I Prefer Paris

Cooking Dinner at Le Troisieme Café

So the big day arrived on Thursday for my return to the kitchen. 

I was at the Le Troisieme Cafe at 4:30PM to cook dinner for 30 people and start serving at 7:30pm. 

I was already a little ahead of the game because I baked the dessert at home, so all I had to cook was the appetizer and the main course. Even with that advantage, I found myself prepping until almost 7:30. Things went pretty smoothly, and I had two excellent volunteer assistants Evagn, and Natalie (who was the original owner of the wine bar/bookstore La Belle Hortense in the Marais). They were efficient and easy to get along with, which I appreciated so much. There was no way I could have done all the work myself in time. 

Most of the guests arrived between 7:30 and 8pm and enjoyed some wine and beer before dinner was served. Twelve people were a combination of friends or blog readers and 10 others made reservations from the café’s website. 

The interesting part about cooking at Le Troisieme, was I realized I had never cooked in a restaurant before and also never cooked in an open kitchen with people watching me. It was a bit of an adjustment at first, but then I liked the idea of not being isolated in the kitchen and to be able to talk to people while I was cooking. After serving the main course, I took a break for a while and talked to my friends in the dining room. 

This was the menu: 

Appetizer

Tomato leek soup with Middle Eastern Spices

Main course 

Spinach and Emmenthal cheese gratin 

Zucchini and Emmenthal cheese gratin

Chickpea rice with cumin and caramelized onions

Cucumber and yogurt salad with Zaatar 

Dessert 

Coconut American-style macaroons with fresh mandarin orange 

When I was growing up, every Thursday night was dairy night at my house and my mother would frequently serve the main course dish. I eventually incorporated it into my catering menu as a vegetarian option and it was a big hit. 

The coconut macaroons were my most popular dessert when I was a caterer, and at one point I was selling them to Dean & Deluca in Soho. 

The night ended at about 10pm and many of the guests thanked me for the experience. It was a fun and fulfilling night for me and it reawakened my cooking and baking skills. In fact, I’ve been mulling over the idea of introducing Parisians to my coconut macaroons by possibly selling them to food shops and cafes. I’ll let you know if I do. Meanwhile it’s back to blogging, touring and photography for now, but leaving room for the possibility of cooking again. 

Le Troisieme Cafe serves a three-course lunch for 10€ and a three-course dinner for 12€. 

Le Troisieme Cafe 

16 rue de Beauce, 75003

https://troisiemecafe.org/

Open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner

Cash or check accepted, no credit cards 

I am pleased as punch to have my friend Lisa Anselmo as my guest on A Bite of Paris. Lisa is the founder of Save the Paris Cafe/www.savethepariscafe.com, a website which celebrates the Paris café and the preservation of them, which in recent years has been threatened by rising rents and cultural changes. 

Click here to watch video or link below 

https://youtu.be/Jyt4wx3K8ZQ

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

Mordu Restaurant Saint Germain

I’m always hard pressed to find good restaurants in Saint Germain des Pres. Yes, there are the famous cafes, Les Deux Maggots and Café de Flore which are great to go for a coffee, but not to eat at, and Le Comptoir and Semilla are easily the best restaurants in Saint Germain, but other than that, the neighborhood is sorely lacking. 

Nicolas Paradis is a wine specialist and entrepreneur in Paris. He owns the very successful wine tasting venue O’ Chateau and Caves de Louvre, a unique space which houses a wine museum, wine cellars, tasting room and a wine making facility. 

Nicolas emailed me recently to promote his latest venture, a restaurant in Saint Germain des Pres and invited me to have dinner. 

Hoping to finally have another address to go to in Saint Germain, I eagerly accepted his invitation. 

I went with Vincent to Mordu, which is located in the Marche Saint Germain, once a sleepy, almost hidden food market, now transformed into a hotspot for gourmet food shops. 

The dining room with high ceilings and low lighting was elegant but not stuffy.

Chef Baptiste Trudel has trained in formal restaurants such as Le Grand Vefour and the Cristal Room at Bacarrat, but also at more casual venues including La Machine à Coudes at Yard, and Iratze in Paris. Trudel’s versatility is shown off with an eclectic menu.

