Eggs & Co: A Parisian Brunch Experience

Ah, brunch. The perfect combination of sweet and savory with a particular temporal flexibility that all other meals lack. Got a lot of stuff to do? Go early at normal breakfast time. Stayed out too late the night before? No problem. In college Sunday brunch was the meal everyone looked forward to; the only redeeming thing about the one day of the week when people were most likely to do their homework. Brunch is not really a French thing, but as with other food trends (see: burgers, cupcakes, coffee shops) it appears to be catching on. So when I met up with a visiting high school friend this weekend, the logical activity was to check out one such restaurant.

Eggs & Co is located on a tiny side street in the swanky Saint Germain neighborhood. Once seated in the cozy dining mezzanine, the only choice you have to make is how you want your eggs. I went with the only word I recognized: omelette. As per the brunch menu, it was served with potatoes and a mixed salad, followed by fruit salad and a pancake which, unfortunately, was incredibly dense and impermeable to maple syrup.

The bottom line: good ambiance but the food is overpriced. However, Eggs & Co has the distinction of serving brunch every day - most restaurants only serve it on weekends.

 

Burgers in Paris, Part Deux

Les nomz

Just when I was starting to get used to living in a French atmosphere I went away to Scandinavia, where everyone speaks nearly flawless English. In some ways it was almost like being at home, except that they use strange currencies and everyone is very blonde and blue-eyed...

Okay, so I guess it was more like being in an alternate universe, but the point is that I could communicate with people without wildly gesticulating and looking like an idiot. And then I returned to Paris, where my brain now struggles to form simple sentences in French. 

If you asked me during my first week here whether I would ever want go to back home, the answer would probably be no. But now that the blinders have come off a bit I'll definitely be ready to leave by next summer. There's no denying that Paris is a beautiful city, but one tends to spend most of the time looking down at the ground avoiding piles of dog poop - seriously, it's worse than Manhattan.

Le camion. Probably easier to spot by the long line that forms at lunch time.

For these reasons and more I've been feeling a little homesick, which is why I decided it was time to seek out Le camion qui fume - one of only two burger-grilling mobile food joints in Paris. Whereas Cantine California focuses more on...California/Mexican-influenced street food, Le camion qui fume is all about straight up burgers. Oh, and their fries are better than In-n-Out's.

Yes, I went there. Come to Paris and prove me wrong.

For more objective assessment on the cultural significance of food trucks in Paris, I suggest you read this NYT article.

Haute Dining at The Cube by Electrolux, Stockholm

A sleek, modern dining room and kitchen set atop a world-famous landmark featuring a custom menu created by a top local chef. Such is the concept behind The Cube by Electrolux, a traveling pop-up restaurant currently perched on the roof of Stockholm's opera house. With just two seatings per day and a single table set for twenty guests, The Cube marries haute cuisine, design and ambience for an unforgettable and intimate dining experience.

Beginning with champagne and appetizers on the patio, we had a chance to mingle with our fellow diners while admiring the city from up high. The host made a quick introduction to The Cube, and then we went inside to be seated for our three-course lunch. It felt a bit strange at first dining with strangers, but thanks to the generous wine pairings it was only a matter of time before conversations flowed freely. (That, and Swedes seem to be quite friendly).

First up we had spider crab from Wales with pickled melon and melon sorbet paired with a riesling. Then, for the main course, chicken with licorice sauce, white onion and lime, served with shiraz. Dessert was a refreshing English pea and mint tart on a chocolate shell with coconut sorbet and second glass of champagne. And finally, in true French style (our chef originally hails from Lyon), lunch was followed by coffee, tea and mini Madeleines.

While it's too bad that the weather wasn't more cooperative, the food, company and scenery were more than enough to compensate. So if The Cube is ever in a city near you (the host hinted America might be next), take the splurge and make a reservation; you won't regret it.

Farewell Dinner

Casual dinner party at a friend’s apartment for a classmate who left to go back home. Bruschetta, veggie lasagna and, of course, pastries from two different bakeries.

Lovely evening filled with good company, good food and good wine. Stayed up too late talking (a throwback to sleepovers of yesteryear) so now it’s time to rest up before my flight out to Oslo tomorrow.

