Food Porn Friday: Chez Casimir

There are so many incredible restaurants in Paris, that it is often hard to keep up.  The new openings by amazing young talent definitely keeps you on your toes.  There are many restaurants that don't take reservations or aren't open on weekends, making it that much harder.  Let's not even get into the potential stress on your wallet (and your waistline...)

That's why a Parisian gal needs a couple aces in her pocket.  Reliable, cozy restaurants where the food is always great and the price is just right.

Chez Casimir is definitely one of those restaurants for me.  On an unassuming street near the Gare du Nord, it has become a reputable restaurant among foodie circles, but lacks the pretention that many popular restaurants come to have.  Friendly staff.  Great variety.  Simple but flavorful dishes.  Words can't even describe their mind-boggling cheese plate.  Their four-course menu is under 40 euros.

Fresh melon with salad greens and lard (thick bacon)

Tartare de boeuf

Gâteau aux fraises

Chez Casimir is like the Utopia of Parisian restaurants.  You can have an affordable, awesome meal and the servers make you want to leave them a tip.  This restaurant is one of the few that I'll go across town for a meal.  And for a girl who works late hours, and hates Parisian transport, that means it's pretty damn good.

Food Porn Friday: Aux Lyonnais

Lyon. 

Before Paris won my heart with its perpetual beauty, Lyon seduced me with its warmth, its conviviality, and its gastronomy.  In 2000, I came to France for the first time and lived not too far away from this under-rated city.  I was able to come visit thanks to one of my step-father's former post-doc students, who kindly invited me to stay with her.  I'll never forget the night when we went to a sort of bouchon lyonnais with her friends.  I didn't quite follow all of the conversation that night, as I was still very novice when it came to the French language, but the food.  The food.  It remains one of my happiest memories of France.  I had quenelles for the first time, and it was at that moment where French cuisine really touched me.  The creaminess of the nantua sauce, the tender rice, the quenelle melting on my palette.  I dreamed of quenelles long after my plane had touched down in the United States.  I couldn't describe it well enough to my friends at school upon my return.  They just had to be there.  Live that moment of gastronomical delight.

And don't even get me started on the pognes.  Everytime I go back to Lyon, I have to go to the old city and buy the luscious brioches covered in red sugar and hazelnuts.  They are truly amazing.

I swear, if I lived in Lyon, I would weigh 300 lbs.

When I heard that Alain Ducasse, the legendary French chef with a penchant for Lyonnais cuisine, had a moderately priced (compared to his other restaurants...) bistrot lyonnais in Paris, I knew I had to go.  It would be my Proustian delight in the middle of the cold, rainy Parisian winter days.  We stepped inside the restaurant to discover a early 1900s bistrot décor, full of marble, old advertisements, and chalk boards describing specials.  It could have been Ernest Hemingway's local haunt.

We started off with coddled eggs with truffles and mushrooms.  We were given these amazing garlic breadsticks to sop up the egg yolks, and somehow they managed to make them crusty on the outside but softer on the inside.  I was a little sad that they only gave us two.  We then moved on to the quenelles.  Fab had never had a quenelle outside of a cafeteria setting, and this just...blew my mind.  How can you be French and not have had this culinary masterpiece?  They were light, airy clouds upon a savoury river of Nantua sauce.  Prawn tails decorated the sauce to demonstrate what had been used as the flavour element.

Best Eggs Ever.

Quenelles = heaven

The pièce de résistance if I may say so, was dessert.  This isn't just because I have a weakness for all things sweet.  They really were a masterpiece.  I took an île flottante, expecting the mundane meringue floating on less than flavourful crème anglaise.  That was my first mistake...this is Ducasse afterall!  The man somehow made a meringue with tiny little pieces of the red pralines, giving it a nice but not too overwhelming crunch.  It came accompanied by a small slice of tarte aux pralines.  Such a sweet ending to a magnificent meal.