Although it was an odd choice for a cold winter’s night, I enjoyed the vitello tonnato, which I frequently eat in the simmer. This version was light with thinly sliced veal and the tempura fried fresh capers were a delightful surprise. Vincent’s dish listed on the menu as smashed potatoes, was unidentifiable, when presented. It looked like an order of oysters with black shells perhaps because of the dim lighting. Once Vincent figured what it was, he told me I have to try it. I did, and it was the best part of the meal. The texture of the potatoes, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside along with a wasabi mayo was sensational. When I ordered my main course, filet mignon of pork, which was served with potatoes, I asked the waiter if he replace them with the exact potatoes, and happily he said yes. The pork medallions were tender and juicy and served with braised romaine lettuce and horseradish cream, another wonderful taste and texture. Vincent, who can be a picky eater, was happy with John Dorey served with gnocchi (one of his favorite dishes). 

The limited wine list is all organic and Vincent had a red 2016 Sancerre from the Loire, which was light but had a bit of body. 

There was only a choice of two desserts, so we opted for the chocolate ganache with a crumble of hazelnuts and salted butter caramel. To say this dessert was rich is an understatement, and in fact history was made that night when Vincent and I could only eat half of the one dessert. We have the highest thresholds for desserts of all the people we know, so this came as a surprise. 

The wait staff was friendly and laid back. 

When I left, I demanded that they keep the potato dish on the menu permanently, as they change the menu frequently. 

Mordu offers a two- course lunch for 26€, three courses 30€. 

 

 2 rue Felibien, 75006

https://en.mordu.paris/menu

Open Monday to Saturday 

Tel. +33 (0) 142 39 89 27

The potato dish!

I am pleased as punch to have my friend Lisa Anselmo as my guest on A Bite of Paris. Lisa is the founder of Save the Paris Cafe/www.savethepariscafe.com, a website which celebrates the Paris café and the preservation of them, which in recent years has been threatened by rising rents and cultural changes. 

Click here to watch video or link below 

https://youtu.be/Jyt4wx3K8ZQ

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

Brasserie Bocuse at Hotel du Louvre

I received an invitation from Alexandre Richardot, the director of sales and marketing at Hotel du Louvre, to dine at Brasserie Bocuse last month. 

Paul Bocuse, who died in 2018, was one of the most celebrated and innovative French chefs in the late 1900s. His first restaurant, L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges, opened in 1965 outside of Lyon, and put Bocuse on the culinary map, receiving three Michelin stars and has miraculously maintained them ever since. Bocuse was also one of the pioneers of nouvelle cuisine. He went on to open many restaurants around France and near Lyon, plus opened a cooking school to train chefs in his cooking style, but never opened a restaurant in Paris. In a bittersweet gesture, Bocuse’s son Jerome Bocuse, wanted to honor his father’s legacy, and finally open a restaurant in Paris. His desire was to introduce Parisians to the Lyonnaise cuisine in an informal brasserie setting, so he can tempt them to visit their restaurants in Lyon.

It was a perfect match to open the brasserie in the newly renovated Hotel du Louvre, one of the classic, Paris hotels. 

The festive dining room dressed up for Christmas, had typical French brasserie details such as red leather banquettes, brass railings, tile floors, and crisp white tablecloths and linens but in a more streamlined, contemporary style. 

I brought Vincent with me and we were seated by the genial staff at a corner table. The menu was filled with some of my favorite French standbys and it was hard to narrow it down. Should I have snails or onion soup or sausage for my starter? I finally chose a true Lyonnaise dish, the traditional salad of poached egg, frisee, lardons, and croutons. It was a near perfect version of the salad except it was overdressed and the vinegar from the vinaigrette was overpowering. Vincent savored the house-made foie gras with crisp, haricots verts perfectly cooked. 

I am probably one of the last holdouts who still likes French dishes in cream sauce, which during wartime, was a practical solution to compensate for inferior, tough meat. Blanquette de veau is one of my favorites, so when I saw Bresse chicken with cream sauce and morel mushroom sauce on the list of  Signature Dishes on the menu, I knew it was calling my name. In case you didn’t know, Bresse chicken is one of the finest chickens you can buy in France and has very strict government parameters on how they are raised and fed. They are free range birds which are raised for at least four months and eat a special diet. 

The tender, juicy meat had a bit more of a game taste, which gave it distinction from just another roasted chicken and the cream sauce, although thick, was not so rich as to distract from the taste of the meat. 

