Wine pairings are a popular part of chef tasting menus.  Popular, that is, in that we find them available on nearly all tasting menus.  They sound alluring don’t they?  Hand selected wines for each dish.  No worries on what wine to get or whether it will complement or detract from the Chef's best cuisine. 

I think not.

Perhaps it is because I don’t really buy into the selection of a single best wine for a particular dish, but these days I tend towards selecting my own bottle of wine for the whole meal instead of the individual pairings.  Sure, some really spicy food won’t go with some wines and some wines won’t exhibit their best potential with some foods, but in general I think that most wines go with most foods.  Some nights I even blindly grab a wine to go with dinner only knowing that I’m grabbing a red or a white but no other details – GASP!  And most of the time I’m perfectly happy with what I pick. The same doesn’t always apply for wine pairings with tasting menus since the quality of the wine is often distracting.

I’m not saying that wine pairings be removed from the chef tasting menus. They serve a purpose.  If you are learning about wine they offer a great introduction to a variety of wines, for example.  But, if you know a bit more about wines or enjoy great wines then you are likely to be disappointed.  To overcome this, some restaurants offer a second tier of wine pairings at a higher price.  I suppose this could be a solution, but must wine really be expensive to be great?  This is a topic in itself, yet we all know you can find some inexpensive gems.  Finding those gems, however, takes work which is not something a restaurant wants to do especially when they can make more money on more expensive wines.  The result is that the wines in a wine pairing, which by necessity must not be very expensive, go with the cuisine but they are not always the best wine choices because they are not the best wines. At least we can also opt to select a single wine to go with the meal…

An unexpected result of my Michelin dining experience is that I now have an even greater appreciation for macaroni and cheese (and trust me my love for it was already great).  I doubt I’ll ever have another macaroni and cheese without thinking of this meal.  Why?  Well, one of the appetizers was The Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese -  penne pasta individually stuffed with a truffle foie gras mixture, topped with parmesan cheese and shaved truffles.... yum! 

The meal had many other great dishes including the sweet pea balls topped with caviar and accompanied with pea custard or the fabulous trio of veal.  Veal isn’t one of those things I’ve eaten a lot of in the past, but I think that will change.  The trio of veal presented sautéed veal, a log of veal (which was divine) and sweet breads.  It was a hard choice to decide if the sweet breads or veal log was better.  Mmmm I can still taste the amazingly soft and flavorful sweet breads.

Overall, the experience was better than I imagined (perhaps because I’m a bit of a cynic), although I was surprised by the treatment to females.  I was given a menu without prices, it was assumed Husband would order for me, and at the end of the meal I was given a small porcelain sauce pan as a token of my visit while Husband got the check (perhaps not a bad trade-off on that one.)  Interestingly, one table in the restaurant consisted of four women - all of them got a porcelain sauce pan.  I wonder how they decided who to give the bill too? Don’t get me wrong, I completely enjoyed my meal and the differences between male and female interaction actually added an interesting amount of discussion during the meal.

When we were leaving the restaurant I realized we were only two blocks from the Seine and a view of the Eiffel Tower allowing a wonderful romantic walk along the river. The perfect ending to a perfect meal…

Dining in Paris on a Sunday night is not easy.  Most restaurants are closed.  Café’s are open but we only had four nights so we wanted a full meal. 

Undaunted, we set out on foot in Marais with a list of restaurants which were supposed to be open.  One was closed, another changed names and did not appear appealing.  Despite our best efforts to not be aimlessly searching for a restaurant we found ourselves doing just that. 

This was really not what I wanted to do.  On our last visit to Paris we had not planned ahead for any meals and each night found ourselves searching for restaurants.  Between my, at the time, hesitation to eat unknown foods and our lack of French, the process was brutal.  One night we walked around for what seemed hours before finally finding a restaurant at around 11pm.  The result was a fun, late meal that I still remember but the process I’d rather forget.  Another night, we actually picked a restaurant ahead of time but had little clue what anything on the menu was and our french to english dictionary wasn't being helpful.  As a result, Husband got fish with what was probably roe and other green inards flowing over the top.  Husband is adventurous so when the waiter, who did not speak English, attempted to warn him he was getting something unusual he dismissed the warning and looked forward to something different.  To this date, it is one of the few dishes Husband says he has ever had which he would not eat and we still don’t know what exactly it was…

With those past memories screaming at us to be careful, we happened upon the famous Place des Vosges.  This area of the Marais attracts tourists and as a result we found several restaurants open in the area.  After looking at the menus for no less than six restaurants, we finally choose a restaurant that served traditional French food but had a funky chic thing going on.  The food was good, but not as good as the night before.  Still, not bad for a Sunday night with no real direction on where to go…

Our foodie adventure in Paris was marred by a Sunday night void of open restaurants.  We survived this but the Bastille Day closures on Monday were more difficult.  For some reason, restaurants in Paris do not like to state what days the are open, nor do they state their hours.  This is true both on the sparse web sites that some have as well as on their front facades.  Since museums were closed on Bastille Day – or at least the ones we wanted to see, we opted for a late day walking tour of the Latin Quarter.  Along the walk we had selected four restaurants as prospective choices.  Each restaurant provided us a view of the menu on their windows but no clue as to whether or not they were open.  In the end we chose one that was in our Pudlo restaurant guide and on our list.  The food was just ok - nothing to get excited about; perhaps that's because one can only have one great meal a day?  Or at last it seems that’s all I tend to get.

