We’ll always have Paris…or again, someday
I was going to write about some of my favorite restaurants to dine alfresco this week, but then the weather turned gray, chilly and gloomy on Tuesday. We’re back to sunny skies, but I think I’ll say that post for another day.
So as a preview to a travel story of mine that’s running on Sunday about my cooking and market adventure in Paris, I thought I’d give you my last post about Paris, a short list of some of my food picks: stores, restaurants and the like. Paule Caillat, the woman with whom I took my cooking class, showed me some of these spots. Others I scouted out before we left. And others we just ran across.
I know the exchange rate is terrible, but if any of you are headed to Paris in the next few months, you might find this list useful. I’ll get back to France someday, but seriously, who am I kidding? Short term travel plans will probably aim for somewhere closer to home, say, Asheville, or Chicago, or Honduras, where my funds may go farther. But I do believe in the mantra “we’ll always have Paris.” Here’s hoping that someday the almightily dollar will rise again.
G. Detou
58, rue Tiquetonne
01 42 36 54 67
Once a Paris insider’s secret, G. Detou is now widely revered by food-loving tourists. Its rather Spartan shelves are clock-a-block with confectionary, baking supplies, pickles and mustard. Here we stocked up on salted butter caramels from Brittany and Valhrona chocolate at (relatively) reasonable prices. And here, a stern-looking saleslady gave me dirty looks because I, the ugly American, took the last four bags of caramels from one shelf. There were more in the back. But that kind of customer service is the true French paradox. Forgot about thin ladies smoking and eating lots of cheese and living forever.
Breizh Cafe
109, rue Vleille du Temple
01 42 72 13 77
I am still craving the nutty crepes from this modern take on a Britton creperie. Along with those delicious salty caramels, Brittany is the home of galettes, savory crepes made with buckwheat flour and filled with a variety of caramelized onions, mushrooms, spinach, Emmental, ham, sunnyside up eggs, and more. One is large enough for a light supper, but you’ll want to try a sweet crepe for dessert. I can’t recall specifics, but I know I got very emotional over a dessert crepe made with caramel and salted caramel ice cream. Perhaps there’s a theme here.
Cafe Breizh also has a long hard cider list, another Breton staple. Breizh, by the way, is the Breton word for Brittany.
Bistrot Paul Bert
18, rue Paul-Bert
01 43 72 24 01
You must make reservations here - the traditional French fare at this mid-priced bistro is that good. The best steak frites, with a large hunk of beouf in a creamy peppercorn sauce. Marron glace ice cream, a cold terrine of leeks and foie gras…oh, yes.
Goumanyat et Son Royaume
3, rue Charles-Francois Depuis
01 44 78 96 74
An elegantly-organized little spice shop, with bags and bottles of sea salts, peppercorns of all shades and more. This is where I bought some forbidden tonka bean and espelette pepper.
Le Petit Bofinger
6, rue de la Bastille
01 42 72 87 82
My first few bites in Paris almost made me cry - a so-so sandwich, and a positively flaccid Nutella-filled crepe. I felt so much better after I had gone here. Well, and also had a nap and a shower. French classics - meltingly soft duck confit, oysters on the half shell, and steak tartare with the hottest, crispiest pomme frites in a nostalgic 1950’s brasserie.
La Vaissellerie
Several branches around Paris, but we went to 92, rue Saint-Antoine
01 42 72 76 66
A closet-sized shop so packed with breakables you’ll be afraid to turn around. Wine glasses, escargot dishes, tea pots, soup bowls, coffee cups, water carafes, cheese knives - it’s like Aladdin’s Cave for cooks.
