Asparagus is happening NOW…perfect entree…gobble!A fish called ‘Lote’…delightful and delectable plat…mmm, aaaahh!Strawberries, raspberries…and creme…for dessert…lovely.
Din-din at Le Comptoir du Relais here in Paris never disappoints.
The main man, Yves Camdeborde, has moved on…the new-ish chef is now a dude called Bruno Doucet, and his mission is to keep things as tasty as they have always been while at the same time introducing his own dishes to show off his cooking. . .I would say, “mission accomplished.”
You can eat old favorites here like beef cheek stew, but the best move is to do the daily specials…
…today the specials include asparagus for an entree–currently in-season and wonderful…
All of this is washed down with a carafe of white…dry…crisp…delicious.
Still a wonderful joint for a lunch, din-din or late-night snack.
I wanna eat here again and again and again and. . .
. . .you get the point.
Pop into Le Comptoir du Relais the next time you find yourself hangin’ in the Odeon section of Saint Germain in Paris. . .you will love it–I gar-ron-taaaayy!
Tempura sardines and saucisson…delectable!Beef tartare with shaved radishes…and an asparagus salad with foie gras inside–WOW!Grilled pork with charred greens…and fish cooked to perfection–YUH-MEE!Strawberries, crumble, custard…magic!
We popped into Vantre out in the 11th arrondissement of Paris again for lunch, and this place still ROCKS!
We did apps, entrees and plats–3 courses–plus a dessert…everything is extremely flavorful and perfectly cooked.
As you see above we got busy with saucisson, tempura sardines, beef tartare, asparagus salad with a tasty hunk of foie gras hidden inside, succulently grilled pork, perfectly cooked flaky whitefish of some sort and a strawberry dessert that made us go, “YEE-HAAAAA!”
We washed the whole meal down with champagne and a bottle of white burgundy…wonderful.
It would be amazing to eat here once a week…the chef, Masaki Nagao, is fabulous…really good cooking…we love it all too much.
But there are so many other places to eat here, there and everywhere…
…so we are gonna get busy planning our next lunch.
In the meantime, just know that Vantre is an excellent place for you to visit the next time you find yourself in Paris. . .book a table here, eat, enjoy. . .you will love it–I gar-ron-taaaay!
History EVERYWHERE here…Henry IV stabbed in chest near this spot in 1610.Exact spot of Henry IV assassination? Possibly. Sit for coffee and discuss, if you like.Canal Saint-Martin…fascinating engineering marvel in town…check it out.Rue Saint-Dominique always makes us go, “WOW!”
I think we could stroll around in this town forever and ever…or at least until our strolling days come to an end.
As you know…or as you might have heard…or as someone has told you…or as you might have read, Paris is a gorgeous city…really gorgeous. Beautiful buildings are everywhere, something historic seems to have happened on every corner…there is a ton of great stuff to eat and drink and smell and see and hear and touch. . .absolutely amazing.
All you have to do is walk around, and you start seeing amazing stuff…no need to book tickets to a show, no need to wait in line to enter a museum or shop or historic structure.
Just stroll along, look at stuff and let your imagination run wild…
…this is all you gotta do to enjoy this town…
…oh, and have at least one glass of champagne every day–mmm, aaaah!…
…but I digress…back on topic.
As you see above, you can find assassination spots or engineering marvels or sweet streets with views that make you sigh with joy at the beauty, etc.
Come to Paris…it was here long before us, and it will be here long after us…
Pre-lunch champagne in the sun…lovely.A plateau at Le Dome is always a welcome delight…gobbletime!Oysters in Paris…often things of beauty…and extremely delicious–slurrrrrp!It’s gorgeous in Le Dome…especially with my wife by my side–jaaaa!Magical millefeuille for my birthday…merci, Le Dome!Grand Marnier Souffle at Dumonet…just because–YUH-MEEEEE!
Birthday in Paris…champagne at La Rotunde…plateau and millefeuille at Le Dome…souffle at Dumonet…wife by my side…sun is shining…people all around are joyous, enjoying the passage of time. . .what a treat. . .what an absolute treat–MWAH!
Things are kooky and ridiculous and silly and devastating and mysterious and magical all at the same time…every day. . .same as it ever was. . .
. . .can’t let it get us down…do your part to help in whatever way you can…
…and then enjoy…enjoy everything you can right here and right now…
…cuz it’s all gonna be over too soon.
