Bonne anée 2010!

Just like in the States, the French celebrate the holidays with the mistletoe or gui, although they use it on New Years, not Christmas. It's purpose is universal though - it's still an excuse for guys to get abundant kisses.

Oysters and clams to start. I think my cholesterol has spiked this past week.
An aperitif to start the night. What's better than a bottle of Champagne?

A magnum of champagne of course!

Foie gras. It's interesting how I have seen foie served this way often in Paris and not pan fried or seared. The French guests at the table balked a bit when I mentioned pan seared foie.

Home made quiche, just like at Christmas but this time I prepped it all myself.

Magnums of red wine for the main course.

Celery and potatoes mashed together. We used celery root and not the green stem that is commonly used. The celery lightened the mash a bit and added a sweetness to it. In addition to adding flavor, its a healthier, lower carb variation to the plain mash potatoes.

Haricot vert with crispy bacon.

Deer meat/Venison/bambi
Venison does not exclusively mean deer meat, it refers to any other hunted animal such as elk and wild boar. Game is very popular in Paris around this time of the year and the Parisians try to get their fill of it before the winter is over. As such, a lot of restaurants will offer boar, deer and hare on their winter menu.

Deer with cranberry and jus

Chocolate cake that we got from Jean Paul Hevin on Rue Saint-Honore
It was a very rich, dense but exquisite chocolate cake. Pricey too but it's so rich that you'd only want a thin slice.

Vanilla ice cream with caramelized apples. Sounds sweet but it was surprisingly very good.
The ice cream was comprised of a layer of vanilla bean ice cream, then caramelized apple and topped with caramel ice cream with chunks of crystallized sugar.

For New Years lunch, we celebrated with more game.

Zucchini gratin; crispy cheese on top of layers of zucchini and cream.

Veal perfectly cooked and pink in the center.

Happy new year, hope you had a feast as well! Hopefully it racked up fewer calories than mine...

Chez L'ami Jean, Paris

Paris is a gastronomical mecca which can be confusing to many foreigners who will likely have many questions. What's the difference between a brasserie and a bistro? What's a cassoulet? Are those really snails? Where can I get a great meal? Thankfully, most of your food related questions can be found (or if not found, asked and then answered) on Chowhound (CH). CH is the place I head to first before I dine at any restaurant in LA so that I can get the scoop on the popular dishes and the ones to avoid. So as a devoted Hound, naturally I headed over to the Paris site for recommendations. Thankfully the Paris CH board was English friendly and very informative. Apart from some three star joints that were raved about, Chez L'ami Jean popped up numerous times. Apparently the food is consistently good so we made a dinner reservation.

Chez L'ami Jean is located in the Invalides area on the Left Bank, with neighboring streets lined with patisseries and high end stores selling truffles (the fungi, not the chocolate). Unfortunately (or fortunately) it was a rainy night so we made a beeline for the restaurant without taking time to peruse the stores.

The restaurant is tiny and rather nondescript. The menu focuses on Basque cuisine with a number of fish and game options.

Like most other Parisian restaurants, they offered a three course prix fixe menu for 35€ and have many other items on the ala carte menu. Although they do not have an English menu, the waiters will translate it for you, albeit with a little haste.

Bread was served with a puree of white cheese mixed with cumin that tasted like hummus. Wine was very reasonably priced unlike at Paul Bert the night before.

Cream of egg with pied de mouton
No... don't get TOO excited, it's not feet of some animal but wild mushrooms. The cream was rich and sprinkled with some sort of fried lardons that gave the creamy concoction a nice crunch. As with most of their entrees, the dish was topped with foam. This is the first time I've seen foam in Paris and I'm glad they don't just do it at fancy Franco-Californian restaurants in LA. This was my favorite starter of the night because I loved the creaminess and the earthiness of the mushrooms together.

Pumpkin soup
The soup was poured from a pitcher that was left on the table for refills. I liked the soup because it was rather thin and viscous and not too heavy or creamy.

Razor clams with mushrooms
There was a nice serving of shellfish and the broth was light. Lovely presentation with ribbons of shaved radish of some sort.

