellow plates and an orange paper menu on top of a woven brown & white place mat.

Spicy pork posole w/ buttermilk onion rings

The menu (be careful not to drool on your keyboard)

Amuse of pink lady apple spice fritter with a shot glass of warm apple cider

Roasted wild mushroom soup w/polenta croutons

Root vegetable potpie w/ herbed béchamel

Mackerel w/ red & white grape salad

Seared tuna w/ sweet and sour broad beans

Fresh raspberry smoothie

Spicy pork posole w/ buttermilk onion rings

Roasted beet and crumbled blue cheese salad

Pear bread pudding w/ cranberry caramel sauce

Petit fours- Rice Krispie treats, a chocolate truffle, and a peanut butter cookie

The wines were Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2006, Domaine du Prieure Damilhac 2005, Domaine Gogondan Cotes du Rhone 2005,Valencay 2005, and Elodie Balme vin du pays de Vacluse 2006.


Intermezzo- raspberry smoothie

The balance of the dishes was perfect, the presentation inventive & flawless, and the service genial & unobtrusive. But most of all, the star of the evening was the sensational food, which ran the gamut of sensuous taste sensations of salty, sweet, smooth, tangy, spicy, soothing, smoky, and tart.

I was seated next to and across from some lively and interesting company. Newlyweds Tom & Jessica from New York were on their honeymoon and we hit it off like a house on fire, of course discovering a mutual NY friend in common. Daphne, an American living in Paris and her visiting mother Kay from Boston were delightful and charming as well as Jamie & Matt from Tampa.

Between courses I hung out with Braden in the kitchen, reminiscing with him about my catering days in New York and trading war stories. (I was a private chef & caterer for 21 years in New York before I moved here). I was having such a terrific time that the time flew by and I left wide-awake at 12:45AM.

With a terrific evening of great food, good company and fine wine, I’m sure Hidden kitchen will not be hidden for long.

Hidden Kitchen
70 euros per person for 10 course winter menu Reservations online only
http://www.hkmenus.com


Braden & Laura, the happy chef and hostess

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

London Calling

I just returned from a fun, packed long weekend in London. The Eurostar had a 77 euro roundtrip fare as a farewell before the new London St. Pancras station opens and the travel time gets cut to only 2 hours & 15 minutes, so I couldn’t resist.

Great art exhibitions were abundant, including an astounding retrospective of Louise Bourgeois at the Tate Modern. The extensive exhibit, shown in 10 rooms, covered her early simple paintings from the 1930’s up to her incredible elaborate room sculptures from the 1990’s. Intense, personal, and bold, the show is a must see. Victoria Miro’s serene, minimalist gallery near Shoreditch was the perfect setting for Yayoi Kusama’s luminary paintings of meticulously drawn circles in black, white and silver. The paintings strongly illustrate her lifelong obsession with polka dots and circular patterns. A contemporary and peer of Robert Ryman, Donald Judd and Dan Flavin, Kusama lived New York in the 1960’s, where she was one of the more controversial artists of her time before moving back to Tokyo. Click here to read about her fascinating life, including living by her own choice in a mental institution.

Kusama Exhibit

If you love great costume shows, then don’t miss The Golden Age of Couture at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The show covers the magical years of French and English couturiers right after Dior’s New Look collection in 1947 till the early 60’s. Sumptuous, gorgeous clothes of designers Fath, Hardy Amies, Madame Gres and Givenchy grace black velvet mannequins and a dark lit room with glass vitrines cleverly show how the clothes, shoes, and undergarments were crafted.So popular was Dior in those days, that in 1949 the house provided 5% of France’s export revenue.

Theater was at it’s best with a moving and funny stage adaptation of Pedro Almovodar’s film “All About my Mother”, with a fiercely, funny performance by Dame Diana Rigg. Not so great was the disappointing musical version of the cult Madonna film, Desperately Seeking Susan, which was a lame attempt to stick Debbie Harry’s beloved rock tunes into a cheesy, badly directed, acted, and danced excuse for a show. The only saving grace was Blondie’s great, indestructible music.