Even though I prodded Vincent to have pan-fried sole Meuniere (so I could taste it), he stayed in his culinary comfort zone and had a satisfying salmon with a refreshing, more spring like sauce of sorrel, which is hardly ever offered on menus anymore. 

Dessert was a lemon tart, with swirls of meringue on top and Vincent had an assortment of house-made ice cream and sorbet. 

The service was excellent, and we could clearly see our waiter’s goal was to please without fawning all over us. 

Going downstairs to use the rest room was a stroll through Bocuse memory lane, with tons of photos of the star chef and his international roster of celebrity guest diners plastered on the walls. 

Brasserie Bocuse 

Hôtel du Louvre

1 Place André Malraux, 75001

https://www.hyatt.com/fr-FR/hotel/france/hotel-du-louvre/paraz/dining?src=prop_gmb_seo_brasseriedulouvre

Open every day for lunch and dinner 

I am pleased as punch to have my friend Lisa Anselmo as my guest on A Bite of Paris. Lisa is the founder of Save the Paris Cafe/www.savethepariscafe.com, a website which celebrates the Paris café and the preservation of them, which in recent years has been threatened by rising rents and cultural changes. 

Click here to watch video or link below 

https://youtu.be/Jyt4wx3K8ZQ

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

 

Brasserie Bellanger

First it was the bistro that made a comeback in the form of the neo-bistro, then the bouillon restaurant made a splashy return, and now the brasserie is ripe for a return. 

Brasserie Bellanger is a perfect example of a classic French institution being reborn in a fresh, relevant way. 

Located in a gritty part of the 10^th arrondissement near Gard du Nord, Brasserie Bellanger, we arrived at 7:30PM and the restaurant was already buzzing. The black and white tile floor and the well-lit bar gave a lighter ambiance than the usual dark wood and brass of most brasseries. 

The menu was straight forward with a selection of hams, sausages, and dried beef, then a short list of 6 entrees including leeks vinaigrette and oeuf mayo, followed by a list of classiques such as steak frites, croque Monsieur, and steak tartar. What was most interesting on the meat heavy menu was an offering a vegan plate. 

It was a chilly, damp night and a soup of butternut squash and corn kernels with crunchy croutons sprinkled on top had a thick, smooth texture warmed our insides well. 

Vincent had a steamed cod fish with broccoli and pine nuts, simply prepared but with much flavor and I had crispy poitrine de porc (pork belly) with mashed potatoes with chunks of potatoes (not the usual smooth puree) and a corn and red pepper relish. 

We were getting quite full from the more than ample portions, so Vincent and I shared a Paris Brest, another classic, well executed with a light choux and coffee cream filling and a sprinkling of roasted hazelnuts to give a little more oomph. 

The thing I liked about Brasserie Bellanger was its lack of pretentiousness which permeates so much of the Paris restaurant scene with hipsters and trendiness.  Instead Brasserie Bellanger is just a fun, lively place with solid, unsurprising (that’s a good thing!) food at honest prices (all dishes are under 20€ except for the home cooked dish of the day), and easy service, where people gather to have a good time without too much fuss. 

Brasserie Bellanger 

140 Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, 75010

Open for lunch and dinner, 7 days 

http://victoretcharly.com/

LINKS EYE LIKE 

A great story about the 100th Anniversary of Shakespeare and Company in The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/15/100-years-shakespeare-and-company-paris-modernist-tourist

A story about the writer Colette's house in Burgundy in the N.Y. Times 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/travel/colettes-burgundy-france.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Travel

You have to love a place that lets a pooch like this take center stage 

In my latest  A Bite of Paris video, I've taken a break from food tasting to visit my friend Jessica at La Vaissellerie, my favorite tabletop, dish ware, and kitchen shop, located in the Marais. 

Click here to watch or link below 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGfIOVl7188&feature=youtu.be 

Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel.

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

 

Mid-East Bento Box at Maison Aleph

In November of 2017, I wrote about Maison Aleph, a newly opened pastry shop which combines mid-east and French pastries in a new form.  Maison Aleph has been quite successful since then and had a pop-up shop last summer in the esteemed Le Grande Epicerie at Le Bon Marché. 