Calamari with lentils
The calamari was tender and the lentils were cooked perfectly. We read somewhere that the calamari dishes at L'ami Jean were highly recommended and after tasting this dish, we concur. The prix fixe plat options included two fish, steak, pork and a veal kidney dish.

Cocotte de porcelet, joue, mignon et autres
This was the ultimate pork dish that included the belly, cheek and terrine served with cannelloni beans and mushrooms. I liked how you were served three different parts of the pig. The pork cheek as expected was tender and melt in your mouth. The belly was fatty and scrumptious. And the terrine, I thought, was a nice addition; It tasted like Asian salted pork (the kind served with braised cabbage) and was definitely up there on the salt meter but very flavorful. The beans were cooked till they were soft and easily mashed. I also loved the mushrooms which always goes well with a heavy meat dish. Everything in this dish was delicious and was meant to be on the plate.

The dish was served in a cast iron pot with more than another serving.

Bavette de race de choix, cuisiner aux anchois, jus de viande
Steak cooked with anchovies and topped with marrow. We haven't had a bad piece of steak on this trip; they have always been perfectly cooked. The marrow was tastier than the night before at Paul Bert and was the perfect spread on a piece of bread.

Flétan en épaisseur, pied de mouton sauter au lard
Flétan is a halibut and is a great selection if you aren't feeling the heavy wintery meat dishes. The fish wasn't dry and although was light, the mushrooms added some heaviness to the dish.

Two sides were brought over; mash potatoes and puree of celery. I liked the celery puree better as it was smoother and had a sweetness to it.

Le riz au lait; Rice pudding with caramel and salted butter, and salted nuts
This is their well known dessert and was served in a large mixing bowl big enough for the whole table. The rice was al dente and mixed in with milky vanilla bean mixture. The rice pudding was also served with a side of caramel butter sauce and some mixed nuts which really gave the dessert an extra layer of flavor. The saltiness of the nuts was a nice contrast to the mild sweetness of the pudding. Honestly, this rice pudding was so addictive that I kept scooping "my last serving" onto my plate.

La clinique vous a sauver, la florét noir vous fera sourire; Black forest dessert
Somehow I had expected this to be a black forest cake but instead it was more of a deconstructed parfait layered with the ingredients of a black forest dessert. Personally not my favorite as I never cared for the sweet cherries in a black forest cake.

Mont blanc de marron gourmand
Chestnut ice cream topped with macaron. Chestnut ice cream seems to be the seasonal choice during the holidays. I liked how the dessert was plated but I think my mom was disappointed with just one small scoop of ice cream instead of a "mont blanc".

If that huge pot of rice pudding wasn't enough, they also brought over cookies and macarons in a tin can. You could tell there was a lot of butter in this (which is a good thing!) as the cookies were crumbly and rich. They weren't overly sweet either so you knew that it was made inhouse or purchased from a good patisserie.

We walked away impressed and very pleased. I was especially relieved because after dining at a handful of place in Paris prior to this night, we still hadn't experienced that amazing meal. Yes, we've had good meals, but nothing that I would call exceptional. The food at Chez L'ami Jean was spot on, rustic yet delicate and the presentation was lovely. The pork dish won over every other main course I've had this whole trip. Service was brisk but friendly. Although we were out in less than two hours (newborn at home awaits), we did see other tables lingering on for much longer. And to think we would have missed out on this special place had I not done some online research. Oh Paris Hounds, you did good. Hopefully I can return the favor if you are looking for dining recommendations in LA.

Hits: cream of egg, calamari, pumpkin soup, pork dish, rice pudding
Misses: nothing, c'est bon!
Rating: ****

Chez L'Ami Jean
27 Rue Malar
75007 Paris
www.amijean.eu

Le Bistro Paul Bert, Paris

It's been about three years since we've been back to Le Bistro Paul Bert which was one of my sister's favorite restaurants back when they lived in the 11th. I recall the food to be good, classic French bistro fare with a lot of heavy pork dishes offered in the winter. Critics for many years agreed that it was one of the better bistros in the city.