Poster from All About My Mother

The latest food trend in London is taking old, musty pubs and converting then into respectable eating establishments by hiring top chefs to design new menus with updated classic pub dishes. At 32 Queen Street near Covent Garden, I caught up with good friends over a delicious hearty lunch of calves’ liver smothered with onions and creamy mashed potatoes. My favorite food find was a hole in the wall on Charlotte St, near Hoxton Sq., called Ruby’s. It’s mostly a lunch takeout place with a few tables to eat in, and my large bowl of potato leek soup and homemade ravioli with broccoli rabe and chorizo was close to a revelation, but what really put a smile on my face was the price tag of only 10 pounds.

I like London, but eye still prefer Paris.

Louise Bourgeois at Tate Modern
Till January 20th
Sunday – Thursday, 10AM–6PM,Friday & Saturday, 10AM–10PM

Yayoi Kusama
Victoria Miro Gallery
16 Wharf Road
London N1 7RW
t: +44 (0)20 7336 8109
Open Tuesday-Saturday 10AM-6PM
Till Nov. 17

The Golden Age of Couture
Victoria & Albert Museum
Cromwell Rd.
10AM to 5:45PM daily,10AM- 10PM Fridays

All About My Mother
Old Vic Theater
Till Nov.24th

32 Great Queen Street, WC2
020 7242 0622
Tues-Sat, lunch, noon-3pm; dinner, 6pm-11pm. Mon, dinner, 6pm-11pm

"Eye" Prefer Paris

My friend and fellow blogger Polly, who writes the witty blog Polly Vous Francais(LOVE that title), sent me this funny photo. She was kind enough to let me use it. The location of this set of doors is on ave de Tourville near Ecole Militaire in the 7th arr. Thanks, Polly!

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

Learn French in a Paris Language School

You’ve always dreamed of studying French in Paris. Why don’t you don that beret and put on your best French accent and do it already. Make no more excuses because here’s an extensive list of Paris language schools reprinted from Parislist. Please let me know if you are coming to study so we can meet at a café and parlez all day.
Accord Ecole de Langues 14 blvd Poissonnière, 9e. 01 55 33 52 33
ADomLingua. 257 rue Fbg St. Martin, 10e. 01 42 05 42 68
Alliance Française 101 blvd Raspail, 6e. 01 42 84 90 00
ASLEP 52 Boulevard de Magenta, 10e. 01 48 87 62 26
L'Atelier des Langues 75 rue des Dames, 17e. 01 43 87 00 92
L'Atelier Neuf 34 rue de Trévise, 9e. 01 42 46 70 19

Berlitz Champs-Elysées 35 ave Franklin Roosevelt. 8e. 01 40 74 00 17
[Other locations: La Défense, Nation, Opéra, Porte Maillot, Quartier Latin]
CFILC Language School.7, rue Duvergier. 19e. 01 40 05 92 42
Communicaid Langues 36 rue du Mont Thabor, 1e. 01 58 62 50 60
Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne 47 rue des Ecoles, 5e. 01 40 46 22 11

Ecole de Langue Francaise pour Etrangers 8 Villa Ballu, 9e. 01 48 78 73 00
Ecole EFI 22, rue Rambuteau, 3e. 01 40 27 86 58
Ecole Eiffel 3 rue Crocé-Spinelli, 14e. 01 43 20 37 41
Ecole France Langue 2 rue de Sfax, 16e. 01 45 00 40 15
Ecole Parisien de Langue Française (EPLF) 55 rue des Archives, 3e. 01 44 54 86 90
Ecole PERL 6 rue Spinoza, 11e. 01 53 36 16 96
Eurocentres 13 passage Dauphine, 6e. 01 40 46 72 00
Executive Language Services 20 rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie, 4e. 01 44 54 58 88

