PARIS: Jean Paul Hévin

There is a cafe culture so inherent in Parisians, especially apparent during the warm summer afternoons, that it would be sacrilegious not to reserve some time to yourself to immerse in it for an hour or two. 

Having spoiled my lunch by choosing to sit in one of these cafes, read and have a cappuccino and pain au chocolat for breakfast, I couldn't appreciate my meal at Jean Paul Hevin the way my breakfast-starved family did. (Not that I regretted this. Being on my own, even for awhile, is vital for maintaining my sense of sanity.)

For a chocolatier, Jean Paul Hevin does a surprisingly good lunch. The light, creamy parmesan sauce on the ravioli picked up the dryness of the slightly overcooked salmon and the curry chicken was perfectly tender. 

salmon and spinach ravioli with parmesan

croque monsieur 

Is this the best dessert menu or what?

Now brace yourself for what my family ordered for dessert. How we are all not impossibly fat eludes me.

Chocolat Passion

Pyramide

Longchamp

Ecaudor

Jean-Paul Hévin shop and Chocolate Bar

231 rue Saint-Honoré

75001 Paris

Tel : +33 (0)1 55 35 35 96

PARIS: Thai Pacific

I desperately miss Thailand. It may have been the company, or the memories that arose from doing CAS (creativity, action and service) hours with my IB classmates, but food was definitely a distinct portion of the trips I made to Krabi and Chiang Mai in my IB years. So every time I have Thai food, my mind is inundated with a flood of these memories - memories that lace my meal with sheer joy interwoven with pangs of nostalgia. 

We went to Thai Pacific on a night after we'd taken a Segway tour (don't judge me - it was mum's idea) around Paris. It had been freezing that night and we'd been standing on the Segway for 3 or 4 hours straight, so Thai Pacific came as a warm relief amidst the harsh, biting winds of Paris. It turned out to be surprisingly good; so good in fact, that we came back a second time just before we left, and this time I brought my camera along with me. 

Pineapple salad

Beef curry

my favourite: tom yum soup 

Tamarind prawns - half eaten because I took this photo too late

Krabi, 2008

Thai Pacific:

110 Boulevard Grenelle, 

75015 Paris, France

+33 1 45 78 87 88 ‎

PARIS: Auberge Bressane

I went to Auberge Bressane on a day that I was thoroughly sick of french food and was sorely missing simple, home-cooked food. Even so, they had enough refreshingly unique dishes on the menu to trigger my appetite. 
I love soufflés because despite their fluffy lightness, they somehow manage to maintain an elegant yet unrestrained flavour. Naturally, I ordered the crab souffle and tried some cheese souffle, but they were disappointingly soggy underneath, belying their magnificently browned, crusty tops. 

the best bread appetizer I've had, ever. 

Isn't it funny how the bare necessities of life can taste so good you wouldn't dream of asking for anything else? It may not look it, but this bread was so heavenly I would've been satisfied if it were all I'd eaten for dinner. When I described french bread in this post, it was Auberge Bressane's bread starters in particular that I had in mind. 

Cheese souffle (I'd tell you the full on, fancy french name but I forgot to take a picture of the menu)

Crab souffle 

Littered with multitudinous cafes, Paris is never short of chocolate tarts, macaroons, mille-feuilles, cheese cake...the list goes on. In other words, I don't blame Auberge Bressane for desserts that paled in comparison to those we found in these little pockets of dessert havens we call cafes.  

Chocolate souffle (sadly, this one wasn't nearly chocolatey enough)

We got a free baked alaska because I think it fell apart when they lit it. That's strawberry ice cream inside! 

What baked alaska is supposed to look like

Baked Alaska: A cake layer, enveloped first by ice cream, then a glorious cloud of stiffly beaten egg white; the whole of which is then either browned quickly in an oven or poured over with alcohol and lit in a lustrous blue flame. 

I wish I'd had the chance photograph the "baked" alaska swathed in a gossamer of blue flame, but I think they wanted to avoid the awkwardness of dealing with a failed attempt, so we never got to see the process. 

I remember a science question that greatly frustrated me back when I was in MGS because I had no idea what the hell a baked alaska was: "Why doesn't the heat from the flame on a baked alaska melt the ice-cream inside?" I think the answer was: "the air pockets in the egg white insulate the ice-cream against the heat of the flame". I didn't really care about it then, but now that I've had it, it's pretty amazing if you think about it. 

raspberry mille-feuille

Auberge Bressane:

16 Avenue La Motte Picquet
75007 Paris, France
Tel: 01 47 05 98 37

PARIS: Artisan Boulanger Patisser

What's Paris without its bakeries? (or boulangeries in french)  Where London is peppered with coffee and sandwich places, Paris is bestowed with a generous line up of bakeries serving startlingly fresh croissants, pain au chocolats and baguettes. 

