Tag Archives: Paris

Aux Deux Amis: if heaven was a tapas bar

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I consider this weekend very successful: an important work phase completed, and two fantastic restaurants discovered!  On Friday we experienced L’Etoile: restaurant that makes you feel and look good! and yesterday night we enjoyed tapas at Aux Deux Amis.

As soon as I entered Aux Deux Amis, I sensed there is something very, very Parisian in this restaurant located on Rue Oberkampf. After few seconds I realized what it is: a subtle amount of Parisian attitude… Every other person seemed very conscious of his/her looks, the wine was tasted as if it contained gold flakes, and some characters would have put Hemingway into shadow by their artistic looks and behavior. We had a table in the corner, near the main door, facing the bar. Perfect for observation (and to be observed). Aux Deux AmisThe atmosphere was very bohemian chic, but the staff remained down-to-earth, friendly and helpful. They had no rosé wine, but we were offered to taste white wine from Bourgogne (Burgundy), which led to another moment of realization: this place is very, very serious about its wine. I had just tasted one of the best white wines ever: Saint-Veran Les Mandeliers, Domaine Arnaud Combier (2012). Aux Deux AmisWe ordered tapas: beef carpaccio, piquillos, burbot, bonite, mozzarella with coppa, and one other cheese of which I forgot the name. Each tapas was a match made in heaven.  Aux Deux AmisToward the end of the night the chef came out and emptied his glass of wine at the bar. It seemed everyone knows everyone. We learned there is a presence of fame –Aux Deux Amis was created by a former Chateaubriand.

The restaurant closes in one week, so hurry up if you are in Paris. Otherwise try again in September.

Meanwhile, check my new Facebook page!

Le Fooding review: http://www.lefooding.com/restaurant/restaurant-aux-deux-amis-paris.html

L’Etoile: restaurant that makes you feel and look good!

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How do you recognize an excellent restaurant? From the fact that when you wake up the next morning, you have slept like a baby, and you feel and look as if you have just spent one week in a retreat. Without exaggeration, this is how I felt this morning after a very pleasant dinner at L’Etoile (former L’Etoile Rouge).L'Etoile, ParisWe were welcomed by la patronne, who offered us two glasses of rosé wine  because our table outside was not yet ready –a lovely, rare gesture in Paris, but most of all, the wine was not just any wine. It was excellent Pic Saint Loup from Languedoc. Menu, L'Etoile in ParisWe ordered two starters: a millefeuille of tomatoes & mozzarella, and a squid salad. Both were divine. IMG_5200 IMG_5202Based on the restaurant’s recommendation, we ordered a bottle of Le Côte de Provence Rosé Locus Ameno. Delicious.

For the main course I had grilled cod and my husband had rabbit. My cod had a lovely, very intense lemon taste and the rabbit came with a sauce that reminded us very much about mixes you find in the Indian cuisine. It had been a long time since I had such an intriguing culinary experience!  IMG_5206 IMG_5205I believe that the photos above speak for themselves. The presentation was artistic and beautiful, as you can see.

In the end we shared a dessert. I loved it, even if usually I am not a big dessert fan in France (my husband likes those heavy French-style cakes etc.). This blueberry mousse was great because it was light, reminding me of Finnish desserts. In fact, upon completing cooking classes, this is something my Dad made for us every single Sunday for quite a while!  blueberry mousseDuring our dinner, la patronne came to speak to us a few times, and she seemed to know many of the customers. In the end we even had a good talk with the chef, who came to our table. We learned he trained with a very famous Michelin-starred chef Joël Robuchon and in addition, he explained how important it is that the cooking follows the principle of four basic tastes: sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness (he shared some of his tricks on how to make winter tomatoes taste better…..).

In overall, the restaurant L’Etoile merits nearly ten points and we are sure to bring food lovers visiting Paris to this interesting pearl that I believe has a lot of future. Keep watching the name I say. They are already on lefooding.com, but I would not be surprised if more recognitions were on their way….