I passed by Maison Aleph a few weeks ago and noticed they introduced a number of new products since I was last there. One thing that stood out was a bento box with home-cooked, middle eastern cuisine, a welcome addition to the otherwise all sweets menu. I bought one to go, curious to see how the savory treats measured up to their pastries. 

The main course was chicken with a highly spiced Aleppo red pepper paste, cumin and dried mint. Alongside was a richly textured and flavorful mix of pumpkin, sweet potatoes, lentils, in a sesame and hazelnut sauce. A portion of pickled cauliflower, beets, and carrots were a blast from the past with their tangy, sour vinegar taste, a reminder of jars of them lining our family refrigerator when I was growing up. Another fond and funny memory came up while eating the pickled vegetables; I drove with my sister one day when I was about ten-years old to pick-up some pickled, green-peppers from a woman who pickled her own vegetables. When I got back in the car, we were so anxious to try them, we opened the jar on the front seat and dug in. While my sister was driving, after each traffic light, we would dig in again and quickly close it in time for the green light. About 10 traffic lights later and a sour feeling in our stomachs, we realized we ate the entire jar. 

Moutabal is much like baba ghanoush except it uses tahini, whereas baba ghanoush doesn’t. It has a smoother, creamier texture, and the Maison Aleph version topped with pomegranate seeds was sensational. I couldn’t get enough of the zaatar-flavored pita chips to scoop up the moutabal and wished I had a second portion of therm. 

Last but not least was one of Maison Aleph’s pastries, a square of baklava with layers of chocolate, crispy and gooey all at once. 

Another new item I had to try from Maison Aleph was their ice cream. The pistachio with caramelized Iranian pistachios spoke to me loud and clear. I loved the creamy, almost yogurt like texture, and the pure essence of the pistachios without out a lot of sugar to disrupt it. 

The bento box comes in three combinations: meat, vegetarian, and seafood. 

The cost is 12€. 

Maison Aleph 

20 Rue de la Verrerie, 75004 

https://www.maisonaleph.com/nos-saveurs/

LINKS EYE LIKE 

Check out this eye opening article about disappearing bakeries in France from the NY Times

French Baguettes From a Vending Machine? ‘What a Tragedy.’

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/10/world/europe/france-bakery-closures.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

In my latest  A Bite of Paris video, I've taken a break from food tasting to visit my friend Jessica at La Vaissellerie, my favorite tabletop, dish ware, and kitchen shop, located in the Marais. 

Click here to watch or link below 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGfIOVl7188&feature=youtu.be 

Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel.

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

Fauchon Hotel and Grand Cafe Fauchon

Last week I was invited to have lunch at Grand Cafe Fauchon and later take a tour of the connecting Fauchon Hotel. 

I have fond memories of the original Fauchon shop from the early 1980s. They had a pastry and coffee counter made of industrial steel and one would stand and have to balance their coffee cup and dessert on a sliver of a shelf without them toppling on the floor. During these trips to Paris from New York in that period, Vincent and I had a standing date to go to Fauchon at 4PM everyday, no matter where in Paris we were. We would sometimes be on the other side of the city and take two or three metros to get there to meet our goal of having pastry at Fauchon. 

Much has changed at Fauchon since then, now becoming a luxury gourmet shop with mostly pre-packaged French foods and delicacies with many locations around the world besides the flagship store on Place Madeleine. 

Last year Fauchon launched their first foray into the luxury hospitality market with the opening of their first hotel on Place Madeleine across the square from the store. 

I took Vincent to lunch with me, for just a bit of nostalgia. We were seated on the outdoor terrace facing the Madeleine Church and the upscale boulevard Malesherbes. Fauchon signature colors are hot pink, black, and white. The terrace was covered with a hot pink awning and since it was a clear, sunny day there was an intense pink hue cast on the tables and on the food when it was served. 

The progressive menu was divided into 4 sections, Vegetables, The Sea, The Land, and Sweets, giving diners some leeway in case they have dietary restrictions, which was once unheard of in France. 

