If you’ve ever shopped at Pierre Hermé, you know they not only supply delicious goodies, they will also wrap your purchase up with care in an assortment of pastel colour and white boxes, and place within similarly colour-schemed paper bags.

I know it’s rather frivolous, but it also means the full elegant package is now ready to be presented as gifts should you not be tempted into eating them up yourself. ;-)

They have just came up with 5 new gift boxes for macarons, four of which I’ve put together in the giant collage above. These are known as “J’aime Les Macarons”, “Les Incontournables de Paris”, “Joyeux Anniversaire” and “Je Pense à Toi”.

If you’re buying them online for home delivery, they’re available as boxes of 12 macarons (6 types of macarons per box) for €24 plus delivery charges. If you’re buying them online for boutique collection at 185 rue Vaugirard, they’re available as boxes of 16 for €34. Don’t ask me why the €2 price discrepancy. Processing charges? Option to choose macaron flavours?

I must be on a roll, noticing articles everywhere about dining in Paris. And this is solely based on sites that I do read from time to time. I wouldn’t want to imagine what an aggregrator will come back with had I ever bother try to set one up.

Either that, or all the major media KNOWS Paris is a wonderful holiday destination and are therefore pouring all the advices in. And this just came in, from Guardian, Top 10 Paris Bistrots on a Budget. Bistros? Bistrots? What’s the difference between the two words?

Anyway, I digress.

Looking at the list, there’s only a couple of them that I know of and have been to - Le Pre Verre (photographed above), Chez Gladines - and those places are among my favourites. This means I must go and try the others on the list, and sooner rather than later too. Afterall, if hordes of English tourists start descending on these bistrots, the value menu may soon becomes a thing in the past.

Of course, such crowd can also be “discouraged” (except for the determined) by the employment of French-only menus, impatient waiting staff, and safely tucked away from the main touristy areas. Some of the bistrots listed here are already on to these tactics - cool!

Alright, I was just teasing here. Good things are meant to be shared, and had I really want to be such a scrooge over it, I would have written this entry without giving you the link to the article nor mentioning the source. ;-)

I was quite amused by this article in the New York Times about the invasion of burgers in Paris. The raves, however, are not for the variation that you find in McD nor Quick (of course not, the blasphemy!) but rather some “Frenchified” burgers. Yup, even burgers are not exactly burgers in this city of gourmet food lovers. Got to be Paris chic, baby. ;-)

(Image by Ed Alcook for the NYT)

How? By doing what the French do best - redefining burgers with new taste (using herbs, fleur de sel etc), new texture (why not use T-bone steak?), or new ingredients altogether (foie gras burger anyone?).

As a good measure, the NYT also throws in a few recipes to try:

• Cocotte Burger
• Café Salle Pleyel Burger
• T-bone Steak Burger

So will you be ordering a burger the next time you eat out at a restaurant? Or will you be cooking some at home this evening?

On a side note, I am not sure if I care for remarks such as “expatriate French chefs reinventing American classics in the United States made it safe for their countrymen to try it back home”. Now, come on!

That’s a question I was asked by american friends of friend visiting some weeks ago. Before that I never really thought about it. Indeed Paris has a lot of restaurant and you can eat french as well as indian, thaï, lebanese, breton, italian, scandinavian and so on.

So how can one make a decision ?

It can depend on prices, place you are, things you want to eat… but even once you know what you want to eat and for what price, you want it to be good. And believe me, there are restaurant in Paris you don’t want to try…

The better way is of course to have friend experimenting and reporting to you. Like a guy I know who is from Corea and told me where to eat the best bimbimbap next to work. Or a co-worker who invite you to his favourite restaurant..

I also make my own experimentations, trying the new pizzeria that opened next to home (good but not the best I know), or testing restaurant from comments I read on the web or magazines.

So if you’re looking for a restaurant, and don’t know where to go, you can check this site (my prefered one) or this one or this one. You can also find other ideas in blogs like the ones Lil suggested last week.

And what about you? How do you choose ? What are your favourite restaurants?

My favourite pâtissier in Paris is undoubtedly Pierre Hermé and I make no secret about this. Just about anyone who knows me know that I will always make time to be in his shop, usually the one by St Sulpice, to get some émotions (glasses of 3 complementary layers of delicious goodies), macarons, pastries, chocolates…

Pierre Hermé certainly deserves his title as The Picasso of Pastry, among other illustrious ones. The offerings from his shops are simply delectable and irresistable to me (and many others I suspect). The queue outside the shop can be pretty lengthy at times, and I’m not surprised if numerous Japanese tourists have got pictures of me standing in the line, waiting for my turn to get into the tiny shop on Rue Bonaparte!

