All of the Essential Food Groups! - Sunday, 31 August

 

What could be better on a slightly chilly afternoon than a big steaming bowl of deep rich beef stock with caramelized onions, toast and melted cheese (with a side of beer and bread)?  I mean, it's pretty much all of the food groups essential for nutrition and happiness...  

...just missing chocolate, so....

The Gastronomy Portion of the Tour Begins! - Saturday, 30 August

 

You may have heard me observe that gastronomy is the only art form that appeals to all six senses – taste, smell, sight, touch, and hearing (of course), and also the sense of humor!™   OK, OK, I haven’t really trademarked that observation, but it is original to me.  

I mean, y’know that sense of delight when you eat something really surprising/amazing – something so entertaining that it makes you chuckle?  Well, QED!  Gastronomy goes beyond mere sustenance (although sustenance is a wonderful thing).  Great artists of all stripes refine their tools and techniques and imaginations and knowledge and well-honed skills to create paintings, music, literature, sculpture, dance, theatre, architecture – and meals – that take our breath away.  Gastronomy is an art form worth studying, worth structuring a trip around, worth immersing yourself in.  So I do!

Thus beginneth the "fancy dining" portion of our tour!

I returned today for lunch to one of my top 3 Paris restos, Accents Table Bourse.  I've gone there every trip since 2017 except for one, when they were in the midst of a remodel! 

To accompany my first bites, they served me a fairly low alcohol gin, litchi and tonic cocktail that was just right for an end-of-summer meal – invigorating the palate and somehow calming the spirit – and also their signature tomato/basil ice cube floating in tomato water.

The little bites with these drinks were a refined black pudding in the shape of a little piggy, a thin pastry cylinder stuffed with a brie-style cheese and a hot (as in chili) chunk of white chocolate (surprising and intriguing!) and a little banana meringue.  (BTW, those sticks were just props - not part of the dish!)

Then an wonderful celeriac “risotto.”  Cubes of celeriac had been cooked to a sort of al dente level and combined with tapioca pearls (instead of rice), diced apple, and hazelnuts, and served just warm under a lovely sage foam.  An interesting and complementary play of texture, sweetness, earthiness, herbaceousness, and just a hint of acidic bite.   On the side, a baton of their mussel terrine, half of it puréed mussels and cream, and half mussels and squid ink – oceany, slightly funky, tasty.

A nice pinot noir Champagne from C.H. Piconnet accompanied the next courses.  Lovely on the nose, beautiful red fruit, with a somewhat surprising minerality that worked!

First, an a-a-a-a-mazing dish of sweet pineapple chunks (I wonder what they did to tame the bite!) and slices of sauteed shiitake mushroom in a gorgeous pineapple crème Anglaise and covered with an impossibly thin and crispy slightly salty leaf of roasted chicken skin.  Blew me away!  What an inventive combo.  Chef Romain Mahi stopped by to ask how I was doing, and I think that I actually embarrassed him going on and on about how brilliant it was!

Then, chunks of rich, slightly funky mackerel in a bouillabaisse reduction with lemon foam, crispy fish skin, a nasturtium leaf, and herb flowers.  A pristine product, and a nice balance of richness with a bit of acidity.

Up next, a generous portion of amazingly tender, just-cooked (sous vide?) wild salmon with a squid ink ravioli stuffed with a fresh cheese (feta?), diced raw zucchini, broccolini, and fish eggs in a fish stock reduction.  With this plate the raspberry tones in the Champagne really came forward.

To accompany my next course, an Argentinian red (Grenach) by Seclantas Adentro that’s grown at 2000 feet.  Those grapes suffer!  Beautiful currant and other red fruit, very fresh, a bit of chalkiness.

My final “main” course was poultry gently cooked on the Japanese bbq with a juicy cherry tomato & anchovy, a fresh raspberry stuffed with black garlic purée (a surprising and amazing jolt, harmonious with the slight smoke on the chicken), pumpkin purée, reduction of poultry stock, and some haricot verts.  

For my first dessert, coconut ice cream, salty caramel popcorn, brown sugar meringue cubes, hazelnut cream, orange segments, peanuts, and a bittersweet chocolate fan. They all played together nicely!  

With it, a caramelly yet refreshing ale that reminded me of Normandy cider (past-prime apples, stems, leaves). 

Then one of pastry chef Ayumi Sugiyama’s astonishing sugar boules.  It’s a you-can’t-believe-how-thin-sugar-can-be-blown, 2-inch diameter, transparent sugar ball that shatters under your spoon, today filled with ginger crumble, fresh blueberries, pear, orange cream, and a smaller white chocolate ball filled with crème Anglaise.  I would have said "unbelievable" if I hadn't eaten it myself!

With it they served a low alcohol cardamom-ginger-anise-cinnamon drink that amplified everything – it reminded me a little bit of Chartreuse.

Finally, a slice of chef Sugiyama’s famous orange chiffon cake with creme Chantilly, a tomato gel, a little  chocolate nugget that seemed to be a cross between mousse and cake, a dried strawberry, and espresso. 

Everything was terrific, but the two superstars today were the pineapple dish and the sugar boule.  

It's an oasis of calm just a half block from the giant Paris Stock Exchange (La Bourse de Paris) on a quiet little street.  It was about 80% full today, but with barely audible music on the sound system and people speaking in whispers, you could hear a pin drop – about only 40dB.  And that included, at the table next to me, an infant in a stroller to whom mom sang quietly when she fussed a bit!

