Restaurants Archive

June 16, 2007

Hidden Kitchen

Late last summer, a young chef from Seattle wrote to tell me about his underground restaurant project: Hidden Kitchen was to be set in an apartment somewhere in Paris, where he and his girlfriend would serve a seven-course meal with matching wines to twelve diners each week. The price would be reasonable -- somewhere between fifty and sixty euro...

"Hidden Kitchen" continues »

August 22, 2006

Barcelona Favorites

  Our dinner at El Bulli last week was bookended by a few days in Barcelona. This was our first time in the city, and we had a splendid time strolling around, admiring the architecture, dodging pickpockets, and wondering where to eat next. Our diet over those few days was mostly composed of tapas and pintxos, eaten at casual restaurants. If...

"Barcelona Favorites" continues »

August 18, 2006

Dinner at El Bulli

I remember reading about El Bulli four or five years ago in the French newspaper Le Monde. I remember the yearning, and I remember the pang that followed closely: considering the small number of guests that the restaurant could accommodate each season, the dream seemed out of reach. But a few years later, I learned from a well-informed friend tha...

"Dinner at El Bulli" continues »

September 6, 2005

Soul Food in Paris: Chez Haynes

This post is in honor and memory of the victims of Katrina. Please donate what you can to the Red Cross or the charity of your choice. Thank you. In 1949, Louisiana-born Leroy Haynes opened the very first American restaurant in Paris. He was a cook, an actor, a wrestler and a sociologist, he had many friends from both sides of the Atlantic, and ...

"Soul Food in Paris: Chez Haynes" continues »

May 21, 2005

La Végétable d'Alain Passard

Le Printemps (literally "the spring") is one of the four Parisian department stores, located in the ninth arrondissement on boulevard Haussmann. In addition to the twice-yearly sales and the promotion weeks, they occasionally organize themed events in their stores, setting up temporary stands and attractions, and showing artists' work. One such...

"La Végétable d'Alain Passard" continues »

May 12, 2005

La Colombie à Paris

Isn't it amazing how you can still discover new things right in your neighborhood, even after living there for two and a half years and spending a large part of your free time walking around and exploring? Case in point: a small Colombian grocery store on rue Rodier, literally three blocks from me in the 9th (and facing the restaurant called Rad...

"La Colombie à Paris" continues »

April 10, 2005

Chez Gianni, Ferme-Auberge Le Castelas

GO:: Granted, reaching today's featured restaurant requires a little more effort than the usual metro ride. This ferme-auberge*, owned and operated by Gianni from Sardinia, is located atop the Luberon mountain range and can be reached after a breathtaking -- both literally and metaphorically -- two-hour walk up curvy dust paths. Nothing superhuma...

"Chez Gianni, Ferme-Auberge Le Castelas" continues »

March 30, 2005

Au Fil des Saisons

GO:: Au fil des saisons had been on my to-try list for a while: I had been told good things about the chef, his use of fresh products and his "homemade everything" approach (including bread and sorbets). I had dinner there with my friend Marion a few weeks ago, when it was still remarkably cold -- hence the wintery menu choices as you'll see belo...

"Au Fil des Saisons" continues »

September 21, 2004

Chocolate & Zucchini Meets Chez Pim (and Vice-Versa)

Pim and I had been talking about meeting for a while : it was just a matter of patiently waiting for the opportunity to arise, since her job has her fly into Paris regularly. It finally did, and we had dinner yesterday at Flora, a restaurant operated by the young lady chef Flora Mikula, and about which I had read good things. We had a fabulous t...

"Chocolate & Zucchini Meets Chez Pim (and Vice-Versa)" continues »

September 12, 2004

Lunch at Bürestubel

Oh what a wonderful feast of a lunch we had yesterday! Maxence, our friend Baptiste and I drove to Strasbourg for the day, and decided to have lunch at Bürestubel, a small Alsacian inn recommended by the GaultMillau guidebook. It is located in Pfulgriesheim, a village just outside of Strasbourg, in a beautifully renovated farm building. The weat...

"Lunch at Bürestubel" continues »

August 26, 2004

Lunch in Dijon : Restaurant Stéphane Derbord (Part II)

[Continued from Part I] The menu we had chosen offered a choice of two main courses among which I chose, quite uncharacteristically, the "chicken dish" : I usually stay away from chicken in restaurants as it is, more often than not, a bland and disappointing experience, but I thought, if there's one good place to eat chicken, it's at a gastronom...

"Lunch in Dijon : Restaurant Stéphane Derbord (Part II)" continues »

August 24, 2004

Lunch in Dijon : Restaurant Stéphane Derbord

My work recently took me and a coworker of mine (whom we'll call H. to protect her privacy) on a day trip to Dijon, the capital of Bourgogne. As it happens, many of us at my company are very much into good food and wine -- although it doesn't quite get to such proportions for them -- and H. is luckily no exception. When she told me about that mee...

"Lunch in Dijon : Restaurant Stéphane Derbord" continues »

July 18, 2004

Couscous at Le Dattier (IMBB6)

My cooking resume, if I had one, would have to say "Grilling experience : little to none". Growing up in the city, in a non-grilling family at that, BBQ has never been part of my gastronomical landscape. In fact, I attended my first barbecue in the US, at the ripe old age of 21. I do love it though -- the smell and taste of grilled food, but al...

"Couscous at Le Dattier (IMBB6)" continues »

July 12, 2004

La Laiterie

One of my projects at work has sent me to Lille for a few days at a time these past few weeks. I'd had the opportunity to travel out of town on business before, but this was my first time staying overnight, and it turned out to be a very pleasant, if tiring, experience. I enjoy being on my own from time to time, and find it thrilling in a very un...

