This is a continuation from my Parisian vacation that took place in late May 2010.
Menu on the window
Monsieur Jacques Genin, how I have read so many good things about you. I have read you have ruined people after they ate your made-to-order millefeuilles and your exquisite caramels. Oh, the temptation…and I cannot resist delectable sweets. I made a pre-dinner (yet to be reviewed) stop during the late afternoon after extensive shopping with HC.
When we arrived, it seems a bit too desolate that I almost thought we’re in the wrong restaurant. Admittedly, our dinner reservation is considered early for Parisians, as it was about 7:45 PM by the time we arrived but we went in and went up the hostess station and be seated.
Interiors and their napkin
The dark, wooden interior, a small bar to the left and the rest of the dining room were filled with tables that were elbow-to-elbow, barely allowing more than one person walking from the kitchen to the front of the house. Legs of ham, strings of espelette peppers (also known as piment d’Espelette in French) and heads of garlic were hanging from the ceiling, this looks like a carnivore’s dream.
Nudged in between two two-tops occupied by Asian couples, one Japanese and the other were Chinese-Americans, we’re slightly surprised how there’s not that many French people were present. Possibly because of the tanking Euro? I think so.
Chalkboard menu
Whilst reading down the chalkboard menu, we’ve noticed from one of our neighbor’s table was a basket full of gorgeous looking charcuterie. Sighing and regretting at the fact that we’re not starving enough to consume those sausages and more, we inquired each other to gauge how hungry we really are before we overdo it. (Doggy bagging food is not a typical thing in Paris.)
About a month or so prior to the Le Fooding event at P.S. 1, almost every major website (like NY Times’ Dining Journal and Serious Eats) wrote about them, pretty much bringing a lot of hype, arguably speaking, to this particular weekend. I was psyched to get some tickets for two main reasons: it was inexpensive ($30 for general admission) and you get to taste some food that’s not from the NYC area.
Things is, when we (as in Helen, Seungmi, Michael and I) got there in person with our tickets in tow, we had to stand on line, outside in the chilly evening. Even we all got emails from Le Fooding that women shouldn’t wear heels (there’s grass and gravel on the courtyard and it’ll ruin your precious heels) but there were some wearing them anyway and some weren’t dressed accordingly to the weather that they’re shivering at every gust of wind. Very smart.
Anyway, once we got through the gates, we discovered a Pandora’s box of chaos. Lines were snaked everywhere that we just grabbed the cheese plates first (they were the only table without a line), started to nosh on them and joined any line that seemed to be serving food that isn’t soup.
Moroccan Couscous
We (more like Michael) met Chef Daniel Boulud near his restaurant’s stand for DB Bistro Moderne. Their chicken and merguez sausage couscous dish was amazing and arguably the one who portioned out the most food. The chicken was cooked in sous vide hence its sublime texture.
The small burgers dispensed from Minetta Tavern were good. Not the best I’ve had (I still heart Shake Shack) but something that’s been cooked for a huge crowd, it ain’t bad. It did have that aged funk taste from the burger. Quite juicy and cooked medium-rare when you do see the innards shot from the slideshow at the bottom of this post. The caramelized onions were a nice touch.
The most interesting restaurant stand was from Paris’s Le Chateaubriand. First off, the line coiled inside out; you start from the center and you’ll walk your way outward. Secondly, it took a long time for the line to get moving. We found out that there’s a lot of components to this dish that it took five chefs to keep a batch of plates churning out to the awaiting crowd. It’s worth the wait though. I loved how tender and rare the steak was and the smoked eggplant and smear of goat cheese just balanced all the flavors out.
The most insane line was the ice cream line represented by Greene Ice Cream. This was the longest wait out of all the food stands in this event. Probably we stood in line for a good 45 to 50 minutes. The reason behind it was the fact it’s really one young lady scooping over three to five hundred attendees. Damn… By the time we reached at the head of the line, it started to rain. We ran over to Seungmi’s father’s car to seek shelter and head home.
Overall, the event was chaotic but the food was pretty good, given to the fact that these restaurants are serving a huge crowd of people. I learned over the Interwebs the day after the event was over that the VIP tickets ($60 with unlimited Champagne and you go there an hour earlier before the public) fared better. No one but those limited number of ticketholders to get your food. Next time, perhaps, that’s of course, if Le Fooding does come back to NYC.
[I'm interrupting the dinner portion of my belated birthday post. Hopefully, it'll be up early next week.]
The invite…
Early last week I’ve received an invitation from La Maison du Chocolat. I thought “ZOMG!” If you haven’t known this by now, I love everything from LMDC, especially their chocolates, so it’s a reflex for me to RSVP. But I have to wonder, isn’t this considered bad timing to open a new luxurious boutique in this awful state of our economy? I wouldn’t know but I can’t say “no” a party.
I was in the Upper West Side for lunch on Tuesday. All in the name of Bar Boulud! In case you haven’t read through blogs and press publications, it’s a huge deal since Daniel Boulud hasn’t opened any new restaurants around here and the fact that he migrated crosstown from the Upper East Side (just try to map where most of his places are: Daniel and Cafe Boulud). Continue reading “Lunch at Bar Boulud & I Need Your Recommendations (for Philly)!” »
Last Wednesday, when most of my finals were pretty much finished, I had breakfast Bouchon Bakery for the very last time. Yes. It’s time for me to give up the days where the photogenic (albeit a tad pricey) pastries are my usual go-to since I’m graduating. What I ended up commemorating this place were their wonderful bacon and cheddar chive scone and a cream cheese, orange marmalade danish.
Note: If you want to jump to the review of my lunch at Del Posto Enoteca, click here
I’m summarizing my old stuff since it’s not really notable, per se. What I’m referring to were my visit to Macaron Cafe (which you can start viewing photos and my comments on them from here) and a lunch at Balthazar at their bar since there weren’t any tables available when I visited that afternoon (those food photos start here).
Just to sum it up, the macarons from Macaron Cafe were hit-or-miss but it’s really inexpensive. From what was available that morning: cranberry, chocolate, and key lime (which I bought one of each), the best of the three was the key lime but a far cry from Pierre Herme’s heavenly macarons. They’re the size of my palm (about 3 1/2 inches) for $2. It’s the cheapest in the city so far.
When I ate this particular lunch at Jean Georges on Tuesday, I realized my blog’s birthday is a year and two days old (if you include the time when I was at Blogger and I moved to my current address here)…it’s just beginning to crawl to its infant stage and hopefully progresses to grow to a slightly normal child. I said “slightly normal” because it’s a food obsessed child. Well, I guess it’s my unintentional splurge birthday present to my blog. Even though, I’m actually the one who is physically eating the food. But still “Happy Birthday!” to my blog. You’re officially a year old. And thank you readers for actually make this blog worthwhile to write about besides my insane love for food.
Anyways, back to Jean Georges. I basically made reservations at Jean Georges in the formal dining room, since I went to the casual section, Nougatine, about four years ago with another friend of mine, Seungmi. This time I invited Ariel. He’s more my dining companion for the splurge places these days.
Jean Georges
I arrived earlier than the expected reservation and the hostess walked me to my table, passing the bar/Nougatine dining area to the minimalist, hotel-style room, where everything is done in beige and white, and each table has either a leather banquette or a leather chair. The odd thing I found out was that the table I’m seated is basically a rectangular table where diners sit side-by-side, instead of sitting across from one another. Eventually when Ariel had arrived, I realized that most of our conversations were basically talking out to the void (since we look straightforward unless we turn our head or glance at each other sideways) even though we know we’re speaking to one another. But it’s a small flaw we’ve dealt with.
