Thoumieux Restaurant - Paris, France

When I was working at Les Ambassadeurs, I never had the opportunity to eat there (it was a bit out of my budget at the moment as well). Jean-François Piège left Hôtel de Crillon in August 2009 to take over the kitchen at Restaurant Thoumieux - a very old restaurant in the 7eme. I still keep in touch with some of the cooks from Crillon - a couple whom are now sous-chefs at Thoumieux. Some of the servers followed as well.

Now this place is perhaps the complete opposite of Les Ambassadeurs. The interior is rather drab, and somewhat unattractive with random teal items placed around the front of the house. I went to dine with Sophie, whom informed me that the place was actually remodeled! Interesting... She also mentioned that the clientele consisted of some television actors/personalities.

All photo credit to Sophie




Strange interior aside, I was pleasantly surprised by the food. There was no extra fluff or beyond perfect garnishes on the plate. I would call the food very refined *almost* comfort food.

We started with an excellent sardine pate, house-churned butter, and house-made bread. These were all very very good.



For the first course, by recommendation, I opted for the langoustines with fennel and apples. This dish, served cold, was perfection in every bite.


Sophie opted for "Grandma's paté" made with chicken liver which was probably one of the best paté's I have tasted thus far.



Next up was the slow cooked Oteiza pork belly with onion crackling, cabbage sautéed with curry, and pomme purée. Though the pork belly could have been cooked a wee bit longer, it was very tasty. I LOVED the onion crackling and the cabbage. The flavor combinations as well as the textures went hand in hand. A fabulous dish.


Sophie's perfectly cooked quasi de veau + écrasée de vitelottes


Sophie and I both ordered the home-made vanilla bean ice-cream with caramelised noisettes. A bit pricey (@ 8 euro) but very well done.


Bravo, Thoumieux. A very satisfying meal. By the way, it doesn't hurt to mention that they hired all good looking servers and model-like hostesses. Eye-candy during your meal.

Restaurant Thoumieux‎
79, Rue Saint-Dominique
75007 Paris
Tel: 01 47 05 49 75‎

Chez L'Ami Jean - Ode to Andrew

Today I began a little bit of prep for the Gastronomie By the Seine event. I helped Sophie a bit with her mise en place.

Here is her "cha-ye-dan" made with quail eggs. It was excellent ! Reminded me of mom's cha-ye-dan.


Afterwards, had a brief meeting for the Gastronomie By the Seine event.

Around 10pm, me, Julie, and Tristan had dinner at L'Ami Jean with Andrew since it was his last night in Paris.




BOOOOOO !!!

What am I gonna do without Andrew?

Who is going to eat half my meals?!

Who is gonna go eat ramen with me ?! ... and Eric Kayser?!

Who's going to eat the mounds of financiers and brownies that I like to make but not eat!?!?!

Who am I gonna talk about food, chefs, restaurants for 19038490834 hours ?

AND THE OFFICE! We need to watch new Office episodes together... and order stuff from http://www.Alloresto.com. HAHA!

How am I gonna make fun of him for watching chic-flicks if he's in the US and the time difference is 8-hours? Ok I can work that out. =)

Wonderful goat cheese spread


Andrew's entrée


My entrée - f'in good shit


Sorry about the crappy lighting. Andrew's plat - Joues de lotte (monkfish cheeks)


My plat - they ran out of filet de porc so I got poitrine. It was really good but Andrew had to help me finish it of course. =)


RICE PUDDING - this was seriously good shit. But the portions were ginormous. I mean seriously, it could have fed all four of us. And me, Andrew, and Tristan ordered it. What a shame ! I would have loved to take it home.


Madeleines - a bit dry but ok with the rice pudding


And our cool waiter


Dinner was fabulous.

Chez l'Ami Jean
27, rue Malar
75007, Paris
Tel 01-47-05-86-89

Love ya, Andrew ! He's going to be a famous food writer someday. (Took a photo - it lasts longer)

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