Mocha Monday

 A mid-morning coffee: one of life's greatest small pleasures.

 

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"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." - Walter Bagehot

 

Irish twins

 

The driver of this bike is picking up an order of fresh baguettes.

Above: a local boulangerie called, Les Deux Frères, the two brothers

Boulangerie Les Deux Frères 

111 rue Caulaincourt 75018

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Irish twins: "'Irish twins' are only those siblings born within 12 months (or less) of each other. The phrase originates from the United States and Britain of the 19th century and was a disparaging term used to describe siblings from large, and mostly poor, Irish immigrant families." - IrishCentral.com

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Saint Patrick's Day 2023

What's brewing?

Above: amber; IPA

Below: craft beer lineup; very busy booth (2022)

 

Once again the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade association representing small and independent American craft brewers, will be exhibiting at Planète Bière, Le Centquartre Paris, 19-20 March, with an innovative, creative and diverse range of high-quality American craft beers, many of which are recent award-winners at prestigious international beer competitions.

Representing 14 American craft breweries and pouring approximately 44 different beers, the Brewers Association will be joined by brewery owners/representatives who have travelled to Paris to support their brands and explore the French beer market. Participating American craft breweries and their representatives include:

903 Brewing Co
Athletic Brewing Co
Belching Beaver Brewery
Coronado Brewing Co
Cruz Blanca Brewery
Destihl Brewery
Mill Hill Brewing Co
Fremont Brewing
Heavy Riff Brewing Co +  Mike Zahra, Export Manager
Paradox Brewery
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co + Steve Grossman, brand ambassador
The Virginia Beer Co + Chris Smith & Robby Willey, Co-founders/owners
The Bold Mariner – Kerrie Stacks, Co-owner
Upslope Brewing Co

Beers in can or bottle format will be available for sampling and range from well-made, award-winning classic styles such as American IPA to ground-breaking and highly creative iterations such as a white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake Berliner Weisse. Many breweries will be new to the French market, and the Brewers Association booth at Planète Bière will be the only place to sample them in France. All beers will showcase the quality and innovation for which American craft brewers are renowned, a fact that is borne out by the number of top honors they win at prestigious global competitions. In the last three most recent competitions American craft beers won 85 medals between them.

 A cheese and beer pairing (!) stand in conjunction with Parole de Fromagers and a "Meet the Brewers" area will form the highlight of the Brewers Association’s presence at this year's Planète Bière, where festival visitors can interact with the brains behind the breweries while sampling great-tasting beers.

Lotte Peplow, Brewers Association’s American Craft Beer Ambassador for Europe, comments: “Europe is the second biggest export market behind Canada for American craft beer and our presence at Planète Bière is designed to stimulate interest, drive trial and expand international distribution opportunities in France. Our range of cracker-jack American craft beers helps solidify America’s reputation as a global leader in the production of innovative, world-class quality beers, and we look forward to sharing the complexity, creativity and bold flavors of American craft beer with this year’s visitors.”

Ahead of Planète Bière, the Brewers Association will be hosting a Tap Takeover and Meet the Brewer at La Binouze, 72 rue Marguerite de Rochechouart, 75009, Paris on Friday 17 March 2023. A wide selection of quality American craft beers will be available. Free attendance. - BPJ

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 Planète Bière, Le Centquartre Paris

March 19 - 20 

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Downloadable resources at www.BrewersAssociation.org

 

 

Tasting Tuesday

 

  

Fashion Week, kaiseki-ryōri (traditional Japanese multi-course tasting menu), sake house cocktail, Kazuki Watanabe's open kitchen, Michelin chic and best of all, dear friends. 

 

乾杯 - Kanpai!

 

Ogata Paris

16 rue Debelleyme 75003

 

 

 

 

 

Mocha Monday

An unforgettable coffee and hot chocolate at Carette, Place des Vosges.

 

Street colors

 

 

A splash of color cheers up this street in the Marais district.

Tranquil Tuesday

Gothic interior of Église Saint-Médard in the Latin Quarter.

 

Mocha Monday

 

 A café noisette gets upstaged by a buttery kouign-amann.

 

Flowery Friday

 

At Le Vrai Paris, rue des Abbesses.

 

Wine Wednesday

 

Au comptoir 

 

Exquisite wines by the glass with French tapas.... 

Who needs more?

 

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Wine bar

 L’Avant Comptoir de la Terre

3 Carrefour de l'Odéon 75006

 

Travel Tuesday

 

Looking back with muchos recuerdos from Spain.

(click to enlarge)

March newsletter

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 3 hours (or less) from Paris

PARIS - PALMA DE MALLORCA

Direct flights

Mocha Monday

 

A warming cup on a winter evening in a Paris café.

 

On a clear day

 

 

"Paris is well worth a Mass!" - King Henry IV

 

Cheese please

Raw milk cheeses at a local fromagerie.