L’étoile:  75 rue Crozatier 75012 Paris . 01 53 17 02 44

Le Fooding article: http://www.lefooding.com/restaurant/restaurant-l-etoile-rouge-paris.html

Back to work (motivation help from rosé wine)

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It was very hot in Paris last week and the heat wave will make its return tomorrow. At the moment, most of my friends are at exotic beach destinations from Elba to Greek islands, and yes, receiving text messages while trying to put together a publication is not easy! I do love my work –do not get me wrong- but there are periods when the beach sounds more tempting than at other times…

So, how do I get myself back to the work routine after three weeks’ holidays? By establishing my own After-Work that consists of drinking rosé and eating good food!

Our caviste, like everyone else, is on holidays, so we have been returning to Monoprix (a French grocery store) for wine purchases. It has been fun experiencing different rosé wines and honestly, I think Monoprix’s price-quality ratio is better for rosé wines than for reds and whites.

Yesterday we tried Les Embruns Gris Sauvage (IGP Sable de Camargue): organic rosé wine from Languedoc. More precisely, this wine comes from the western part of the Camargue region, the largest river delta of the western Europe (if you have a chance to visit it, do not hesitate! It is stunning and very authentic). The wine tasted lovely: agrumes, peach and other fruits. Easy and pleasant to drink. A very good choice for 4 Euros. And it is organic.  Les Embruns Gris SauvageWe also bought a bottle of Eléphant Rose Lubéron for 5.50 Euros but it is in the fridge at the moment, unopened. Perrin family makes excellent, rather affordable wines of all three colors in Provence and Rhône (South and North). This particular rosé we bought comes from Caromb, near Mont Ventoux (north east of Avignon). Eléphant Rose 2012 (Luberon)

If you are curious about these wines, please see the links below, and do not forget to check the new Pearlspotting Facebook page, too!

Les Embruns Gris Sauvage (IGP Sable de Camargue): http://www.jeanjean.com/3_5.cfm?p=18-les-embruns-vin-de-pays-des-sables-du-golfe-du-lion-marque-jeanjean&f=0,0,0,0,171,0

Eléphant Rose Lubéron: http://www.clubperrin.com/product.php4?product=53&category_id=Lub%E9ron

Image copied from here: http://www.vin-sable-camargue.com/vindessables-1-62-Laire-de-production-La-zone-geographique.html#3 (Courtesy to the Union of Vin des Sables)

La Briciola: pizza of “something missing”

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La Briciola and Amici Miei are both on the list of “The Best Pizzas of Paris” published by Le Figaro. Yesterday we tested La Briciola, located in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris.

Upon arrival at La Briciola, we were greeted in a really friendly manner and got a nice table by an open window. It was a perfect summer evening in Paris. The place was really cosy and the giant green olives we were offered were extremely tasty. The vegetarian pizzas arrived, and yet they smelled herbs and tomatoes, the dough was thick and not crispy. In fact we both had hard time using our knife to cut it…  My husband had ordered extra salami on his pizza and he said that the slices tasted of liquid used to light up the barbeque… My criticism toward the pizza was that the vegetables were not grilled enough and that the predominant taste came from artichokes. I love artichokes, but I think the overall taste was not balanced. La BriciolaWe had a bottle of Italian rose for 16 Euros –not a bad price-quality ratio.

When it came to the bill, we left a tip for the lovely service, but there was something missing… I personally love my pizza very crispy and vegetables nearly burnt, and these criteria were not filled. We walked home and said that we should return to Amici Miei.

Note: On Tripadvisor, La Briciola is better rated than Amici Miei. But what does this really mean –only that you should go and see it for yourself! My advice is this: if you prefer good service and soft dough, go for La Briciola, but if you prefer rather rude service but excellent pizza, opt for Amici Miei… Anyhow, they are located (almost) in the same neighborhood.
PS Since summer 2013, there is also Da Vito –an excellent choice!

Le Figaro list: http://scope.lefigaro.fr/liste/les-meilleures-pizzas-de-paris-24821785/

Other pizza reviews by Pearlspotting:  and 

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. Parisian shutters3. 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.

