Tag Archives: design & decoration

Le Train Bleu: exquisite and elegant

When my brother told me that he would like to take his girlfriend to a romantic, old-fashioned Parisian restaurant during their visit chez nous, I shortlisted a few options for him. But as soon as he saw the photos of Le Train Bleu, he responded without hesitation “this is it, please make a reservation for us, and I would like you and your husband to join us”. It was a beautiful summer evening. We had some Canard-Duchêne champagne at home before walking to the restaurant. All this was a surprise gift for the girlfriend, so by the time we arrived at the Gare de Lyon railway station, she was very puzzled. “Are you taking me to the Côte d’Azur”, she asked. We smiled, walked into the railway station (where the tracks are) and took the main stairs to the restaurant, following a sign Le Train Bleu. Once inside, all of us stopped breathing for a few seconds. The beauty of the paintings and the interior design was stunning. Extraordinary. We had a table next to the train tracks (I had specifically asked for this). Our waiter came and was extremely friendly, offering a leaflet of the restaurant’s history (available in English). We learned that we were now maybe, just maybe, using the same table as so many famous people who have been regulars to Le Train Bleu: Coco Chanel, Brigitte Bardot, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dali, etc. We ordered the Menu Réjane, which for the price of 56€ per person includes a half a bottle of wine. Since we were four, we ordered one bottle of white Gaillac Château Adélaïde and one bottle of red Côtes de Bourg Laroche Joubert. Bravo for both wines! For the starters we had Gazpacho-chilled cod with lime, ovencrisp Poilâne bread and Hand-chopped beefheart tomatoes, Welsh onions and Leccino olives, Burrata and jellied basil.

Both starters impressed us by the stylish presentation, and we found that the ingredients married very well. My husband loves beefheart tomatoes, so it was his paradise!

For the main course, my brother had Baked Scottish salmon, spinach shoots, coconut emulsion and red curry, and appreciated very much the curry-salmon mixture. The rest of us had Farmhouse chicken Tournedos Rossini, vin jauce sauce, artichoke purée, and we were delighted to find out that our dish contained a large chunk of foie gras… delicious!For the dessert, my brother’s girlfriend had a “red-berry” tiramisu,I chose a mixed cheese plate, and my brother and my husband chose the famous Traditional rum baba. Now, I am going to be a bit mysterious, because all I can say is that Rum Baba at Le Train Bleu is not only a dessert, but also an experience…. This is the only dish that I am not going to show you, but when you go to Le Train Bleu, you will realize why! (but if you are really curious, contact me by Pearlspotting’s Facebook page and I will tell you)

Our night was fantastic, the service impeccable, food delicious, and I sincerely recommend Le Train Bleu for any occasion you may have in life. Truly.

LE TRAIN BLEU: Gare de Lyon, 75012 PARIS. Tel. +33-(0)1-43 43 09 06 (http://www.le-train-bleu.com)

Sicilian Caponata: a perfect autumn dish

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When I was jogging along the Seine tonight it felt a little bit like autumn for the first time. I returned home, walked into the kitchen, watched the eggplants I had purchased at the Bastille Market yesterday, and wondered what to cook. I then took a look at Facebook and a friend’s post: Sicilian aubergine stew recipe called caponata. I had almost all ingredients at home (I replaced the parsley by basil leaves, and green olives by black olives) and the result was delicious! We ate the caponata with some slices of mozzarella, and the dinner was perfect! Only wine was missing…So, instead of continuing to make my usual cut-in-two, grilled in oven eggplants, I think I will be inventing variations of caponata in this long autumn that is about to begin. Not only that, but I think our dilemma where to take next holidays was just answered…. A place in this world that mixes eggplants, capers, almonds and vinegar must be visited!

PS If you are wondering about the bowl, it is Finnish design by Marimekko and can be found here: http://www.finnishdesignshop.fi/kattaus-astiat-marimekko-hyvassa-seurassa-hyvassa-seurassa-siirtolapuutarha-kulho-p-3983.html

Recipe: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/incredible-sicilian-aubergine-stew-caponata

Wedding preparation part 2: dressing for the evening

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I bought this petrol blue Azzaro dress for my own civil wedding in the 7th arrondissement of Paris nearly three years ago and now I will wear it for my brother’s civil wedding in Copenhagen. I did some adjustments to the dress today and apart from ironing that I will do upon arrival, it is ready to go! This is quite symbolic, because I will wear Jimmy Choo shoes with the dress, and those shoes I wore when I met my husband one Saturday night in Paris…. It is pleasant to wear clothes that bring happy memories!