The restaurant was filled with wooden tables and pictures of game animals on the wall especially of hares. Paul Bert has expanded its space in the last couple years due to its growing popularity. I remember when it was a tiny cozy spot with cramped seating. The bistro was still filled to the brim but now with more English speaking patrons. Is this a sign that it has been taken over by tourists? We'll soon find out that although the food is still good, Le Bistro Paul Bert did not seem to be the 'must-dine-at' place that critics used to rave about in previous years.

Three course prix fixe menu for 34€ with supplements. You could also opt for a two course for a reduced price.

Bottle of wine. It's interesting how the waiter brought over a wine list with a bunch of the lower priced wines crossed off. As such, there were only a couple bottles in the 50€ or less range. As it turns out, they had wine specials on a chalkboard which was hidden in some corner (many bottles priced in the mid-30s) but he did not even care to share that information with us. Also, he didn't pour the first taste for us. Granted my sister who ordered the wine was on the phone at the time (faux pas, I know but in her defense, she's a new mother who had to check in on her newborn), he left the bottle on the table and never came back to pour the first taste.

Oeufs au plat aux truffle cream +8€

It's hard to think of eating eggs for dinner but throw in some truffles and it's definitely a dinner plate. The sauce was rich and creamy with shaved truffles. Delicious, but perhaps a tad too rich with the yolk and truffle cream sauce combination. The sauce is great with crusty bread.

Croustillant de groin de cochon/breaded pork snout

I was excited to order this. The pork snout was breaded and fried. The snout itself was rendered down to a point that it was soft and buttery. It had a fatty texture and flavor that reminded me of the amazing pigs ear that I had at Church and State in Los Angeles. The groin de cochon was perfect as is, with no need for the tartare sauce. The cochon had a very strong pork flavor and the gooey, melted cartilage may turn some diners off. Not me though. But I did see an American couple beside us order this (probably without knowing what it was), then tasted it and had that puzzled look on their faces. The woman pushed the rest of her piece of cochon to the edge of the plate while the man gallantly tried another piece, this time dousing it in copious amounts of tartare sauce.

The cross section of the cochon. It looked a bit like Chinese crispy pork belly.

Terrine de campagne
Regular country pate was good but not anything special. I think I might be done with terrine on this trip. I've found them decent but there are so many other items to discover on the entree menu.

Carpaccio of mulet with citrus

Thin slices of fresh fish with a light dressing.

Salad de cresson and poached egg and lardons

Cote de cochon with gratin dauphinois ala creme de truffle +5€

This was the side of a pig, one of the biggest piece of pork that I have ever seen served. The slab was juicy and looked just like pork belly. The meat was lined with a thick layer of fat and crispy skin. The skin looked tempting to eat but you had to work hard to get the skin off the fat.

The supplemental 5€ was likely for the gratin which was creamy and rich with layers of earthy truffles. This was truly heavenly and I would have eaten the whole thing if I didn't have my own plate.

Chapon with thyme, cippolini onions, carrots +8€
Although we've had chapon a couple times on this trip, this is the first time that I have actually ordered it for myself. I liked the crispy skin and the very tiny drumstick. However, the white meat was not as juicy as I had hoped. Honestly, I have had juicier chicken in the form of a rotisserie chicken from Ralph's. The chapon was nothing special and definitely not worth the supplement since it just tasted like regular roast chicken to me. The sauce however was flavorful.

Cocquilles Saint-Jacques au kari gosse
The scallops were cooked in white wine and kari gosse, a Breton spice and served in their shells. Quite a small serving and my sister and her husband who both ordered this were done in seconds.

Entrecote de beouf with frites

This is one of the bistro's specialities. The meat was cooked perfectly, saignant on the inside which is common for French cooking and juicy from the fatty piece that ran along the cut. Atop the beef were crumbles of bone marrow. I am a lover of bone marrow but I thought this needed a bit more seasoning. It was like pure raw fat and had the taste of a wet rag. Such a pity as we had to let glorious marrow go to waste. I watched as our American neighbors played around with the marrow, proceeded to ask the waiter what it was and when told it was the marrow, cringed and perhaps looked a little ill. Great concept but I think it fell on the execution.

