Top 5 for Creative Foodies in Paris

There is no shortage of online and old-school print resources and guides to turn to when you’re planning your eating agenda for an upcoming trip to Paris. So why do we need another? My answer to that question is always, “Why not?” I’m about to add to the scores of information on the City of Light with my “Top 5 for Creative Foodies in Paris”. Of course, if it’s your first visit to Paris, my list in no way trumps the “Must Do’s”: the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées, Sacré Coeur, and Notre Dame.

A unique view of Sacré Coeur.

Once you’ve checked these marvels off, you’re free to experience the Paris that speaks to you, and my Top 5 calls to the right-brain (furthering the myth) art enthusiast who desires to experience the culinary world of Paris along with its alluring history and vast literary, artistic, and musical legacy.

You might be a person who seeks out the most highly acclaimed restaurants or Food & Wine’s best new chefs or James Beard nominees and and plots dinner reservations months in advance and you’re also a person whose vacations (or even business trips) revolve around where your next meal will be, but there’s more to you than a discerning palate and insatiable stomach. Am I right? You have a creative mind; one that visualizes the magical romance of bohemian Paris of the 1920’s, careening along rain-slicked streets of St. Germain a la Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris”, and imagines philosophical discourse with the likes of  Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Dali in Gertrude Stein’s parlor. So let’s get going already.

First, obtain a 1, 3, or 5 day Metro Pass that will make transportation to all your adventures very easy, plus it includes a few coupons to some attractions that you might want to see – like the Bateau Parisienne Seine River scenic tour. Coming from the Los Angeles area where the idea of building public transportation into the sprawling city’s infrastructure never occurred to public officials until it was too late.  I am fascinated by subway systems and feel a sense of accomplishment at figuring out routes to get where I need to go wherever I am; Hong Kong, Shanghai, Paris, Boston, NYC – if you can decipher mass transit in China, you can do it anywhere! Bonus: with every ride you witness a microcosm of society and social behavior in that part of the world.

Cuisinier pâtissier géant (The giant baker) illustration by Dali

Montmartre – Espace Dali and les bistros

Even if you take the Metro, you’ll get an excellent glute/leg work out walking up the steps (vs. the funicular) to Sacré Coeur and then up, up, up to Espace Dali, the only permanent exhibition in France entirely dedicated to Salvador Dalí, the Master of Surrealism. The current exhibit combines the work of Dali with 20 street artists including Speedy Graphito, Codex Urbanus and Kool Koor who were invited for an imaginary rendezvous with Salvador Dali. Successfully portraying the breadth of Dali’s work as a sculptor, illustrator, designer and the influence his art and symbolism continues to have on contemporary artists, the show continues through March, 2015.

 Salvador Dali’s Mae West Lips sofa (1937)

Afterwards, walk a little further to the Place du Tertre, originally the main square of the village of Montmartre, now one of the most touristy spots in all of Paris, but still, not to be missed for its sheer sense of place. If you’re lucky a table will open up outside and you can relax with a glass of vin blanc or rouge and nibble as you watch the throngs of tourists before you. Or not. You can have a sweet or savory crepe made to order from one of the “window vendors” and begin the walk down the hill to the Metro station or stop in at a bistro in a quieter location.

 Metro Stop – Abbesses (closest to Sacré Coeur)

Latin Quarter – Shakespeare & Company, Laurent du Bois and Patrick Roger

Perhaps the most famous independent bookstore in the world, Shakespeare and Company is a little bit Beat Generation, a little bit Victor Hugo. Housed in a 17th-century building with a peeling green and yellow facade and hand-hewn, rustic signage, you feel as if you’re entering a time warp to a a quieter, older Paris. First owned by Sylvia Beach, an American expatriate, the bookshop and lending library became a hangout in the 1920s and 30s for Lost Generation writers such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, and James Joyce, whose Ulysses was first published in its complete form by Beach because authorities in Britain and America deemed it obscene. Beach shuttered Shakespeare and Company during the Nazi occupation and it remained closed until another American, George Whitman, reopened the present-day store in 1951 just as Beach Generation writers were finding their way to the Left Bank. {Source: Vanity Fair}

During the 1920’s Paris was the center of the artistic universe and Shakespeare and Company was a crossroads for Americans during “Jazz Age Paris”. Today, you might find a queue forming to get into the store, especially on weekends and during the busy summer months, tourists snapping photos and selfies out front, an outdoor reading by an aspiring poet, book signings and post-reading wine fêtes – there is a reason that this English-language bookstore is a destination spot in our Amazon age. Any purchase from Shakespeare and Company is sure to be a treasured memento for the voracious readers in your life.

