tag: wine

Another photo assignment during my recent week in Paris: Le Mary Celeste!

Le Mary Celeste, or LMC for short, holds a special place in my heart. I attended the Brooklyn Brewery launch party there with a huge group of friends, which involved copious amounts of free craft beer. (Tests indicate that free craft beer will win you my friendship and admiration approximately 100% of the time.)

I also had the opportunity to interview chef Haan a few months ago, and I’ve got to say that his food just keeps getting better and better — not to say that I didn’t miss that incredible cauliflower dish they had on the menu a while back this time.

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Posted in: dining out, paris | Tags: bar, beer, Brooklyn beer, brooklyn brewery paris, ceviche, cocktail, cocktail bar, food, kimchi, korean, le mary celeste, le mary celeste paris, lmc, lmc paris, oyster bar, paris, paris bar, Paris Marais, paris photo trip 2013, paris restaurant, Rain Dog, restaurant, scallops, tacos, Toronto, watermelon, wine | 0 COMMENTS

Les Cocottes is one of those restaurants I’ve been hearing about for ages. Two years ago, when I visited Paris for the first time, a friend of mine in LA who had spent part of his honeymoon here insisted that I try one of Christian Constant’s restaurants, as he had had his favorite meal of his entire trip at Le Violon d’Ingres.

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to visit this place, but what better way to visit than with resident expert, Carin? I think she goes to Les Cocottes as often as I go to Frenchie bar à vins, which is kind of saying a lot.

Ravioles de langoustines, mousseline d’artichauts

I started with the langoustine ravioli, which has been lauded far and wide in the Paris blog scene as the entrèe to get, and not without cause. The shellfish was as tender and sweet as any I’ve had,  matched perfectly with the rich artichoke mousseline. And hiding the unattractively-colored mousseline under a blanket of creamy foam? Clever trick, that.

All of the dishes here — even the desserts — come in cast-iron Staub cocottes and pans, hence the name. It’s a cute concept, even though lots of these dishes were clearly not actually cooked in the cocottes in which they are served.

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Posted in: dining out, paris, Uncategorized | Tags: 75007, christian constant, food, gaufre, langoustine ravioli, les cocottes, les cocottes paris, paris restaurant, pigeon a l'ail, restaurant, soupe d'asperges, travel, wine | 12 COMMENTS

On a night so cold that my glasses immediately fogged up upon entering the building, I met up with T for drinks and snacks at Septime’s new offshoot bottle shop / wine bar.

Let’s get our expectations straightened out: Septime La Cave is not the kind of wine bar to which one goes for dinner. One goes for some nice little nibbles and a glass or two of beautiful wine.

There are bottles, which can be had for a €7 corkage fee, lining the walls. No tables to speak of, but a bit of counter space to work with.

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Posted in: dining out, paris, Uncategorized | Tags: 75011, bar, charcuterie, food, paris, paris wine bar, septime, septime cave, septime la cave, snacks, travel, wine, wine bar | 6 COMMENTS

This week I learned… something… about restraint… or knowing your limits… or something like that. It’s all kind of a blur really.

So what happened is that my French class partners, Tríona and Oisin, invited me to something called “12 Pubs of Christmas.” Basically, the goal was to hit up twelve different pubs in twelve hours, drinking a beer at each one. We started with a lovely brunch at Tríona and Oisin’s place, where we all looked bright-eyed and chipper in our Christmas jumpers.

Each pub had a rule, such as: you must wear a Christmas jumper, or drink with your non-dominant hand, or not call anyone by their real name. Penalties for rule-breakers included drinking shots and doing Irish dances. Keep this sober, late-morning photo in mind. We degenerated quickly.

I think part of the thing I learned was something about not starting out too strong. There were two options you could choose from to fully participate: drink one pint at each  pub (A-team), or one half-pint (B-team). Note that, in Paris, what they call a pint is really 500cl, so the A-teamers would be drinking a total of six liters total. I decided to start out on the A-team, then kick down to the B-team eventually. That decision was my downfall.

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Posted in: dining out, life, paris, Uncategorized | Tags: #12pubs, 12 pubs of christmas, bar, bar à vin, beer, christmas jumpers, drinking, frenchie, frenchie bar a vins, friends, irish pubs, paris, paris restaurant, paris wine bars, pubs, restaurants, travel, ventreche, where's me jumper, wine | 3 COMMENTS