Paris brest: Choux pastry with hazelnut cream
This was one of their more popular desserts. I was eager to try this and compare it to the one I had at Chez Michel the night before. The verdict? Chez Michel's was better as the pastry was airier and the cream was lighter. The cream at Paul Bert was heavier and tasted more like custard in an eclair. But if not comparing it to the prior night, the Paris Brest actually tasted good.

Ile Flottante/Floating island

A meringue floating in creme anglais. The meringue was light and not too sweet. The creme anglais was milky and delicious. It's the kind of thing you'll want to bottle up and save it for the next day to relive with a piece of biscotti.

Grand Marnier Souffle

The light, fluffy cake emited alcoholic fumes when you broke through the top. The inside was hot and soft. This is the kind of dessert that is so airy that you can't possibly believe that it'll set you back over 500 calories.

They were no disappointing dishes at Paul Bert with some memorable (groin de cochon). Although the food at Paul Bert was good, it was not as exceptional as we remembered. Could it be due to the standards in the kitchen? Has it become a bit too touristy? Have our tastes changed or matured through the years or are our expectations now much higher? Perhaps it's a combination of all. Service was also less attentive compared to a few years ago perhaps due to the increased number of seating. Unfortunately the favorite neighborhood joint that we used to know is a bit more touristy but who am I to complain, I am one myself. All I know is that Le Bistro Paul Bert is still a place that offers good bistro fare but at 50€ per person, there are many other better restaurants in Paris to visit.

Hits: pigs snout, gratin, entrecote
Misses: bone marrow, chapon, service
Rating: ***

Le Bistro Paul Bert
18 rue Paul Bert
75011 Paris
01 43 72 24 01

Paris (seafood) Market to Table

The French like to hit the market on a daily basis, unlike us Americans who make that one painful trip to Costco every other week to stock up on massive amounts of frozen meats and canned goods. In Paris, they'll also bring their *green* recyclable bags with them (if not, the stores will charge you a couple cents for a plastic bag) and buy just enough goods for a day or two. As such, they always seem to have the freshest groceries on hand.

We went walking on Rue Montorgueil over the weekend to check out the market lined with meat and produce vendors. The seafood at the fish market was fresh and reasonably priced. After purchasing some items, we went home to prepare a seafood feast.

Fresh Escargot/Snails a là bourguignon
Euros 10 for a dozen at the market. I loved how it was already filled with parsley and butter which made the whole food preparation much more convenient. Just pop it in the oven and you're ready to go.

It tasted just as good as at a restaurant. Nice sized, soaked in butter, parsely and garlic. Of course you have to sop the sauce up with some fresh baguette.

We got another batch of bulot, which was boiled and seasoned with pepper.

This time, I got a closeup. Chewy taste of the sea.

Uni/Sea urchin in its natural form; you can't get any fresher than this.

Even in the same batch, the uni differed. There were bright orange and lighter yellow ones in the batch. I liked the lighter ones better which had that distinct fishy flavor but not too pungent.
The uni differed within the batch, there were one or two brighter ones that I thought gave off a very soapy aftertaste.

Three kilos of fresh mussels for six of us. Ample.

Moules a là creme
Cooked with thyme, onions and butter then topped with wine and cream.

The sauce was so flavorful that I could drink it all day, or soak bread in it.

We opened by a couple bottles of Sancerre while my brother in law and his mom gave us some lessons on wine tasting. Specifically, they explained to us that one of the bottles from the same case tasted corkier.

Excellent seafood and you really can't get fresher than from the market a couple hours earlier. Californian chefs like to peg their menu as farm to table or market to table. In Paris, it really is the case even when you are just cooking at home.

What do you do with leftover mussels? You make seafood pasta!

This was even better the second day. Al dente spaghetti mixed with creamy sauce was rich and satisfying.

Served with Vintage champagne.

We also picked up some dessert pastries from Stohrer Pastry Shop while we were on Rue Montorgueil.

A nice selection of fruit tarts to cap off the meal.