After 9 days in Paris, I think I can safely say that nobody does better bread than the french. Every bite unleashes a glorious bready aroma; your teeth sink into the crispy, baked crust with a delightful crunch, then into the soft yet chewy bread within - and mind you, this is all before it is even toasted. 

Though I did miss the tantalizing smell of coffee in the morning, freshly baked bread for breakfast more than compensated for the frustrating lack of mocha in Paris. There were two boulangeries we alternated between for breakfast and Artisan Boulanger Patisser was the closer of the two. What I really like is how they put every baguette or cheese-encrusted, hotdog-like bread into a tiny oven so it was pleasantly warm when we unwrapped it. 

Sugar encrusted doughnut balls filled with oozy chocolate - is that a sinful breakfast or what?

Turtle bread! Anyone know how they baked it?*

*Update! : Jing (one of the foodiest of my foodie friends) attempted, and succeeded, in making this from scratch - see how she did it here. 

Flan Pistache

PALACE OF VERSAILLES: La Petite Venise

I find that visiting a tourist attraction loses it's novelty if it isn't appreciated to the fullest. Sometimes it feels as though we're visiting these attractions for the sake of it, without stopping to savour the fact that we're immersed deep in a piece of french history preserved for the admiration of thousands. 

Being as un-cultural and un-artsy fartsy as I am, I cheated this time and watched Marie Antoinette, starring Kirsten Dunst, before visiting the palace where the film was set (and where Vogue was allowed access for the Marie Antoinette shoot). Interesting movie sets are etched in my memory and it thrills me when I recognize these in real life as I explore bits of Europe. Did you know a scene from The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was shot in Leadenhall Market? 

Palace of Versailles: this is a mere fraction of the tourists that inundated the palace rooms

A distinctive scene in Marie Antoinette where she partied until the sun rose 

LA PETITE VENISE: 
This salon de thé deep in the palace gardens of Versailles was surprisingly good for a restaurant that would've made a profit charging extortionist prices for passable food just because it was in a tourist hotspot. The dish I ordered was of course, the burrata cheese. Ever since I tried this at Amaranto Restaurant in London, I've had it every time I see it on the menu. It has a velvety creamy texture that melts onto your tongue without inundating your senses with a flavour that, if too strong, would've disguised the sheer perfection of its texture. 

Antipasti de la Petite Venise, assorted grilled vegetables and burrata cheese

Lemon and parmesan pasta: so simple yet oh-so-good.

Marinated big shrimps with orange, pink pepper and broad bean

Orecchiette with clams and broccoli 

Sliced grilled Angus beef fillet 

After lunch cafe creme

La Petite Venise:

Parc du Chateau  de Versailles - 78000 Versailles

Tel: 0139532569

PARIS: Les Cocottes de Christian Constant

Les Cocottes, one of four acclaimed restaurants on rue Saint-Dominique is owned by Michelin-star chef Christian Constant. How the french all manage to have flawlessly eloquent names like

Coco Chanel and Christian Louboutin, all

 worthy of designer goods and all things lavish is beyond me. 

Good things do indeed come to those who wait. We'd been walking around for an hour when we eventually settled on Les Cocottes. We'd left before ordering at the initial restaurant we'd been to earlier in the evening; it had an unimpressive, nondescript menu and a waiter whose "1 minute!" turned into 15. 

It wasn't by chance that we happened upon this cosy diner in the seventh arrondissement of Paris. This was a result of my mother's laborious research before the trip - a pattern you'll see in future paris posts. 

Les Cocottes was one of my favourites of all the french restaurants we visited. It wasn't overly presumptuous, the waiters were quick to smile and it was reasonably priced as far as restaurants in Paris go. 

vin rouge

co·cotte/kôˈkôt/Noun

A heatproof dish or small casserole in which individual portions of food can be both cooked and served.

Cod cooked on the plancha, fennel confit

Milk fed lamb cooked in a cocotte with fresh thyme

young seasonal vegetables cooked in the "cocotte" 

King prawns and squid, Nicois vegetables

spoon-shaped coffee biscuit!