 

 

Floral Friday

 

 

A bouquet explodes with spring flowers inside a shop in the Latin Quarter.

 

Thank you Thursday

 

MERCI, a concept space showcasing fashion, arts de table and interior design, has a très agréable coffee shop-tea room and downstairs, a restaurant.

 

MERCI

111 Boulevard Beaumarchais 75003 

 

Travel Tuesday

 

Geese on their way to market in Ciutat Vella, Old Town Valencia, where Romans once cavorted.

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 3 hours (or less) from Paris

PARIS - VALENCIA

 Direct flights

 

 

A place in the sun

 

Shadows lengthen off Place du Tertre.

 

Sweet hearts

 Ending Valentine's week with heart tarts and pastries from Paul, rue de Seine.

 

Floral Friday

 

Winter-flowering mimosas are taking center stage at florists all over Paris.

 

Saint Valentin

 

- La fête des amoureux -

 Paris 2023

 

Sweet surprise

 

 

Delicate heart-shaped raspberry cream pastry with rose petal.

 

 

Mocha Monday

A petit déjeuner of hot coffee and still warm viennoiseries starts a cold day.

 

 

Flea market Friday

Flowers uplift a stall at the Saint-Ouen flea market.

 

Seeing red

 

 Red tables and red chairs flank a red café atop the butte Montmartre.

 

Tati Tuesday

Tati, that Barbès landmark in the north of Paris where thousands flocked to rifle through bins of discounted fabric bolts, 50-centime nail polish and XXL panties in this diverse neighborhood, has re-opened its doors to street art.

Ends February 16

 

entrée libre

 

"Les Enfants de Tati"

  

Meringue Monday

 

Raspberry glazed meringues, up close and personal.

 

 

Passage of time

Morning light floods the historic passage Cour du Commerce Saint-André.

 

Floral Friday

A snowy feel to a flower shop behind rue Poncelet market street.

 

Tuesday tasting

Well yesterday was National Croissant Day, and while I try to avoid two food posts in a row, I came across this photo taken on an autumn morning in Provence. The plateau of just-baked buttery croissants and pains au chocolat was irresistible.

 

Meaty Monday

 

In Paris, vegetarian and vegan options are getting easier to find but for now, meat is king.  Especially beef. In most café-restaurants, bistros and brasseries, steak is on the menu, with all the usual suspects present - côte de boeuf, entrecôte, bavette, faux-filet, rumsteak, filet mignon. Note: unless filet mignon is followed by the word boeuf, it's always pork. Paleron and gîte get simmered to tenderness in cold-weather stews such as Boeuf Bourguignon or Pot-Au-Feu. Côte de boeuf, on the rib or côte, is greatly prized. It's pricier, often reserved in advance and, because of its size, shared. No T-bone here.

 

The race bovine or cattle breed is proudly displayed: Charolais, Salers, Aubrac, Limousin, Rouge des prés, Gasconne, and for the past few years, Angus. Where the beef comes from (origine France for example) is required to be posted, somewhere. 

 

A particular cut of steak is expected to appear on plates prepared a particular way, and that’s all part of it. So sauce béarnaise and frites maison are the usual accompaniments to côte de boeuf and sometimes, a marrow bone is thrown in. Seared entrecôte will arrive with a just melting pat of beurre maître d'hôtel. No bavette, a sort of flank steak, is worth its weight if it's not served with sauce à l'échalote, a wine-shallot sauce. And so it goes.

 

American tastes usually find that meat in France - and this includes lamb and duck - is underdone when it comes to their desired cuisson: saignant (rare), à point (medium/medium rare), bien cuit (well done). The most popular (French) choice for steaks is saignant and à point for cheeseburgers. The good news is, meat that's not cooked enough to one's liking can always be sent back to the kitchen to be cooked up. The bad: just ordering beef "well-done” (Anglo style) is usually a non-non and could elicit a reaction - a comment here, a pffft there, or, as recently happened to a friend visiting from New York who ordered her steak well done, she turned around and caught the waiter making grimaces behind her back. - BPJ

Above: côte de boeuf (between saignant and à point) w/three sauces

Below: côte de boeuf (saignant) 

 

 

Chinese New Year

Paris celebrates Chinese New Year in four distinct Asian neighborhoods.

 

Ends February 5, 2023

 

Where to find them.....

 

Fireside Friday

 

A crackling fire warms a wintry evening.

 

Throwback Thursday

 

 

Throwback to recent trip to London over the holidays.

Above: life-sized moving window displays at ultra department store Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly

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London: 3 hours (or less) from Paris

 

Wet Wednesday

 

On rue du Trésor in the Marais district.

Maki Monday

Gourmet maki, temaki, sushi.... Japanese comfort food on a cold day.

 

Blueberry Maki Bar 

6 rue du Sabot 75006