Who’s got two thumbs and is behind on blogging? *points to self*

So! This dim sum thing has, to my delight, become a regular occurrence. Every weekend, on Saturday or Sunday morning, you can find a group of anywhere from four to a dozen expats meeting up in the 13th and noisily consuming stacks of steamer baskets full of plump dumplings.

We recently started trying a new place, Tricotin, which is right across the street from our other usual dim sum place, La Chine Massena. I like it because it has huge windows that look out into the street, which let a lot of light in. I also love the fried items on the menu, in which La Chine Massena is sadly lacking.

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Posted in: dining out, paris, Uncategorized | Tags: 75013, chinese, chinese food, dim sum, dim sum restaurant paris, food, paris, restaurant, travel, tricotin | 4 COMMENTS

James Henry, previously of Au Passage, has opened a new testosterone-and-punk-rock-fueled restaurant and bar in that corner of the 11th that’s been seeing a lot of action lately.

Prosecco sur Lie Casa Coste Piane, tartare de veau, good books

Get your hipster boners ready, friends. Unsulfured, natural wines. Homemade bread. House-churned butter. Homemade charcuterie. Mozzarella minute. Offal and raw stuff all over the place.

Homemade bread and butter

This was M’s favorite. He had opinions.

Four amuse-bouche

Clockwise from top left: coeur de canard; grilled octopus; cochon de lait broth with roast sea urchin, foie gras, and cabbage; charcuterie maison

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Posted in: dining out, paris, Uncategorized | Tags: bar, bones, bones paris, bones paris restaurant, james henry, natural wine, paris, paris bar, paris restaurant, paris wine bar, restaurant, rockstar chef, unsulfured wine, wine bar | 4 COMMENTS

Delicious brews. Awesome friends. Quality bar. Good oysters. The best.

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Posted in: dining out, paris, Uncategorized | Tags: bar, beer, beer bar, brooklyn brewery, brooklyn brewery launch party at le mary celeste, filles du calvaire, le mary celeste, oysters, paris, paris bar, travel | 1 COMMENT

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned my deep and abiding love for beer on this blog yet. I was introduced to craft brew several years ago and fell head-over-heels, to the point where I did a bit of homebrewing in my Santa Monica kitchen before moving to Paris.

Imagine my disappointment when I arrived in France and couldn’t for the life of me find any decent brews. Sure, there were a couple of imports from Belgium at the grocery store, and a few specialty beer shops, but at most restaurants and bars it was the French equivalent of Bud, Miller, and Coors. Shudder.

But to my delight, craft beer has been starting to get a foothold in Paris, partly due to the efforts of people like the folks who put on the Sunday Beer Lunch, a pop-up brewpub event I was lucky enough to attend last weekend with Edna, Emily, and a few of our friends.

The lunch was Cajun-themed in honor of Mardi Gras, with three courses each paired with a delicious craft brew. Shrimp remoulade toasts, muffuletta sandwiches, and pimento cheese were served with light and crisp Saison Dupont. Then spicy (but not too spicy, for the Parisian palettes) jambalaya with Brooklyn Brewery’s EIPA, followed by beignets with chicory crème anglaise and my favorite beer of the day, Meantime Chocolate Porter. All for €30. Unheard of.

No joke: that chicory crème anglaise was so good that we straight-up drank it after the beignets were gone.

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Posted in: dining out, paris | Tags: beer bar, beer in paris, brewpub, brooklyn brewery, brooklyn brewery EIPA, craft beer, food, meantime chocolate porter, paris, popup, restaurant, saison dupont, sunday beer lunch, travel | 1 COMMENT

One snowy Sunday, I met up with wonderful Jackie for a cozy, girly brunch.

Café Charlot is on a bustling corner in the NoMa, full of very chic people desperate to get their sunday œufs brouillés and cafés. Pretty interior, decent brunch food, gruff waiters. It’s the full Parisian experience.

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Posted in: dining out, paris, Uncategorized | Tags: brunch, cafe charlot, chocolat chaud, chocolaterie, dessert, jacques genin, mille-feuille, paris, rbjello, snow, sunday, travel | 3 COMMENTS

I’ve been going out to eat a lot lately. I feel like I’m finally starting to figure out this Paris thing, and a big part of that is hanging out with friends at good restaurants… which means that I’m not cooking as much.

There’s this thing that happens when I eat a lot of restaurant food, though, where I start to crave the kind of thing that restaurants don’t tend to serve. Long-simmered, inexpensive cuts of meat. Saucy brown stuff. The kind of food that isn’t pretty on a plate, but sticks to your ribs.

This is what I want today, after several nights of restaurant food. Fork tender pork meets a nutty, buttery, oniony sauce that’s rendered rich and complex by a cajun-style, chestnut-colored roux. Plus pajamas, plus Netflix, plus beer, equals perfect night in.

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Posted in: cooking, mains | Tags: braise, brown rice, cajun, cooking, dinner, food, main dish, pork, real cajun, rice, smothered pork | 2 COMMENTS

On Sunday mornings, I tend to wake up with a dim sum craving. It’s… inconvenient.

While there is good dim sum in Paris, it turns out it’s way out in the 13th, in the southeast corner of the city. Well one morning I convinced some expat friends to make the trek (in the snow! Uphill both ways!) in search of dumplings and cha siu bao.

Blurry friends are blurry!

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Posted in: dining out, paris | Tags: chine massena, chinese, chinese restaurant, dim sum, dining out, la chine massena, paris, paris dim sum, restaurant | 2 COMMENTS