Toni & Guy, Gyoza, Lamen, Balls... what more could a girl ask for?

Had an uneventful day in the office. Rushed to my FREE hair appointment at the Academie de Toni & Guy. It was awesome. It took around 2.5 hours because all students needed their professor's approval before moving onto the next step. Totally fine by me. Was reading Hungry for Paris (Alexander Lobrano) in the salon. Relaxing. Almost fell asleep. And T&G did a great job.

At first they asked if I they could cut it to my shoulders. Of course I said no. I wanted to keep the length, otherwise, I didn't care. They started cutting the top part really short. Like to the middle of my ears short. I got scared. But I had to keep in mind that they were training professionals at Toni & Guy. Their goal was to add more volume but also keep it sleek and modern. By the end of it, I was very happy. Who can refuse a free haircut from a popular (and normally expensive) salon?

My hair is 10 lbs lighter than before. Can't totally see all the layers but you get the gist of it.


Academie de Toni & Guy
122 rue du Faubourg St. Honore
75008 Paris
T: 0033 1 40 20 1593 (Call at least 3 weeks in advance)
toniandguy.academy@wanadoo.fr

I was so sleepy by the end of the rdv - I went back to Amanda's hoping to take a nap, but received an email to check out an apartment in the Montmartre area. It was located in a beautiful private street.


It was so Parisian - I loved it. It even had the old old old elevators. This would NEVER fly in the US. But I found it quite charming.


I love the architecture of the buildings in Paris - and the fact that all these old buildings have modern digicode pads. Well, the owners of the apt were a no-show so I went to try Higuma in Japantown. I read about it in Hungry for Paris. I ordered what was recommended - the gyoza and ramen. The gyoza was good but not fried enough on the bottom, but I remain neutral on the ramen. Noodles weren't the right noodles. Broth a bit bland. Pork was nicely cooked though. But definitely NOT something to write about. It ain't got nothing on Ryowa or Santa Ramen in CA!





Afterwards, I realized that balls were right around the corner... so why not? Nice lid.


Ummm I got warm balls in my belly ! (Hot green tea with milk). If you look closely, you can see my semi-healed thumb injury.


I was so full so I decided to walk back home from the 2nd arrondisement. It was beautiful tonight.

Lasserre **

How amazing is it that as a class, our chefs and the director of our school bring us to dine at Lasserre, a two Michelin star restaurant serving traditional French food. Ok, so technically I paid for it since it is included in our tuition... but I have to say that life is good =). I have been looking forward to this moment!

It was really nice to get in a dress and put on some makeup for a change. And realize that when I am not in my whites sweating at school, I am actually a girl ! Unfortunately, I decided to wear one of my most uncomfortable dresses. But that's okay. I still had a good time.

When we arrived, they served us champage and delicious hor d'oeuvres of gougères, quail eggs, and foie gras. What a way to start a meal.

Who are these people? They are... cleaned up ?


Picture time !


Me and Rodrigo... er Felipe


And on to the menu.

Amuse bouche - this was a type of "flan" made with asparagus and fava beans. It was a fantastic starter.


Asperges de pertuis, sauce maltaise. I enjoyed this dish very much. I love asparagus, caramelized onions, and blood oranges.


Sole à la royale et aux morilles. This dish was fantastic. My fish could have been cooked a tad less though.



Pigeon farci André Malraux. I was so beyond full at this point because everything was so rich and tasty, but still managed to have a few bites. My pigeon was slightly overcooked. The farci was made of foie gras. Delicious but I had Andrew help me finish this plate (as usual).


Déclinaison de pommes au caramel. But of course I had room for dessert. I loved the ice-cream with the mousse on the left. The right dessert was good as well but a bit too sweet for me because of the caramel.




Café - look at the cute logo


Mignardises. No matter how full I am, I seem to always have room for dessert and mignardises ! After our meal, chef Jean-Louis Nomicos came out to say hello.


Looking sharp !


Happy and full, on our way home in the metro.


I gotta say that Lasserre does a really good job at serving traditional French food at it's best. The service is superb - they always serve the ladies first. The bathroom, however, reminds me of the 70s. Hah, but whatever, that is not important. Food comes first.