Our appetizer was a chilled tomato soup topped with chunks of summer produce and a touch of honey gave it a sweet unexpected highlight. For a plat, an unusual salad of morsels of foie gras mixed with frisee lettuce, and fresh figs worked well, a nice mélange of hearty and sweet plus healthy, fresh greens, to remove the guilt of having foie gras straight up. A few minutes later a more than tempting tray was set at our table, beckoning for us to choose a heavenly dessert. It was a hard choice, but a tart with super-size me raspberries on top and a thin layer of sable underneath won out. Vincent had a most intriguing dessert, a green object the shape of a perhaps a flying saucer or space ship, served on a plate with rows of ceramic rims. Inside was a light gateau intensely flavored with green apple. I took a bite and knew I’d have to come back for my own at another visit. 

After lunch we were given a tour of the contemporarily  decorated tea salon, which also doubles as a private dining. The other lobby lounge retreats have sumptuous velvet couches, club chairs, and ottomans in the same signature colors. 

We were brought up to the fourth floor to look at a deluxe room. The king size bed with white Porthault linens took up most of the room but the centerpiece was a special cabinet named the Gourmet Bar. Designed by Sacha Lakic and manufactured by Roche-Bobois, the sleek, copper color outside resembles an Art Deco armoire. Once the doors opened, that’s when it became a foodies dream mini-bar. The shelves were stocked with the best selling food products from the shop handpicked by the food and beverage manager, including biscuits, foie gras, Madeleines, salted butter caramels, butter cookies, fruit paste candies, and chocolate truffles and on a side table there was a selection of Fauchon teas, and macarons. The best part is that they are all free of charge. It was a good thing I wasn’t staying in the hotel, or they would have lost money on me, as I would have stocked up as much as possible. 

The room had a lovely view of the tree lined Blvd. Malesherbes and its grand Haussmmanian buildings. 

Fauchon L’Hotel Paris and Grand Cafe Fauchon

11 Place de la Madeleine, 75008/ 4 Boulevard Malesherbes, 75008

fr.grandcafefauchon.fr

https://www.hotel-fauchon-paris.fr/

Yummy Treats from the Gourmet Bar 
More Yummy Treats from the Gourmet Bar 

If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Paris video about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.

Click here to watch or link below

https://youtu.be/Am22oSA_UYc

Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel. 

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

 

 

Shakerato at Eataly Paris

When I went to visit my friends Laurie and Blair in the summer of 2015 in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, we visited Vignola, a medieval town with a 15^th century fortress. It was a hot day and after climbing up the stairs to the fortress, we were ready for a cold drink. We stopped in a nearby pasticerria and decided an ice coffee, cold caffeine, would hit the spot. The Italian version of ice coffee in Italy is a shakerato,is more like a frappe than just coffee with ice in it. We watched the bartender with fascination as he poured coffee into a metal glass lined with ice cubes. He then proceeded to put another metal glass on top, and vigorously shook it about a minute or two. Afterwards, he poured it into a martini glass, the most elegant iced coffee I’ve ever seen. It was a memorable and refreshing treat. 

Eataly, the hugely successful Italian grocery and gourmet store, just opened a location in Paris off the rue des Archives in the Marais near Hotel de Ville. It’s similar to the one in New York, with a grocery section, café, restaurant and other food stalls but on a smaller scale. There’s a Lavazza coffee bar on one side, which I frequent, since I like Italian coffee better than French coffee. Last week while I was at Eataly having my usual espresso, a bargain at 1€ if you have it at the counter,  I noticed shakerato on the menu. I was so excited about my new find, I made a shakerato date with Vincent my partner. 

A few days later we walked over to Eatlaly for our afternoon indulgence and even though it was pleasant outside, we decided to luxuriate in the air conditioning inside. We ordered our shakeratos and watched while the bartender smiled as he furiously shook the two metal glasses. 

He poured them into the elegant martini glasses and I took a photo. We clinked our glasses and in unison said “Santé”, while we cooled off with the strong, effecting coffee. 

Shakerato will now be my summer go-to drink, so if you want to find me, just go to the coffee bar at Eataly. 

Click here to read my story about my first shakerato in Italy. 

Eataly Paris Marais 

37 Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie, 75004

Metro: Hotel de Ville

Open daily 

https://www.eataly.net/fr_fr/magasins/paris-marais/

Shaken NOT stirred, please! 

If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Paris video about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.

Click here to watch or link below

https://youtu.be/Am22oSA_UYc

Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel. 