Paris is a good spot for enjoying, but we all can enjoy whatever is around us wherever we are…
Newark to Paris…no fuss, no muss…we highly recommend.Just in time for asparagus season…YES!Strawberries are happenin’ now, too…OUI!Champagne is always in season…magnifique!Delectable roast chicken is ubiquitous…always a winner.Gobble it all…jaaaa!Walk it off…gotta stay fit for more good stuff to come…sante!
Popping over to Paris from NYC is as easy as ever now…we highly recommend the new-ish airline called La Compagnie. They are business-class-only…they do extremely easy check-in at Newark Airport…boarding is simple and jostle-free…get seated…plane takes off…no announcements onboard…eat a meal…sleep a few hours…and BOOM you arrive at Orly…then a smooth 20-minute cab ride, and you are in the Left Bank. . .wonderful!!
We drop bags at our hotel and head out to Rue Cler for all the snacks and beverages we need to get acclimated. . .as you can see above asparagus are in season now, strawberries are wonderful now, roast chicken is always a winner–can never go wrong with this…and champagne is welcome, ubiquitous and delicious–mmm, aaaahh!
After indulging a bit we always remember to ‘walk-it-off’. . .strolling here, there and everywhere. . .and doing serious “walkies” every morning…this is a must to help us stay fit and prepared for the great meals to come. Make sure you stay fit, and you, too, can eat and drink to your heart’s delight as we all do our best to keep enjoying the passage of time.
This will all be over soon…so enjoy everything NOW…
…and Paris, as you know, is one of the greatest places to do this…
Let’s eat some meat!Pork terrine…quite possibly the most delightful one I have ever gobbled–jaaaa! The owner approves of my choice.Cote de boeuf for two…cooked saignant (rare)…absolutely delicious.
BAM! Here we are at a joint called Severo in the 14th arrondissement of Paris…we want to gobble some beef, and this is the place to do it.
Severo is considered by some to be the top steakhouse in town, and I find it hard to disagree with this…the meat is absolutely top-notch, supposedly the only place in Paris that ages their meats, and the preparation is as good as it gets…it feels like this is the way beef is “supposed to be cooked.”
A dude called William Bernet owns Severo…his is a butcher descended from a long line of butchers out in the countryside. He butchers all of the meat personally…then hands it off to his chef to be cooked.
The chef is a dude called Johnny Beguin…we can see his bald head in the kitchen behind the high zinc bar we are seated near…he cooks away while we enjoy a glass of champagne and a pork terrine.
Ah, the pork terrine…you can see it above…prepared by this humble crew in-house…it is wonderful. Fragrant, bright, crisp and oh-so full of porky flavor…this is quite possibly the tastiest and most delightful pork terrine we have ever had–BOOM!
Then we move on to our beef…we go with the cote de boeuf for two, a generous hunk beef with a substantial rib bone attached…William slices it off of a larger hunk of beef, hands it to Johnny…Johnny cooks this baby to perfection–“saignant” is the French word for this…it literally translates to ‘bloody’…we gringos refer to this simply as rare-to-medium-rare.
After cooking, the meat is allowed to rest for a good amount of time as we sip champagne, devour our pork terrine and select a bottle of wine that is opened so it can breathe a bit before our meat is brought to us.
The cote is delivered to us as you see above, sliced, full of meat juices and ready to be gobbled. . .
. . .and gobble this thing we do…it is soft, juicy, full of flavor and absolutely delicious…we love it.
We wash it down with a Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion, Chateau Meylet…wonderful.
I skip dessert after this…
…I…just…can’t…fit anything else into my belly…I am satisfied…all is good…I can skip the sweets just this one time.
We love this joint for outstanding steak…but it is important to note that Severo is small–a ‘petit coin’ (little corner)…tiny…only 20 seats or so…
…this means you eat, digest a bit, pay the bill and move on…
…not a lot of atmosphere…
…though the owner chats with all patrons in a warm and familiar manner.
Maybe if we eat here 2 or 3 more times he will chat with us…
…this might be fun at some point.
But for now all you need to know is that this is a serious meat joint…only come here if you really want to experience beef in a deep and gobbly way…if you don’t want to go with the program here, then you might have a less-than-enjoyable time.
Now I gotta go take a nap and let this meat digest. . .mmm, aaaahh!
Sunrise is the right time for love and joy and magic in Paris…or anywhere, but especially so here.Luxembourg Gardens have a calming influence on the gringo…niiiiice.Buttery langoustines at Dumonet also calm the gringos…and make us go, “YUM!”Strolling Rue Saint-Dominique…always a jaw-dropper…tres jolie.Souffle avec Grand Marnier at Dumonet…another jaw-dropper…mmm, aaaahh!Post-lunch cognac at Dumonet…soothing. Can we eat here every week for the rest of our lives, pleeezzz?!We find Maupassant’s grave in Montparnasse Cemetery on the stroll home…priceless.
