A picnic by the Seine

What to do on a sunny Saturday in Paris? Why a picnic by the seine of course!

Key ingredients:
-4 (or more) good friends
- a blanket
- a well scoped spot along the water
- freshly baked baguettes from blé sucre, a local (and incredible) bakery in the 11th close to the Marché d'Aligre
- saucisson sec and thinly sliced Parma ham from our new favorite butcher (also in the Marché d'Aligre)
- fresh pears, cucumber, tomatoes, avocados, rocket and mandarins from the French organic market stall
- delicious cheese (a 36 month aged compté, a soft and creamy goat and a seriously stinky cheese)
- a chilled bottle of cheap and delicious rosé
- some fresh Madeleines and a few (ok...maybe more than a few) pieces of dark chocolate

Baguettes, Bike...en route to the Seine!

Instructions:
- Vélib to the marché in the morning (ps - Vélib is the public bike transport system in Paris. It's AMAZING)
- pop your purchases in the basket
- stop for oysters at Le Baron Rouge
- swing by home to pick up a knife, cutting board, glasses and the blanket
- Vélib to the seine
- scope a spot on the quai in the sunshine

Enjoy while watching the boats go by!

La Comète: a great local

I'm amazed at the number of restaurants in Paris. It feels as though there's at least one on every corner of every street. I guess this really shouldn't have surprised me, given that last year the 'gastronomic meal of the French' was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list as a 'intangible' cultural heritage...but it's still pretty incredible. Our apartment, located in a residential area, is close (which I define as less-than-a-2-minute-walk) to at least 8 bistrot / brasseries, and that's not counting the two asian restaurants and the two creperie / shawarma spots either!

So it's not surprising that we have found our favourite local already. It's called 'La Comète'. It's open all day, and great anytime, whether it's for a quick coffee and croissant, light lunch, delicious dinner or late-night glass of wine. What makes it our favourite local? It's not that it's close (clearly we have options), or that it's fancy (simple wooden chairs and tables), but rather that the food is FANTASTIC, and the people are pretty chill. Any restaurant/bar that has their kids drawings pinned up on the wall behind the bar, and that has local 'jazz and beajolais nouveau night' seems pretty awesome.

Relish: The food is absolutely magnificent. Simple but satisfying, and consistently good. For dinner, they do a different menu every night - a great entrecote and frites, a super satisfying 'pot-au-feu' (which I discovered is basically a pot filled with a delicious broth, veggies, a duck leg and piece of beef, which tasted like the equivalent of a home-made chicken soup, nothing will be able to beat this for comfort on a cold day), a fabulous fondent de boeuf, and great fish dishes as well. The lunches are also great; a top-notch croque-monsieur (this is where we discovered that a croque-madame is actually just a croque-monsieur with an egg on top), and fantastic salade et croustillant de chèvre (basically a piece of goat cheese wrapped in filo pastry and deep-fried, served over lightly-dressed salad).

It's fun, because once the chalkboard with the menu listed on it is set down on a chair near our table, we usually we have to ask about 30 questions to figure out all of the different french foods on the menu:
- "What exactly is a fondent de boeuf?"
- "It's a slow roasted piece of beef that basically melts in your mouth, served with onions and berries"
- "What is a pot au feu? "
- "It's delicious and you should have it" (this answer resulted in my ordering of the pot au feu)

Quaff: A solid list of wines - glass, carafes and bottles all available.

Feel: Depending on the day, it can be a simple cafe filled with people studying or reading the newspaper, or a bustling dimly-lit bistrot packed to the brim!

I will definitely be back - possibly even tomorrow morning for a cup of coffee!

figs, rocket, roasted chicken and french children...

Baguettes Tradition, Roasting Chickens and Figs

This Friday, I took part in a Parisian ritual. At 6 pm, parents were lined up to pick up their adorable french kids from maternelle (yes, at 6pm on a FRIDAY NIGHT). After this, most of the parents (those who didn't already have a baguette tucked under their arm) made a bee-line for the Boulangerie to pick up a baguette, and then a quick stop at a vegetable vendor for some fresh veggies, followed by a stop at a charcuterie for some meat to cook up with the veggies and the baguette. I decided to follow suit (without the small, well dressed child in tow).

 I went to the charcuterie and picked up a just-roasted chicken, then to the boulangerie where I got a just-baked baguette 'tradition' (it amazes me that they still bake fresh baguettes at 6 pm), and then to the fromagerie where I grabbed some delicious hard goats cheese, and the vegetable vendor where I grabbed some rocket and fresh figs. I came home, found my roomate, opened a bottle of Rose and put together a delicious and super easy dinner of rocket, fig, goat cheese, drizzled with a bit of balsamic and freshly ground pepper, roast chicken and still-warm baguette. Absolutely, incredibly, delicious. 

A crepe in the pouring rain...

A quick update on a delicious Parisian late night meal - absolutely to be enjoyed in the pouring rain, while walking down the Rue de La Roquette which just so happens to be full of little bars and cafe's where the smart people are gathered under the awnings with a glass of wine, or tucked inside the bistrot at candlelit tables. The not-so-smart people (um...me) are getting funny looks from the warm, dry people, while I'm juggling an umbrella, getting soaked, and fully committed to trying to eat a most delicious jambon-fromage crepe, folded into a perfect triangle, crispy on the outside, with delicious goey emmenthal cheese, ham, salt and pepper on the inside...while walking. I finally gave up when realizing that my attempt to eat and stay dry was impacting my ability to enjoy the crepe to its fullest. I took cover under the awning of a bookstore and enjoyed my crepe from there while perusing the Tintin and Voltaire book covers (an odd and so typically french book selection).  

So this isn't me - it's from 'Midnight in Paris' Woody Allen movie, but it felt like this with the rain! 

