And now I'm back..

Matcha green tea chocolate with black and white sesame seeds

After 5 days in Paris I need to recover a little bit. The wine, the food, the speaking French. It's hard work people.

I wasn't sure what to expect about going back. I had lived there for a year and a half and I wasn't sure if going back was going to make me a bit sad.
I mean, I wasn't going there as a tourist, I was going back to a place that I called home for 18 months, a place where I still have friends. Good friends.
And well, it's Paris for heaven's sake.

But when I got there, it kind of felt as though I'd never left. I sat in the back of the taxi on my way to my friend's house and everything looked the same, familiar. It still felt like my Paris.

I did all the things I intended--the Salon des Saveurs , a falafel at L'As du Falafel, a stop at Mariage Frères for some new tea. We had a homecooked mexican feast one night with one too many margaritas, and a schlep out in the rain in our heels another night for a fabulous dinner at Spring.

But the most perfect of all was spending one rainy day in my pj's on my friend's couch with endless cups of coffee, chatting about nothing in particular, in an apartment full of windows and a fabulous view of Paris from all directions.

My suitcase was a bit heavier when I left of course. I added three new teas to my overflowing collection, a bottle each of pistachio oil, pine nut oil and pumpkin seed oil, a jar of sundried cherry tomato paste from Italy, a bar of Sadaharu Aoki matcha green tea chocolate and some fresh Bouteillan olives from Provence.

It was a good trip.
I have to admit, I did feel a bit sad to leave, but Paris and I, we still have our thing.
And I'll be back there in July so I can't really complain, right?


Stuff and more stuff that I love..



*********************
Mille et Une Huiles
-these oils taste so true to their flavours they knock my socks off.

Spring
28, rue de la Tour d'Auvergne
75009 PARIS
T 01 45 96 05 72
m° Notre-Dame de Lorette

Escaping the cold at L'Ourcine

Warm inside L'Ourcine while the snow
falls fiercely

The day before New Year's Eve called for some serious eating. My friend Alisa and I decided to try L'Ourcine, a small french bistro which has been recommended by both Clotilde in her article in Budget Travel Magazine and Pim in her Cheap Eats Guide to Paris.

The day that I made the reservation the weather in Paris could not have been better. But when I stepped out of my apartment on December 30th to make my way to meet Alisa for our lunch, I was instantly pummeled with wind and snow.
And that made me very grumpy.

So there's me. A Canadian girl, who has spent her life trudging through snow, and cursing its ability to slow me down, trip me up, and give me endless number of bad hair days.

And then there's Alisa, the girl from L.A who has only seen the occassional snowfall since moving to Paris 3 years ago, and all she could say as our heads were bowed low and our hair was already caked with ice was:
"I love this! It's so pretty!"

Alisa, I love you, but did you notice how we looked by the time we arrived at L'Ourcine? Our pants were soaked, our fingers were numb, and our hair was a ratty, wet mess. There was nothing pretty about it. And by the time we left, who was complaining about her cold toes? It certainly wasn't me.

Thankfully the rest of Paris was smart enough not to venture out in that weather, and we found ourselves in a very empty restaurant.

The restaurant was cozy and the service was friendly and we ate fantastically well. By the time we left, I wasn't nearly as grumpy about the weather as I had been at first.


Topinambour mousse and
Bouillon de Poisson Roche avec crème (Cream of Rock Fish Soup)


If you care to read about the food

A 29€ fixed price lunch menu bought us a starter, an entrée and a dessert. We were given a complimentary "amuse-bouche" of Topinambour mousse upon our arrival. And my bouche was highly amused.
Topinambour, otherwise known as Jerusalem artichoke, is a vegetable that is new to me. And I now consider it the best thing since sliced bread. Sliced bread is highly overrated anyway. The crispy croutons on top were a delicious contrast. You can read Clotilde's description and see a picture of Topinambour here.

The fish soup that I ordered was without doubt the best soup that I have had to date.
"Oh my god." is what I said when I first tasted it. So I let Alisa try it.
"Oh my god." is what she said back.

After that, the rest was good, but there were no exclamations of joy this time.
My main of scallops with sauteed endives was very nice, if perhaps a little too buttery.
My dessert of a red-wine poached pear had a wonderful flavour but was served cold. And with the wind and snow blowing outside, I would have much preferred it warm. I think the flavours of the spices and the wine would have worked better had it been warmed.

I would definitely go back to L'Ourcine. It's a great little place with a good value and if you find those things on the menu that are the chef's speciality well, then: oh my god.

L'Ourcine
92 rue Broca
75013, Paris
01 47 07 13 65


Tags

Paris Bistro
Paris Restaurants

Topinambour Mousse