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

 

 

Ayadi Gourmet-Handmade Syrian Gourmet Food

I don’t know if you knew this or not but I am of Syrian descent. My grandparents were born in Aleppo, Syria in the late 1800s and came the U.S. in the early 1900s. They settled in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, along with other Syrians from Aleppo, forming a community of Syrian Sephardic Jews. The community thrived financially, culturally and population wise from the 1950s until current time. Even today they believe in having large families and it’s common for couples to have four and five children. In fact the community is now over 100,000 people and most of them still live in Flatbush, Brooklyn in the Kings Highway and Midwood areas. 

In the Jewish religion, Friday night is the feast night because of the Saturday Sabbath, much like Sunday lunch in the Catholic religion. My mother was an okay cook during the week but every Friday night she would pull out all the stops and dazzle us with her Syrian specialties. 

The recipes were handed down from many generations of other Syrian women and from both sides of the family. The dishes were of course made by hand requiring many hours to prepare, and best of all made with love and pride. I have a large extended family on both sides and every female cousin or aunt has a dish they claim they make the best. For my mother it was hands down her mihshi. Mihshi is usually made of hollowed out squash and zucchini shells stuffed with meat, rice, tomato sauce, then slow baked. My mother made a different version, and perhaps this was the reason hers was the best. Instead of squash and zucchini shells, she would use dried eggplant shells, which she bought in the specialty store, since they didn’t exist in the supermarket, and then she would add dried apricots and prunes and a dab of prune butter. She would then stew them in a pot for hours so they were as tender as can be. The sweet and sour taste was sensational and I could easily eat the whole pot if the rest of the family wasn’t around. 

It’s almost impossible to find Syrian food the way my mother made it at a restaurant and the only place I knew of when I lived in NYC that sold this type of Syrian food was a stretch along Kings Highway in Brooklyn, where there are a score of Syrian gourmet and grocery shops. 

Once I moved to Paris I was yearning my mother’s mihshi, and every time I went to New York, she would make it. Unfortunately my mother passed away in 2012, and with her went her legendary mihshi. I was foolish not to learn her recipe when she was alive. 

Skipping forward to two weeks ago in Paris, I was walking from a friend’s apartment in the 5^th arr. to the metro and stumbled upon a newly opened restaurant, Ayadi Gourmet. Upon closer inspection the awning sign said fait maison/Specialité Syrienne/ homemade Syrian specialties. Bingo! I went inside curious to look at the food and menu. A counter with a glass partition had an array of ornate brass chafing dishes, each with a special dish. 

The intriguing and appetizing menu listed the restaurant as the World’s First Specialty Concept in the Art of Fatteh, a traditional Syrian dish with layers of pita bread chips, tahini yogurt sauce and toasted nuts, a major YUM already, even before I tried it. I ordered Fatteh Jaj with chicken, rice, tahini sauce, and pine nuts and it was fantastic, such a new and uncharted taste sensation, yet my taste buds sent a message to my brain saying they remembered many of the spices.

I spoke with the owner Ghena, who was warm and welcoming, at length. She told me the restaurant was a concept she had toiled for close to four years and she finally opened her pride and joy just a few days before. All the furnishings and much of the kitchenware and serving pieces were custom made to her specifications in Syria. It certainly showed as Ayadi Gourmet was one of the most attractive takeout restaurants I’ve seen, decorated with lacquered white, elaborately carved chairs, white marble floors, wood beam ceiling, and a wall sculpture of gold branches. I shared with Ghena about my mother’s mihshi and she beamed and said that was her signature dish too and told me it’s not on the permanent menu but she prepares every few weeks as a plat du jour. “You must come and try my mihshi. I will text you next time I make and you will come and try it as my guest.” DEAL, I emphatically replied!

The following week during heat wave 2, Ghena texted me she was serving mihshi the next day. I ended up coming two days later with Vincent, but there was still leftover mihshi, thank goodness. Ghena filled a white bowl with three minchi, swimming in a tomato and herb broth. The scent was overwhelming and I could barely wait to try it. It was very much like my mothers, although I did miss the prunes and apricots, but the best thing was that it had the same soft, melt in your mouth, texture my mother’s had and the unique blend of spices. Again, like my mother’s, I could have eaten the whole pot, but had to settle for the plate I was served. 