Formalangues 87 rue La Boétie, 8e. 01 53 93 67 89
Le Français Autrement 92 rue Bonaparte, 6e. 01 46 23 91 47
Franco-American School of Language 57 esplanade du Général de Gaulle, 92081 La Défense. 01 46 96 54 82
Groupe GEFOR 2 rue de Valois, 1e. 01 55 34 37 20 and 7 bis, rue du Louvre, 1e. 01 55 35 00 20

Inlingua 109 rue de l'Universite. 7e. 01 45 51 46 60 [Other locations: Bastille, La Défense]
Institut de Langue Française 3 ave Bertie Albrecht, 8e. 01 45 63 24 00
Institut de Langue et de Culture Françaises (ILCF) 12 rue Cassette, 6e. 01 44 39 52 68
Institut Parisien (de Langue et de Civilisation Françaises) 29 rue de Lisbonne, 8e. 01 40 56 09 53
Institut Prive Francophone International de Paris 89 rue Barrault, 13e, 01 53 80 34 77
International Language Center 20 passage Dauphine, 6e. 01 44 41 80 20
ISBCP 161 ave de Choisy 13e. 01 44 24 85 21 and 32-36, rue Merlin, 11e. 01 46 59 29 51

Language Studies International 350 Rue St Honoré, 1e. 01 42 60 53 70.
Langue Onze 10 rue Gambay, 11e. 01 43 38 22 87
Lingua-Institut 95 blvd Berthier, 17e. 01 56 21 22 80
Lutèce Langue 23 blvd de Sébastopol, 1e. 01 73 70 17 69

Oise Paris 71 bis rue de Vaugirard, 6e. 01 42 22 01 98
Paris Langues 30 rue Cabanis, 14e. 01 45 65 05 28
Quai d'Orsay Language Centre 67 Quai d'Orsay, 7e. 01 44 11 10 50
Verlaine Langue 18 rue Martin Bernard, 13e. 01 45 88 05 75

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

Eye Prefer Paris Tours Photos: Duke, Dan, & Ron

Dear Readers,
I am happy to announce a new regular feature, Eye Prefer Paris Tours Photos. These are photos my tour clients have taken of special places I have taken them to. Many of them are very serious amateur but borderline professional photographers. I have been impressed with their sophisticated, state of the art cameras and fancy lenses, along with their passion for photography, but most of all their beautiful and sometimes funny photos.

Duke Ferguson from the Chicago area, along with his father Dan and his father’s friend Ron, did a Marais & Ile St. Louis tour before they left for Africa on a safari. They were as nice as can be and we had a joyful time exploring historic buildings, literally smelling the roses in parks & gardens, and eating our way through food shops.

The top photo is of Duke digging the pastries at Gerard Mulot.

I look forward to your comments about these wonderful photos.

Jazz Musicians in the Place de Vosges

Fruit Stand on Ile St. Louis

Garden at Hotel de Sens

Dan, Duke, & Ron at Hotel de Sens

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

FIAC 2007, Show-Off, and Graffiti

It was Paris contemporary art week last week, which included FIAC 2007, one of the largest annual art fairs, smaller satellite fairs like Show-Off and various gallery openings all over the city. I ended the busy week with going to a fun and lively opening called Graffiti at Magda Danysz Gallery near the Bastille in the 11th arr.

I had been invited to a private dinner last Sunday at the gallery for a preview of the show, where the artists were just beginning to paint a series of murals on the walls. I instantly hit it off with one of the artists, a fellow Brooklynite from Williamsburg, Maya Hayuk, and bonded immediately, talking about art, life in NY & Paris and other things that touched our hearts. The new, vast 3-floor gallery space is sparse with just simple fluorescent tube lighting, and is located in an up and coming fringe area for galleries, between the Marais and Bastille. Magda Danysz, the owner, is a smart, charming and ambitious art entrepreneur, who not only owns the gallery but also produced and created Show-Off, the alternative art fair to FIAC.

