No Reservations Paris

I simply cannot believe to what amazing heights of knowledge and epicurean artistry have some people arrived to.

Anthony Bourdain rounds up his 100 episode achievement of the show No Reservations with a trip to Paris. Be sure to check out episodes 2 and 3 also. 

Je Ramasse!! They pick up!

The residents of a Paris neighborhood are concerned about the state of their streets. They pick it up! Would you? I know I wouldn't do it!

Esspresso Style Recommends: Bread & Roses, Paris

The Bread & Roses cafe and bakery in Paris is simply excellent! I recommend it with all my heart. On the 62 Rue Madame, 75006 Paris, France, that is right next to the Luxembourg Gardens, you can find on a little corner hidden away this little cafe, resto, bakery and tea place. When I was there with my wife we had  two cups of specialty tea (don't remember the blends), and they gave us the tea pots that allowed up to three consecutive refills and kept the brew hot for half an hour. We also had a nice little rhubarb muffin. The muffin was done just wright, more sweet then bitter, but you could still feel the rhubarb distinct flavor in it.

The space isn't that big, but what does big mean in Paris? 

The service was good, for Paris standards.

Anyway, it's a very good place, true Paris style, good food and drink and chic ambiance. After a long walk through the Luxembourg, it's just the place you would want to encounter.

Espresso Style recommends: "Le Central"

"Le Central", on the boulevard Sebastopol, in Paris, was the location for two lovely and very tasty meals during our stay there. I'll show you only the salads, that were excelent, fresh ingredients, not too raw and not too elaborate. A duck breast salad (that I forgot the name of) and the "Roma" salad, with italian smoked ham or panchetta.
PS: On later edit, the duck breast salad is named "perigordine"!

The wine wasn't at all bad either, and moderately priced. Also, if you ask, they can bring you a bottle of tap water, free of charge, but if you ask for water, it's the expensive Perrier or Evian.

All being said, a very good establishment that I recomend "Le Central".

McChicken Paris Style

Even the all american McChicken sandwich has a special style in Paris. It's "classique and indemodable"!:-)

Espressostyle recommends: Paris - Place des Vosges

When in Paris be sure to go to Place des Vosges. It's a lovely little park or piazza situated within walking distance of the Seine.

It has a perfect square shape and it is lined with sumptuous buildings that are the same on all four sides. In one of the buildings Victor Hugo once lived. At the bottom floor you can find nice restaurants with terraces and even a grocery store with supermarket prices for food and drinks.

On the other corner is a luxury restaurant that I never got into. Looks good, though.

The coolest feature of the Place des Vosges is that people just walk and lay on the grass with nothing holding them back. It's a delight to just lay on the grass and enjoy a moment.

On the adjacent streets you can find lovely little corner boulangeries (french bakeries) where you can buy a nice baguette, pain au chocolat, tarte au citron or jambon sandwich (that you can be shure that it's made fresh in the back).

  For the ones that are interested, there is a good knife and razor shop on one of the corners.

 

Traffic lights in Paris

Another interesting thing about Paris is that every little street crossing was guarded by a traffic light. And I mean every one! Verify this, if you dont believe me.

Where NOT to eat in Paris

Ah, Paris, with it's street side cafes and romantic bistros. I love it.

And I was there in september, strolling by through Place de la Republique. And, what do you know!? We got hungry. My wife felt like some pizza (well, even in Paris...pizza) and we sat down at a restaurant's table next to the sidewalk. We ordered fast and it came in fairly quickly: a salad for me and a pizza with spiced sausage for her. Water and a small glass of Bordeaux. It was not good, I tell you. Well to be honest, it was average. At least not what you would expect from a very well placed restaurant in Paris.

The pizza was plain, made with ordinary ingredients. The sausage was the low price supermarket (the kind with not much meat in it) and the doe was clearly not baked in an wood burning oven. OK, not every place has an wood burning oven, but even an electric oven makes a better crust.

My salad was simple, no dressing. The day before I ate a wonderfully dressed salad at another restaurant (review coming soon) and I guess i was expecting too much this time. Again the ingredients were plain, cheap, cold and with a feel of leftovers to them. Cold meat, grilled and chopped thin: it felt like it was from hours ago, at least.

And everything at a price pushing tword 40 euros, no thank you, not ever again.

The place is called PIZZA PINO, Place de la Republique, Paris. Don't go there for a feel of Paris. Go only if you're plain hungry....neah, not even so!

Sushi

I have had my first ever bite of sushi in Paris! Yes, I went 1000 km by plane to taste the japanese wonder. Well, of course I didn't go to Paris just to eat sushi; I went there for my honeymoon (applause), but, none the less, this is the first time I have ever tasted the raw fish and rice dish.

Ipreshion: it's a good food and I see why people like it. If it's fresh it realy tastes fresh. I had the cucumber version, the plain one and everything in the box. But... youu gotta understand, I'm born and raised in Eastern Europe, at equal distance between Viena and Istambul, a part of the world where grandmothers stuff your face with cooked meat dishes, baked deserts with jams, steamy sour soups with meat and tens of vegetables boiled in them....Come on! I just am not the sushi kinda guy!

Another mith was the soy sauce. It is better than the only other one that i ever had before, store bought at home. That one was either spoiled in some way, or just plain weird tasting.

So, I didn'l like the sushi that much. But it looked f0king great!

And so begins the PARIS chapter, that will strech out for some time.