Eating my way through the Marais

I've been reading about how there's some great places to eat around my apt and seeing how mama + little bro were in town, I took them to dinner near the apt at Cafe des Musees, an unassuming place which apparently has a loyal following. I thought the space was small until, when led in, they took us down a flight of stairs to the cellar, with many more tables. The decor is lackluster but it's more than made up for in the food (at least in what I had).

For me? Filet de bas with a tagliatelle of veggies, surrounded by what to me looked like a lemon beurre blanc (or some kind of butter lemon sauce). Or, in other words, a fish surrounded by what seemed to be a stick of butter. But what a delicious stick that was. The bass was soft and sweet, offering no resistance to the fork, and flaking into tiny pieces only to be drenched in the butter sauce before being scooped up by me and going in my tummy. OM NOM NOM NOM. 

The skin was gorgeous and crispy. Accompanied by a bed of root veggies cut into thin ribbons and arugula, I cleared my place with ease and sopped up the extra sauce with bread. The little bro had an entrecote with fries that were surprisingly really good while mama had a some escargot to start (the sauce was so good and garlicy I couldn't resist dipping bread into it...actually I probably are a baguettes-worth of bread that night) and a cocotte de legumes in basil olive oil.

For dessert, a lusciously silky smooth creme caramel with two slices of financier cake which I soaked in the caramel. Good thing the three of us shared that.

 Now I've kinda been craving that fish again, it was that good. Who wants to go???

At least he enjoyed the croissants

Well, now that I have internet again (and came back to my apartment before midnight), lets start recapping! Today we'll talk about a Mexican in Paris. Yes, JP.

To start, his plane was two hours late, which, being without internet, I could only check on my blackberry. And google lied and told me the plane was on time. I should have known better since it was from JFK (esp. since he sent me a text before leaving that they were delayed). So I waited an hour an a half of so. I even brought along two croissants (one of which I ate cause I couldn't wait anymore). Unfortunately, he went through customs and passport control too fast and I missed him coming out so he had to call me and ask where I was. So no big reunion this time. We're shooting for next time :)

What'd we do the whole week? We ate. A lot. Like I said, I gained 6lbs but it was worth it. Between bites of croissants in the morning (he admitted the ones in my corner boulangerie are pretty "banging") and baguettes in the evening, we skipped Versailles in favor of going to London for a day where we stayed up until 5am and caught an 8am train back to Paris after 2 hours of sleep on his brother's couch. Being too tired, we skipped our cooking class and napped instead.

Then we spent a day in Reims (in Champagne) where we toured Ruinart, the oldest Champagne house in Reims (now part of the M in LVMH). All their Champagne is stored in underground chalk caves (up to 30m deep!) which date back from the Roman times. There were some really cool looking walls of Champagne bottles there, all the way up to the ceiling, but I think the hallway is more dramatic:

And here's an old exit / entrance into one of the caves dating back from the Roman times:

We tasted four champagnes between the two of us, including a '96 and '98 Dom Ruinart. I think I really like Rose champagne now! Especially the Dom Ruinart Rose which tasted more like a liqueur that you'd sip as an after-dinner drink.

We also walked around Paris. A lot. One day was Trocadero / Eiffel Tower / Invalides / Saint Germain / Saint Sulpice and then a walk over to Louvre-Rivoli (or Ravioli as JP affectionately puts it). We had a lot of "lets stop for a coffee and dessert", including hot chocolate and a Mont Blanc (meringue base, with whipped cream, and piped chestnut puree) at the uber-touristy-but-still-cute Angelina, which was ridiculously delicious, although maybe not the smartest choice to pair with their uber-thick hot chocolate as its a huge sugar overload. I'd recommend sharing both, as there's definitely enough pastry and hot chocolate in one pot for two. 

And we also stopped by Les Deux Magots in the 6th to people watch and eat some more pastries.  

The weekend he left got ruined by work both days and we missed out on the rotisserie chicken near me cause we came late. Thankfully, even with my limited lack of knowledge of the Paris dining scene (you know that's a big deal for me) I knew a place we could get JP some chicken so he wouldn't mope around anymore.

