Bistrot L'Ancienne Auberge 1900

After some heavy hitting (stomach and wallet wise), meals in France, it was nice to have something casual.  It seems like every country has their special prized chickens.  Jidori chickens of Japan, and Bresse chickens of France, or "poulet de Bresse."  The high quality reputation of "poulet de Bresse" has been longstanding, maybe as far back as 1800s.  A chicken can only earn the labeling of "poulet de Bresse" if it is from the Bresse breed of chickens and if it has been bred in the Bresse region of eastern France.  "Poulet de Bresse" is actually an AOC designation, similar to how a Bordeux wine can only be called Bordeux if it meets certain quality measures.  Lucky for us, Vonnas, was sort of on the way back from the south of France back to Paris.





Crème Brûlée de Foie Gras
We had really great whether on our vacation.  The sun was shining, but it was RAINING foie gras.  I loved the salty sweetness here.  It tasted desserty but it had a familiar and savory essence.  Yums!

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Paul Bocuse, L'Auberge du Pont de Collognes

There are certain names in the food world that set off bells in one's head, James Beard, Julia Child.  Some names are certainly more main stream than others.  Paul Bocuse is probably a bit less mainstream.  He's no Wolfgang Puck, who has his name on frozen pizza boxes and his mug on iced coffee drinks.  I first heard the name in relation to the international cooking contest, Bocuse d'Or, a competition akin to the Olympics for the culinary world.  But I eventually learned that Paul Bocuse is a famous and legendary French chef with a long list of culinary achievements.  I don't want to bore you with his resume, but for the purposes of this entry, he is the mastermind behind this 3 star Michelin restaurant in Lyon, France.  Anthony Bourdain called Paul Bocuse "the great chef, a public figure, a hero, an institution."  Dining with Paul Bocuse at his own restaurant was "the meal of [his] lifetime."  I, of course, watched that episode of No Reservations, so I was totally excited to be eating here.

There is only one word to describe the food and the restaurant.  Classic and old school.  The food here is prepared and served the same way it has been for decades.  Many chefs, who have gone on to run their own celebrated kitchens, have spent time in Bocuse's kitchen.  The restaurant is bright, colorful, and bordering on gaudy.  It harks back to an era in time when gold equated to opulence.  Everything just seemed to shine.  You have your choice of menus: grand traditional (6 courses, 250€), bourgeois (5 courses, 210€), traditional (4 courses, 160€).  Keep in mind these are not tasting menus, but rather multi course dinners.  The portions are quite large and we were all overwhelming stuffed at the end.  

Potato Leek Soup

Celery Cream with Shrimp

Roquefort with Apple Gelee

The amuse bouche trio was a delightful little start to the evening.  It always seems you can never go wrong with a small bite of anything.

Lobster Bisque

Very likely the best lobster bisque I have tasted.  Seriously the French make everything taste magical when cream is added to anything.

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Lèon de Bruxelles

Moule-frites is a very simple and classic Belgian dish that's popular throughout France.  In fact, Leon de Bruxelles is actually a large chain restaurant in France.  Your thinking, "Overworked Underfed, how could you dine at a chain restaurant??"  Dear readers, some chain restaurants are awesome!  First off, everything at Lèon de Bruxelles is fresh, never frozen and always made to order.  That is saying a lot for affordable seafood.  Their menu is quite extensive.  Who knew you could make mussels so many different way.

La Plancha de Moules aux Gambas et Calamars des moules, des gambas sauvages, des anneaux de calamar, de la tomate, de l'ail, des herbes de provence

Being grilled as opposed to steamed made the flavors much more concentrated and punchy. One might criticize this as being salty but I liked it. The calamari was extremely tender, while the shrimp was sweet and juicy. They don't lie about the freshness here. 

Les Moules à la Provençale la tomate, l'ail, les herbes de provence, les olives noires, l'huile d'olive, vin blanc, crème fraîche

I opted for this version because I love tomatoes and herbs de Provence. The crème fraîche actually did not overwhelm the dish with creaminess. It was just right.

