December 5, 2003
Brochette De Mini-Sandwiches
[Skewered Mini-Sandwiches]
The boulangépicier store, or "be", opened a year ago in Paris, and is owned by Alain Ducasse and Eric Kayser, the famous restaurant and bakery emperors. The name, as well as the concept, is a fusion of "boulanger" and "épicier" - baker and grocer.
On the grocery front, they sell a range of gourmet goods (unusual spices, condiments, jams, chocolate, candy, pasta...), a small selection of organic produce and dairy products. On the bakery front, they sell the fantastic Kayser breads, made on the premises, an array of lunch items (soups, salads and sandwiches), as well as a few pâtisseries and desserts (tartlets, cookies, chocolate mousse, fruit salad...).
Of course, all this comes at a somewhat high price, but their sandwiches are some of the best I have ever had : to me, it's the bread that makes or breaks a sandwich. Here, you can count on the Kayser magic to get delicious bread, tasty and crusty and fresh and moist, in which interesting combinations of high-quality ingredients are carefully spread and arranged. This is in sharp contrast to what you get in most places - industrial chewy bread, slapped together with barely average ingredients.
Today, I was in that area after a client meeting, so I decided to treat myself to lunch there. I got their "Brochette Riviera" (7.5 euros), an assortment of three mini-sandwiches on a skewer (the Riviera is a posh area in the South of France). I'm a sucker for tasting menus and variety packs, so this was just my thing. From top to bottom, the first sandwich was black olive bread, spread with tapenade and filled with a slice of fresh goat cheese. Then came a tomato bread sandwich, spread with tomato caviar and filled with basil turkey. The last one was basil bread, spread with pesto and filled with fresh and sun-dried tomatoes. I ate them slowly, biting into each of them in turn, relishing the fresh bolt of flavor everytime.
boulangépicier
73 bd de Courcelles
75008 Paris
01 46 22 20 20
boulangepicier.com
Eric Kayser also has a very good bakerestaurant :
boulangerestaurant
85 bd Malesherbes
75008 Paris
01 45 22 70 30
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Ahhhh! Clotilde, you make my mouth water for Paris on a daily basis. What I wouldn't give for un vrai pain Poilaine, a Tartine, a or a mini-sandwich....
Luckily, I live in San Francisco which (as you know) has its share of gourmet treats. I think I must take a trip to the grocery store RIGHT NOW!!
Jenny - Paris is a great city for great food, but I agree, SF is, too! Where in the city do you live?
My husband and I live South of Market, right around the corner from the SF MoMa and Yerba Buena Gardens.
I read your blog with great interest because just as you came to live and work in California, we would love to come live and work (and eat!!) in Paris someday. Sporadic vacations are just not enough! :)
Clotilde:
I'm just getting acquainted with your site and you after the NPR story.
Since you revere chocolate and computers (including their bugs), I hope you'd comment on a treat I saw in Paris some 30 yrs ago. In an African store I saw some chocolate covered bugs. I guess they were either large ants or grashopers. I didn't dare try them. Have you?
Jean-Charles (as the natives called me there, because they couldn't pronounce the J in my real name), in Tucson, Arizona, USA, and missing Paris...
Juan-Carlos - No, I've never come across a chocolate-covered bug! Will have to keep my eyes open for them. But maybe they've been made illegal since then? Or maybe the local market just wasn't ready for them? :) Too bad, it would most certainly be an interesting experience...