Do you have any comments or suggestions for my “wedding look”? If you did not see it already, click here for the town hall dress Wedding preparation part 1: dressing for a civil wedding

Wedding preparation part 1: dressing for a civil wedding

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This weekend we will travel to Copenhagen for a wedding and it is time to dig into the wardrobe. I am thinking of wearing this outfit for the town hall. What do you reckon?

PS I know, the photo is not as good as it could be and the dress needs ironing… but apart from that, I like the look. And I love those Dior shoes (I bought them for my own wedding).

Dress: Zara, Paris

Jacket: Theory, New York

Shoes: Dior, Paris

Balcony inspiration

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There has been so much to do inside of the apartment, that we have entirely neglected our spacious, beautiful balcony. But this changed last weekend. We rented a car and bough different items, and this is how far we got in decoration:

Basil, lavander and ivies. An olive tree and bamboos are still to be purchased.

Naturally, a barbeque grill is missing too, and I cannot wait to have our first BBQ meal outside, served with rosé wine. I hope the summer is going to be long and hot in Paris!

PS Those tam tam stools come from Habitat (Montparnasse). The store has excellent liquidation sales going on for one more week, so if you are in Paris, go and check them out!

Link to the stools: http://www.habitat.fr/p/962956/tabouret-tam-tam

La Régalade Conservatoire: consistent “régalade style”

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After Mandarin Oriental: when customer service goes that extra mile I took my husband to a fairly new restaurant called La Régalade Conservatoire. Out of four Régalades (three in Paris and one in St Tropez) I have been to two of them, so it was about the time to test this newest Parisian addition.

The menu is extremely reasonably priced: 35€ for a three-course meal. I reckon it is one of the best deals in Paris for sophisticated gourmet cuisine. According to the “régalade style”, you always start with country-style terrine (pork, though) and cornichons. The waiter leaves the pots in front of you, and you go on snacking as long as you desire, or as long as the starter arrives… sympa.

For the starters we had creamy squid and prawn risotto, and asparagus bouillon with foie gras (both starters come with pork (lardon) but it is possible to have them without). Delicious, light, easy to digest, tasty, interesting mixes… this says it all! For the wine we had short-listed a few options (the wine list is VERY impressive!) and following the restaurant’s recommendation chose a bottle of Graves (AOC), Château Haut-Peyrous “Retour de Palombière” (2009), a fabulous merlot & cabernet melange for 30€. Once again, an excellent price-quality ratio I say!For the main course, we ordered tuna and roasted lamb. Since the starters had been soooo delicious, maybe I expected even more from the main courses. They were very good, but that “little bit of something extra” was maybe missing, especially in my lamb. Or was it that I considered the lamb dish to be too winter-like to be eaten in summer? Maybe vegetables instead of potatoes would have ameliorated my dish? We shared a mixed cheese platter and a Grand Marnier soufflé in the end. I loved the cheese, but by the time the soufflé came, I unfortunately had very little room left in the stomach…There is something else that also cut my appetite a tiny bit. When I made the reservation on telephone, I had specifically asked if the restaurant has a habit of doing something for birthday guests. The person on telephone hesitated, so I quickly continued that a candle on my husband’s cake would be a lovely gesture. Apparently she noted it, but when the soufflé arrived, it had nothing on it… Well, this is just a minor detail but could be a more important detail to someone else I am sure.
We got the bill (just over 100€) and returned to rainy streets of Paris. The dinner was pleasant and my husband happy about this surprise discovery, but something gave us a feeling that the next time we will just return to one of the other Régalades, La Régalade Saint-Honoré.

PS The restaurant is located inside a five-star L’Hôtel de NELL, which was designed by a famous architect and designer Jean-Michel Wilmotte.

La Régalade Conservatoire: 7 rue du Conservatoire, Paris 75009. Tel. +33 1 44 83 83 60

Le Fooding review: http://www.lefooding.com/restaurant/restaurant-la-regalade-conservatoire-paris.html

Wine: http://www.discovervin.com.au/shop/item/chteau-haut-peyrous-retour-de-palombires-aoc-graves-rouge-2008/graves (we had a bottle of 2009 but this website has 2008 for sale)

Hotel: http://www.hoteldenell.com

What does Finnish barbeque look like?

