The Foodie in Paris
In which city are vegetable producers, cheesemongers and butchers known by name? Paris, of course. Joel Thiebault, Marie-Anne Cantin, and Hugo Desnoyer are names that may be mentioned on a top restaurant's menu.
Like in the USA, French chefs are increasingly going back to basics and letting the quality of their ingredients shine through. In a country so proud of its heritage, technique remains important, but superfluous trimmings and add-ons are becoming passé.
Alain Passard at L'Arpege and Yannick Alleno of Le Meurice are two examples of this trend. Alleno, who recieved his third star only this year, is known for his light touch, teasing out flavors from fresh meat, fish and greens at his opulent restaurant on Rue de Rivoli near Place de la Concorde.This is the city filled with celebrity chef-run restaurants: Alain Ducasse, Taillevent, Pierre Gagnaire, Le Grand Vefour and many others. Reservations usually have to be made weeks in advance and the chef's tasting menu without wine pairing is usually upwards of €250. In recent times, the Michelin Guide has been springing some surprises: Le Grand Vefour, a revered two-century-old Parisian temple of gastronomy lost its third star last year as did Taillevent which held its three stars for 34 years. Here is the 2009 list of Michelin starred restaurants in Paris (pdf): there are 23 three-star restaurants in this list.
If you want my recommendation for three-star dining, try the Le Meurice: both the food and the setting are amazing and the chef is an rising star here. However, if you love history and tradition, you may want to dine at the Vefour or Taillevent (ignoring their dropped stars).Still, Paris is not known as a foodie's paradise only for its Michelin starred restaurants. The city's ubiquitous cafes, bistros and brasseries have their unique charm and even the 'fast' food can turn out to be pretty appetizing. Cafe chairs set on the sidewalks don't face each other; instead, you sit together facing the street and watching people! We discovered the Croque Monsieur, a Parisian version of the ham and cheese sandwich and even the interestingly named Croque Madame which comes with a fried egg on top (apparently, this looks like a old-fashioned woman's hat and hence the Madame in the name). During the evenings, we sipped on some of the most interesting Bordeaux and Cote de'ventoux in these places with our food. The small Parisian restaurants usually only have a small handwritten menu (in French) and a dozen seats, but the food rarely disappoints.
Then there are the many wine shops, fromangeries, boulangeries and speciality butcher shops for those who like to create gourmet spreads at home. Actually, there are entire gourmet food megastores (Fauchon, Hediard, etc.) that should be on your must-see places if you are a foodie. I don't think there is anything like this in any other city.
And for fellow Indian foodies, what is pleasing is the French too like their meat and produce fresh. Which means they usually buy directly from open markets and butchers' shops (unlike in the USA).Among the many things I ate here, I will remember the crepes. There are varieties of them with sweet as well as savory fillings. We loved the ones with chocolate, nutella or cream & sugar fillings. The savory ones are sometimes listed as Galettes. The ham and cheese galette we ate a few times are extremely filling and available at most tourist spots like the Concorde or Notre Dame.
The brioche, macacons, eclairs, mille fuielles and other heavenly breads and pastries are something you must try in Paris. Even cold sandwiches and hot dogs taste so much better there because of the high quality of their bread, cheese and ham.
I tried a number of different cheese including Brie, Roquefort, Lou Perac. BTW, the hot chocolate is also great here as are the desserts, even in the smallest cafe. I will remember the Cream Brulees, Chocolat Fondants and Apple and Cream Tarts I sampled here.
In restaurants I ate Steak Frites, Salmon with buttered Basmati Rice and flambeed Tomatoes, Salmon-topped Pasta, Panga on a bed of Ratatouile - a new fish imported from Vietnam and now on every French plate, Haddock on Blanched Spinach in a White Sauce, pate de Campagne, and much more. My little girl loved the hot-dogs, pasta and even the home-made onion soups.Among the more interesting restaurants was the L'Artoise just off Champs-Elysees, run by a lovely couple. My friend Patrice took me here on my last day in this city. We settled for the menu of the day starting with Rillette of Salmon - sort of a pate - on toast with salad leaves in olive oil. The entree was a beautifully made dish of flaky, fresh Manta Ray (raie in French) covered with a citrus sauce and potato fondant.The dessert was a fitting end to this meal: a large portion of Nougat glace in a coulis of Framboise (French raspberry).
Finally, the snails! After debating if I would have the stomach for this, I did try them. Escargots are a local delicacy, made of large snails in a garlic-parsley-butter sauce. Check out the pictures. :)
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