RESTAURANT LASSERRE
Executive chef: Jean-Louis Nomicos
17 avenue Franklin Roosevelt
75008, PARIS
01.43.59.02.13

Taillevent - Deux étoiles Michelin

Today for lunch, we had the pleasure of making reservations at Taillevent for lunch.

We decided on the 3-course prix-fixe menu for 70 euro. First, let me talk about the service. When we sat down, I couldn't hang my purse on the chair so I put it on the floor. I literally turned for one second, then I looked down and saw that they have pulled out a "chair" for my purse. A purse-chair. I didn't know they existed!

Then, as Andrew was taking his blazer off, THREE waiters came by to help him. A whole entourage. ahahhaha!

So, one of the waiters asked us where we all come from. Jacob is from Texas (but a hardcore democrat, lawyer, most likely to become a politician someday), Chris from Canada, and of course, me and Andrew from California. A couple of the other waiters were quite thrilled to hear that me and Andrew were from the SF Bay Area, and Chris from Canada. Jacob, on the other hand, got a bit more attention. When he asked a waiter where the restrooms were, the waiter said,

"Oh we don't have restrooms here. You see out this window? This bush? You can go there"

HAHAHAH! It was pretty funny because Jacob was really confused for a second. Then after, we laughed it off and the waiter showed Jacob where to go.

Ok, now let's talk about the food. We began our meal with delicious Gougères and an aperitif (champagne and rasberry). There was one waiter that would come by and stir my drink every 5 minutes when the fruit would settle on the bottom of the champagne glass.


I ordered the lobster and scrambled eggs entrée. [Ok my American friends. An entrée is a STARTER, not a main course. They really need to change that in the US.]

The lobster was a little overcooked therefore, a little rubbery and hard to cut. But otherwise it was good.


Everyone else ordered the foie ravioli which was to die for. It was so delicious! I wanted to order something else since everyone got the same entrée.

Next up for me was the Coquilles St. Jacques with an épinard purée. This was very delicious, and incredibly rich. I couldn't even finish all of it so I shared it with everyone else.


So in the middle of our meal, Andrew notices wet spots on his shirt. He was like "oh no! Is that water or something else?" It turned out to be water so it wasn't a big deal, but of course, the Taillevent entourage comes up with a teapot of hot water, and a couple cloths to help wipe down his shirt in case it was a food or wine stain of some sort. Oh man, never seen that before. It was quite entertaining.

After the Taillevent entourage, the cheese plate arrived. I was pretty full due to the richness of our previous dishes that I couldn't finish this either. Might I add that the bread and butter at Taillevent is SO GOOD! I think I overate on the bread servings.


Of course, I had to order the chocolate dessert. This was a delight as well. I love how France embraces chocolat noir. There is no better chocolate!


And the petits four to go with our cafés. A macaroon, tuile, dark chocolate bon-bon, rasberry in a pate sucrée mini-tarte, and a passion-fruit gelée that was amazing.


The service is outstanding, a bit overkill but in a good way. What I also enjoyed about this restaurant is the fact that the service was extremely professional and polite. They made you feel comfortable. There was no stuffiness or snobbery involved (like at Fleur de Lys - San Francisco). Another thing I would like to add is that Andrew, Chris, and Jacob had a budget of around 40Euro for a bottle of wine. They mentioned that to the sommelier and took him up on a recommendation he had. Turns out that the bottle of wine cost more than 40Euro but they just charged them for that amount. Really thoughtful gesture, IMO.

For me, it's hard to really judge a restaurant like this without having some sort of tasting menu. I feel like I just got a snippet of their potential. But overall, Taillevent was very good. I would definitely go back for a tasting menu if my wallet would let me. Aside from the slightly overcooked lobster, everything I tasted was outstanding. I just really wish I didn't dare to be different and ordered the foie ravioli. ;)

Do we look like cooks? Looking sharp after washing the oil and sweat off, and getting a bit dolled up. It was nice to dress up and remember that I was a girl ;)


À Bientôt (j'espère), Taillevent !

Taillevent
Executive Chef: Alain Solivèrés
15, Rue Lamennais
75008 Paris, France
01 44 95 15 01