In an effort to expedite the blogging of what I stuffed in my face on my recent travels, I thought I’d summarize a bit. This is Paris (see above). They have great stuff to see. And delicious food to eat. And they will take your money at the rate of almost $1.50 to one euro.
I thought we were going to a wine bar for a casual dinner on our first evening in Paris, but I must have read the write-up wrong and we ended up dropping some bills at Drouant. Oh well, it was indication of the spending to come. The menu is very classic, and the wine list has an extraordinary selection (the DRC section was nuts), but don’t expect any deals. My turbot with mushrooms and beans was every thing I wanted my first meal in France to be, that being, decidedly French.
Cheap, tasty food can also be found. The not-so-hidden-gem L’as Du Fallafel is a must visit.
Katie got the falafel, I got the schawarma. You know it’s good, because ya boy Lenny says so.
It’s really the best. Every aspect was fresh and expertly crafted. I loved the inclusion of julienned zucchini. I could do shots of their tahini. Well, that’s major hyperbole, but you pick up what I’m putting down.
Our first big planned meal was at the hot new l’Agapé Substance. How hot you may ask? Well, it’s #1 on the Eater Paris “Heat Map”. There’s seating for maybe twenty people, mostly sitting at one long communal table. The couples on either side of us were very inquisitive as to how we even knew about this place. My answer, “the internet”, didn’t seem to satisy.
The menu is reminiscent of Eleven Madison Park, where just a single element of each dish is named. However, you don’t really choose anything, it’s just an indication of the dishes to come, all at Chef David Toutain’s discretion. The photos could be better, they had those little LED lights over the table and it really messed up most.
David’s food crosses over between classic and clean, and somewhat out there and avant-garde. The tomato and basil salad obviously fell into the latter category. It’s a fun mix, as you don’t know what to expect. And even when the preparation is modern or an expression of its classic self, it was never too complicated, and they nailed the execution of everything.
The lamb fell into the more straight forward but wonderful department.
The multiple desserts (after the cheese course, naturally) were fun creations as well.
The iPad driven wine list was also great, with lots of hard to find (at least in the US) natural wine selections at affordable prices. You don’t see this Foillard Morgon special cuvee “3.14” very often in the States – it’s stunning.
If Agape is the exciting, hip new-comer, then L’Arpege was our fancy pants tried-and-true three star Michelin lunch. Lunch because I can’t afford dinner there. We selected the 120 euro per person tasting, though they have a full tasting for 300+ if you roll like that. We were there over three hours and couldn’t move after all the food we consumed, so I’m not sure the full tasting is a wise choice for any normal person.
Super chef Alain Passard earned three Michelin stars in 1996, but he really made news in 2001 when he announced the menu would become more vegetable centric. A lot of people aren’t into it, and many label them as a vegetarian restaurant, which is categorically untrue. Though, it was the perfect place to take Katie, as we didn’t even have to tell them she was vegetarian and she got along fine, though she did eat some fish. Katie likes fish, but only when it’s super expensive (see: Soto, Le Bernardin, Per Se).
Everything was beautiful, but a few choice selections are below. Food Snob has a good write-up on l’Arpege if ya wanna read more.
Red onion with raspberry.
Golden beet. A few times chef would use just a few drops of amazing shoyu, to great effect.
Cabbage root. Perhaps the dish of the day.
You could hear a pin drop in this extremely small space. There were only 3-4 tables occupied for lunch.
Duck in a vivid hibiscus sauce.
The cheese course. Oh my, it was outrageous.
Baller juice. Straight credit card, homie.
Petit fours; most of them are vegetable oriented, the green tart is celery, the cake made with tomato.