Food

What to Eat in Paris (it’s probably not what you were expecting)

Kimberly1 Comment

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Chez Hannah

It will come as a surprise to no one that Paris and food go hand-in-hand. There are countless books and articles and blogs dedicated to the topic, and if there aren’t poems, then there should be. An easy internet search or a conversation with a Parisian will get you quickly to the best baguette, croissant, macaron, cheese shop, caramel, crepe, fries, butter, ice cream, escargot, hot chocolate, praline, tomato tart, … well, you get the idea.

I recommend that you put falafel on the top of your list. It is worth a journey or a detour. The Rue des Rosiers in the Marais neighborhood is the center of Paris’ falafel district, with several falafel places within sight of each other. L’As du Falafel makes everyone’s lists, including this post by Serious Eats. You’ll enjoy a wonderfully satisfying meal, but the lines there are usually long, sometimes down the block. I’m sure that is aided by the photos posted of celebrities, such as Lenny Kravitz, eating there.

However, I skip L’As and head down the block to Chez Hannah. At all the falafel places, you can order your sandwich as you wish, with a choice of toppings. I order Chez Hannah’s hot-out-of-the-fryer eggplant, which is piled on the falafel balls, vegetable slaw, and tahini sauce. The mix of warm, cool, crunchy, and creamy is heavenly. One pita sandwich is probably big enough for two and a half meals.

Warning: although you can walk around with the stuffed pitas, sit in the restaurant or find a bench, or you risk losing half of it down the front of your shirt. You do NOT want to do that.

 

 

French food: Brittany, home of the crêpe

Kimberly2 Comments

… and the galette.

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Galette with leeks and mushrooms

IMO, you can never go wrong on a visit to France. I visit Paris any chance I get. It took me quite a few visits to venture outside of Paris and I am glad I did. Thus far, there has not been a bad decision in the lot.

A few years ago, I visited the Brittany region. Breton is both the name of the region in their language and the language itself, though most Bretons speak French. They are a Celtic group and you will experience a unique culture here different from other parts of France, including a strong nautical feel. Anthony Bourdain visited for a No Reservations episode and he ate a LOT of seafood. (Anthony, we miss you.)

But onto the wonderful galette…

They are commonly eaten as the dinner meal, but feel free to have one any time. They are huge and make a whole meal. This picture, with my mom in the background, gives you a sense of the size:

galette bert Galette of smoked salmon and leeks

Notice hers is square and mine (the first photo) is hexagonal 🙂 They like to do that. We could not finish our galettes and had to leave some behind.

galette fred

My dad had fried egg and ham. It’s bigger than the angle shows here. He was full.

Galettes — unlike crêpes — are made with buckwheat flour. They have bit heartier flavor and are gluten-free! Apparently there is a debate raging about galettes vs. crêpes that you can read about here.

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Dinan, France

This is the outside of the restaurant that produced our galettes. The whole town is lovely and full of these medieval half-timbered buildings.

A couple more notes on food and drink: a very drinkable hard cider is consumed throughout the region, with galettes or without. It’s usually dry, but you can inquire about which varieties they have on hand.

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photo credit: francetravelplanner

It is imperative to leave you with this one last photo.

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In St. Malo, 40 minutes from Dinan

St. Malo is also the setting for one of my very favorite books, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Read it before you go!

 

Rijsttafel (Rice Table)

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Photo credit: Wikipedia

The Indonesian rijsttafel — a Dutch word that translates into English as “rice table” — is an elaborate meal adapted by the Dutch following their colonization of Indonesia. The politics of European imperialism aside, rijsttafel is a concept you’ll find in Amsterdam, not Indonesia. It is a fusion cuisine offering a variety of small dishes with spices and flavors that I have not experienced elsewhere on one table. It’s also darn difficult to find in other large cities that normally have all you could want on offer.

Here is the pronunciation of rijsttafel in phonetics: /ˈɹaɪsˌtɑːfəl/. Did that help? Ha ha. I listened to several audio versions of it online and they were all different. In one case the initial r was very notably rolled, but not the others. The j is pretty hard, making the first syllable sound like “ridge” or a slightly softer version of it. The “a” sounded different in every version I listened to, so I will leave you to your imagination with the rest.

I first had rijsttafel (“rrizh-stahffl”) two decades ago in Amsterdam while on a business trip. I was staying in a charming little hotel on lovely Vondelpark and my Dutch colleague took me to Kantjil for dinner. Wonderfully, Kantjil still exists! It does not have the highest ratings of the rijstaffel places on Yelp, but I would give it a chance.