Bij treated me to some Pierre Hermé when I saw her a few days ago (what can I say - she’s an awesome friend!), after a few turbulent days of emotional rollercoaster. We shared some émotions and macarons, and she also gave me a couple of surprise plénitude.

Let’s talk about those delightful émotions, shall we?

Pierre Hermé usually creates two émotions for his shops at any one time, and this summer they are Émotion Fragola and Émotion Eden. I personally love Émotion Eden while Bij prefers Émotion Fragola.

Émotion Eden is a creation with layers consisting of delicate crème brûlée of saffron at the bottom, apricot pieces in the centre, and topped with saffron jelly sprinkled with some gold sheets. Digging through all three layers in one go to get a mixture of creamy custard and light jelly together with fruit pieces, it’s a lovely combination of texture and taste much after my heart’s delight.

Émotion Fragola is not pale in comparison either, and rather unusual too. It’s a bold combination of balsamic vinegar, spaghetti in strawberry juice and strawberry compote, garnished with a dollop of cream. I’ve known of the vow factor in pairing balsamic vinegar and strawberry, but to add spaghetti into the mix to make it a dessert, that’s a new experiment in my opinion. But it works well. Very well.

Of course, a trip to Pierre Hermé also normally means taking a small selection of macarons. We had some rather fruity selection, continuing the whole summery theme, with some Eden (apricot), Montebello (raspberry and pistachio), Vanille (vanilla) and Pamplemousse (grapefruit). They literally melted in the mouth, such heavenly bites they were.

I. Really. Heart. Pierre. Hermé.

Pierre Hermé
- 72 Rue Bonaparte (near St Sulpice)
- 185 Rue Vaugirard
- also available through online shopping in Europe (certain products only)

“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.” — George Bernard Shaw

I do believe Shaw on this count. Even though I am just a constant visitor in Paris, I never think twice about the hunt for good food, the search for good restaurants. Some places are simply brand new, some places are old favourites of mine, some places are new discoveries for me but regular haunts of my friends in this lovely city.

I got to know about L’Os à Moelle through a blog that I read a while back, and what’s better excuse to try this place apart from the fact that I’m actually in town? Each trip I made is reason enough to celebrate, because this is when I get to meet up with my friends and catch up on news etc. (Not that we haven’t been doing that regularly on gtalk or email, lol, but that’s besides the point.)

Situated in the 15th arrondisement, L’Os à Moelle is one of the eating gems in Paris. The restaurant itself is cosy and perhaps a tad tight on space, and the menu may be somewhat limited in terms of choices, but it more than make up for these slight shortcomings by virtue of being big on taste and freshness!

At around €40 (depending on items, there may be small supplementary charges), a full and delicious 5-course meal will be served - soup, starter, main course, cheese and dessert. For good measure, they also present all diners with a small amuse bouche to whet the appetite shortly after the order was taken.

The menu at L’Os à Moelle are presented, handwritten, on blackboards. Just like most quaint little restaurants/bistros in Paris. These boards are mainly French of course, but if you request for it, they do have one English board that they will bring around.

When I was there with my friends, we had quite a variety of items ordered. Some perennial favourites including foie gras, scallops and sea bass; others rather unusual (for foreign diners, maybe not quite so for French) such as pig’s snout and wild boar. Everything was cooked to perfection, well-seasoned with fresh herbs and garnished with salads and vegetable crisps.

The sweet course is probably my favourite course, and seeing there were so many of us there together, we each ordered a different dessert so that we can swap around and taste them all. The rum baba was ambrosial, the flambéed bananas sweet through pairing with caramel, the fruit gratin refreshing and the chocolate quenelle rich and creamy.

This place is definitely marked as a place to revisit in future, and I would recommend you to give it a try too. No harm in making reservation before you head over either, as they do get pretty busy here. Bon appétit!

L’Os à Moelle
3 Rue Vasco de Gama, 75015 Paris
Tel : 01 45 57 27 27
Métro: Lourmel

Un magasin ferme pour se faire remplacer par un autre… Mais parfois il rouvre plus loin à la place d’un troisième… Les rues de Paris sont en permanence agitée par ce jeu de “chaises musicales” et il n’y a rien d’exceptionnel à cela.

Mais cette fois-ci, la chaise en question est le 101 bld du Montparnasse. Depuis des années, à cette adresse, on trouve un bar appelé “Le Lotus” et il se trouve que j’y avais mes habitudes : avec leur happy hour plutôt sympathique et son emplacement pratique pour retrouver mes amies le vendredi soir après le boulot. Malheureusement, je crois que je n’ai jamais jugé utile de prendre la façade en photo… Il en va souvent de même avec les lieux dont on a l’habitude, mais soudain ils disparaissent et il est alors trop tard…

Vous aurez sans doute compris que Le Lotus a maintenant fermé ses portes. Et vous me direz peut-être que je vire philosophique, mais pour moi et mes amies, il se trouve que cet événement marque aussi symboliquement la fin d’une époque et d’une façon d’être ensemble… En effet, la vie prend le dessus, certains déménagent et s’éloignent, les autres sont occupés à faire leur nid…

On peut voir sur la photo l’ex Lotus et on y apprend même qu’en juillet un Relais de l’Entrecôte y ouvrira ces portes ! En effet, les choses changent, tout se transforme mais rien ne se perd (surtout dans ce genre de quartier !)

Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas, les Relais de l’Entrecôte servent d’après le principe d’un menu unique. Cela a de quoi traumatiser tous les Américains qui s’y perdent : “What? A unique meal? All year round? Every year? Are you kidding? And people keep coming? The French are insane…” - histoire vraie. Et oui, ça marche. Il s’agit en fait d’un menu composé d’une salade, d’une assiette de viande et sa sauce, accompagnée de frites maison, avec vin et dessert optionnels. Le secret du succès de ce restaurant tient dans sa sauce, une merveille dont le secret justement est jalousement gardé… Si vous voulez l’essayer, je recommanderais d’y aller à l’heure d’ouverture car après il y a souvent la queue ;) (en tout cas, d’après mon expérience d’un autre de ces restaurants).

Par ailleurs, d’autres bars déjà nous ouvrent les bras dans le quartier à proximité : l’Atelier, même endroit, 2 numéros plus prêt de la tour Montparnasse (avec un happy hour décalé d’une heure, 19h-21h) ou encore dans le rue Vavin, le Cubana café et ses tapas… A tester ! :D

And life goes on, comme on dit… :)

Hi there!

If you plan to wander around St Germain to visit the “Parcours” or the “Marché” described in previous post, you might want to have a break, eat or drink something in the area…

I work in the area of St Germain des Prés wich is nice, but unfortunately it is an expensive area and finding good and not- too-expensive place to have lunch can be tricky.

As today is sunny and makes me want to go out for lunch to enjoy the sun, I thought I could share my favorite places with you… (note that prices might have change since last time I was there!)

Le petit St Benoit : 4 rue St Benoit…incredible place where you can feel the atmosphere of good oldSt Germain… The door by itself is an adventure! During summer they have tables outside, wich is really nice since the street is not crowded. The prices are reasonable (around 12€ for a meal, 3.5 for desserts), and it’s really good!! If you’re fish addict try their “cassolette de poissons”(10.5€).

Le pré aux clrecs : 30 rue Bonaparte, typical brasserie, good salads, wonderful magret and do try the “mousse au chocolat”! It’s a little more expensive than the previous one (count 13€ for a salad, 16€ for meals). Few tables outside, nice since they also put grass and trees on the sidewalk but lots of people passing through…

Wabosso : 6 ue des Ciseaux, Korean restaurant, if you like Bibimbap (rice covered with meat, egg, vegetables…) you will like this restaurant (around 13€ for a Bibimbap).

But my favorite place to enjoy the sun is le pont des arts…

Take your lunchbox or a sandwich and sit there, looking at the boats… For a cheap sandwich, you can go at the CROUS cafeteria, inside Paris Descartes university (45 rue des Sts Pères), where sandwich are 2.8 to 3.1€ (don’t expect too much fantasy in the fillings) but the place is closed during summer… There’s also a very good boulangerie 57 rue Jacob, sandwiches are around 3.5€ to 5 €. But if you’re there in the afternoon, try their “tradi choco”, a small baguette full of chocolate chips… they take it out of the oven at 3pm… ;-)

This is all for today, but do share your favorite places in the area by commenting the post.

When one imagines the many pleasures of spending time in Paris, one of the most often repeated is: the food. And lovelies, as a woman from the United States, I can tell you that the day I have to go back and eat in the U.S will be a sad day indeed. The variety, the quality, the attention to detail makes for a delectable city indeed. However, upon arriving in Paris, I realized one small problem; there are so many different types of food establishments in Paris that to the unseasoned traveler, it can be a maze that results in a dejected run back to McDonald’s. Brasserie, restaurant, café, bistro, bar; what do they mean? What type of food can you expect from them, what kind of service? When you walk around Paris for hours, looking at the various landmarks and sights, the last thing you want to do is try and figure out where to get a sandwich and where to sit down to a nice, three course lunch.

Have no fear, my frenchie fiends; Lelle is here!

This is a guide to the types of food establishments to be found in Paris, with a brief overview of typical fare, service type, location, and price.

(more…)

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Patissier Stohrer, originally uploaded by jmooi.

C’est une des meilleures patisserie de Paris, c’est rue Montorgueil et je vous laisse jeter un coup d’oeil sur les spécialités de la maison…