Since arriving in France, I've battled my healthier side continually. Now, I usually give in, but as I'm getting older and my metabolism is swiftly shutting down, I'm trying to stay active, eat right more of the time and pushing to not eat too late, something that is nearly impossible to do in France, where eating before 8pm at most restaurants in unheard of. Even with the newly installed "health-o-meter" that drives me to take quick walks a couple times a day, swim, etc., I'm still managing to eat a delicious amount of mouth watering edibles that include Sarath's Chocolate cake, Lamb Ragu with Peas, Mint and Ricotta Cheese, Chicken Curry, Chicken with Vinegar, Pasta with Pancetta (video / recipe HERE!), Grilled Pork Chops with White Beans & Applesauce, White Bean & Tuna Salad with Olive Oil & Lemon, Chocolate Soufflé, French toast with Homemade Strawberry Jam (another video HERE!), Pan Seared Asparagus with Parmesan, Olive Oil and Fried Pancetta, Nectarine Tart and Homemade Pizzas (and one more HERE!) cooked in the pizza oven at La Louve.
I'm excited to report that we ate at my favorite neighborhood restaurant in Paris twice in one week! Aux Fins Gourmet, a smallish restaurant featuring classic French fare prepared positively perfectly, is just a short walk around the corner from M's mom's house in the 7th. The restaurant is dimly lit, has a bar up front and the ceilings are stained from years of smoking, which thankfully is no longer allowed in public spaces of Paris! I never thought the law would pass, let alone be enforced, but thank fucking god it was, as there is nothing I hate more than the smell of cigarette smoke wafting past me as I'm chewing. And French people are the most impolite smokers of all -- they dangle their cigarettes as far away from them as possible so that they don't get as much smoke between puffs, and that usually means that their cigarette is hanging over my table ... in my face! But I digress ... we had two marvelous meals at Aux Fins Gourmet featuring two of my favorite dishes: Duck Confit & (animal rights activists hold your breath) Foie Gras. The confit is prepared with a crispy skin and the meat inside is soft and moist and is served with thinly sliced potatoes cooked in duck fat. And the enormous and reasonably priced portion of foie gras has to be one of the great culinary deals in Paris. Excellent, fantastic food. Try the sole, too, especially if you're looking for something a little bit lighter than duck.
Aux Fins Gourmet gets an A for stellar versions of classic French dishes at acceptable prices. They're under new management (note the young, hunky, trendy guy working the front of the room - presumably the new owner's son - providing a stark contrast to the seasoned, all-business career waiters that shuffle about alongside him), so let's hope the recipes keep their classic French form. Reservations recommended.
AUX FINS GOURMET
213, Boulevard Saint-Germain
Seventh Arr.
Paris, France
Phone: 33-42-22-06-57
There are 20,000 special flashing light bulbs (5000 each side) attached to the Eiffel Tower which enable it to come to life in a dramatic display of twinkling lights each hour after sundown.
After our second outing to Aux Fins Gourmet, we quickly grabbed the bill and darted over to a nearby bridge to catch the 10pm twinkling of the Eiffel Tower lights, which blink for ten whole minutes on the hour from sunset until 1am. We missed it, unfortunately, and walked around with little Lucie and her parents until the 11pm show. It was beautiful. I haven't been coming to Paris long enough to stop looking at the lights when they twinkle, but it had been a while since I had sought out a good vantage point to really enjoy them from. And Lucie couldn't have been more thrilled with the show. I hope she remembers this moment when she's older.
There is so much good food to be had at the local farmer's markets in the south of France that there's really no need to eat out, and for the most part we are perfectly content with staying put and cooking pizzas, pastas, tarts and more using ingredients gathered on market day in the village. But once in a while, we can't resist eating out at Le Fournil, one of our favorite restaurants in the south of France that also happens to be conveniently located just steps up the hill from La Louve in Bonnieux.
Who expected a parade of gays (some of them gorgeous ... check out the kitchen staff through the glass windows!) at Le Fournil, a fab French restaurant carved deep into the rocks located halfway up the hilltop village of Bonnieux.
Owned and operated by Guy Malbec and Jean-Christophe Lèche, a pair of friendly, chatty gay men who have been together for many years and are featured with their old labrador (Ines) on the menu cover, the restaurant has a frequently changing menu that takes advantage of the freshest and most in-season ingredients available in the region. Main courses such as lamb, veal, fresh fish and pork are melded with appetizers that might include stuffed vegetables, risotto, cold soup or seared foie gras. But you must save room for dessert, which includes an always-changing "chocolate of the moment" and several delicious ice creams and sorbets.
Le Fournil gets an A- for creatively prepared dishes set in the gorgeous hilltop village of Bonnieux. Seating is outdoors in summer on a beautiful terrace surrounding a 12th-century fountain, and indoors during the cold season and during inclement weather. The interior, incidentally, was stunningly carved into the hillside of Bonnieux hundreds of years ago when the space served as the village's bread oven.
Le Fournil
5, Place Carnot
Bonnieux, France
04-90-75-83-62
Open Wed - Fri & Sun 1230PM - 145PM; Tue - Sun 7:30PM - 9:45PM. Reservations are highly recommended.
Yesterday we spent a long, hot and dusty day in Arles meeting separate pairs of NYC and London friends for lunch and an early dinner and checking out some of the photo exhibitions taking place over the gigantic annual photo fest that Arles hosts each year. As with last year's crop of images, I was less than impressed by much of what I saw are rarely stopped to check out anything in detail other than Hugo's images of pet hyenas and other wild things, which I was already familiar with. This year featured many images revolving around fashion, which has never been something I've been all that interested in, so perhaps that had something to do with my overall lack of caring. But besides the photos themselves, what really had me whining and complaining was the complete absence of organization that served as the sad theme of the day throughout Arles, as we found ourselves wandering back and forth to four separate counters looking for tickets to a festival that has been running in the town for years and should have things like this figured out by now. What gives, Arles tourism board? And get it together!
On a hot and dusty summer day, Arles is pretty miserable.
Putting that aside, there's one thing that can pull me into Arles, no matter how disorganized of a festival the town is throwing: the open-faced sandwiches at Cuisine de Comptoir. Served on thinly sliced, perfectly toasted bread, the sandwiches arrive swiftly topped with chicken, salmon, foie gras and a number or other variations and are prefaced by a chilly bowl of gazpacho or a good sized green salad. It's one of the most satisfying meals in town. I personally order the foie gras each time I go and end up sharing sections of the chicken with Matthew. We both rave about this place to friends and wish that New York had something similar. (Ino kind of counts, but this place is even better believe it or not.) A place like this would thrive in Manhattan. An absolute must-try when in Arles for lunch! Save room for the chocolate cake.
I give the crispy, flavorful sandwiches at Cuisine de Comptoir an A!
Cuisine de Comptoir
10, Rue Liberté
13200 Arles, France
+33 4 90 96 86 28 (call for hours -- open primarily for lunch, although during peak tourist season hours might be extended)
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