This place is still high on my favorites list, but it has slipped a bit – slightly less intriguing wines and wine pairings (and slightly smaller pours – I really miss their former Sommelier Étienne!), slightly less inventiveness and variety in the foodstuffs.  They recently did a big remodel during which they were closed for a few months, so I wonder if the financial pressure is getting to them.  In any case, it's still a favorite and they feel like family and I’ll be back to continue cheering them on!

Accents Table Bourse, 24 rue Feydeau, 75002.  One Michelin star.  https://accents-restaurant.com/

  

Bonus:  I thought you might like to see how they characterize wines.  They have a huge cellar, and these are a couple pages from the big wine book.  You can click on any photo in my blog to get a full screen version.

Rain, Rain, No Worries! - Friday, 29 August

Today was a typical Parisian rain day – sunny one minute, clouding up quickly, a short thunderstorm, back to light drizzle, then bright sunshine to dry up all of the streets and sidewalks and bring the humidity down.  And then all over again, often for several cycles throughout the day!  Refreshing!

So I headed out for lunch under the awnings of Au Bourguignon du Marais at the end of my block.  Here's the view from my table.  A terrific bakery, Au Petit Versailles du Marais, is just across the street - they won the prize for the best baguette in Paris in 2014.

First, a refreshing melon & cucumber gazpacho with spheres of perfectly sweet cantaloupe, strips of dried Speck ham, roasted pumpkin seeds, and a toasted brioche log.  Glorious!

Then their house terrine of baked ham in “fine herbes” (parsley, tarragon, chives, and chervil in a light vegetal gel) and terrine of pickled onions, cornichon halves and mustard seeds.  And a couple more slices of baguette.  Deeeeelicious, and I could eat only half of it, so my server packed up the rest for me to take home.  

I hope this doesn’t give you vertigo, but I thought you might enjoy the sound of the rain on the awning in this short video (sorry for tilting my phone camera – don’t know why I did that!).  As they say, "turn up the volume!"

With a glass of Saint-Bris Sauvignon Mont Embrasé Domaine Bersan and an espresso, just €41.  And with bonus leftover snacks in my fridge!  https://aubourguignondumarais.fr/  

And here's a video about the resto that someone posted on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/reel/713028188401367

"Lost to Thick Brain Fog Day" - Thursday, 28 August

At this time of year there are two direct flight options for MSP-CDG – one from Delta and one from Air France, operating in partnership with Delta.  Air France usually has a more comfortable cabin and certainly better food, and their later departure/arrival works better with my schedule.  I’m happy to report that the food was pretty good (chicken velouté with mashed sweet potatoes – interesting combo!) and Champagne was an option with dinner!  I’m sorry to report that my seat was old and uncomfortable and wouldn’t recline.  The “classical” audio options were interesting, though!

  

Hot Tip, especially for those of you who might be mobility challenged or travel with someone who is: another bonus of Air France flights is that you will probably actually be able to use a jetway at Charles de Gaulle!  My last few trips we parked somewhere out on the tarmac and had to be bused into the terminal, an interesting view of the workings of an airport, but a not-totally-pleasant experience.  This time, no worries!  A nice young woman was right there at the plane door with a wheelchair and we whipped right through the jetway, long hallways, multiple elevators, terminal-connector train, and the no-wait line at passport check.  Then grabbed my checked bag and on to the taxi queue, where there was a separate handicapped line (zipping past dozens of people waiting in the line for “regular” people – ah, the benefits!).

I can never get over my amazement and my undeserved good fortune at being able to visit this glorious city so often.  I can feel stress evaporate and my visage brighten as my taxi enters Paris proper – today’s route even included a loop around the Arc de Triomphe.  By the time I get to my apartment I have one big silly grin on my face.  

the view from my door

I have told some of you about my crazy neighbor here who always has stuff piled up in the little alcove by our apartment doors.  I have said “bonjour, madam” to her a couple of times when we happen to meet in the hallway, but today she was busy transferring items between her apartment and our alcove so we had a slightly longer conversation, and she graciously helped me move my two roller bags down the two steps to my apartment door.  (Of course, she might have been making sure that I wouldn’t knock over her stuff!)  

I didn’t sleep much on the airplane, so arrival day was pretty much lost to thick brain fog and aching limbs despite multiple naps.  What a gift, though, to have a comfy and familiar and beautiful place to take those naps and to stare out the windows at lovely architecture and always-entertaining street scenes!

People Want It, but... - Wednesday, 27 August

 

Have you noticed the number of mailboxes dwindling at post offices and around town?  Well, they’ve even been eliminated from the airport.  I had a couple of things that I really needed to drop off, but couldn’t find the box in its usual location so I asked the lady at the help desk and she confirmed that USPS had removed all but one, which it was outside the secure area (and many other people have asked!).  Crazy.  I mean, ya have lots of time to kill after checking in for your flight, time in which you could, oh, maybe be writing a letter and want to drop it in the mail.  Too bad!  Apparently the "Service" part of USPS' mission ain't so important any more.

Here’s my traditional “Last Burger Before Paris” at Stone Arch, today with a MetroNOME “Altbier” amber ale.  Yum yum and always a good sign of adventures to come!

Escaping the Madness? - Wednesday, 27 August

 

So, what do you think?  Can an ocean provide a buffer from the political madness of the USA?  Stay tuned for hints, if not answers!