The great meal was thanks to David Lebovitz’s 10 Insanely Delicious Things You Shouldn't Miss in Paris.  Since we only had 4 days and 2 of those were when many things were closed we didn’t get to all 10 of his suggestions, but we did get to two of them: Falafels and Macaroons.

L’al Falafels and the rue de Rosiers were wonderful.  Even on Bastille Day the rue de Rosiers was overflowing with people.  Both Husband and I had our doubts on what Jewish falafels in Paris would taste like.  We were very pleasantly surprised.  The pita bread was tender, fresh and moderately thick, unlike the sometimes paper thin crusty stuff you get a falafel shops in Silicon Valley.  The falafels themselves were very flavorful; Husband attributes this to the excess of fat the French use when making them.  The white sauce was a nice creamy blend with herb flavors and was most definitely not bitter.  The fillings of eggplant, cabbage, tomato and vegetables were plentiful.  We did fail in one aspect - David Lebovitz suggested that we request extra red sauce and we forgot.  We also should have gotten one falafel from each of the two competing stands located across the street from one another to decide which truly is best, but that’s what future trips are for right?

Our other David Lebovitz food item was macaroons.  The purpose of this indulgence was not based on a love of macaroons.  In fact, I don’t particularly care for any of the macaroons I’ve ever had in the US.  But my friend loves Macaroons so I wanted to bring her back some of the ‘Best in Paris’.  The French take their macaroons very seriously.  The shop is climate controlled,  the servers wear formal attire, and their behavior is formal.  After getting a sampler for my friend, Husband and I each had one macaroon. 

Wow!  The macaroons were amazing.  Previous macaroons I've tasted were dry, flaky and lacked flavor - these were the complete opposite. The filling tasted delicious and was plentiful but not an over abundance.  The macaroon was soft, not really moist but not dry either.  It melted in our mouths and begged us to have more.  Thankfully we had already left the shop so I only indulged in one, although I could have eaten several.  Thanks David!

What’s a foodie to do when she suddenly finds herself in Paris?  Four days in Paris to be exact.  Hunt out some great Parisian food and culminate the trip in a gluttonous feast of course! Once the shock of arriving in Paris after a 15 hour journey was quelled with a couple of cafés, the task at hand was to find a relaxing and tasty dinner near the apartment Husband and I had rented for our visit.

As foodies, we couldn’t just walk out the door and dine in the first restaurant we found.  That would be too simple, and too dangerous given we only had four nights and each had to be great. With a random choice who knows what we’d find ourselves eating.

Instead, we had to research what we would eat.  We found several dining guides that were well rated and recommended.  We sought advice from fellow bloggers, including the recommendations on David Lebowitz’s site which lists two ‘excellent’ dining guides – both of which were sold out.  With only 10 days advance notice of our trip we didn’t have time to wait and we needed something as a guide.  We choose Pudlo’s.  Albeit the on-line ratings for the book were both positive and negative we needed something and went with it.  Husband hated it.  Some restaurants had changed names or no longer existed and information on hours and days open was lacking.  But, worse of all the prices listed bared no relation to what the restaurants actually charged. Still we had some suggestions on where to start our search.  Combining the book, our Lonely Planet Paris Guide, our Frommer’s guide and Husbands searches on ChowHound, we began our foodie adventure in Paris.

The first night I just wanted to eat, I’d have eaten anything and thankfully Husband found a restaurant which was literally around the corner from our apartment. In fact, it was probably the closest restaurant to our apartment, although without knowing it was there, down a short hidden alley, we would never have stumbled upon it.

Jet lag meant I wanted to eat early and go to sleep.  We ventured out at 8pm, early for dinner in Paris, and after missing the alley on the first time around the block we happily found the tiny restaurant, Le Hangar, the second time around.  The meal was simple: Filet de boeuf for Husband and risotto aux Jambon San Danel for me.  Since we don’t speak much French, to help with deciding what to order I printed out a French to English food dictionary that helped with most things. We’d have been fine for this meal without it, but it did help in ensuring the filet was cooked as Husband wanted it.  We also tried to look up San Daniel.  Now, you may know what it is, and as soon as my meal arrived I knew as well, but as I ordered it I was in the dark.  I blame my uncertainty on jet lag - because clearly San Daniel is proscuitto.

