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My Paris Is Better Than Yours
Clotilde Dusoulier adores food the way we adore Paris--so we invited her to share all her culinary favorites in the world's most delectable city.
Clotilde Dusoulier
May 2005 issue
Tuesday, April 19, 2005;
What you'll find in this story: Paris restaurants, Paris culture, Paris attractions, Paris neighborhoods, Paris bistros, Paris markets
When I left Paris to live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area at the height of the Internet euphoria, there were some things that I expected--sunshine, freeways, a cool job in a start-up company--and some that I didn't. Among the latter was that I'd develop a passionate interest in food and cooking, discovering at age 21 how much fun could be had in the kitchen and how much pleasure at the table.
It was also from this new perspective, one continent and one ocean away, that I really saw the beauty, charm, and wealth of my birth city, which had all but eluded me when they were my daily bread.
I came home after two years in California, and my love for Paris and gastronomy only burned brighter as I settled in again with intense happiness, hungrily catching up with the City of Light (and Good Food), this time with fresh eyes and alert taste buds. This passion prompted me to create a food blog, Chocolate & Zucchini (chocolateandzucchini.com), where I could share my culinary joys with like-minded readers.
I enjoy nothing more than spreading the word about the gems I find, recommending them excitedly and relishing the description of this shop or that restaurant. Of course, there's always a measure of risk in directing someone to go somewhere. When they come back to tell me about it I always get a flutter in my stomach (did they like it?), usually replaced by a sweet tide of relief (the food was fabulous and the service super-kind).
What follows is a reflection of my Paris, the one I love so dearly. I can only hope you'll make it yours.
Eat
One of my greatest pleasures is to walk around with no particular purpose, breezing into shops, exploring little streets, and going just a step farther to see what's beyond the next corner. A welcome side effect of all this walking is that you build up quite an appetite, and it is of utmost importance to know where to stop for a quick and tasty lunch.
Cojean is the epitome of hip and healthy fast food in Paris. The tempting menu at the six Paris locations features the three S's (sandwiches, salads, and soups) and changes seasonally, to focus on the freshest products. The toasted veggie and provolone sandwich ($7.75) is bound to win you over.
Opened by Alain Ducasse and Eric Kayser, Boulangépicier (a.k.a. Be) is right at the crossroads of a bakery, restaurant, and gourmet store; Kayser's famed bread is baked on the premises and gastronomic goods line the shelves. The sandwiches are among the city's best, and I'll go out of my way for the mini-sandwich skewer ($11), which allows you to sample three sandwiches: pesto and tomato on basil bread, duck fillet on tomato bread, and goat cheese and tapenade on olive bread. Another example of the restaurant/grocery formula, Les Vivres is a cozy, bright room where you can load up your plate with different preparations of seasonal vegetables or choose the daily combination of starter, main course, and dessert.
Rose Bakery is owned by an English/French couple, and it offers fabulous salads, cute square quiches, and quality goods from the U.K., including sumptuous cheese. It's enough to make you change your mind about British food. This is the ideal spot for tea and a dessert; I say try the sticky toffee pudding ($5).
While you're shopping at Le Bon Marché department store, take a look at Delicabar and its bubblegum interior design on the second floor. The creative menu features savory twists on standard French patisseries (vegetable mille-feuilles with salad, $16) and hard-to-resist pastries.
The concept of brunch has taken off here only in recent years. The first to get it right was Le Pain Quotidien . At wooden communal tables, barely awake Parisians are served café au lait, soft-boiled eggs, cheese, and charcuterie (from $25.50). Large trays carry the signature chocolate and praline spreads, to be sampled on artisanal bread. More upscale, A Priori Thé is nested in the Galerie Vivienne, one of the 19th-century shopping passages that drill through whole blocks. This salon de thé, or tea salon, serves a weekend brunch of warm sandwiches, egg dishes, and fruit tarts (from $30). Sit at the indoor terrace and bask in the sunlight shining through the glass arcade.
Although frequented mostly during the day, R'Aliment is where I go for dinner with the girls. The menu leans toward organic products and always offers at least one vegetarian option. I recently delighted in a beet and lime soup ($8) followed by a mushroom and chestnut tart ($15.75).
La Cave de l'Os à Moëlle started out as an annex to L'Os à Moëlle, across the street, but the wine bar has surpassed the restaurant in popularity. Pick a bottle from the wall compartments and sit with other diners to share a family-style meal of delicious country food. It's as close to an all-you-can-eat buffet as Parisian style will allow and one of the best deals around ($26.25).
If you haven't yet explored the Butte-aux-Cailles and its quiet hilltop streets, Café Fusion is the perfect excuse. The bright, modern bistro serves French classics side by side with Asian or Mediterranean dishes--and the beef tartare ($15.75) cohabits beautifully with the salmon grilled in a banana leaf ($14.50). It also boasts an exquisite terrace for warm summer nights.
Almost a century after Henri Androuët opened his first cheese shop, his name is emblazoned on some 10 fromageries and, more recently, two casual restaurants named Androuët Sur le Pouce (eating on the run--literally, on the thumb). In addition to marvelous tartines (from $13.75), these cheese bars serve tasting platters (also from $13.75). At dinner, it's quieter, and the knowledgeable staff is more available.
Bistros and gastronomy have been a happy couple for more than a decade, and a new adjective--bistronomique--has been coined for restaurants offering expert dishes in a casual atmosphere at a reasonable price. Among the newer ones, perhaps the most interesting is L'Ourcine, joining L'Avant-Goût in the oft-neglected 13th arrondissement. Other favorites are Bistro Vivienne and the bustling Velly.
If you're willing to climb a notch on the gastronomical (and price) scale, I recommend the authentic Aux Lyonnais, for its brilliant take on Lyon specialties, and Chez Jean, for the creative simplicity of its dishes and its warm ambience.
Superstar dining isn't out of reach! Most high-class restaurants have special lunch menus: same sophisticated food, same fabulous service, in a less intimidating atmosphere and at a gentler price. Lunch at Les Ambassadeurs will cost you $92, plus wine, but it's an experience you will never forget. 10 place de la Concorde, 8th arr., 011-33/1-44-71-16-16.