After losing yourself around the crooked corners and tiny rooms, head outdoors to gaze at Notre Dame across the Seine, make a right and wander the Latin Quarter in search of the best of the best fromagerie: Laurent Dubois, Meilleurs Ouvriers de France Fromager. The title of Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (shortened to MOF) is a unique and prestigious award in France – created in 1924, this award for special abilities in a contest among professionals in a category of trade is unique in the world. At Laurent Dubois, 47 Ter Boulevard Saint-Germain, you don’t walk in and just buy a wedge of camembert, a cheese consultant will assist you in selecting the proper cheese for your specific occasion, determined to be aged to perfection the day you intend on serving it – whether it be that evening or for a wine and cheese tasting next week.

Distinguished as fromager affineur d’excellence, cheese from Laurent Dubois is aged (affinage) on the premises. “The quality of a cheese depends on a complex series of steps. First, the search for good producers with whom we need to create a lasting partnership, and the selection of the cheeses. Then comes the ageing in our cellars, keeping in the mind that the talent of the ripener lies in bringing the product to the point of excellent flavour. This precise moment also defines my taste for cheese, the particular time at which I think the cheese has the reached its peak of flavour. Then you need to know how to sell the cheese at the right moment, and thus advise clients who share our curiosity and our pleasure in the taste of good cheese.”

Round out your glam picnic in the park or romantic hotel room soiree with exquisite chocolates from Patrick Roger, Meilleurs Ouvriers de France Chocolatier. 

The subtlety of flavors, the combination of textures and uncompromising ingredients of the creations are what makes the gourmet world of Patrick Roger so fascinating, offering such refined excellence. Constantly striving for innovation and perfection, he loves to cause a stir with skillful combinations and majestic sculptures. Enter the gleaming glass, rain forest paradise and experience the sensory pleasure and exhilarating flavors yourself, then assemble a beautiful Pandora’s box of diminutive chocolate jewels to bestow upon a special friend…

Le Marais – L’AS du Fallafel and Place des Vosges

An eclectic queue forms midday  for a taste of what is widely considered to be the best falafel in Le Marais. L’AS Du Fallafel. Today, food was my first priority and, with crispy chickpea balls on the brain, I mapped the Metro route and struck out to fulfill Mission – Best Falafel in Paris. By some hand of fate, I emerged from underground, followed my instinct and, miraculously, took a few right turns until the no-nonsense green lettering stared  me in the face. It was not yet midday so the queue was only 8/10 long and moving along nicely. I wasted no time lining up and neither does the Fallafel team which includes an expediter on the ground, a prepared kitchen and window team and, an effective front man.

Rabbi’s are offering blessings and everywhere you look there are people standing, sitting, and leaning while digging with flimsy white forks into the colossal warm pita overflowing with crunchy chickpea nuggets barely visible under a mound of shredded cabbage, cucumber slaw, and dripping nutty tahini laced with spicy sauce (by request). Sorry, I got “takeaway” and didn’t have enough hands available to snap a photo before being overtaken by anticipation… it actually was a major feat to eat the bulging pita single handedly without getting any on me! L’AS de Falafel is no hidden secret, it’s popularity is well known and in the summertime, the queue is halfway down the block. – but everyone says its worth the wait.

Wander quaint cobblestone streets lined with well appointed boutiques and magnificent 17th century architecture and make your way to Place des Vosges – inaugurated in 1621 as Place Royale, it is the oldest square in Paris and a more elegant park is unimaginable. Surrounded by 36 symmetrical mansions with steep slate roofs, rows of fluttering trees and aged wooden benches, four fountains and a mounted statue of Louis XIII.  Kids frolic, lovers lounge, office workers bask in the sun and smoke. Everything is symmetrical and perfect. After a humongous falafel, it is now my favorite place to recline and let shimmering, rustling leaves overhead hypnotize.

Right off the square is the apartment on the 3rd floor where Victor Hugo resided between 1832 and 1848 after The Hunchback of Nortre Dame was published. Walk through the shaded, cool arches of the hotel and, if the urge strikes you, pop into Maison de Victor Hugo – now a small museum devoted to the life and times of the celebrated novelist and poet and containing an impressive collection of his personal drawings and portraits.

Opera Bastille (Le Marais)  and L’Encrier

Also in the Marais, the incomparable Opéra Bastille was inaugurated in 1989 and became the main facility of the Paris National Opera, France’s principal opera company. Not to be confused with the older Palais Garnier (8th arr); most opera performances are shown at “Bastille” along with some ballet performances and symphony concerts, while L’Opéra Garnier presents a mix of opera and ballet performances. Part of former President Mitterand’s Grand Travaux, it was his intention to strip opera of is elitist airs – hence the notable inauguration date  on July 13, 1989, the eve of the 200th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. We were delighted by a performance of The Barber of Seville and pleasantly surprised to see more young people in the 3400-seat modern venue than the over-50 set – yes, there were men and women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who made an evening of experiencing this new production of the ever-popular masterpiece by Italian stage director Damiano Michieletto in his Paris Opéra debut.

It may be late by American standards, but “when in Paris”, post theater dining is but a few steps away. Once we situated ourselves – boulevards radiate from circles in Paris and is disorienting for us Americans accustomed to linear cities – we walked about five blocks along narrow deserted streets, dark silence interrupted only once by a swift-paced couple and a young man dragging a suitcase, to L’Encrier.

When we arrived at 11 p.m. a jovial party of four enjoying the last of their digestifs, a couple deeply involved with each other, one gentleman wrapping up his reading and email replies. The owner greeted us by name as we were the only reservation for 11 p.m. and waved us to indicate we had our pick of tables. Smiling and accommodating he didn’t seem to mind at all our late arrival and breezed through the chalkboard selections in what he described as his little English, which was actually very good. Of course, we could not order the same thing, desiring to taste as many of the dishes as possible – from start to finish, not a single dish disappointed. There are two 3-course set menus to choose from and, at 22.90  or 25.90 euro (lunch or dinner) both offer great value. We shared bites of the large artichoke hearts with mushrooms in a light cream sauce and foie gras and pressed duck breast with tender greens. His duck confit had me wishing we never agreed to ordering different entrees, not to take away from the steak with mushroom sauce!

I know you’re eyeing the profiterole – the best we’ve ever had –  and it certainly deserves a closer look. We happened to be celebrating a birthday that evening and the most decadently delectable profiterole filled with luscious custard and dripping with rich dark chocolate was the fitting finale to a perfect Parisian date night.

Profiterole – L’encrier, Paris

Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen, Marché aux Puce de Clignancourt and Cafe Le Paul Bert

Covering 7 hectars and receiving 200,000 visitors each weekend, Marché aux Puces St-Ouen de Clignancourt (Rue des Rosiers, 93400 Saint Ouen – 18th arr), is like a small village filled with antique shops and a pure delight for decorators, designers, antique buyers, or flea market bargain hunters. It is divided into several markets (marche), each with its own specialty and character.

It is impossible to cover every market in a single day, so its important to do your research beforehand and decide on which markets to visit if you’re looking for something in particular, or just wander and marvel at the endless array of storied merchandise. Our first planned visit to St. Ouen was nearly abandoned due to two thieving gypsy children who swiped my husband’s iPhone from a cafe table and necessitated a visit to the police station to file a report. Beware of gypsies in the city – it’s a real problem that cafe owners and law enforcement are aware of but, because under-age children are used to carry out the crimes, unable to prosecute.)

We decided to not let this unfortunate incident ruin our last day in Paris and took a taxi to Clignancourt. (Subsequent trips have been on the Metro, which I recommend – it’s much faster, cheaper, and perfectly safe.) We were in search of an evocative piece for our home that was uniquely French. Keeping in mind that it would have to be shipped, we focused on chandeliers. Weeks later our purchase arrived safely in Huntington Beach and its colorful facets dance in our living room each night.

The photo doesn’t do justice to this lovely whimsical piece reminiscent of the French countryside with its colorful orbs of glass grapes spilling from a bronze basket glittering with cut glass. We found this beauty at Marche Rosiers – created in 1976, this little treasure of a market contains around 10 stalls, specializing in light fixtures, Art Deco items, Art Nouveau lithographs by Alphonse Mucha, glasswork and bronzes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, lacquerware by Dunand, and furniture created by Majorelle.

Marché Vernaison – for textiles, paintings, toys, postcards, posters, porcelain, silver, furniture and cookware. With over 300 stands, Vernaison is the largest market and an excellent starting point, especially if you’re a food blogger hunting for props.

Marché Paul Bert – for Parisian bistro furniture, garden ornaments, naughty sculptures, retro furniture and French folk art.

Marché Dauphine for rare books, paintings, vintage cameras, industrial art, vintage clothing and rugs.

Here is a helpful resource with a list of all the markets.

As a casual collector of Art Deco barware, we were ecstatic to discover Olwen Forest’s stall and exhibit of couture jewelry at Marche Paul Bert Serpette. On our second trip, we foolishly went with no map and wandered around in the rain, nearly giving up until I spied my landmark: the jolly chef that beckons you into Cafe Le Paul Bert (20 Rue Paul Bert, 93400 Saint-Ouen) where you might want to stop in for a cappuccino or savor some steak-frites. Paul Bert has been serving very authentic bistro food at moderate prices for ages, and, while it is probably full of tourists on the weekend, you can still enjoy people watching and imagine stepping back in time to Paris in the 60’s.

I hope that my abbreviated guide of five Paris destinations for the creative mind with an insatiable appetite has ignited your adventurous spirit and provided food for thought for your visit to Paris, whether it is the first or one of many.

À bientôt.

 

Photo credit: Opera Bastille by operatattler.typepad.com