Colleen's Posterous

(Photo is Citrus Etoile interior.)

C'est magnifique!

Rich and I had a marvelous time in Paris and one of the highlights was the food. We sampled haute cuisine, café food and simple takeaway treats.

For those who have been asking, this post will summarize our culinary high points. Unfortunately, we are not dedicated food photographers, so sometimes we forgot the camera at mealtime. The best meals don’t have illustrations. They are just glorious memories now. For all my Paris photos, including some food shots, see my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/8788412@N06/.

Bon Appétit!

Le Jules Verne: Our priciest and most delicious meal was at le Jules Verne. This is an haute cuisine restaurant on the second level of the Eiffel Tower. Due to booking late, we only could get a Sunday lunch reservation but it worked out wonderfully. You ascend to the restaurant via private elevator. No waiting in line with the tourists! And the views of the river Seine and all of Paris are stunning in the sunshine.

The décor and branding of the restaurant all reflect the location. The underside of the plates had a 3-d design that reflected the steel structure of the tower, while the ceiling tile shapes mimic the tower’s mechanical shapes. The rich dark chocolate color palette also reflected the brown paint on the Eiffel tower (I was surprised by this because I always thought it was painted black – probably due to b&w films!) Of course there are white table linens and lots of cutlery (the French seem really into different eating implements.)

As with all French service at high-end restaurants, there were a multitude of wait staff (mostly men in expensive suits) that are totally professional, prompt and constantly attending to your needs. I must mention this because it was such a great part of the experience.

Now to the food. You start with an amuse-bouche, which is a single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre. These are different from appetizers in that they are not ordered from a menu by diners, but, when served, are done so according to the chef's selection alone. Our amuse-bouche was a tiny glass of pistachio crème with cherries, gingerbread crumbs. The crème had a very silky texture with a light taste of pistachio.

I selected a “cookpot de legumes” for a starter. It came in a small white tureen, the bottom layer was a rich stew of long-cooked lentils with an excellent sauce, and this was covered with several layers of paper-thin sliced root vegetables. There was a little sprig of frisee lettuce on top. The result was a really interesting dish with layers and layers of rich and different vegetable flavors. I don’t recall everything my husband ate, but I do remember that he had fantastic fois gras at le Jules Verne. It was pan seared and that totally changed the flavor from some other places we had it.

For my main, I selected a beef course. It was what I believe is called a tournedo (which means it was taken from the most tender part of the steak). It was tremendous! The right portion, cooked perfectly, tender and juicy while caramelized outside. Lovely sauce. I have to say all the sauces used in the high-end restaurants were not heavy or creamy, but beautiful reduced juices that were fantastic. Sauces were the best part! The beef was accompanied with a seared piece of fois gras on a little raft of toast. It was wonderful with a warm crust. (I do feel bad about the geese and ducks, but I had to set that aside in Paris.)  Also, we were served golden, fried pureed potato sticks (they had a light golden crust) and they came in a little basket lined with a intricately folded white napkin. Unusual potato treatment, but yummy.

For dessert, I chose a raspberry tartlet with chocolate sorbet. I enjoyed a light pastry tart, filled with a light tasting crème and covered with perfect raspberries. Each one was a perfect masterpiece. The chocolate sorbet was a nice touch to finish the meal on the warm day. Rich chose their signature dessert, called the Tower Bolt – which was a dense chocolate dessert served in the shape of one of the bolts of the Eiffel Tower. I had a taste and it was decadently deep rich chocolate. Need I say more?

In addition to the dessert, the waiter brought extras – pistachio crème with strawberries in tiny cups, small pink macaroons light as air filled with apricot jam, dense chocolate truffles, homemade marshmallows with touch of citrus flavor. We tried them all! Upon leaving, you receive a packet of madeleines (small buttery cakes) to take home. Totally wonderful experience.

Citrus Etoile: Just a block from the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe, on rue Arsène Houssaye, is Citrus Etoile. This is a classic French restaurant with an elegant orange-citrus modern décor. The chef earned a Michelin star at 22. And according to some articles I read he does all the food with a small kitchen staff.  

We had dinner reservations for 8 pm. The dinner lasted until 11 pm. Not like the U.S. :) We left totally satisfied but not stuffed and sick like in the states.

Our amuse-bouche was a tiny cup of cold tomato gazpacho with a bit of fresh mozzarella cheese. Drop of truffle oil. Tiny spoon to eat it with. Yum!

For a starter, I had lobster salad which consisted of a beautifully done lobster on top of a slice of potato, and covered it match-stick sized fried leeks. I expected it to be cold or cool, but it was more warm, with a savory flavor and cool clean taste of seafood. It was really wonderful. Rich started with a warm quail stuffed with foie gras, crustacean broth with chanterelles. For a guy who doesn’t like unusual food this was a step forward. He liked it and even tasted the chanterelles (he was not thrilled but at least he tasted.)

For a main course, I enjoyed rack of lamb roasted and served with corn and pea ravioli with mint au jus. The lamb was perfectly cooked and the sauce fantastic. The ravioli were nice complement to the heavy meat flavor. And the subtle mint also serves as a great complement to the lamb.

For dessert, I went with the idea of finishing with a cheese or salad course. So I had both: a Roquefort, walnut and apricot terrine served with a mesclun salad. The salad was perfectly dressed and seasoned mixed greens and wonderfully strong cheese was balanced by the pecans/apricots.

Rich had a New York cheesecake soufflé. He raved over it. We also finished with tiny pastries before the coffee.

Some other highlights included:

Le Clovis, which was the restaurant in our hotel. While not tremendous, the starter I had was really unusual (to Americans), it was a plate of green vegetables. Peas mainly with French green beans (haircot verts). It was really yummy!

Bateaux Parisiens, dinner cruise. I had duck breast which was perfectly cooked and it had a great sauce. I don’t know how they prepare excellent food on a boat. The duck came with pureed potatoes (tasted like something else in it, like turnips), Ratatouille (which is a French stewed vegetable dish) and mixed veg. The mixed vegetables were the best side dish. Also that was our crepes Suzette experience. Light and fluffly crepes with Grand Marnier. Yum-o!

Bread, croissants. Also all of these meals were accompanied by bread. Sometimes brioche or bread with olives in it, or something else creative. And there was always someone bringing more! The croissants and pain au chocolate were excellent too. We order breakfast in the room and got a fabulous taste of croissants. We also bought them as takeaway and enjoyed them on the go!

Cafés. We sampled a couple along the Champs Elysees and I had a mixed experience. One place had a very pedestrian club sandwich on soggy lettuce. But when they were good, the café food was really good. At one place I had a large Salad with grilled vegetables – peppers zucchini – fresh mozzarella – olives – beautiful dressing. The greens were fabulous, tender crisp, dressed and seasoned perfectly – side of bread crusty bread. Yummy! I also had mozzarella tomato salad that was really good. Good olive oil makes it. Rich had a few cheeseburgers that were good. And the fries generally varied but were good. We learned to order cappuccino if you wanted coffee with milk and we enjoyed it everywhere. Also, Diet Coke (or Coca Cola Light as the French call it) was available everywhere as was water in all types.

Brasserie de l'Ile St. Louis. A classic French brasserie, it’s wonderful informal place near Notre Dame. The decor features stuffed deer heads, old wood, tin ceiing, etc. Despite the fact the waiter spoke no English, and menu was in French, we had wonderful omelets (cheese and ham) and a nice tomato salad. Perfect lunch!

So it was a great culinary week, I hope you enjoyed my blog post. I am hungry again writing it. I bought a madeleine pan yesterday, so I will be trying to re-create some of the wonderful food of Paris.