To eat or not to eat: Ode to Chandni

We ate here almost every day. Open until midnight! Our favorite gelato place.



Grom France SARL
81, Rue de Seine
75006 Paris, France
01 40 46 92 60


Crêperie Josselin


Del Papa


Street crêpe in the Bastille


L'As du Falafel


ZenZoo


Aki


El Nopal


First Mexican burrito in Paris!


El Nopal
3, rue Eugène Varlin
75010 Paris
07 86 39 63 46

Une bûche « couture » au Salon de thé Angelina - Paris, France

Met up with a friend in Paris, Sophie, at Le Salon de thé Angelina. She recommended the chocolat chaud, or hot chocolate which was excellent, and very rich. A very delicious, French hot chocolate with freshly whipped crème chantilly.


We also had the pleasure of trying the new "bûche couture" courtesy of Chef Sébastien Bauer whom Sophie had worked with in the past.

Here is the description in French:

Cette bûche très frivole et féminine renferme un coeur onctueux aux marrons et pommes confites et un confit de yuzu et citron vert. Ce coeur est entouré d’une ganache au chocolat au lait et yuzu, d’un croustillant à la noix de pécan caramélisée, le tout sur un biscuit sans farine au chocolat… un mélange élégant d’une intense douceur à la fois fondant et croquant.

In English:

This bûche is very frivolous and feminine. The heart contains creamy chestnuts, candied apples, and candied yuzu and lime. The core is surrounded by a ganache with milk chocolate and yuzu, crispy caramelized pecans, all in a flourless chocolate crust... an elegant mix of intense sweetness which is both creamy and crunchy.

Please excuse the flash as I wanted to show the layers of the buche. Extremely rich. Three bites were sufficient. It was a very busy liaison of flavors. A really intense bûche. Go try it if you can!



Le Salon de thé Angelina
226, rue de Rivoli
75001 Paris
01 42 60 82 00

Caldo Freddo. Et Paris Je t'aime...

Had the day OFF today. Since I work at a hotel, they follow the laws sometimes... and the holidays.

Grocery shopping...




Store where you can make your own t-shirts


It says "I love nothing. I am Parisien."


Delicious Italian foccacia sandwiches




Caldo Freddo
34, Rue Montorgueil
75001 Paris
Tel: 01 44 76 04 21‎

Opera


ZenZoo




Nina's art project


This kid was awesome. He had a twin brother with the same hat and corn. I was trying to sneak a pic of them both but oh well.

My love for L'Ardoise only continues to grow deeper

I originally planned all my meals from reading Hungry for Paris. La Gazetta was whatever; Higuma was average, and Le Baratin was a bust. I decided to change all the reservations I made and go to bistros that I knew were good from experience. Made last minute plans to go to L'Ardoise. It was already 14h00 by the time we got there but the lady on the phone said it was okay to come by. (Hey, I am a cook, I know what it feels like to have customers come in right before closing. They need their break!)

It was so refreshing to be greeted with a warm smile. There were two other tables there eating so I didn't feel too bad. On with the food.

I ordered langoustine ravioli with bisque. Can I just say that this was fucking delicious. It came out piping hot too. Just like my chef always said in school:

"Hot, well-seasoned, and on time!"



And roasted lamb with coco beans. Again, H.W-S.O-T. And delicious, of course.


The "vegetarian" eating scallops! (She ate one for the first time last night!) Her dish came with puff pastry and cepes. Christine thought the food was a bit "weird" since she wasn't used to it. Her coworker, on the other hand, hated everything. But I will get to that in another post. ahhahahaha


It's been a good year since I ordered profiteroles (or in Raf's words - Roger Federals). These are probably some of the best I've had here. F'in bon, man !


AND CHRISTINE STOLE MY LAST BITE OF ICE-CREAM - FROM MY PLATE. WHO DOES THAT???

She claims it's a "Jersey" thing.

L'Ardoise toned down on the size of the portions which was nice. The waitress there was so incredibly sweet and accommodating. (Last time we ate here, we had a stress case as a waitress). I was so happy to have a good meal here in addition to a nice serveuse - especially after the shit meal we had last night.

Je suis très contente.