Highlights? Dinner at Les Papilles, croissants at Au Moulin de Rosa (I thought it was Au Levain de Marais but apparently not...) and lunch at L'Assiette Champenoise, a two-star in Reims which started as "oh yea, they have a €53 tasting menu" and turned into an over €250 check three hours later. I'll attempt to post about them in more detail later but here's a little glimpse...

Braised pork belly with seasonal veggies and tiny beans at Les Papilles:

Bordier butter (demi-sel and doux) with mini-baguettes at L'Assiette Champenoise:

My lemon desset at L'Assiette Champenoise:

And I cooked. Coq au vin based on Julia Child's recipe, although not to a T (more mushrooms, extra carrots, sauteed onions and chicken that didn't flambe when needed). We ate two baguettes that night.

We also went to what is supposedly the best mexican restaurant in Paris. In the words of JP, "weak sauce". I liked my duck in squash blossom sauce but they gave us 2 corn tortillas and 2 flour tortillas. Definitely weak sauce. 

We got more for an extra charge and I'm fairly certain people were appalled when they saw us picking up food with the tortillas using our hands. And ceviche that is cooked and has olives? Big no no. Canned nopales? Not a fan. But the margaritas were big and strong. We also did Moroccan at Chez Omar one night but I wasn't too impressed.

Whew. I went link and picture happy with this post.

Is it finally les printemps?

While everyone in New York has been enjoying ridiculously beautiful summer weather (or so I hear), we've been stuck with weather that's been teasingly inching up towards the 60's but then giving us rain, clouds, and occasionally hail. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I haven't really dealt with the weather the past two weeks as week 1, I didn't leave the office before 3am and week 2, not before 2am. But, thankfully since its the weekend and I only worked from my apt at night, today was a gorgeous day and it seemed all of Paris was out and about. Today I wasn't the only one wearing sunglasses for once (I wear them in the winter too in NYC, but it's because it really is bright outside!). And I got some much-needed vitamin D.

 To not completely waste the day away in my apartment, I finally went shopping. I've been craving retail therapy. I hadn't gone shopping since leaving NYC. And my three-month anniversary of arriving in Paris is on April 14th. That's three months without going into a clothing store. I used to go every weekend back home.
And since it was so nice and sunny outside, I decided it would be a perfect day for some ice cream. I'm fortunate enough to live close to both Berthillon (the most famous ice cream in Paris) and Pozzetto (a relatively new well-regarded and well-blogged-about gelato shop).

I took JP there two weeks ago. They have their traditional specialties (Gianduia, Sicilian Pistachio and Hazelnut), 3 flavors of the month, 3 fruit flavors of the month, and some other ones that I forget. I had the Flor di Latte (milk) and Yogourt Magro (yogurt) flavors and JP had coffee and strawberry. I wasn't blown away like I thought I would be, it was OK. Although the coffee was very coffe-ish (in a good way).

Today I lined up for 10 minutes to get two scoops to go. I went with the Sicilian Pistachio and pear. I like to get one creamy and one fruity flavor. I feel like they balance each other out.

Pozzetto redeemed itself (both in flavor and presentation...look how well those two go together!). The pear tasted like biting into a ripe, juicy fruit, complete with the grainy-ness you get from super ripe pears. And the Sicilian Pistachio was so concentrated and smooth...it reminded me of these Lindt chocolates they sell only at their stores which are shaped like the sicilian pistachio and filled with sicilian pistachio ganache. Anyhow, it was DELICIOUS. Although my favorite ice cream / gelato / sorbet / frozen thing is still The Bent Spoon.

I am alive

Hello hello my lovlies! No I did not die. I am back after being without internet in my apartment for A MONTH. A month. It's so ridiculous I don't even want to express my disdain and frustration. And I'm paying for that whole month too!

Granted I probably would've been MIA regardless since JP came to visit for a week, and then mama + bro, and then I've been getting CRUSHED at work the past two weeks. Last week I didn't leave before 3am, I worked until 1:30am on Monday (which was a holiday here) and this past week I hadn't left before 2am, until today, when I left at midnight. Yesterday was a 4am night (or morning?). Next week isn't looking much better but at least I can enjoy tomorrow shopping and later have a Skype date (finally!)