It was an experience that stuck. Rijjsttafel was my primary objective when I returned to Amsterdam 15 years later.  Our hotel was not in the city center, so we decided to try the highly rated Blauw. Blauw also happens to be the restaurant featured in the Wikipedia listing for rijsttafel (photo above).

Again, the meal was memorable. I will also mention that my dining partner is a chef, so he tends to be hyper-critical of restaurants. He LOVED everything about it. He stopped talking, starting eating, and sopped up every last drop. The service was wonderful. They kept the food coming. The menu has English translations on it, which is always helpful, especially when you are experiencing a new type of cuisine.

The menu is long here. Go straight to the rijsttafel page. There is both a vegetarian and vegan option. Here are a few of the selections: tofu omelette, pan-friend eggplant, fried banana, sweet and sour cucumber. My companion had the egg in coconut sauce and said it was delicious.

As stuffed as we both felt at the end of dinner, of course we got two desserts to share, one chocolate and one not. Important warning: I see durian on the current menu. DEFINITELY skip that! If you are not already a durian fan — and I have never met one — it will seriously ruin your night, if not your entire vacation. Not kidding.

No durian sign

By the way, this is a “No Durian” sign. I have seen these in hotels in Asia. Sometimes the signs also specify the amount of the fine if you choose to disregard their prohibition. That’s because it will smell like something mammal in origin and MUCH larger than a durian died in your hotel room. You may be an adventurous eater, but you have been warned.

 

Barcelona

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IMG_20171201_080901This is one of those recommendations I do not want to make publicly, as I don’t want to not be able to get in next time I go to Barcelona. It’s a farm-to-table restaurant in the Barceloneta neighborhood. Barceloneta is not on the short list of touristed neighborhoods. But should you choose to go, and please do not tell all your friends, it’s Somorrostro. It’s also a family-run shop and they are super-nice. Shhhhh!

Santa Fe

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Blueberry Lavender Corn Doughnut at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market

Santa Fe, NM is a great food town. I had some great meals there at the restaurants and cafes. They also have a great farmers’ market on weekends and an accompanying craft market. I have not stopped thinking about this donut. They sell out early and there was a line the whole time I was there. I really wish these people shipped around the country.

The people were also really friendly, and I am not used to that as I’m a Boston gal 🙂  I would go back to Santa Fe in general and for the food specifically. Love.

Paris

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IMG_20180912_212328_539Macarons

Good ones abound, but Pierre Hermes is my ultimate.

They cannot make a good macaron in the U.S.

U.S. style (everything): sugar. This applies to Ladurée in Manhattan as well (who makes a perfectly respectable macaron in Paris). After biting into each of the three I bought, disappointment growing each time, I actually threw away the box of remains. This is not something I would ever do lightly.

French style: distinct flavors that make mini explosions of joy in your mouth. My friend brought me this box on the plane from France, so I had the opportunity to test them again at home in Boston. Yup, still spectacular bundles of wonder.

Eating in Morocco

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IMG_20171206_150052_972Restaurant Nejjarine in Fez

This was my favorite meal in Morocco. It’s a great destination for vegans.

Also, love the dishes. Bonus points for the beautiful display.

The restaurant was decorated beautifully as well. It was difficult to get photos without diners in them, but I snapped a few.

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Check out that lamp in the corner. It’s intricately cut brass. I regret not hauling one of those babies home. There were many shops in Fez selling these lamps.

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Random door leading to a private area of the restaurant. I’ll take one of these doors too, please.

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Yes, I would be happy to sit here, thank you. Another corner, all different, all gorgeous.

Since this is a food post, one last photo…

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In the market, not far from the restaurant. So many olives!

 

Spain

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Fideua in Roses, Spain. OMG so good!!! It is similar to paella, except with broken noodles instead of rice.

Roses is a small beach town north of Barcelona. Roses features a Michelin star restaurant, els Brancs. We could not get a reservation there, even though we tried a couple weeks in advance. It was August and a lot of places are closed. Turns out, the luck was on us. We did some research online and picked another restaurant: El Jabali.

The prices at El Jabali were very reasonable and the meal was HEAVEN if gastronomy is your heaven, as it is mine. Just go. It is worth a drive if you’re anywhere in the area. From their white sangria, to the appetizer of some type of very small clams, the oysters with a melted creamy-cheesey topping, to the fideua (our very razón for being there), to the crema catalana (a flan-like dessert, but thicker), there was nothing not to love. The service was attentive, particularly when our sangria ran low 🙂 and the atmosphere was light and airy.

There was only one low point: I wish people would not smoke in restaurants anywhere anymore. People, beyond the obvious, it really degrades the taste of the food, comprende?

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