L'Ardoise
28, Rue Mont Thabor
75001 Paris
Tel: + 33 1 42 96 28 18

Hanging with the Froug's + Yakisoba

Now that the CAP exams are FINALLY over, I can now relax and spend some quality time with my friends. Andrew's family is in town and invited me out to grab some lunch at Eric Kayser. It was really crowded so we brought our sammiches to Jardin des Tuileries. Was a really nice day.



After a relaxing lunch in the park, me and Andrew met up with Alex and Canadia for a coffee. Alex is moving to the South tomorrow for work. Canadia is already working and was on his break.

Then it was back to hang with the Froug's at Place de la Madeleine. We went to Fauchon and Ladurée for some delicious tea and pastries. Now I know where Andrew gets his awesomeness. The Froug's are super cool!

Afterwards we planned to go see Speedracer, but got sidetracked to go eat some delicious Japanese food at Chez Aki since it was already getting late.

Ummm, I love yakisoba.


Look at the bonito flakes ! Loves it!


Chez Aki
Spécialités Okonomiyaki
11 bis, rue Sainte-Anne
75001, Paris
Tel: 01 42 97 54 27

Didn't end up going to Speedracer. We will save it for Friday night.

Today I realized what it was like to relax again.

Grégory Renard + L'Ardoise = the BF comes to visit

Okay, before I get to food, just wanted to wish my big bro, Huang, a

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!

I sent him a box of miscellaneous but delicious cookies from the Monoprix (a supermarket). Hehehe

Ok, so lucky me ! Rafael and his bro came to Paris for the weekend to visit. They are on a two week trip around France, Italy, and Spain. And apparently they hate Ibiza (off-peak means ghost town and eating one meal at McD's a day since everything is closed). Anyway, I ended up taking more photos of food than of them. Actually, I don't think I have a photo of Manny. OOPS.

Stepping outside my building. Ah, another French demonstration. What's new ?


I brought them to places like Fauchon, Le Bon Marché, and Eric Kayser. It was a really nice weekend for me (and I hope for them too!)

And I bought them a box of macarons from none other than Grégory Renard.



We had citron, Cassis, pistache, chocolat sel, vanille, chocolat orange, framboise, and caramel. I am not even a big fan of chocolate or vanilla but I absolutely love it here. The rasberry and pistachio are also my absolute favorites and taste REAL. I have been to other places like Ladurée which is good, but I find too sweet. This box is about 15 Euro. Check it out:

GREGORY RENARD
120, Rue St Dominique
75007 Paris
01.47.05.19.17

A big thanks to Andrew for the recommendation. He is my eating partner in crime and we often find ourselves talking about food for hours on end without even realizing it. And we also find ourselves tempting each other to go out to eat when we are trying to budget. Cheers to Andrew !

So after getting macarons, we went to eat at L'Ardoise. L'Ardoise is an amazing little bistro. The quality and taste of the food is totally worth it. And their portions are ginormous! Too big for me, but maybe perfect for the average American. ahhahah!

Here's Rafael ! Ain't he cute ?


He ordered what was pretty much shrimp and vegetable tempura. It was good except for the fact that they didn't leave enough space between each vegetable when they were frying it - it was like one big tempura fried lump.


My dish. Langoustines wrapped in brick, lentilles


Manny's dish. Escargots. Can you say butter and garlic ?! This was soooo GOOD. And nice to soak up the butter with the delicious bread they served.


My dish: Filet of cod in meunière with almonds and asparagus


Manny ordered tuna. Look at the size of that steak.


And Raf ordered pigeon. Ummmm.


For dessert, I ordered a simple rasberry tarte with crème chantilly. Simple as it is, it is one of my favorite desserts.


Manny ordered Pots au chocolat


Raf's cheese plate. We couldn't figure out what one of the cheese's was, but it sure was stinky. =D


Overall, everything was tasty tasty TASTY. But like I said, the portions were too big for me. Regardless, 32 Euro for 3-course prix-fixe is totally worth it. I can't wait to go back !

L'ARDOISE
Executive Chef: Pierre Jay
28, Rue Mont Thabor
75001 Paris, France
01.42.96.28.18