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On our first night in Helsinki, we were invited to eat barbeque with my brother and his girlfriend. They had made the groceries, so all we needed to do was to go outside, set the fire and start waiting for food to be ready!They started grilling sausages, chicken and tomatoes (we had prepared an olive oil, garlic and herbes de Provence dip for the tomatoes). Tomatoes turned out delicious, and so did the chicken! It was one of the best chicken I have ever eaten (the best grilled chicken in this world is served at Le Tyrolien in Algiers…).

The next set of food to be grilled included halloumi cheese and blue cheese-stuffed mushroom. My husband’s favorite. Very tasty and so easy to make. Finally, there was only a slice of salmon left. It was rather easy and fast to grill it without the usual aluminum foil. Don’t you just love the presentation of salmon on sausages…?For dessert we had grilled, sliced pineapple with cardamom-flavored whipped cream. Yummy!

PS In case you wonder where these cute, colorful plates come from, they are Finnish made and designed by Iittala (www.iittala.com). The plates come in many colors (unfortunately no longer in brown) and can be found here: https://www.iittala.com/Tableware/Plates-and-bowls/c/Plates%20and%20bowls?q=%3Aname-asc%3Atype%3APlates+and+bowls%3Aseries%3ATeema

Short stay in Helsinki (my personal highlights)

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After the summer house we spent only two full days in Helsinki. It was a brief visit, and it rained very often, so we did not get to visit as much as we had planned. But this short stay was very pleasant and I made a mental note of returning to Helsinki again this autumn (each year I say this, and then by the time the cold weather begins in Paris, we prefer to travel to warmer places. Let’s see about this autumn).

Some highlights of our Helsinki visit were (not in any particular order):

Walking around Kauppatori (The Market Square) and Senaatintori (The Senate Square): watch the luxury cruise ships leave for Tallinn and Stockholm, admire the architecture dating back to the first part of the 19th century (the Russian rule), contemplating at the market by the sea whether to buy a reindeer skin or one kilo of strawberries!
Visiting Artek, the world famous Finnish design and furniture shop (http://www.artek.fi/index.html). A must!
“Grillata“: prepare and eat Finnish barbeque (which includes salmon of course). For cooking ideas, see What does Finnish barbeque look like?
Kappeli (http://www.kappeli.fi/): this restaurant/bar/cafe opened in 1867. It is a Helsinki institution and located in a beautiful, wooden building right by the Market Square. We had just coffee.
Putte’s Bar (http://www.puttes.fi/): I ate a very good Funghi pizza that came with chanterelle mushrooms. I loved the pizza but I have two remarks about the place: I had made a reservation and we were seated downstairs, in the darkest corner. Also the wine is super expensive (like almost everywhere in Finland).
Liberty or Death (http://libertyordeath.fi/): we drunk cocktails with famous ice hockey players. Could it get more Finnish?
Alppitori (http://www.ravintolatori.fi/alppila/): they have excellent hamburgers. My chicken burger came with avocados. My husband’s burger came with crispy bacon. And the best part is that they have French rosé wine for 25€ per bottle.
Siltanen (http://www.siltanen.org/): we had drinks at this club/bar/restaurant that I like very much. It is trendy and hip, and has that industrial feeling. They have DJs and groups playing almost every night.

Time went by very fast and sooner than I realized, I was sitting in an airplane looking at those thousands of tiny islands scattered around Helsinki and its coastline.

How to survive 36C in Paris?

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I left Finland for Paris yesterday. Weather in Finland was not the greatest during my holidays, but it is not ideal in Paris either: today the mercury may climb to 36C and the entire week is supposed to be hot.

Since there is no beach to go to in here, how does one survive in Paris during a heat wave (une canicule)?

1. Before you go to sleep, take a towel or a tissue, and sink it in cold water. Then place it on your body (head, legs, stomach, whatever). Amazing! It really helps. And stays fresh and cool for a long time.

2. Close the shutters. It keeps the sun light and the heat outside. I usually hate shutters (even curtains), but this is a must. Think about Provence: there is a reason why all houses have shutters and why they are closed even during the day time. 3. Drinking: Drink water but also fruit juices. I learned this in the Sudanese dessert: fruit juices are excellent for hydrating the body, considered better than water by the Sudanese nomads. I am not following this rule very carefully, as I am half way through my second big cup of coffee, and coffee and sodas should be avoided…

4. Eating: Eat fruits. Make salads. Serve tapas. For example, I often make a salad which is a mixture of different types of melon, cucumber, feta cheese and boiled potatoes. As simple as that, and delicious. Or prepare tomato & mozzarella. Make tabouleh. Enjoy gravlax (smoked salmon) and smoked fish (served cold, and rich in vitamins).