This town seeps under our skin a little more every day…woos us…sucks us in…deeper and deeper until we moan, “ok, we will stay forever and ever.”
The sunrise kisses us as we drink morning coffee…
…the parks tickle us as we do our morning walkies…
…the streets paw at us as we search for our next lunch spot…
…the food warms us deep into our souls as we gobble the day away.
There is seemingly something important to see around EVERY corner.
We walk through a cemetery on the way home from lunch. Paris is a town that moves one to do this occasionally…
…the cemeteries here are gorgeous…
…everything here is gorgeous…
…we are drawn inside.
Important people are buried here, there and everywhere…
…we just stumble upon favorites without really trying: for example, Guy de Maupassant is buried in this spot in Montparnasse Cemetery…WOW! Author of Bel Ami and Pierre et Jean…two wonderful novels…written by this dude, buried right here…a skilled novelist, student of Flaubert, lover of life, women, food, drink, writing, breathing and being alive. Keep resting peacefully, Guy, and thank you!
We continue on wandering through Paris…
…knowing that so many more ‘heroes’ of ours worked here, dined here, drank here, lived here…
…and died here.
We are humbled and gratified to walk in the footsteps of all who strutted their stuff throughout history in this most-lovely of towns.
Come here…check it all out…
…Paris is always ready to welcome and charm the heck out of you.
The gringo is ready to gobble…jaaaa!Frog legs in a bubbling cauldron of butter and herbs…extremely delicious!Sea bass…crispy skin, succulent flesh, soothing mushrooms–wonderful!Rabbit moutard stew with perfect potatoes…amazing!Our favorite profiteroles ever? Maybe…Thank you, Chef Laetitia Rouabah…you are superb!
BAM! Time for lunch here at Restaurant Allard…a classic bistro of Paris–jaaaa!
This joint has been around since 1932…you enter facing the kitchen…heat from the stoves hits us–mmm, aaah…we are soothed.
We are greeted warmly…efficiently we are shown to our table…tiny…cozy…across from the bar…classic bistro seating.
Start with glasses of champagne…lovely.
Time to order…let’s do frog legs, rabbit stew with potatoes and a sea bass pleeeeeezzzzzz.
Frog legs are bubbling in a cauldron of butter and herbs…this dish is delectable.
Rabbit stew is in a mustard sauce/broth…amazing.
Small potatoes are perfect…just perfect.
Sea bass is expertly cooked…crispy skin, succulent meat…served on a bed of well-seasoned mushrooms…yummy.
We wash everything down with a solid Pouilly Fuisse…crisp, dry, scintillating.
For dessert we do the Allard profiteroles…the chocolate sauce is thicker here than we typically see in other places, and we love it. This could be my favorite profiterole experience to date…mmhhmmm!
Lots of gringos eat here–ugh…but don’t let this put you off. . .
. . .you just settle into your little table with your favorite partner, let the atmosphere seep into your soul and enjoy a lunch that will sooth your spirit.
Let’s do some lunch…this joint is full of good stuff…mmhhmm!Pate en croute…possibly my favorite one I have ever eaten–wonderful!Tuna tartare topped with delightful veggies…fabulous!Wild boar with truffles and a lovely jus…delectable!Tourte de pigeon…amazingly good!Cauliflower and inner bits of the boar…totally delicious!Icy fruit and sweet crunchies…perfect ending.
WOW! We are having lunch at a joint called Vantre out here in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, and it is stupendous!
Folks have told us to eat here…we are giving it a try, and it lives up to all of the hype we are hearing.
For this meal we start with a pate en croute–maybe the most interesting I have ever eaten…and a tuna tartare topped with delectable greens and veggies and loveliness–this thing is wonderful.
Then we do a wild boar with shaved truffles and a tasty jus–magical…
…and a tourte de pigeon (pigeon pie) that is totally delectable.
The boar comes with a confit of inner bits and cauliflower…wildly gobbleworthy!
Everything is washed down with a soothing Macon blanc…mmm, aaah!
Dessert is a fruity icy crunchy concoction that makes us go, “JAAAAA!!”
We love this place. . .the chef is a Japanese guy who cooks like a mad genius. . .
. . .we want to eat here again and again and again.
Check it out some time, you will love it, too–I gar-ron-taaaaayy!
GlobeHug 