An early breakfast

Coffee, freshly squeezed jus d'orange, croissants and pains au chocolat at the counter.

Grateful

Today is Thanksgiving. So very much to be grateful for.

Above: modern rendition of Albrecht Dürer's "Praying Hands" in a Marais gallery

Falling in Louvre

Grand staircase inside the Louvre Museum spirals beneath I. M. Pei's once controversial Pyramid.

Colonnes

Daniel Buren's stark yet stately columns on la Cour d'Honneur du Palais-Royal.

En face

A sculpture on a table of accessories at a concept boutique on the Right Bank.

L'Éclaireur

40 rue de Sévigné 75003

Fashion (fooding) week #5

A light sharing lunch at a relaxed Montmartre restaurant with an open kitchen, country épicerie ambiance and views down rue Lepic.

Below: baguettes and fresh produce at the counter; fresh asparagus en salade; duck foie gras with fig chutney and toasts; lobster tartines

Restaurant Jeanne B

61 rue Lepic 75018 

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With thanks again to one/all, and as for the places not shown, that's for another time.

Fashion (fooding) week #4

Willi's Wine Bar offers the simple pleasures of life - art and wine, shared amongst good company - Willi's Wine Bar website

Willi's, off the beaten Fashion Week path (sorry L'Avenue) with its contemporary feel just behind the gardens of the Palais-Royal was a magnet for the fashion set come lunchtime. Besides excellent food, plenty of quality wines to choose from.

Willi's Wine Bar
"La vie, le vin, l'amitié"
13 rue des Petits Champs 75001
  
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Tomorrow
 Casual chic on the butte

 

Fashion (fooding) week #3

Few places, even in the Greek Islands we agreed, compare to this Montmartre mezze mecca where our group managed to nab a last minute reservation thanks to a wildcat métro strike.

Recommended: grilled fresh octopus atop broad bean purée; crunchy fresh spinach samosas; papille-popping moussaka; fried feta with grilled Mediterranean veggies; anything with fish.

 

Atma rosé and Olympian Retsina by the bottle

Ētsi

23 rue Eugène Carrière 75018

Merci Mikaela

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Tomorrow

Not just wine

Fashion (fooding) week #2

A convivial evening was had by all at this casual Les Halles bistrot, overseen by Alain Ducasse, which I'd written up as part of a "Paris restaurant marathon" piece.
[also posted here Extreme Fooding: Champeaux]

Above: poulet en crapaudine with its silky purée en cocotte (a house specialty); plump fresh codfish atop white Tarbais beans; creamy coquillettes laced with smoky ham and black truffle

Below: after-dinner Cognac is siphoned then deposited into glasses
 

 

 

Champeaux

Forum des Halles La Canopée 75001

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Tomorrow
It's Greek to me

Fashion (fooding) week #1

   Looking back, I realized that this year's autumn Fashion Week might as well have been called "Fashion (fooding) week."

Since September I've been meaning to post some of the many dining and imbibing spots - among old (and new) friends - before, during, and just after Paris Fashion Week.

Above: Fouquet's, with its red awning dominating a corner on the Champs-Elysées, was a fitting, reliable, and très parisien point de rendez-vous

Inside: small plaques next to tables denote some of its star-studded habitués from past and present.

Outside: a shining walkway bears the names of recipients of French cinema's coveted César Award.

 Founded 1899 / listed a historical French monument 1990

Menu in collaboration with Chef Pierre Gagnaire

Brasserie Le Fouquet's
99 Avenue des Champs-Élysées 75008

  To Michael

 

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Tomorrow
Le Ventre de Paris: Ducasse revisited  

Mit schlag?

When my parents lived in Vienna, a city that rivals Paris for elegant coffee houses, the good part of many an afternoon would be spent beneath chandeliers indulging in hot chocolate, kaffee, and decadent pastries, usually followed by the question: "Mit schlag?" - "With whipped cream?"

Above: Café Viennois at PAUL's tea room in Saint-Germain-des-Prés on a cold November evening

Spot the reindeer

A favorite brunch stop has changed its awning dressing to a winter theme.

Maison Sauvage
5 rue de Buci 75006

- heat lamps on terrace - 

Light bulbs

Exiting a restaurant in the Marais district.

 

(click to enlarge)

Wine and steak

An easily overlooked small restaurant that's become our go-to neighborhood "steak house."

Above: wines of the day; perfect sweet potato fries; tender entrecôte

 Les Fines Lames

35 rue Lepic 75018

Mum's the word

Chrysanthemums have been putting in an appearance all over Paris.

Fashion flashback

A poster in the Latin Quarter.

High and dry

  Today's weather report called for rain rain and more rain.

Tree art

Ugo Rondinone at Galerie Kamel Mennour on rue Saint-André des Arts.  

View from a plate

On a special occasion....

Above: Allard's justly infamous Canard de Challans aux olives, duck with green olives, for two.

 Restaurant Allard

41 rue Saint-André des Arts 75006

Café high

A café stop near the top of Montmartre's longest and most photographed stairway.

Bicycle bliss

 A backstreet in the Latin Quarter, from a bicycle.

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Vélib' Métropole: Paris' self-service bike hire

 

Last sitting

Marilyn Monroe by Bert Stern.
This photograph was taken six weeks before her death.

Musée Maillol

59-61 rue de Grenelle 75007

Holiday tables

 

Roast turkey, goose, duck or ham aren't the only meat options for a festive table centerpiece.

 Above: Beef Wellington parfait, a work of art

 

Merci Tom C.

Conoscitore della vita, chef de cuisine extraordinaire

 

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More in November newsletter

Toussaint

Yesterday was La Toussaint, an important holiday when family and friends pay their respects to departed loved ones.

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Over this Toussaint holiday:

Vincent Van Gogh as you've never seen...
Ends January 5, 2020

ATELIER DES LUMIÈRES
38 rue Saint Maur 75011

 

(click to enlarge) 

Halloweened

 

Ghouls and goblins roamed the streets (and métros) of Paris last night.

Above: a friendly skeleton

 

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- Happy Halloween 2019 -

🎃

 

La Toussaint: All Saints' Day 

1st November

 

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Halloween 2019, French style: four parties and a (fake) funeral

 

November newsletter