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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. L'Homme BleuI 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. Coteaux de TlemcenWhile 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).tajineMy 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.couscous l'homme bleuWe 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)

Moscow meets Paris

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Last week we were invited to an exhibition opening of Uzbekistan-born artist Andrei Esionov. Like art at its best, Andrei’s oil and watercolor paintings gave a lot of food for thought. Le vernissage itself was The Party of the summer: excellent champagne, sushi rolls, salmon tartines, Russian vodka, abundance of Chanel bags & Louboutins, and very interesting people from France, Russia, Georgia. Andrei Esionov

The exhibition “Moscow and Muscovites” consists of portrays of famous Russians and cityscapes of Moscow where the artist nowadays lives. I found the portrays original and the idea of mixing the old-school Soviet stories with modernity pleased me. Personalities that appear in the portrays are film directors, ballet dancers, astronauts, neurosurgeons, not forgetting the former President Mikhail Gorbachev.  The watercolor cityscapes show Moscow as I remember seeing it myself. Looking at these pieces of art open a window to the everyday life in Moscow: babushkas walking to a nearby market, Orthodox churches that compete with skyscrapers for attention, lonely women wondering where the Motherland of Russia is going, etc.exhibition Moscow and Muscovites The exhibition was organized by Chez Higgins and they did a superb job. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by Eric and Thierry, and they immediately made us feel very comfortable. Exactly as it should be! Through them we met a large number of people from photographers to art event directors. We had a long and interesting chat with a French girl who works with silk and explained different silk-making methods and which countries produce the best silk. Then we met someone who used to live with Salvador Dali and confirmed that indeed he was not a very pleasant person. (was Dali nastier than Picasso, that we did not figure out….) In the end of the evening we enjoyed the company of a sociologist, an ex-student of famous French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. This same sociologist had visited my home country Finland, and provided me with some interesting insight to the Finnish mentality.Vernissage Moscow and Muscovites

Time went by and so did glasses of champagne. Everyone was having a lot fun and the champagne bottle delivery did not seem to end. I thought it was très chic that they had personalized the bottles: cuvée spéciale “Moscow and Muscovites”. It could not have gotten more elegant!personalized champagne

The evening was fascinating. The weather was hot and humid. No one seemed to want to go home. It was almost midnight. The waiters started serving sweets. Rounds of champagne continued. vernissage Moscow and Muscovites

It must have been past midnight when we finally caught a taxi. My handbag was full of business cards of people I need to email… This brief virtual visit to Moscow had indeed been very pleasant and inspiring.

Links:

The artist: http://www.esionov.ru (the website is only in Russian, but to see the work, click ГАЛЕРЕЯ)

The organizer (also an art publisher): http://www.chezhiggins.com/

Two sides of a Parisian apartment

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For those who have been asking me to share some photos of our apartment, here you go with some view photos. Selected interior photos will follow, sooner than later….

The view toward the court yard is quite interesting because the court yard has an original triangle form. I watch the pigeons and other birds while cooking (and sometimes wonder when the building on the right-hand side will decide to do some maintenance…). I particularly like the chimneys in a row. Tonight the clouds moved very fast and the rain did not fall in our arrondissement.court yard view

The view on the other side is toward the Eiffel Tower. If our living room floor was just two meters higher, we would see it. Oh well. We had the view from our old apartment, and cannot have it all in life! This time we are luck because there are very few neighbors close by, and the nearest buildings are for offices and lower than ours (and inch’allah will stay that way). It is quiet in this part of Paris and intimate in the evening. Like in a village. I particularly like the palm tree that you can see in the photo on the left and I have noticed that the pigeons like to fly between our balcony and this palm tree.

Lastly, it may not be very visible in the photo, but there is an airplane. For a really long time we did not have curtains in the bedroom and we would watch the planes flying in the sky. Sometimes it was almost visible to see which airline it is. And they make good stories for dreams! Planes traveling to all those exotic places in the world, from India to Africa, from Iceland to Australia. A small but big world. street view