Île flottante + tarte aux pralines

I have a list of restaurants where I always take out of town guests, and this one will definitely make the top choices.  The food was delicious and simply presented, allowing for a great gastronomical experience without the stuffy feeling.  Yet, I think the meal's success can be attributed in part to my already fond attachment to Lyon and its amazing bouchons.  The rest of the menu remained a bit rustic and outside of what might consider to be traditional French cuisine.  Nonetheless, I highly recommend this restaurant, especially if you cannot make it to Lyon during your trip to France.

Aux Lyonnais
32, rue Saint Marc
75002 Paris
Closed Sun., Mon.
Métro Richelieu-Drouot

Food Porn Friday: A La Biche au Bois

I had a bit of my own "fairy tale" happen this year in February.  When I went to Hidden Kitchen, I sat across from this lovely British/Welsh couple and we had a smashing time.  We talked wine, restaurants in France, Africa, and eventually it came to light that the woman sitting across from me was in recruitment just like me.  I really should send Braden and Laura a bottle of champagne one of these days, because my dinner neighbor that evening later became my boss and got me out of a *horrible* working environment.  Isn't it great how life works out sometimes?  Talk about serendipity.

Anyhow, I also learned of a great restaurant from the two of them, and have been waiting forever to try.  The restaurant is called À la biche au bois and is known for its selection of game meats.  Pheasant, boar, duck, sweetbreads.  It sounded perfect for a warm winter meal.  Time got away from me and before you knew it, it was summer.  Not a good time for game.  As a "last meal" in France before heading to the USA for a few weeks, we reserved ourselves a table as well as room in our stomachs, and went for dinner.

We were not disappointed.

Joyeux Noël Indeed...

Food Porn Friday: Cinq Mars + Salon du Chocolat

I owe you an apology for two reasons.  First, I have been on a Food Porn hiatus.  But come on...I was on my honeymoon.  Surely you can forgive me for that.  Second, I am about to give you a Food Porn Friday that is similar in nature to what you might call "amateur."

But, I'm gonna make it up to you in the end, I promise!

Fab wanted to take me out for a "Return to Paris" dinner one night.  Since we're in it for the long haul in the 7th, we are trying to find the good spots that don't cater to hungry tourists wandering in from the Eiffel Tower.  Turning to Le Fooding, Paris's foodie guide par excellence, we selected le Cinq Mars.

Food Porn Friday: Le Petit Pontoise

Two restaurants.  One more red meat, the other a little more fish.  Both crazy delicious.

Escargots in paprika cream sauce with leeks and mushrooms

French comfort food at its finest.  I wish you could taste these photos.

Mini-raviolis in a basil cream sauce

I told myself that eating salmon and prawns was healthy.  And cheese gives me calcium...

Risotto aux gambas et saumon

It was a tough decision between the mousse au chocolat and the soufflé au Grand Marnier.  Chocolate always wins.

Mousse au chocolat

Le Petit Pontoise (red meat) et Le Petit Pontoise...aussi (fish)
9, rue de Pontoise - 75005 Paris
Metro:  Maubert-Mutualité

Food Porn Friday: Le Comptoir

I finally got to eat at Le Comptoir at Odéon.  We waited an hour in line and didn't eat until 10, but it was still darn good.  So much has been written about this place, and it is pretty well known to the tourist guides.  But I thought I'd share some of the food we had last night with you.  Simply presented, classic French cuisine, served by nice people.  I probably wouldn't stand in line again for this place, not for an hour anyways, but it was definitely a delicious evening.

