Smoked pork and homemade roasted chili verde get married to combine a heart warming sure to spice things up! Check out the recipe!
Submitted by Megan Link
The Housewife in Training Files
Potluck: Smoked pork chili verde
6
Author Archives: vicentesf
Foie gras cuit au torchon – L’Epigramme
Duck liver cooked “in a towel” (usually shaped into a log shape using cheesecloth or plastic wrap), watermelon gelee, sprouts (+3€ supplemental). Entree/Plat/Dessert option 28€
L’Epigramme, Paris FR
Like I said in a previous post, this was our favorite meal/restaurant during our trip. The place is actually really small without any sidewalk tables, but I think they can seat a few people outside in their adjacent patio. There seemed to be 5 people working here – an older man and woman along with a younger lady worked the front, and two guys worked the small kitchen which was visible from the small dining room.
The woman (probably in her 40’s?) was our waitress and she was amazing! She knew just a little more English than we knew French (which is barely anything), but she did a great job explaining all the menu items through gestures and broken English phrases, bless her! There were no paper menus, but a 3-foot tall dry erase board that she brought to the table for us to look at. Later, she had to grab the other dry erase board hanging outside the front door because there were more tables ordering. It thought that was charming. 🙂
I’m sorry to all the animal activists, but I had to order foie gras since it’s banned in California. Ok, I’m not actually sorry, hehe. I love this stuff! What I do feel bad about was having to eat this entire thing on my own because my dining partner doesn’t like foie gras. But I was NOT about to let a good thing go to waste! It was absolutely delicious, but way too much for just one person. I thought the presentation was beautiful and the little watermelon gelee logs were super cute.
Arc de Triomphe, Place Charles de Gaulle. This triumphal arch commemorates the soldiers from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. It’s a pretty magnificent sight to see!
Kir cocktail – L’Arganier
Creme de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) topped with white wine. 4€
L’Arganier, Paris FR
We stopped by this place to grab some quick drinks before dinner. We sat outside at a table on the narrow sidewalk, awkwardly positioned to avoid passersby. Our waitress was hoot! Her English wasn’t the best, but she was SO friendly and accommodating with our lack of French. That’s one thing I appreciated about our Paris trip – everyone was SO nice and we didn’t get any flack for not knowing the language. But then again, we’re fairly well-traveled and try not to be the quintessential loud, annoying Americans everyone. Lol! 😉
Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis church, rue Saint Antoine, Marais. This beautiful Roman Catholic church was around the corner from our hotel and near the Saint Paul Metro station.
Falafel sandwich – L’As du Fallafel
Pita stuffed with chickpea fritters, hummus, lightly pickled red cabbage, salted cucumbers, fried eggplant, tahini, harissa. 5,50€
L’As du Fallafel, Paris FR
This place is a MUST visit when in Paris! It’s supposedly the best falafel in the city and some would argue the best in most of Europe. Those are some strong words that I’ve read on other sites, lol! I will say that this falafel was absolutely delicious. I didn’t try another falafel in Paris for comparison, but that didn’t take away from the enjoyment I felt from eating this one or how tasty it was.
L’As du Fallafel sits on the Rue des Rosiers which was relatively near our hotel. It’s a really cool section of the Marais that boasts an unexpected Jewish neighborhood complete with synagogues, kosher butchers and bakeries. It’s quite surprising to first walk into the area and feel completely transported to another city. It’s somehow starkly delineated from the surrounding neighborhood by the people, stores, and general vibe – quite exciting actually.
There’s always a line for this place because everyone seems to know about it, but it goes fairly quickly. A guy works the line and gets your order and payment before giving you a “claim check” for your order to turn in at the window. I feel bad, but we were standing in line talking when this random guy came up and started asking us something that we couldn’t understand. I mistook him for some street person trying to sell us something so I think I responded in a rudish kinda way. I immediately realized my error and apologized for not being about to speak French, lol! I’m such a dork!
We both ordered our falafels “hot” so they came with extra harissa. These “sandwiches” were HUGE! We didn’t want to sit in what limited indoor seating they offered so we just found a curb nearby and sat with everyone else. I think it took me 15 minutes or so to eats this monster! And it messy and fun! I would take little nibbles and immediately reach for napkins to wipe off my saucy mouth. The tahini-based sauce and harissa are a killer combination. Besides the perfectly cooked falafel, the eggplants were one of my favorite components. NOMS!