Happy, happy, and happier after having my minshi, I needed something sweet to overcome the strong spices. My grandmother used to make maamol, which was a pastry shell with powdered sugar on top stuffed with chopped pistachio nuts. The version at Ayadi was quite different. It was served warm and topped with a light, sweetened cheese. Light but satisfying, the maamol was a perfect pastry to end the meal with. 

Hopefully Ghena will text me again soon with a mihshi alert and I will gladly go to Ayadi Gourmet again for a bit of nostalgia. 

17 Rue Frédéric Sauton, 75005

Metro: Maubert-Mutualite 

Open Tuesday to Sunday 12PM-10:30PM, except Sunday until 3PM 

Tel. 01 42 03 34 52

Please read the blog post about my memories of my mother https://www.ipreferparis.net/2014/06/adele-dulie-nahem-a-celebration.html

Ghena

If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Paris video about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.

Click here to watch or link below

https://youtu.be/Am22oSA_UYc

Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel. 

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

 

 

 

 

Air Conditioned Restaurants in Paris

Paris is having a heat wave this week with temperatures in the high 90s Fahrenheit and I thought it would be a good idea to run this blog I wrote about in 2017 listing air-conditioned restaurants. I’ve added a few new manes to the list. Stay cool! 

Parisians are not fans of air conditioning no matter how hot it gets and in fact they don’t really believe in fans either. Even in the excessive heat, they still wear scarves. I saw a man the other day wearing shorts, T-shirt and a scarf tied around his neck like it was winter.

Needless to say there’s hardly an air conditioning in Parisian restaurants. Café after café has customers sweating away while ordering ice cold drinks.

I am still a die-hard American in certain respects even after living here almost 12 years, and I have to have AC when it gets this hot. One of my first apartment purchases was a portable air-conditioner.

So last night when I was desperately seeking an air-conditioned restaurant I thought I would do some further research and create a list, so here goes. Now it’s pretty obvious the five-star hotel restaurants and many of the Michelin star restaurants will have A/C, so I will leave most of those off the list below.

Maitre Albert 1 Rue Maître Albert, 75005
Bofinger 5-7 Rue de la Bastille, 75004
Maison Blanche 15 Avenue Montaigne, 75008
Les Cocottes Arc de Triomphe 2 Avenue Bertie Albrecht, 75008
Le 24 24 Rue Jean Mermoz, 75008
Sorza 51 Rue Saint-Louis en l'Île, 75004- Ile St. Louis
L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hôtel du Pont Royal, 5 Rue Montalembert, 75007
Les Bouquinistes 53 Quai des Grands Augustins, 75006
Ma Cocotte 106 Rue des Rosiers, 93400 Saint-Ouen at the flea market
Le Petit Pontoise 9 Rue de Pontoise, 75005
Le Coq Rico 98 Rue Lepic, 75018
Elmer 30 Rue Notre Dame de Nazareth, 75003
Blue Elephant 43 rue de la Roquette, 75011
Bon 25 rue de la Pompe, 75016
La Coupole 102 Blvd. de Montparnasse, 75014
Glou 101 rue Vieille du Temple, 75003
La Rotisserie 19 Quai de la Tournelle, 75005
Les Editeurs 4 Carrefour de l”odeon, 75006
Brasserie Lipp 151 Blvd. Saint Germain, 75006
Mariage Freres 30 rue du Bourg Tibourg, 75004 

Vins des Pyrenees 25 Rue Beautreillis, 75004https://www.vinsdespyrenees.com/

Thanks everyone for your comments for the book giveaway last week. 

August in Paris- My Marais Apartment for Rent August 16 to August 29 

I am renting my Marais loft from August 16 to August 29 (Dates are flexible). Contrary to popular myth that Paris is closed in August, most shops, restaurants, and attractions are open in Paris, especially in the Marais. The weather is usually beautiful, temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s Fahrenheit during the day, dropping into the mid 60s at night. In case in gets warmer, I have an air conditioner in the bedroom and a large fan in the living area. 

Minimum rental period is 7 days/one week, price 1500€ for 7 days/one week, 2900€ for 14 days/2 weeks. 

Conveniently located by the Saint Paul metro, in the heart of the Marais, the apartment is a spacious one-bedroom 750 sq. ft. loft  with 12 ft. ceilings, decorated in chic Mid-Century Modern furniture and sleeps two people in a Queen size bed. Amenities include washer/dryer, 16" flat screen TV, dishwasher, internet connection/Wifi and free long distance calls to the U.S.  The apartment is located on the second floor with a large elevator

Please email me at r.nahem@gmail.com if you are interested. 