Carré d'agneau avec des poireaux confits

Baba bouchon au rhum

Pot de crème au chocolat

Crème brûlée au thym

Le Comptoir Relais Saint Germain
9 Carrefour de Odéon - Metro:  Odéon

New Paris App: Paris Bargain Eats

I have yet to succumb to an iPhone.  The hubby has one, and uses it all the time.  Yet whenever I get my hands on one, I am all at once perplexed and in awe.  It is such a neat little piece of technology, yet the whole typing on the tiny touch screen really freaks me out.  I keep waiting for the new one to come out, but Apple apparently can't make up their minds as to which month they would like to release it.  I do, however, have an iPod Touch which allows me to explore fun games and apps for life.  So I was really excited when I heard about this new App called "Paris Bargain Eats."

Hallelujah, an App that can tell you where to eat reasonably in Paris.

Photo: iTunes

How to Get Crabs in Paris

Ok, calm down.  This isn't that kind of a post.

While I from time to time claim the Southern USA as my home, I was actually born in Yankee territory.  Maryland to be more precise (and for those of you from above the Mason-Dixon line, yes, I know...not really Yankees in your head. However, for Southerners, we were part of the Union in that War of Northern Aggression.)  Anyhow, besides the hunky boys at the U.S. Naval Academy and the Baltimore Orioles, Maryland is known for crabs.  We are like the Bubba Gump of crab.  Cream of Crab Soup, Maryland Crab Soup, Crab Imperial, Crab Cakes, Soft Shell Crabs...the crab deliciousness doesn't stop.  Some of my fondest memories revolve around picnic tables covered in newspaper, and bushels of steamed crabs, red with Old Bay, being poured out on the table.  I reveled in taking a hammer to those shells and sucking the succulent crab meat out of the claws.  When I took Fab to Maryland last year, I insisted we do a crab boil, just so he would know what he was getting in to.  In short, happy times in life generally involve Maryland's crabby cuisine.

So when I heard that there was a place in Paris where you could roll up your Kooples sleeves and crack open a crab, I maybe got a wee bit excited.  And by wee, I mean I asked around for people to go with me until someone said "yes."  The lucky subject was Fab.  He is usually the victim of my dining whims.

Le Tournebièvre

There are so many wonderful things to be celebrating this week.  I took a huge step forward in my professional career.  I am one year older...and hopefully one year wiser.  Did I mention that I got married just last Saturday??  Really, just so many things to be thankful for this week.

Last week, the momma, Fab and I went to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Paris.  It is one of those little gems of a restaurant where the food is indulgent and so delicious.  The ingredients are fresh and the menu options rotate for seasonal fare.  It is charmingly decorated, and if you sit out on the patio, you have a delightful view of Notre-Dame cathedral.  You would think that a restaurant with this caliber of cooking would have an impossible reservation list.  Yet it remains mostly obscure to the Parisian foodie palate.  But friends, if you are looking for a nice, calm place to take out of town guests or you just want a great steak-frites with an amazing peppercorn sauce, Le Tournebièvre is your place.

Frisée salad with poached egg, garlic croutons, and lardons

Last Date Night: Le Pantruche

The very soon-to-be hubby and I had our last "date night" as boyfriend and girlfriend.  Yes, we know that in order to make a marriage work, we will need to have date nights, but we wanted the relish in a last moment before family comes in and wedding madness begins.  Knowing my foodie tendencies, he selected a restaurant that is starting to creep its way out onto the Paris review scene:  Le Pantruche, Bistrot Gourmand.

Le Pantruche

Cream Puffs from Popelini, Paris 3e

I'll let the picture do the talking.

Popelini
29, rue Debelleyme
75003 Paris

Let Them Eat Cake: Cupcakes in Paris

You would think that in the land of crazy delicious French pastries, there would be no room for a sweet treat from the United States.  France is known around the world for its éclairs, its macarons, its Paris-Brest and its chocolate confections.  Yet lately, a challenger has entered the game.  Bakers here in Paris, inspired by their love for my native land, somehow decided that the cupcake needed to come to birthday parties and weddings in la Ville lumière.  And the trend keeps growing.  Now, there are many areas in Paris where you can buy cupcakes, some run by French and others by Americans.  Heck, you can even buy them at Monoprix, the big Parisian supermarket chain or Picard, the French frozen food chain.  I decided with all of this cupcake madness going on, someone needed to go on a cupcake hunt.  Americans and French alike needed to know what a good cupcake should taste like and where to find them.  That someone was me.  Cupcake huntin’ is hard business, but someone’s gotta do it.