The server helped us pick a light fruity wine that we enjoyed.  As with most of our wine in Paris it was low in alcohol – 11%.  Perhaps this explains, at least to some extent, how the French can drink large quantities of wine… 

The filet de boeuf was on the rare side and accompanied with a side of potatoes dauphine and a wonderful sauce. The risotto was one of the creamiest I’ve ever eaten, even without the large dollop of butter on top of the dish.  On a side plate was a small salad covered with Jambon San Daniel.

Relatively simple food, that immediately placed us in the proper mood for an abundance of additional French food in the days to come.  More on that soon…

I’ve just returned from a quick four days in Pairs thanks to some stashed frequent flyer miles and a business trip that took Husband to Europe.  This was my second trip to Paris and I really didn’t want to leave for a number of reasons, including the wonderful museums, interesting sights, and of course the food.  As shocking as it may seem to foodies, not everyone enjoys French food.  As I traveled 33,000 feet over the Atlantic my neighboring traveler asked if I enjoyed the French food.  Before I answered he described his experience with French food.  He’s a Texan who was in Paris for 2 weeks  for work.  Texans like meat.  I lived in Texas for 6 years so I can attest to this, yet this Texan mostly ate pasta and “quickly got sick of eating at McDonalds”! 

Sigh  - Julia Child may have helped open our eyes to French food but we’ve got a lot more work ahead of us.

Sadly, to a degree I can understand.  I wouldn’t eat McDonalds in Paris, or in the States if I had any other choice, but on my last trip to Paris I did have some issues with choosing French food at dinner…

I grew up on meat and potato meals that were frequently overcooked and bland.  I was taught that meat should not be red when cooked -  red meat was not something you ate.  You ate brown meat; red meat was to be feared; stick out your tongue and get scared, here comes the dangerous food.  

My grandfather was a farmer.  He stayed with us for a while when I was very young.  I remember him scoffing at the steak my mom served and only eating the fat that everyone else had cut of their meat.  Looking back, Grandpa may have been the wiser since the meat was most assuredly cooked to a flavorless pile of poor tasting rubber.

Besides red meat phobia, my culinary upbringing was also a bit limited when it came to variety.  Every Sunday was pizza, most other days were meat and potatoes, an occasional casserole and in the summer something on the grill – hot dogs for me since I didn’t like the steak – gee you don’t want to eat rubber?

That’s not to say that Mom didn’t try to serve us different food.  But we wouldn’t have it.  The one time I remember her trying something different was an utter failure.   Perhaps it was the choice of entrée – some sort of pork dumpling; perhaps the recipe was to blame or more likely the unwavering fear of the unknown that overcame my brothers, father and sister as mom placed a large bowl of round slimy things in a gooey sauce on the table.  No one tried any.  Everyone complained and Dad ordered a pizza.  As the baby of the family, at 5 with my next youngest sibling at 13, I had little say in the matter.  I remember feeling sorry for mom but if no one else would eat it I certainly wasn’t going to. 

Somewhere in middle or high school, peer pressure set in and I slowly began to try other things.  Small steps at first.  I think girl scouts was the first introduction to ‘alternative’ food.  We had Chinese once.  I tried Mexican food in high school, and in college Indian food.  For the most part, I enjoyed each new food but always choose a very conservative (i.e. familiar) item.  And these new foods, cooked in Buffalo, NY, weren’t really authentic.  But they certainly tasted better than anything mom made.

The biggest turning point in my eating habits, or at least I thought so at the time, was when I met Husband.  He would eat anything!  Not wanting to look like the fussy-pot that I was I would bravely eat things I’d never otherwise eat.  And they were good; very good in fact.

Fall 2001 was my first visit to Paris.  The word foodie was unknown to me and I still feared red meat.  In fact, I was partially a vegetarian; only ate meat on rare occasions, and hardly every by choice. A vegetarian in Paris is a difficult life and so was my first trip to Paris.  Several nights we walked for what seemed hours before finding a “Pam safe” restaurant.  We walked out of more than one because I couldn’t find anything to eat.  Husband handled it in stride and persevered finding me food I’d eat.  In fact, the dining experience was so focused on finding something I would eat the quality of the food never really was a priority. 

It's odd how things change and yet they stay the same.  As with that first trip, this trip we spent a good amount of time finding restaurants to eat at.  But this trip, the time was spent finding good food rather than merely things I would eat.  See, since that first trip I’ve blossomed into a foodie.  Cooking has always been something I’ve enjoyed but now I pay attention to what I cook, what I eat and how everything tastes. 

How was my trip to Paris?  A culinary adventure that ranged from Falafels and Macaroons recommended by David Lebowitz to traditional Parisian baguette sandwiches to a dream dinner at a Michelin rated restaurant.  Along the way, Husband ordered things most people would never eat including veal liver, veal kidney’s and sweetbreads.  And I tasted everything with him. 

Not your cup of tea?  That would have been me a few years ago.  I admit not everything was something I’d order again but having tasted it I can now say that. 

More on what we ate over the next few posts.