Vivacious Magda Danysz

Maya Hayuk,The Evening's Star

Artist in Residence

Graffiti is described as an exhibition that shows the cultural impact graffiti has today and how it is one of the most powerful art movements in recent history. The sketchy, unformed shapes and forms I had seen on Sunday had been transformed into stunning, stimulating art. Maya’s mural, vibrant, complex, and a little psychedelic, was reminiscent of Peter Maxx at his best. Fellow artist Nunca from San Paolo, painted a smashing and richly detailed wall of wood with shapes of food and body parts. There was even a work in progress, as one of the artists was on a ladder still painting his masterpiece. I bought Maya’s wonderful child-like storybook of her work. “Just Good Vibes”, and she lovingly signed it “Richard, You have Good Vibes”.

I want to thank my good friend Patrice Snoeck for introducing me to Magda and for my fun experience on Sunday and Thursday night.

Graffiti
Galerie Magda Danysz
78 rue Amelot, 75011
Open Tuesday to Friday, 11AM to 7PM
Saturday 2PM to 7PM
Metro: St. Sebastien Froissart, line 8
Till November 18
Tel. 01.45.83.38. 51
www.magda-gallery.com

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

Stacey Kent at L’Olympia

I can sum up Stacey Kent’s concert last night at L’Olympia in two words: Intelligent Jazz.

Intelligence was the word running through my mind all as I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this perfect evening of musical bliss. Stacey Kent has all the essential elements of a remarkable jazz singer: great song choices, unique phrasing, a strong, flawless quartet accompanying her, and most important of all, a smooth, effortless, honey-dripped voice. But her thoughtfulness in every word, gesture, and song is what makes her special.

She opened with a song that I love that is rarely performed, “So Many Stars”, so right away I was sold.

Petite and gamin-like with short cropped hair and an elegant, simple black dress, she reminded me of the genre of what I call the quiet, classy, white singers from the 1950’s & 60’s that included Anita O’Day, Irene Kral and Blossom Dearie, whos style contrasted the bolder scat styles of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Betty Carter.

Another trademark of a great singer is the ability to seamlessly switch song genres and styles, and she went from sexy “Samba Saravah”, to a quirky “Show Me” from “My Fair Lady”, to Stevie Nicks “Landslide”, to a breathy French version of “I Wish You Love”, effortlessly. Most of the selections were from her new “Breakfast on a Morning Tram” CD, and she sang some original songs that her husband and saxophonist Jim Tomlinson wrote with Kazuo Ishiguro, including “ The Ice Hotel”, a smart, romantic ballad destined to be a standard.

The crowd loved her as much as I did and at the end of the concert, after an eternity of thunderous applause, she graciously sang four more specialties for her encore.

The now meaningless and mundane “What a Wonderful World”, overused as an anthem in commercials selling beer and diuretics, was transformed into a reflective, poetic ballad and it made me rediscover the beauty of the song.

Stacey Kent, you have a major new fan.

Here are some sample tracks from the CD. Enjoy!
The Ice Hotel
Samba Saravah
What a Wonderful World

www.staceykent.com

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

Anne Fontaine Spa

I had the wonderful pleasure of a massage at the new Anne Fontaine spa last week.

There is only one thing that I like equally or maybe even more than chocolate and sex: a good massage. So I was in heaven when the publicity office for the Anne Fontaine spa was kind enough to invite me to take a tour and receive a treatment. Located on the St. Honore near the Place Vendome, I knew it would be a luxurious experience. You walk through the new Anne Fontaine boutique first, filled with her signature handsome white cotton blouses and accessories to get to the spa.