Swann et Vincent

It is a very rare occurence for me to walk into a restaurant in Paris and want to eat EVERYTHING.  My friend and I went for lunch, but we didn't establish a place to go in advance.  While walking to her apartment for our lunch date, I saw this cute little restaurant facade labeled "Swann et Vincent" on her quiet street in the 12th.  I honestly thought it was French (associated Swann with Proust's famous works.)  My friend just happened to suggest it, saying that she was really craving good Italian food.  Italian?!  So off we went.

My new favorite I-talian restau

Uncovering the Cutest Kitchen in Town

A few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of attending one of Hidden Kitchen's dinner parties.  Supper clubs, where people invite a small group into their homes and ask for donations for excellent meals, are not a new phenomenon in Paris by any means.  Yet, everyone I talked to mentioned this American couple's, Laura and Braden, charming dinner for 16 people in their apartment.  I decided it was time to see what the fuss was all about and made my reservation, hoping the Christmas lull would score me a spot...

Big Move

Radio silence.

This is what happens when you change apartments in Paris.  Why?

Because France Télécom legally has 10 days to change your phone number and Internet accounts when you move, and they take every day of it, especially when you are a customer for a competitor (aka Bouygues Télécom)...It is amazing that over 60 years after Julia Child's stay in Paris, some things like not getting telephone service quickly, haven't changed.

I've done many a cool thing worth writing about, but I have some great photos of said events and prefer to not write my blogs halfway.  I cannot upload my pictures at work, so here we are...on hold.  Anyhow, I went to the Salon de l'Agriculture, had a dinner with 16 great people made by the lovely Laura and Braden of Hidden Kitchen, and this weekend, I will be putting together my little nid d'amour right by the Eiffel Tower followed by a trip to the huge Festival du Livre Culinaire.

Good things are worth waiting for.

Chinese New Year...Parisian Style

I am pretty attached to all these Chinese.  I love the culture, the food, and I really enjoyed living there for a month while teaching English in Beijing.  The people are always so friendly and caring, no matter where in the world you meet them.  Given this attachment, I found it necessary to take part in the Chinese New Year celebrations in Paris a few weeks ago.

2011 is the year of the rabbit in Chinese culture.  Generally, if it is your year (those born in 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999) then you are supposed to wear red to bring good luck.  The year of the rabbit is supposed to bring peace and a placid environment following the year of the tiger.  It should bring relaxation and a languid lifestyle, with luxuries enhancing our lives.  It is a year of compromise and thoughtful decisions.  Hopefully the year will bring this and more.

And now that the meaning behind this year's Chinese new year has been explained, let's get to the Paris celebrations.

Chez Dumonet

Read any newspaper or Paris food blog, and you'll hear about how the Parisian bistro is a dying breed but there are many a valiant chef trying to revive the bistro atmosphere.  Frenchie, Châteaubriand, and various other restaurants have gotten rave reviews, and consequently have long waits to get a table.  However, sometimes you just have to go back to tradition to get the good French cuisine of autrefois.  So when I heard about Chez Dumonet-Joséphine and its supposedly "best duck confit of Paris," I was ready and rarin' to go.

February Calendar

I am making things happen in February, folks.  Why ?  Because you just can't get good writing material out of recruiting people to go to Africa.

February 2 : Chez Dumonet
February 5 : Erin's Chocolate Tour
February 6 : Chinese New Year Parade
February 13 : High Tea at Ritz Paris
February 25 : Salon de l'Agriculture
February 27 : Hidden Kitchen Dinner

Should be a fun filled month !  Stay tuned !