Eating in the Dark

As a post final exam celebration, a group of us embarked on what I can only describe as the extreme of sensory experiences and adventurous eating: we had dinner at Dans le Noir.

A trendy restaurant with branches in Paris, London, Barcelona, New York and Saint Petersburg, Dans le Noir attempts to turn haute cuisine on its head by having patrons eat, well, in the dark. But it’s not just any kind of darkness; it’s the sort of pitch black that exists only in nightmares; the kind that even eyes with 20/20 vision cannot adjust to.

They say that you eat with your eyes first. Well, at Dans le Noir you end up eating with pretty much everything else. Adaptive plasticity is what enables blind people’s other senses to become heightened, and so too after being seated, it’s up to your nose, mouth and fingers to try to discern what’s on the plate in front of you. Because having a blind meal is only part of the fun - the other part is that you’re only told what you’re served after you’ve eaten it. So course by course you’re left guessing what the chef prepared. In theory this kind of literal blind tasting should make you appreciate food for more than its aesthetics - the odors, the textures, etc. In practice, though, it’s a much less dignified experience. Eating without being able to see poses a number of challenges, like getting the food from the plate into your mouth and not onto your face.

Our server, despite her best efforts, managed to spill some wine on my lap and clip the back of my head with a plate. But this was nothing compared to poor George, one half of the British couple seated somewhere to my left, whose dessert sampler somehow got shoved right into his nose.

While the eating part of the meal was tricky, talking to people when you can’t see them was possibly even more disconcerting. I suppose we must have been speaking at an elevated volume to compensate, for our server kept urging us not to shout. So while I can’t ultimately recommend the food, I can say that the experience produces a lot of conversational gems, like the following.

“I just ate a lemon.”

“What is this shit?!”

“Ow! That was my nose!”

“I keep picking up my fork, and then it’s empty.”

“Who’s touching my leg?!”

“I hope this wine is going into my glass…”

“OH MY GOD! WAS THAT SQUID??”

“You’re talking right into my face. Are you trying to kiss me?”

“Alright, screw it. I’m using my fingers.”

So, if you’re ever in need of a creative first date…

 

The Best Falafel Outside of Israel?

Yesterday M and I met up in the Marais area for lunch at what is generally regarded by foodies as the best falafel in Paris. Located on the trendy Rue des Rosiers (see previous post), just the queue outside L’As du Fallafel at midday should be an indication that the restaurant is better than all the rest.

If you don’t feel like awkwardly eating on the street trying not to be a a slob in public (a challenge, given how much they pack into each pita), skip the takeout window and head inside to grab a table.

 

Steak & Fries at Le Relais de L'Entrecôte

Yesterday I only had one class, after which I met up with a Stanford friend who was visiting Paris with his family for an afternoon of shopping and strolling. Well, I did most of the shopping, but he was a good sport about it.

At my roommate’s suggestion, we started at Montparnasse-Bienvenue and headed toward Saint Germain on Rue de Rennes, making a brief detour at the Jardin du Luxembourg. Rue de Rennes and its many side streets are full of cool, trendy boutiques - perhaps almost too much so. I caught my first real glimpse of French hipsters, and I’d say they’re probably more intimidating (more hip?) than American hipsters.

Rue de Rennes is also notable because it ends at Boulevard Saint-Germain, where the famous Café de Flore and Les Deux Magot (old haunts of philosophers, intellectuals and writers) sit side by side. Originally I thought it would be a nice way to end the evening - eating at a restaurant that Ernest Hemingway used to frequent - but a glance at the pricey menu suggested otherwise.

We continued wandering the neighborhood looking for more affordable fare when, just around the corner, we stumbled upon the popular Le Relais de L’Entrecôte. Judging by the high concentration of English-speakers it’s a big draw for tourists, although I’m not exactly sure why. What it offers is a fixed-price set menu consisting of salad as appetizer, followed by the main dish: steak (drenched in the secret house sauce) and french fries. Not to mention you get a refill on the latter.

We agreed that the food (although tasty!) wasn’t quite worth the long wait to get seated but, all things considered, it was a good end to a good day.