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May Events in Paris: Our Top Picks

May is the month to be in Paris, it seems, with events like the Saint Germain des Prés Jazz festival, Le Fooding’s Veillées Foodstock, Artist studios in Belleville and the highly anticipated Puces du Design vintage antique fair….enjoy! -Geneviève

Street art Paris - Annewil Stroo

La Bouffe

May 4 & 12: Veillées Foodstock 2012 includes two nights of all things we love: art, poetry, music, whiskey and ice cream. It may be a bit of a trip (held at the Contemporary Art Museum in Vitry-sur-Seine) but with those offerings plus the backing of Le Fooding, how could you say no? 

Now Open: Yannick Alleno of Le Meurice has opened Terroir Parisien, which boasts dishes made from ingredients from Ile de France.  An additional perk? It’s open every day, so feel free to pop in for Sunday dinner. Terroir Parisien, 24, rue rue St-Victor, 5e, 01.44.31.54.54

Now Open: Restaurateurs Juan Sanchez and Drew Harré continue to expand with their new resto Semilla, offering fresh and contemporary French dishes from an open kitchen. Note: these are the guys behind Cosi, Fish and La Dernière Goutte. Semilla, 54 rue de Seine, 6e, 01.43.54.34.50

© Antanas Sutkus

L’Art

May 19: The 8th annual Nuit Européenne des Musées – or European Museums Night – boasts more than 160 events in museums big and small, and many have free entry. You can view a list of all participating museums and their offerings here.

Through May 19: The current exhibition at the Russian Tea Room Gallery is Amours Libres, Jean-Philippe Charbonnier/Antanas Sutkus. Sutkus is a Lithuanian photographer who shot moving black and white images of the impoverished people of his country, while Charbonnier focused on everyday moments of Parisian life. 

Through June 15: On view at Fondation Dina-Vierny – Musée Maillol: Artemisia – Pouvoir, Gloire et Passions d’une femme peintre. A feminist rule-breaker in 17th century Italy, this daughter of famed painter Orazio Gentileschi harnessed her creative drive and has since been considered one of the best painters of her time.

Robert Crumb

Through August: If you’ll be in Paris with your little ones, be sure to see the Babar exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs. The show details the multiple creators of the world’s favorite pachyderm and includes games, drawings and a series of 3D animations sure to entertain.

Through June 23: The Maison de la Culture du Japon à Paris celebrates its 15th anniversary with the exhibition Humour, parodie et vidéos: Créations vidéo du Japon contemporain. Images and video all centered around the theme of “laughter,” this show can’t help but put you in a good mood. 

Through August 19: The Musée d’Art Moderne is currently showing Crumb: De l’Underground à la Genèse. This show is the first French retrospective of famed American cartoonist Robert Crumb.  R. Crumb is known for his satirical portrayal of American life, but this exhibition spans his work from early underground drawings to the publication of his graphic novel The Book of Genesis. Continue Reading »

Posted in Arts, Events, Parisian Living | 4 Comments »

Winter in Paris: Pleasure or Pain?

Winter Paris (Pauldc); Chocolat Chaud (yuichi.sakuraba)

I’m beginning to understand that I’m a bit of a masochist. I’m bored by things / people / places that make life too easy, which is probably why I like ornery cats, most fictional villains, winter and (if I’m being honest) the French.

To clarify, I have nothing against Golden Retrievers, damsels in distress, summer or … who’s fun and non-controversial?… the Swedish. It’s just that I also like a challenge. I like to be initially offended but ultimately won over. I like things that don’t care if I like them or not.

Paris under the snow (Christophe Verdier)

And thus, I love winter in Paris. It provides a dark, dismal, unapologetic, multi-month challenge that pushes you to your breaking point, but offers various olive branches along the way—pretty hanging lights, vin chaud, chocolat a l’ancienne, and a great excuse to drink serious red wines and then crawl into bed.