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Auberge Etchegorry

Etchegorry is quaint little local restaurant specializing in Basque cuisine.  Mama H.o.P's Parisian friend, who I guess I'll call Parisian Friend, has been a patron of this restaurant for years and years and she had nothing but high praise for this place.  The restaurant itself felt pretty homey, no frills.  I can't say our welcome was as warm.  I think we sat at our table for a good 10 minutes before anybody decided to give us menus or drinks.  It's not like the place was busy.  We were the first ones to show up for our reservations.  Slowly the restaurant become packed.  Parisian Friend says it is always like that, and you have to have a reservation or it's a no go.

Terrine de Foie Gras Parfumée au Jurançon toast de pain au mais maison

This is probably the cleanest tasting foie gras I've had.  It's not that I mind the livery-ness of foie, but the smooth buttery light offal taste to this very notable.  Jurançon is a type of wine which lightly scented the foie adding to delicate fragrance.  And of course, they never serve enough house toast to eat with with foie.  Why is it like that everywhere??

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Michel Rostang

I had a whole list of restaurants I wanted to try while in Paris.  I tend to lean toward the new and contemporary.  But while in Paris, Mama H.o.P. and I were the guests of her Parisian friend who had her own restaurant recommendations.  Who am I to tell a Parisian where to eat in her own city?  So I basically tossed my list out the window and just came along for the ride.  It seems like Michel Rostang is one of those restaurants that have been around for awhile.  It has 2 Michelin stars, and lucky for us they had a tasting menu for 175 euros, inconclusive of tax and wine.  In France, you are not required to tip.  That's kind of a bargain when you think how wine pairings can run as much as the price of your meal.  

Amuse Bouche

foam pigeon, beet, parmesan chip

smoked white fish, goat cheese, macaron

wasabi, peas

It was a nice start with this little trio of bites.  My favorite was the peas and wasabi.  A smooth delicate vegetal sweet with a little bit of kick.  I think the smoked white fish was a bit strong on its own, and the goat cheese just took it over the top.

Roasted Baby Squid mango, galangal

The flavors here were surprising.  I pegged Rostang as a classically French, but the wasabi from the prior dish and galangal here really brought the East to the West.

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Fauchon

Fauchon is an international food company that dabbles in everything from pastries, confections, artisanal meats and cheeses.  At this outpost in Paris, they operated a small restaurant, bakery, and deli with some quick to-go items like sandwiches and salads.  Everything was soooo pretty and cute and of course cost an arm and a leg.  It made for a nice small meal/snack.  We were trying to hold out for dinner which was gonna be a big one.  Let's just say eating less so you can eat more isn't really my thing.  I need at least 2 square meals a day and if its happens to be 1 normal meal and 1 ginormo meal, I'm OK with that.  But don't give me 1 measly meal and 1 ginormo meal.  I was famished when we arrived.

I wanted to eat this whole leg of ham.

As delicious as it was pretty.

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Ladurée

It's time to skip a few backlogged posts to blog about my recent trip to France.  I've been to France a few times in the past.  It's the city where my father spent his formative years from childhood to adulthood, pretty much growing up and finding his way all on his own.  There seemed some darkness in his past, being bullied by the French kids, being poor and lonely, but somehow there was always a great amount of nostalgia for that city.  He would drag my siblings and me all over the city, showing us his former haunts, his schools, everything he could remember about Paris.  At that time, I never thought much of it, but looking back, I have so many memories of family vacations there.  I met family I never knew I had. I had an embarassing encounter with a bidet, which was a foreign porcelain god to this American kid at the time.  We rented a car and trekked all the way to Italy.  My mom expertly crafted sandwiches from baguette, headcheese, jambon, and pate from the local boucherie.  My dad would snore away, while my sister drove and got pissed at my lazy brother for being such a sorry excuse for a navigator.  Paris is a city that holds a special place in my heart, and because of all the many memories there, will probably be my favorite city in the world.

My mom and I took a vacation to visit her friend in Paris.  Since I've seen all the major sites in Paris, I basically wanted to take a gastronomic tour of the country.  Having a local take us around was a major plus.  It didn't hurt that we never had to pay for a hotel either.  I would have liked to pick all our eating spots, but who am I to tell a Parisian where to eat in France?  Our first stop was rather coincidental because Ladurée just happened to be on the way to our shopping destination.  You can imagine how ecstatic I was to be able to sample the much-talked-about highly lauded macarons here.

At Ladurée, they don't just offer macarons...

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