If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Paris video about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.

Click here to watch or link below

https://youtu.be/Am22oSA_UYc

Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel. 

Les Fables de La Fontaine

Keeping up with new and already established restaurants in Paris could easily be a full-time job. Unfortunately, that job has not yet been bestowed upon me but I try to stay current on the Paris dining scene. 

New restaurants frequently appear on my radar and usually either of two things happen. Either I go within a week or two of learning about one or it goes off my radar and quickly backlogged into the someday, some other time list. 

Les Fables de La Fontaine falls into the latter category. Last month a publicist sent a lunch invitation and I suddenly remembered wanting to go there for the longest time. 

I thought is was just going to be lunch for just Vincent and me, but it turns out the publicist reserved a table for eight to experience a tasting menu from the chef. The group included mostly French food writers and critics, except for Margaret Kemp, who is a well-known, British food writer living in Paris. We had met briefly once before, but during our almost two-hour lunch, we got to know each other much better and bonded over our love of good food. A well-dressed, elderly gentleman arrived late and Margaret told us it was Nicholas de Rebaudy, one of the foremost food critics and food writers in France. 

Located on a half-square on the chic rue Saint Dominique in the seventh arrondissement, Les Fables de La Fontaine, has a contemporary décor with a soft palette of neutral colors of taupe and gray. Tables were appointed with bamboo like placemats and fine white china and crystal stemware. 

Chef  David Bouttreau focuses his attention on seafood, daily delving into the top fish stalls of the Rungis wholesale market, searching for just the right mackerel, turbot, lobster, or sole. 

Our table was treated to Le Grand Bleu tasting menu. Five delectable appetizers were served in artfully crafted earthenware, which deserved to be admired before digging in. The beet salad with horseradish mousse, smoked eel, and ginger, looked like a vivid red origami on the outside with its precision cut slices, with the tasty, salty eel inside. A yellowtail tartare with radish and quinoa was light and smooth but the Sichuan peppercorns gave it an extra zing. 

Next up two waiters showed off two whole fish, a daurade and sea bass, on platters and then went back to the kitchen to filet them. I chose the sea bass served with roasted vegetables. Sometimes the simplest prepared foods are best, relying only on their freshness to bring out thier truest flavors. This was the case of the sea bass, served only with lemon, olive oil, and salt. Miraval rosé was the ideal wine to complement the meal. 

Just knowing a soufflé is coming to the table is reason enough to swoon a little bit, and a rice pudding soufflé with salted butter caramel made me swoon full tilt. 

The Grand Bleu Menu is 110€ per person with a minimum of two people. A three-course menu is 52€ and at lunch, you can enjoy a starter/plat or plat/dessert for only 28€. 

Les Fables de La Fontaine 

Open everyday for lunch and dinner

131 rue Saint Dominique, 75007 

Tel. +33 (0)1 44 18 37 55

http://www.lesfablesdelafontaine.net/en/

August in Paris- My Marais Apartment for Rent August 16 to August 29 

I am renting my Marais loft from August 16 to August 29 (Dates are flexible). Contrary to popular myth that Paris is closed in August, most shops, restaurants, and attractions are open in Paris, especially in the Marais. The weather is usually beautiful, temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s Fahrenheit during the day, dropping into the mid 60s at night. In case in gets warmer, I have an air conditioner in the bedroom and a large fan in the living area. 

Minimum rental period is 7 days/one week, price 1500€ for 7 days/one week, 2900€ for 14 days/2 weeks. 

Conveniently located by the Saint Paul metro, in the heart of the Marais, the apartment is a spacious one-bedroom 750 sq. ft. loft  with 12 ft. ceilings, decorated in chic Mid-Century Modern furniture and sleeps two people in a Queen size bed. Amenities include washer/dryer, 16" flat screen TV, dishwasher, internet connection/Wifi and free long distance calls to the U.S.  The apartment is located on the second floor with a large elevator

Please email me at r.nahem@gmail.com if you are interested. 

If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Paris video about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.

Click here to watch or link below

https://youtu.be/Am22oSA_UYc

Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel.