February 2, 2012 by Forest Collins
Paris is one of the best cities in the world for exceptional food and wine combinations. In a refreshing change of pace, restaurant le Clarisse offers their tasting menus paired with sake in addition to the standard wine route. Although France’s gastronomic identity is undeniably tied to wine, who doesn’t like to opt for something original from time to time?
Tucked away in the 7th on a street busy with bar and restaurant options, le Clarisse is an elegant stop offering French-inspired fare prepared with precision and delicacy by a Japanese chef. While the restaurant itself isn’t new, the change in chefs a little over a year ago makes it well worth renewed consideration. Recently I was invited to taste test the sake-pairing menu and see what kind of revamp resulted from their association with Chef Sadaki Kajiwara.
The regularly changing menu is just the right size for my taste: four starters and five mains to choose from, each of which comes with a recommended wine or sake pairing and can be ordered a la carte or as part of a prix fixe menu. Restaurant director, wine connoisseur and in house sake expert, Jean-Philippe Pluvinet, is on hand to personally walk guests through the beverage pairings. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Restaurant Reviews | 5 Comments »
January 24, 2012 by Tory Hoen
A Paris chalkboard menu – appearances can be deceiving! (Daxis)
Years into my love affair with Paris, I’m still making ridiculous rookie mistakes. I suppose it’s time to accept that France will always have the upper hand, but it still stings.
My most recent humiliation is horse-related. Or at least, I thought it was.
Please note that I was a horse-obsessed child, so equine-related topics are particularly touchy for me. As a child, I would sometimes dress in riding garb for no reason at all. And while I was waiting for my parents to break down and buy me a real horse (never happened), I would drag garbage cans into the backyard and ride them, periodically switching from one member of the “herd” to the next. On any given afternoon, people in the house could gaze out and see me whipping a particularly stubborn garbage can with my riding crop.
So when I first moved to Paris and started noticing “steak à cheval” on menus around town, I was wary. I knew there was a historical precedent of eating horse meat in France, but it seemed quite inhumane in this day and age. Nonetheless, I assumed it was some kind of trendy gastronomic revival, and who was I to question the local gourmands? So I kept my mouth shut and simply avoided the dreaded horse steak when confronted with it.
Recently, I was visiting my boyfriend’s family in Brazil. One night, we sat down to dinner and I was presented with a traditional dish called bife a cavalo (in Portuguese), which translates to “horse-riding steak” or “steak à la horse.”
“Horse?” I asked, panic rapidly setting in.
“No, it’s like steak à cheval in France,” G explained.
“Sooo….. horse?” I wondered again.
It was at this point that I realized I’d been operating under a serious misapprehension, and it took the collision of three cultures for the truth to surface. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Parisian Living | 10 Comments »
December 27, 2011 by Paige Bradley Frost
Mark and Allegra Karoski-Biava
Fresh off the plane and bleary-eyed with two kids in tow, we set out for our first family meal in Paris. Surely in this city of more than 8,000 restaurants, finding a suitable spot would be simple enough, non?
After passing snug bistros and lively brasseries, we spotted a red neon sign that seemed to scream, “Kids Welcome Here!” We made a beeline for Hippopotamus, the kid-friendly chain with outposts all over the city. Without dwelling on the gastronomic disappointment (and pricey menu) of that evening, we learned some early lessons about eating out with kids in Paris. Number one? Don’t eat at Hippopotamus.
Ready for a fancy French meal (Juliet)
In the months since, we’ve tried many restaurants with our children (ages four and six). Here are some tips and sure-fire hits when you venture out to eat en famille.
Not where but when: Successful family dining is about knowing when to go. Many wonderful restaurants will welcome kids if you go at off-peak times. Sunday déjeuner is a big one for family meals in Paris. Friday and Saturday nights? Not so much. For mid-week lunches, go earlier or later than the business crowd and you’ll likely be met with a smile. Bustling brasseries and service continu restos will suit you better than dinner at 9:00 at the cozy corner bistro.
Picnic-ing and playing on the Champs de Mars (Markus Bollingmo)
Know your kids. Know the French: French children are trained to sit quietly and eat like little adults. French parents are strict and never more so than around the table. Crying, screaming and crawling under the table are not tolerated and will prompt vocal disapproval and the not-so-subtle “oh la la.” Adjust your restaurant choices accordingly to avoid a miserable meal for all. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Parisian Living | 7 Comments »
December 21, 2011 by Maggie Battista
French Feasts, Dutch Oven (Ames Lai)
Christmas is four days away et bien sûr, I am quite tardy in purchasing some very special gifts for the very special people in my life.
Since I work for a company that rents boutique Parisian flats, I do tend to gift friends and family with French-inspired goodies, items that will inject the everyday life with a bit of la vie française. Better yet, if those goodies can be French food-inspired, I’m practically guaranteed une note de gratitude before the ball drops on New Year’s.
Alas, time is of the essence and a quick trip to Paris is not in the cards before Christmas. But I can still be the belle of their hearts and kitchens by gifting an old standby: a favorite French cookbook, with all the most delicious recipes well-marked, and a quickly-assembled glass jar of sel de mer, glistening and studded with herbs de Provence.
Drying Herbs (Porter Palmer), Salt (Little Brown Pen)
If you’re also delayed in holiday shopping, I don’t mind if you take my idea and make it your own. In fact, I’ve got your back with my favorite French-inspired cookbooks of 2011. Just don’t say I never gave you anything…
1. Based on the sweet boutiques in San Francisco, Miette: Recipes from San Francisco’s Most Charming Pastry Shop is a darling cookbook filled with scalloped pages of classic tart, cake and cookie recipes. I can imagine gifting this girly book with everything needed to make owner, chef and author Meg Ray’s famous Tomboy Cake, pictured on the book’s cover.
Miette (Yuichi Sakuraba, A Baked Creation)
Miette (Violet Blue)
2. I was at a gala celebrating Jacque Pepin’s contribution to culinaria recently and while he had a last minute hiccup that prevented his appearance, his new cookbook Essential Pepin: More Than 700 All-Time Favorites from My Life in Food stood in for him proudly. Delivered with some very good chocolate to make his version of Chocolate Mousse, this cookbook would be a prized possession.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Shopping | 3 Comments »
December 14, 2011 by Clotilde Dusoulier
I got my first Opinel pocket knife at age seven—the age of reason, my parents must have thought—during a summer vacation in the French Alps. Each member of my family had one, and they got plenty of use during mountain hikes: my father’s to carve intricate pattern on his walking stick, my mother’s to butter the baguette sandwiches when we stopped for the midday picnic.
I was thrilled to get my own, a tiny, child-size replica of the classic Savoyard pocket knife, with its glossy wood handle, its pointy steel blade, and the rotating ring that locked it all into place.
Twenty-five years later, this miniature Opinel is much too small for me to use, but I have a grownup’s version now, which I’m sure to take with me on any walk in the wild, and especially on mushroom foraging trips: not to brag, but that Opinel has seen its share of porcini.
Opinel pocket knives make for wonderful gifts, too: they’re not at all expensive, they’ll last a lifetime, and they’ll accompany the recipient on their outdoor adventures—even if it’s just an improvised picnic in the park. Just be sure to have them give you a coin (any small piece of change will do) in exchange for the knife: French superstition states that if you give away a knife without getting anything in return, you risk severing the friendship. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Shopping | 7 Comments »
December 4, 2011 by David Lebovitz
If the twinkling lights all over Paris didn’t give it away, we’re happy to declare that it’s officially holiday season. We’ve got holiday shopping on our minds and, lucky us, several fabulous bloggers who are as enamored with France as we are have graciously agreed to share their favorite French-inspired holiday gifts with us here. We’ll publish several irresistible gift posts over the next few weeks, with the goal of helping you bring a little of la vie française to every person on your gift list.
David Lebovitz, food writer, blogger and author of The Sweet Life in Paris, is kicking off our series (thanks, David!) and we hope you’ll stay tuned to the Hip Paris Holiday Gift Guide. We love helping you spend your hard-earned argent… in the right places, bien sûr. -Maggie
Most are familiar with Maille, whose cute little shop in the Place de la Madeleine dispenses mustard from a line-up of spigots into little earthenware pots. Maille is also available in just about every supermarket in town, and for those who don’t care about crockery, you can begin a wine glass collection with every pot you purchase.
But Amora is the brand that locals seem to prefer. Shortly after I arrived in Paris and was stocking my petite cuisine, I got on the bus carrying my bulging bag of groceries, filled with basics. I had picked up a hefty jar of Amora mustard, mostly because the glass had graduated lines on it, noting its future use as not a wine glass, but a more practical measuring cup. (Although sometimes in Paris, I find myself using one more than the other.) The woman next to me on the bus looked into my sack, smiled, and said, “Monsieur, c’est très, très fort, mais très bon.” – “It’s very, very strong, but very good.” And I knew I had made the right choice.
Yet most of the “Dijon” mustard sold in France – and the rest of the world – isn’t necessarily made in Dijon anymore, but produced elsewhere. Edmond Fallot Mustard is made by a company which was founded in 1840 in Burgundy, where the soil conditions are favorable for mustard seed cultivation. Nowadays, most other companies get their seeds from elsewhere in France, or from as far away as Canada.
In Paris, upscale supermarkets carry it as well as épiceries around town, and it doesn’t cost more than a few euros a jar. Specialty stores in America carry it and you can find it online. In Paris, I buy it at my very favorite food shop, G. Detou, that carries just about every flavor they make.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Food | 5 Comments »
November 28, 2011 by Forest Collins
One of the latest hot items in the Paris food and wine world, Au Passage has been garnering more than a bit of blogger buzz lately. It also just snagged the 2012 Prix Fooding d’amour, confirming its status as Paris’ newest foodie darling. In the evenings, this low-key wine bar and tapas joint is jam packed with patrons partaking in small plates of munchies, various wines by the bottle and a bit of respectably rowdy foodie fun. Things take a different turn at noon with the (thankfully) limited lunch menu: one entrée, two choices of mains, one cheese, one dessert. With kitchen talent coming from Spring and Le Verre Volé and carefully selected market-fresh fare, this spot is turning out some seriously savory meals. I stopped in recently with three other food and drink-minded bloggers ( Kasia/Love in the City of Lights, Caroline/Sweet Caroline in Paris and Erica/HiP Paris) to see how the lunch stacks up to the hype.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Restaurant Reviews | 9 Comments »
October 24, 2011 by Steve Brenner
Erica Berman was lucky enough to spend a couple months in gorgeous Genoa, Italy, this summer. She met up with HiP Paris friend and contributor Steve Brenner for a leisurely lunch in the historic town of Montepulciano before touring some villas in Tuscany. After reading his mouth-watering account of their meal, we couldn’t keep ourselves from sharing it with you here! -Geneviève
Yesterday I drove up to Montepulciano to meet (in person) Erica Berman of Haven in Paris and her friend Mattia after literally years of email and skype exchanges. I’ve guest blogged on her popular HIP Paris blog, and we list a few of her flats on Cross-Pollinate, but we’d never actually met in person.
Bagno Vignoni near Montepulciano where Erica was staying for a night (Elena Vataga)
She was coming from Genova to Bagno Vignoni (above) to see some flats in Tuscany for her site, so we decided to meet nearby. I checked my trusted Osterie d’Italia published by Slow Food Italia, which has NEVER let me down, and we placed our bet on Acquacheta in Montepulciano.
They were very insistent on us being there at 12:30 sharp. They will only accept reservations at 12:30 or 2pm, and they were passionate about giving us only one glass per person for both wine and water (per tradizione, apparently). The food was good – started with some amazing pecorino cheeses, one aged in walnut leaves, one with black truffles. Without a doubt, the closer you get to Pienza, in Tuscany, the better the pecorino. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Italy tips & suggestions | 7 Comments »
October 17, 2011 by Ariel Kocourek
I’m a museum junky. I love nothing more than passing a day wandering through endless corridors of art and antiquities, but after a few hours standing on hard marble, I’m usually in need of cold drinks and some serious snacks. Unfortunately, most museums suffer from what I like to call “Disneyland Dining”, overpriced, poor-quality food with limited options, usually served cafeteria style. And that’s not the worst of it! With food in hand and nowhere to sit, hungry patrons usually have to stalk fellow diners to snag a (very dirty) table the second someone stands up – not exactly my idea of fun.
Café Richlieu-Angelina at the Louvre
There are, thankfully, a few exceptions to the rule. Lucky for me, they can also be found in some of Paris’ best museums. Delicious, well-prepared meals in beautifully decorated (and often historic) dining rooms; impeccable service and (gasp) clean tables… heaven!
Continue Reading »
Posted in Arts, Food, Restaurant Reviews | 13 Comments »
October 14, 2011 by Forest Collins
Paris is teeming with cool dining experiences, for those prepared to seek them out. New Friends Table, a new addition to the Paris scene, aims to bring together an eclectic yet compatible group of like-minded foodies around a delicious meal in a real Parisian apartment. Our very own Erica Berman also recently checked it out; during her dinner, she mingled with a former Moulin Rouge dancer, a Cartier wedding planner, an Argentinian working for the BBC and an organic spa owner! -Geneviève
The possibilities for private dining experiences in Paris continue to expand with yet another new addition: New Friends Table. This ‘secret eating and meeting club’ appeared on the scene last spring thanks to a multi-national group of friendly and fun, food-minded locals. With my penchant for new and unusual eating experiences, I requested a booking as soon as it popped up on my radar.
Cozy ambiance at the New Friends Table
To secure an invitation, you introduce yourself by email with some basic background information such as food preferences, interests and what languages you speak. While some might consider the necessity of introducing themselves a nuisance, it’s completely in line with the principles of this club. New Friends Table is about more than just putting something tasty in your belly. It’s about conversation, interaction, getting to know your fellow diners, and hopefully even fostering new friendships. Continue Reading »
Posted in Events, Food | 10 Comments »