Philosophically speaking, Epicurus saw pleasure as the absence of pain, and Descartes considered the two to be linked on a continuous spectrum. I have to agree. Getting caught in a freak hail storm a few weeks ago (while wearing ballet flats) made arriving home to our cozy apartment on the Ile St. Louis that much more of a triumph. And going days (weeks?) without seeing the sun makes me feel totally justified in my decision to devote entire afternoons to the following “indulgent” activities: Continue Reading »

Posted in Parisian Living | 13 Comments »

Foodies in Paris: Rachel Khoo, Paris by Mouth, Yelp, cupcakes & more

Rachel Khoo Foodie Event Rachel Khoo, at work

As the savory macarons (half of them, cream cheese and wasabi; half green olive tapenade) were passed around the 12th arrondissement apartment, the talk inevitably turned to food. It was a Thursday night, and I was at Rachel Khoo’s Mash Up soirée, an 80s-inspired, five-course dinner party organized through MyPrivateDinner.com, a site that coordinates tastings, workshops and other food-centric events. Rachel, a British cookbook author, class instructor and damn good chef, along with all us foreigners (plus a few locals) in attendance were self-defined foodies, so the night was filled with many edible adventures.

By the second course (a two-toned tartiflette of root veggies, roquette and copious amounts of Reblochon, which came on the heels of, wait for it, edible pacman with pâté powerballs), I was deep in conversation with Kimberley McLoughlin, an Aussie who just launched RedVisitor.com. While her site focuses on international travel, she’s also a restaurant devotée and knows the best eateries in the top culinary cities around the world. Clearly, I realized as I sipped my Tom Cruise-inspired Cocktail, I’m not the only expat in Paris who’s just a wee bit obsessed with food and eating and dinner parties and new restaurants and food porn and sweets and cooking classes and market tours and….are we full yet??

Rachel Koo Mashup Foodie Dinner ParisEdible pacman

Continue Reading »

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Listening for French in New York

ceci-cela-pastry-shop Ceci Cela French Patisserie on Spring St. in New York
- courtesy of www.plateoftheday.com

I am living every Parisian’s dream, i.e., I am living in New York. After over a year in Paris and a few months in Montreal, I am back where I began, albeit with a much different perspective on just about everything. Since getting back, I’ve been delighted to find that you can’t go too far in New York without hearing some French. I find myself aggressively eavesdropping on French conversations in the subway and lingering a little longer on corners where French people are chatting, just in case they need my input on the matter at hand. Continue Reading »

Posted in Travel | 2 Comments »

HiP Eats: Le Fooding d’Amour

Picture 1Courtesy of: www.lefoodingdamour.com

On Friday night, the HiP crew came out in full force to attend Le Fooding d’Amour Paris – New York. Sarah, Geneviève and I joined the mayhem at P.S.1 in order to sample innovative cuisine from some of today’s hottest New York and Paris-based chefs. Continue Reading »

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Le Fooding Takes New York

crab saladCrab salad inspired by a dish by Yves Camdeborde. Photo: gourmet.com

I have long believed that Paris and New York are jealous lovers—mutually obsessed, covetous, but still fiercely stubborn and, ultimately, true only to themselves. Nowhere is this dynamic more apparent than in the kitchen, where American innovation has borrowed from (and then challenged) the French standard that has dominated for so long. This Friday and Saturday, in a glorious and long overdue collision of American and French culinary love, P.S. 1 will play host to Le Fooding d’Amour Paris-New York. For all our New York-based readers, you may not be able to justify a trip across the Atlantic, but you have no excuse not to make it across the East River. Continue Reading »

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Jadis: Finally a Reason to Visit the 15th

picture-3

photo courtesy of express.fr

While there’s nothing secret about Jadis anymore, its location—buried deep within the 15th near Metro Convention—shelters it from the tourist crowds that will inevitably descend on Paris this spring and summer. Hailed as the  “Best Bistro of 2008” by Le Fooding and “Bistro of the Fall” by Le Figaro, Jadis has emerged as a well-loved star amidst a sea of up-and-coming (and already established) neo-bistros. Continue Reading »

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Posted in Food, Parisian Living, Restaurant Reviews | 2 Comments »