I did think that I would share a few key learnings from this experience:

1. If it starts raining just as you're nearing the metro and you decide to walk home anyway thinking 'it will stop soon'...know that it won't, it will actually start to pour (that being said, it was gorgeous walking by the seine and seeing the rain poor down past the streetlights and old buildings)...so maybe the learning is to walk anyway, just don't forget your umbrella, and if you do, don't wait 10 minutes before caving an buying one at a street corner.

2. When ordering a crepe, ALWAYS ask for them to make you a fresh one. They generally have stacks of prepared crepes next to the crepe plates, that they then heat up with your toppings - do not fall for this. Kindly demand that they make you a fresh one. It is a thousand times more delicious. 

3. When ordering a crepe, chat up the nice crepe-making man. In this case, his name was Mahmoud, a nice half algerian and half dutch gentleman who has been in Paris for 5 years. Unfortunately he did not fully appreciate my french explanation of the difference between 'strategy consultant' and 'admin assistant'.  During the time we were chatting, my crepe became perfectly melted and hot all of the way through - a key to a great french crepe experience (even when made by Mahmoud, who is clearly not french). 

• Relish: A ham and cheese crepe - a staple in Paris. As mentioned, make sure it's freshly made. 
• Quaff: Usually best consumed after a few glasses of wine en-route home at the end of a night, or to kick off a night of wine tasting 
• Feel: There are a few crepe places as you head down Rue de la Roquette just after the Bastille - I passed about 5 until I settled on this one. Unfortunately I do not remember the name, but what drew me to it was that Mahmoud, despite the stacks of prepared crepes beside him, was just finishing up making a fresh one at the little window-counter with the crepe elements facing the street. What's funny is that most of these places also sell some combination of shawarma / hamburgers with their crepes...do not be turned off by this, but go for the crepes.

Enjoy!

Paris...and a salade nicoise to kick things off

Bonjour!

It's been a while since I've posted (my sincere apologies), but I promise I have a good reason for the delay...I've moved to Paris!

A typical Haussmann Building in Paris, fresh tomatoes at the market...and wine!

It was a busy month packing up and saying so long to a lot of great friends (and awesome restaurants) in Toronto, and so unfortunately I wasn't able to get a post up. There will be a few posts coming from amazing meals I had during the last month (a tasting menu at George, l'Unita, Grace on college etc.) that I took notes on, but just couldn't get down in writing.

So for the foreseeable future, I'll be relishing and quaffing in Paris. My home base is an adorable apartment in a typical Haussmann building in the 11th arrondissement - full of crown mouldings, floor to ceiling french doors, and an adorable kitchen. I'll be living with my friend Lindsay (who has been posting about the Parisian restaurants so far,and who keeps a fantastic blog about life in Paris at www.playingparisian.com). Stay tuned for some of our Parisian food adventures!

To get things started, we went to the Marche d'Aligre on Sunday, and had a lovely stop at the Baron Rouge for oysters, fresh bread, Muscadet and a charcuterie plate (see Lindsay's last post for a more eloquent description of the BR). We then explored the market and picked out super fresh veggies for a salade nicoise - here's the recipe!

• Relish: Ingredients: mixed greens, green beans, baby potatoes, leeks, onions, eggs, cherry tomatoes, a can of tuna, pepper, mustard, plain yogurt, salt, fresh chives and basil. Instructions: Roast the baby potatoes, leeks and onions together. Steam the green beans, then pass them under cold water (to keep them crunchy), cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters. Hard boil the eggs, peel, then cut into quarters. Plop a handful of mixed greens in the middle of the plate, and arrange the beans, tomatoes, eggs and roasted potatoes around the sides. Sprinkle over the chopped chives and basil. Take the can of tuna and mix in a spoonful each of mustard and plain yogurt, lots of pepper, and a pinch of salt. Put a dollop of tuna mix on top of each of the mounds of lettuce. Drizzle with a mustard-based dressing (2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp white wine vinagre, 1 small spoonful of dijon mustard, salt and pepper to taste and some dried italian herbs if you have them. shake together, drizzle over salad). Et voila! Une salade nicoise. 
• Quaff: We paired it with a chilled rose and it was a surprisingly delicious combination!
• Feel: This one is tougher - it was our first meal at our dining room table, only we were surrounded by various ikea boxes and suitcases...so we'll work on a more appropriate parisian feel for the next nicoise!

Rua Vang Golden Turtle

I  heard about this little gem about a year ago...and unfortunately it has taken me just that long to make it to Ossington to enjoy the scrumptious Vietnamese food of the Golden Turtle.

• Relish: Vietnamese Pho and Bun. I'm not sure that I saw anyone eating anything else. It is by far the best Bun that I have ever had. I had number 74 - rice noodles with grilled pork and a spring roll, served with lots of cilantro, slivered carrots, lettuce and rice noodles. My dining partner had number 90 - the Bun with grilled spicy lemongrass chicken, that he swore was the best Bun he's had outside of Vietnam. A pretty high bar to have hit! Writing this makes me want some right now, and since eating it last night, I have about twice hourly cravings for it. Amazing. 
• Quaff: Nothing much to report on here (I had water), but you can opt for one of the creative milkshakes (avocado? lychee?). An entire back page of the menu is dedicated to these and they look very interesting. I am a little bit sad that I wasn't adventurous enough to try one...next time.
• Feel: It's exactly what you expect from a un-fussy, un-fancy vietnamese restaurant on ossington. A tiny patio with plastic chairs and metal tables, and a packed main restaurant, it's small and crowded and perfect for a cheap and delicious meal.

I love it. If only it wasn't so far away on Ossington...that being said, maybe it's a good thing it's that far away - otherwise I would have trouble eating anything else!