"La Laiterie" continues »

June 25, 2004

Amorino

I am not the biggest ice-cream fan you'll ever find. I like Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry's, but in fact I have realized that I would love it even more if they would just cut the ice-cream itself and leave me with the chunky things inside, chocolate chips, fudge, cookie dough, caramel, pralines, macadamia nuts. And when you really look at it, eatin...

"Amorino" continues »

June 22, 2004

Le Sandwich Corse de Clotilde, vu chez Cojean

[Clotilde's Corsican Sandwich, as seen at Cojean's] I cannot begin to tell you how gratifying Chocolate & Zucchini has been, since the very early days. But this, having a sandwich named after me at one of my absolute favorite lunch places, is a benefit I clearly hadn't foreseen. You must forgive my candor, but : how unbelievably cool is that, I ...

"Le Sandwich Corse de Clotilde, vu chez Cojean" continues »

June 16, 2004

La Table de Lucullus

[Update: La Table de Lucullus is now closed. Nicolas has plans to open a new one on L'Ile d'Yeu, but I don't have the details yet.] This past Friday, I took Maxence out to dinner at La Table de Lucullus. The official excuse was to mark a job-related occasion, but in truth, I had wanted to take him to that restaurant for a little while, and was j...

"La Table de Lucullus" continues »

January 15, 2004

Aux Lyonnais

Last Friday, on the eve of my darling Maxence's 25th birthday, I took him out to dinner. Usually, I know exactly where I want to take him, and like to make the location a surprise. Last year was easy : I had heard great reviews about a restaurant called "Le Maxence", where the chef was the talented David Van Laer. It fit the bill perfectly and we...

"Aux Lyonnais" continues »

January 6, 2004

Chez Catherine

A couple of weeks ago, Maxence and I celebrated our seventh dating anniversary. To mark the occasion, we had decided to treat each other to dinner at a gastronomic restaurant. Our friend Baptiste happens to be a very good source for top-notch dining recommendations, a trait he gets from his father : let it be remembered that he's the one who intr...

"Chez Catherine" continues »

December 18, 2003

L'Homme Tranquille

L'Homme Tranquille is a small restaurant in the rue des Martyrs, precisely a block from our apartment. It is a very cosy, intimate, comfy, friendly place. It looks a little secret from the outside : the door is narrow, the large windows that look out onto the street are curtained, and the lighting inside is dim, coming from low lamps and candles....

"L'Homme Tranquille" continues »

December 16, 2003

Le Bar à Soupes

Laurence, one of my best friends, works at the Opéra Bastille, and sometimes has to work Saturdays. She had joined me a few times for lunch close to my office, so I decided to return the favor, and met her during her lunch break this past Saturday. We had an hour, so fast food was the way to go. In its healthy trendy Parisian version of course! ...

"Le Bar à Soupes" continues »

December 12, 2003

L'Avant-Goût

From time to time, my dad offers to come and treat me to lunch on a weekday. My company offices used to be located in Nanterre, a cheerless suburban town, where we had to make do with an ordinary brasserie randomly called "L'Européen". But last summer, to everybody's relief and joy, we moved to the 13th arrondissement of Paris, close to the Parc ...

"L'Avant-Goût" continues »

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 spic...

"Brochette De Mini-Sandwiches" continues »

November 30, 2003

Rose Bakery

Rose Bakery is a small bakery/restaurant of British inspiration in the rue des Martyrs, close to where we live. I love this place and find myself going, on my own or with friends, as often as the opportunity arises. It is run by a couple - he's French and she's British - who used to own a similar operation in London. A low semicircular wrought i...

"Rose Bakery" continues »

November 27, 2003

Where Do I Eat The Best Tartines?

As a complement to my post about The Wonderful World Of Tartines, here's a list of my favorite restaurants for tartines in Paris : Boulangerestaurant 85 bd Malesherbes, 75008 Paris 01 45 22 70 30 (Baker Eric Kayser's restaurant) Androuët sur le Pouce 49 rue St Roch, 75001 Paris 01 42 97 57 39 (tartines starring the best cheese in season, several ...

"Where Do I Eat The Best Tartines?" continues »

November 11, 2003

R'Aliment, une Cantine Bio

2005 Update: Unfortunately, R'Aliment is now closed -- my friends and I mourn the loss. You can still however go to the sister restaurant Biotifull Place, on the 1st floor of the Printemps de la Beauté department store, at 66 Bd Haussman in the 9th. R'Aliment is a small modern restaurant in the 3rd arrondissement, that I would label "cantine bio...

"R'Aliment, une Cantine Bio" continues »

November 8, 2003

Le Troyon

Update, spring 2004 : unfortunately, Le Troyon is now closed. [Very surprisingly, Le Troyon does not give out little address cards like most restaurants do, so I don't have a picture for this entry!] Last Monday, my parents invited Maxence and I to dinner at Le Troyon, Maxence's favorite restaurant in Paris. This was our fourth time eating there,...

"Le Troyon" continues »

November 5, 2003

La Famille

La Famille is a restaurant that opened a few months ago in Montmartre. It got an impressive amount of flattering reviews in the press (whoever takes care of their PR would get my business!) which naturally teased me into trying it. I'm a sucker for new restaurants, and when they open just two blocks from us, what's a girl to do?...

"La Famille" continues »

October 22, 2003

Brunch at Joe Allen's

On Sunday, we went out for a brunch with friends of ours, Baptiste and Véro. We decided to go to Joe Allen's, a place our neighbor Stéphan had talked to us about, that was also mentioned in our "Guide du Fooding". This is a very good guide to eating out in Paris. It is issued by Nova Mag, a hip Parisian magazine that could be compared to Time Out...

"Brunch at Joe Allen's" continues »