I went downstairs to the reception area and was pleasantly greeted by one of the Zen-like staff, who immediately offered me tea while waiting for my massage. Sitting on a modern Shabby-chic style couch made of taupy -gray linen, I was served a Chinese ceramic mug of hot tea and a hot towel to refresh myself on a silver tray with a white doily. Very classy so far.

I was led into the dressing room and handed what I thought was a robe, which instead, turned out to be more of a Yoga outfit of a white terry cloth long sleeved top with matching drawstring pants. I later learned the material was bamboo fiber. The aromatic massage room had a striking mosaic wall with shards of mocha, blue tiles and mirror running through it, low atmospheric lighting, and a massage table covered with soft white cotton.

Atsuko, the gentle mannered and soft-spoken Asian masseuse explained about the massage. It’s called Amma and it’s an ancient Japanese massage technique that is very intense and therapeutic. I laid face down while Atsuko did a deep massage and at one point climbed on the table to manipulate my back and spine, much like a chiropractic adjustment. I was lulled in to a never-never land of sleep by a lilting Claire de Lune and other classical piano music. About an hour later, Atsuko gently woke me and asked how I felt. I felt good but wiped out from the intensity of her strong hands kneading my body.

Afterwards, I had soothing glass of lemon peel scented water and there was a beautifully presented buffet of fruits and snacks on fine white china. I nourished myself with lush fresh strawberries, sculpted spheres of pineapple & melon, thinly sliced figs, dried apricots and dates. The manager of the spa, a very congenial man named Gonzague, came out to greet me and asked me how was my experience? I told him it was delightful, sensuous and relaxing and everything was perfect from beginning to end, with no detail left out in terms of service & comfort.

He handed me a book listing all their treatments and I already couldn’t decide what treatment I would have next: the Girl from Impanema 12 coconut massage, the four-handed one (two masseuses at the same time), or the La foulee therapy, where someone uses their feet to massage you.

Ann Fontaine Spa
370 Rue St. Honore
01.42.61.03.70
Metro: Tuileries
www.annefontaine.com

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

Meredith Mullins Monthly Photo Feature: Fires in le Jardin

Meredith magnificently captured the spirit of Nuit Blanche with these photos of the fire sculptures in the Tuileries I wrote about earlier this month.

Meredith Mullins is an internationally exhibited American photographer, currently living in Paris. Visit www.meredithmullins.artspan.com to see more of the Paris images. Her award-winning book, In A Paris Moment (click here to order), and her 2008 Paris Calendar can be ordered online (click here to order) or in bookstores throughout the U.S.Original photographs are available directly through the artist.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

 

Metro Station of the Month: St. Paul

St. Paul is a non-descript don’t-think-about-it-twice station. However, this month it has been transformed into a colorful, clever art installation thanks to Camper shoes.

A new form of saturated advertising has hit Paris metro stations, where whole stations and sometimes whole trains are covered with a conceptual ad campaign from a single company. Last year the Louvre station was done up with The DaVinci code.


The plain white tiles are now covered in what looks like Saran wrap with vibrant shades of Caribbean sea aqua, wild rose pink, swimming pool blue, and Provence lavender stretched on the walls. Huge photo close-ups of clunky funky Camper shoes are on display along with human figures with surreal modern day Magritte-like images that replace the heads.


St. Paul metro is the gateway to the Marais, where I lead most of my Eye Prefer Paris tours. Le Marais is one of the oldest and historical neighborhoods in Paris, rich with buildings dating back to 1327 and over 100 magnificent Hotel particulier’s (private mansions) that were built in the 1600’s and 1700’s. It also has some of the chicest fashion shops, great cafes & food shops, top contemporary art galleries, breathtaking small gardens & parks, and small gem-like museums. Here are some of the highlights:

Hotel Sully/Jeu de Paume photo museum
Carnavalet- The museum of the city of Paris
Place de Vosges
Hotel de Sens
St. Paul church
Picasso museum
Rue Vielle du Temple & rue Francs Bourgeois- Best shopping streets

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com