5. Go to movies! Cinemas have a cooling system that most apartments in Paris don’t. But before you purchase a ticket, make sure the AC works…

Now that I have shared with you my personal survival tricks, please tell me what yours are!

L’Homme Bleu: Berber hospitality in the center of Paris

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Note added in July 2014: I returned to L’Homme Bleu many times but stopped doing so in summer 2013. Why? I was served a glass of champagne that either wasn’t real champagne or was long ago expired (I returned the glass and we were not billed for it). Unfortunately this was not all. The dishes were not as good as they used to be, and my favorite lamb tajine was simply too sweet. The tastes were not balanced. We very very disappointed and wondered was it the “August effect” (many people take holidays and maybe the restaurant was run by nonprofessionals at the time of our visit?). We never learner what it was, but we haven’t been back since summer 2013. There are so many North African restaurants in Paris to visit!! See my list of other restaurants in the end of this post.

***

Paris is an excellent place to discover North African food and one can easily find an Algerian or a Moroccan restaurant in every area, arrondissement, of the city. We must have tried over 20 of these restaurants, but are always ready to try new ones.

Like l’Atlantide (Algerian restaurant l’Atlantide in Paris), l’Homme Bleu is also on Le Figaro‘s Best Couscous of 2010 list. I love tajines with lamb, fruits and nuts, and my husband loves couscous with a mixed meat plate, so going through the menu never takes too long for us. We chose a Seksu Homme Bleu Couscous (kebab, merguez sausage, lamb, chop, meatball) and based on our waiter’s suggestion, I ordered Tajine s’laxrif (sweet and sour lamb with dates, figs, raisins, almonds, orange blossom, cinnamon). We also ordered red wine, Coteaux de Tlemcen, from the western part of Algeria. While waiting for our dishes to arrive, we looked around. There was a group of very fashionable Japanese tourists. Next to them, there was a group of local men discussing Zidane and drinking mint tea. I noticed that decoration is a little bit similar to L’Atlantide: rugs, warm orange-yellow colors, images of Sahara and Tuaregs on the wall. We had a chat with our waiter who confirmed that the restaurant owner is originally from Tizi Ouzou, which is a town in Kabylie in Algeria (like the owners of l’Atlantide).My tajine was delicious and very copious. The main difference to other lamb tajines that I have had was that the lamb was already cut into pieces. Why not! The dish was full of fruits and almonds, and apart from the fact I could have maybe asked for some more chick peas, everything was perfect.

My husband’s couscous came with a huge portion of vegetable stew (the way he likes) and a variety of grilled meat. His comments were “copious, tasty, enough stew, good-quality meat”, although he added that the merguez sausage was the least interesting meat on the plate.We were particularly impressed by the friendly service. “Berber hospitality”, we said to ourselves. We also noticed that the Algerian wine had a very special (positive) effect on us: we could have fallen asleep in less than a second. The waiter joked with us and suggested we sleep on the pillows of the dining room downstairs. Apparently a coffee-croissant breakfast would be served to us in the morning at no extra cost…

In my opinion, l’Homme Bleu and l’Atlantide have a lot in common: an excellent price/quality relationship, high-quality ingredients, the way of cooking, the variety of dishes, decoration, etc. A dinner of two people with a bottle of wine hardly costs more than 60€. However, since l’Homme Bleu is closer to us (and since they were so nice), we will probably return here the next time we feel like stepping into the intriguing North African world.

L’Homme Bleu: 55bis Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Paris. Tel. 01-48070563. Metro: Parmentier. http://www.restaurant-lhommebleu.fr/

Le Figaro list: http://www.lefigaro.fr/sortir-paris/2010/11/22/03013-20101122ARTFIG00674-le-test-des-meilleurs-couscous.php?cmtpage=0

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Previous posts about eating North African food in Paris are:

L’Alcôve: finest meat of Paris (also serves couscous and tajine, but house specialty is grilled meat)
Algerian restaurant l’Atlantide in Paris (excellent couscous and tajine)
Le Tipaza: refined Moroccan food (a good address near the Eiffel Tower)

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