Anyhow, lots to tell, lots of places I've been (to eat) and lots of pounds gained (+6lbs) since March 13th. So there'll be an updating frenzy over the next few days, but for now, I'm off to bed to get my first good night's sleep in a while.

Alien pastries

Creme moelleux de citron "yuzu". I didn't really know what to expect...I thought it would be more like a mousse in a glass cup. No, its a dome of silky citrusy cream glazed with an un-natural shade of green and topped with some red currants. 

Definitely a visually stunning presentation but it left me wanting something more. Kinda wish it was airier with a more complex citrus taste.

The move

While my poor movers were going up and down 3 flights of stairs carrying boxes of clothes, shoes and a couch or two, I went to Au Levain de Marais, which will probably become my new local boulangerie. First time in my life that I've had a croissant that was still warm from the oven. I walked back holding it in my hand and trying not to crush it, all the while hoping it would stay warm in time for me to eat it.

Flaky shattering butterly salty sweetness. With a touch of warmth and a gooey inside. Yum.

FYI, according to my French teacher (Google confirms), there are actually two types of croissants. This one is a croissant au beurre, as opposed to a croissant, and has an elongated shape, rather than the shape with the sides tucked in. The difference? Croissant au beurre must be made with 100% butter (apparently French butter at that) and have no other kinds of fat like margarine or oil. The other ones, croissants can be made with fats other than butter. But if you're going to eat it, why not go for the real, 100% buttery goodness? Apparently you get in trouble if you mis-label or mis-shape your croissants. Frenchies are serious about these kinds of things.

That thing is messy and you get shards of pastry all over the place. So I snuck in bites when the movers weren't in the apartment. Oh, and I got them some water. In between cursing my apartment to l'enfer, they made fun of how much stuff I had relative to the size of the apartment.

Then they discussed whether or not my couch would fit through the doorway to the apartment. And what I was going to do with two couches (the apartment came furnished). Well my couch didn't fit so they're coming back next week and putting it through this window. I don't know what I'm doing with that other leather couch (its actually super uncomfortable).

And on Saturday I spent 12:30pm - 9pm assembling furniture, cursing Ikea to l'enfer while putting together, pulling apart, and breaking off pieces of my bed, being thankful that I had the foresight to pack a hammer and a screwdriver, and organizing my kitchen and shoe closet. Yes, I have a shoe closet. Although depending on how things go, it might become a stacked-clothes closet. Still lots more to organize thought and gotta get it ready by Saturday morning in time for JP! Stay tuned for pictures of the apartment after it's ready next week!

Pig's feet

A few weeks back, my friend VL's (who lives in Hong Kong now) coworker came to Paris for training. This means I had another person I can have dinner with! She'd never been to Paris before, and it was a Sunday night, and we know how notoriously annoying it is to find a place that's open for dinner on a Sunday. I gave her a few choices and we decided to go to Au Pied de Cochon next to Les Halles.

Sure its touristy, but she just wanted to get a feeling for traditional French food and I don't think thats just an awful place to try the basics. But even though their Soupe a l'oignon gratinee (one of my favorite French dishes) is supposed to be pretty good, it fell flat.

Too little flavor in the broth, and too much cheese. I barely even saw an onion in there! And then I ordered what I thought were mussels, as in mussels in their shells piled high, but I got something reminiscent of escargot dishes, a mussel or two in each little hole, with some kind of tomato / herb sauce on top. Also underwhelming. But it was redeemed with a glorious fromage frais topped with almond crumble and morello cherries. I could've just eaten that all called it a night. (And look, the girl take gorgeous photos too!)

On the plus side, it is open 24 hours and claims it hasn't closed its doors since 1947 so I guess if you're starving in the middle of the night, you can go and get some porky goodness (I actually had no pork whatsoever tonight...although maybe I should have and that was my problem?). Just skip the soup.