I’ve since left Paris and flown to Rome. Obviously, I have a lot of catching up to do. This next series of entries will take the remainder of my Parisian adventure in two parts: one, eating, and two, seeing. Both equally exciting and important in this city.
Although, right now, three of five family members are very, very sick, which doesn’t speak very highly of our eating and seeing activities, does it? Dad has gout, Mom has a stomach that rejects absolutely everything, and Nick hasn’t eaten a real meal in two days. That’s saying a lot – this growing 13-year-old has a love for food that trumps all. If Aunt Monique is somewhere out there reading this, she’ll know what to do.
Now, the food.
The past 7 days, there were coffee-and-croissant meals, bread-and-cheese meals, Michelin-star meals, Are-we-in-San Jose? meals, and This-is-a-meal? meals.
The fun with food lies mostly in the discovery. Most deserve an S for satisfactory, few deserve superlatives. But once in a while you’ll find that hidden food gem that leaves you with the memory of the first, and the second, and the third bite because it was JUST that good. Since most places in Paris really are just that good, it’s important to be wary of your senses. Or face stone-cold food coma. Like I did. Hence, the lack of updating.
L’Epi Dupin
Across from the grocery/department store mega-plex Le Bon Marché is a little side-street Rue du Dupin, home of L’Epi Dupin, the refined side of gritty French country cooking. They started us off with a milk carrot purée, a flacky artichoke tartelette and a tantalizing duck confit pastry.
Nick had a silky red snapper with friend vegetables over a seafood sauce, while Mom and I shared a lamb with a vegetable/butter/honey glaze. The meat fell so gracefully off the bone. Dad had a lapin rôti, roasted rabbit, an image I’ll spare you of.
The dessert fared even better than the entrées, featuring a peeled peach with sesame-ginger crisp à la mode, a pineapple cocktail with coconut foam, and a gooey hot chocolate pudding.
Vin et Marée
In all sorts of ways, this dinner was an escapade. One, finding the place. Two, deciphering the Da Vinci code of a menu, with the non-english speaking maitre d’. Three, the food. Oh, the food.
The images speak for themselves.
More to come,
N
One Comment
Hi Nicole,
Sorry to hear that most of your family was sick. But looking at the pictures of the rich French food that you had, I was not surprised. We had a little bit of overindulgence, didn’t we?
I had to LOL when I looked at one of the pictures you posted here with half of your dad’s face in the background and his facial expression was so funny, like he didn’t really care for what he was seeing on the table.
Enjoy the rest of your travel time in Italy,
Co Khanh