Fabulous treats in Paris, France

I could not end the posts on our trip to Europe without mentioning two fabulous treats you can find in Paris!!!

The first one is Angelina! If you like pastries and love hot cocoa, this is your place. Their most known location is across the street from the Louvre Museum, but it seems that they opened several other places, that might be good to know considering the line you can find in front of their main store.

If I go to Angelina, it is definitely for their hot chocolate, whether it is Summer or Winter! It is divine! It beats any hot chocolate you find at Max Brenner or La Maison du Chocolat and is literally melted chocolate. Trust me, you will need whipped cream to lower the strong chocolate taste and there is no need to order anything else, because it is so satisfying. I think I just drooled...

Angelina

226 Rue Rivoli

75001 Paris, France

http://www.angelina-paris.fr/en/

The second one is the merveilleux de Fred.

We were invited for dinner by some close friends and, for dessert, they served some cookies that were fantastic! These cookies are meringue coated with whipped cream and shaved chocolate sold at Aux Merveilleux de Fred stores (addresses below). We tried two flavors:

• The Incroyable: meringue, speculoos biscuit whipped cream coated with shaved white chocolate.
• The Merveilleux: meringue, chocolate whipped cream coated with shavings of dark chocolate.

The common element is that these cookies were very, very light. It is bad in fact, because they are so good and light that you would eat tons of them! Between the two, I preferred the while chocolate one (the incroyable). Surprisingly, it was not too sweet (white chocolate is often) and had a more delicate taste compared to the dark chocolate one. However, I would not have guessed there was speculoos in it (people are crazy about speculoos in France!). 

People love the Merveilleux de Fred and it seems that there is often a line in front of the stores, but it is worth it based on what we tried! I hope the Chef, Frédéric Vaucamp will have the great idea to open a store in the US!!!

http://auxmerveilleux.com

Paris

Aux Merveilleux de Fred

7 rue de Tocqueville, 17th arrondissement

Aux Merveilleux de Fred

129 bis rue Saint Charles, 15th arrondissement

Aux Merveilleux de Fred

29 rue de l’Annonciation, 16th arrondissement

Aux Merveilleux de Fred

94 rue Saint-Dominique, 7th arrondissement

Belgium

Aux Merveilleux

Lippens Laan 99

8300 Knokke

UK

Aux Merveilleux de Fred

88 Old Brompton Road

SW7 3LQ London

(South Kensington)

Opening 2013

Enjoy (I sure did)!

And remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Last dinner in Paris at Le Franc-Tireur

Our last night in Paris, it was pouring outside, so we decided to find a restaurant close to our hotel. As we wanted something reasonable, we wandered around and found a brasserie called Le Franc-Tireur. What I like about brasseries is the casual atmosphere you will find inside: casual with an eclectic crowd (business people, students, retirees, tourists...). And usually, the wait staff is shouting the orders...

So, we sat in the dinner area and they brought us the ardoise (slate) with the items of the day, as well as the regular menu.

Jodi went for La salade du pere Olivier, a salad made with grilled vegetables and fresh goat cheese on a toast.

Crepes at Le Petit Josselin in Paris, France

I promised Jodi that, as we were in France, we would go to a Crêperie to eat a crêpe. We ended up at Le petit Josselin, located rue de Montparnasse. This street is quite interesting as it is full of Crêperies, as if we were in Bretagne, although I have never been there...

So, here we are, entering the place; immediately on the left is the area where they are making crêpes. Of course, I cannot miss the piece of butter sitting there...very promising...

And, in the back of the photo, you can see a crêpe, with a darker color indicating that the flour used is buckwheat, making it slightly heaver and tastier. In fact, the crêpe is called a galette.

Fondue at L'Assiette aux deux fromages in Paris, France

What I really enjoy in the Winter is a cheese fondue. Not sure I would call it a Fondue Savoyarde or une fondue aux fromages as there is a debate between France and Switzerland as to who made the first cheese fondue...In New York, my favorite places for fondue are Artisanal and for a low key and a rustic atmosphere, Kashkaval. 

In France, a lot of people like fondue and it is not rare to be invited to a fondue party, because it is easy to prepare, fun (if you drop the bread in the cheese, you should have a dare) and delicious. The most common mix of cheese is Comte, Beaufort and Emmental. But, sometimes, people go to the fromager (cheese store) and ask for some cheese to make fondue,  ending up with various ones as the combinations are endless. At home, I have in fact a fondue pot that is electric and sometimes buy a fondue mix that is convenient and pretty descent! 

So, back to my trip: Jodi and I wanted to eat a fondue! We went to one of our favorite spots in Paris: rue Mouffetard. It is a narrow street made of cobblestones. At night, it can be crowded as people go there for the multitude of restaurants you can find: traditional French to Iranian! Looking around, we decided to go to L'Assiette aux fromages. It was not the first time and the last time we went, we had a pretty good meal!

I like the place: warm with its wood all over that reminds a bit of a chalet in the mountain. The big blue cow in the middle of the main dining room is surprising though...

We decided to order a traditional cheese fondue.

Fantastic Lunch at Le Train Bleu in Paris, France

Who would have thought that you would find such a nice restaurant in a train station??? Le train Bleu is a fancy restaurant that I always suggest to people visiting Paris and who want to enjoy a nice dinner in a fantastic decor. It is pricey but worth it if you are looking to treat yourself!

The place is incredibly beautiful! These photos speak for themselves!

The paintings on the walls and ceilings attest of the history of the site and are the result of the work of famous painters who did a magnificent job. So going there is not only about food!

Another particularity of the restaurant is polo the cat.

According to a wait staff, the cat came one day and never left. You see him wandering around the restaurant quietly, without bothering at all the customers and not begging at all. I guess that he is probably well fed there!

So here are some of the fantastic dishes we tried:

Couscous at Chez Bebert in Paris, France

Couscous and tagines are North African dishes that are very popular in France, not only because they are good, but also because it is the type of specialties that you cannot make easily at home as they require some special pots. For instance, a couscous is made in a double chamber steamer, called couscoussier, that you can also use...for dim sum...Some people cook the semolina by bringing water to a boil and then pouring it on it, but I can ensure you that it does not have the same taste and the grain is not as light as when steamed. There are plenty of restaurants serving couscous and tagines in Paris. One that is popular and has few locations in the city is Chez Bebert.

We went to the restaurant Porte Maillot as it was close to our hotel and therefore very convenient. The place was packed for a Wednesday! I could not believe it! 

The decor was traditional and there was a certain ambiance, although I was glad that no belly dancers popped up and asked me to join them dancing!

After we ordered some nice wine, they offered us some aperitif.

Dinner at Le Relais de Venise - L'entrecote in Paris, France

Last year, in March, I had a fabulous dinner at Le Relais de Venise in New York (check my post about Le Relais de Venise in NYC, NY). The restaurant was an emanation of a restaurant in Paris, with an interesting concept: they only serve steak frites, but with a secret sauce that some say is made with chicken liver...

So, as we were in Paris last month we decided to go to the original restaurant, located Porte Maillot. The concierge of the hotel told us how to go and warned us not to be scared by the wait! We were fortunate and only waited 10 minutes, having to share our table with a complete stranger (we just had to imagine it was a communal table) so we would not have to stay in the cold until a table for two was available. 

The restaurant was a bit different: no dimmed light, more casual but with the staff wearing the same maid uniform as in New York. So, ordering was simple: just tell them what temperature you would like for your steak and order wine or water. It translates by this way on the table's paper cloth:

It says: Bouteille d'eau large (large bottle of water), A Point (Medium) and Saignant (Medium rare).