I think I’ll always remember that simple meal, sitting on the dirty curb alongside other tourists, watching people pass by while trying to fend off a throng of expert pigeons, and reveling in our communal enjoyment of a special piece of Paris.
View of Notre Dame Cathedral from Pont de la Tournelle bridge.
Ham sandwich – Le Rostand
Jambon. 3,50€
Le Rostand, Paris FR
Omg, I think this was the best food item I purchased under 4 euros! And it was huge! It was an entire baguette stuffed with slices of delicious, tender ham. Noms!
Le Rostand menu.
Beach volleyball in front of Hotel de Ville (Paris town hall) during Paris Plages 2013.
Lemon basil sorbet – Raimo Kiosk
1 scoop 3€
Raimo Kiosk, Paris FR
I guess this flavor won some contest in Paris for the best sorbet in the city. Hmm, I’m not convinced, lol! This was a little too tart for me, and it was too icy and melted quickly. We went to the kiosk at the Jardin de Plantes so it was at least a really pretty location.
Raimo napkin.
The Pantheon, Latin Quarter. This building now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens. It was under construction during our visit.
Cucumber gazpacho – L’Epigramme
Gaspacho de concombre. Entree/Plat option 24€
L’Epigramme, Paris FR
We came to this randomly located restaurant for lunch because I read good blog reviews for it online. OMG, I’m so glad we did because this was the BEST meal we had in Paris! I will qualify that statement by saying that we really didn’t do any crazy fancy, expensive restaurants because we still had a wedding to attend followed by a London visit. And we knew that our wallets were gonna feel really empty after everything was said and done.
Anyway, L’Epigramme offered an appetizer/entree or entree/dessert option for 24€ OR an appetizer/entree/dessert option for 28€. Because we’re not big dessert people, we had one of each option so that we could at least try one of the desserts. For the quality of the food we received, these prices were amazing!
This cucumber gazpacho was so refreshing and had a wonderful flavor. I think it was beautifully prepared!
Cauliflower spread and crostini. Complimentary amuse bouche
We weren’t expecting an amuse bouche, so this was a pleasant surprise. It seemed a fairly simple dish, but it was SO delicious and the texture of the finely chopped cauliflower was great.
Fountain at the Champ de Mars. This green space adjacent to the Eiffel Tower is really pretty, but seems SO large on a hot day filled with nonstop walking, lol!
Assorted cheese plate – La Perle
Planche de fromages. Bleu d’auvergne AOP, emmental, Cantal AOP, camembert. 13€
La Perle, Paris FR
Omg, when this came out we were unsure if we had miscommunicated with the waitress and were subsequently served 2 orders of the cheese plate. Our French is nonexistent and she wasn’t completely fluent with English (god bless her for baring with us). There was SO much cheese! Instead of worrying about it, we decided to just go with the flow and eat. We if had to pay for 2 cheese plates we were fine with that. The cheeses were delicious and very filling. I was fooled by the hard pat of butter on the plate which I mistook for another cheese, lol! In my defense it really tasted different from American butter, hehe. I’m still puzzled why they serve butter with cheese and charcuterie as if any more fat is needed. There was no way we were going to finish this cheese plate so we ate as much as we could. It ended up being a single order! Sheesh, how can anyone eat that much cheese. 🙂
Sliced baguette. Complimentary
The Wall for Peace, Champs de Mars. Clara Halter and Jean-Michel Wilmotte, 2000. Inspired by the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem.
Croque madame – La Cooperative
De pain de campagne, frites et salade. Ham and cheese sandwich topped with fried egg, country bread, French fries and salad. 9,90€
La Cooperative, Paris FR
I thought I’d try a croque madame in France! Hmm, I’m not sure if this is how they’re supposed to be normally, but I wasn’t a fan. The bread was really toasted, as evidenced by the dark broiled cheese and dry edges, so it was hard and difficult to eat. I’m used to croque madames that are softly oozing with melted cheese and perhaps some bechamel thrown in for added moisture. This plate was gigantic though so it was a great value. I could only eat half of it, but the girl at the table next to us had no trouble finishing hers off, omg! The fries were also limp and bland.
Louvre Museum. Everything is so huge in Paris! The number of beautiful buildings is astounding so it’s not difficult to constantly be snapping pics. We walked the grounds of the Louvre but never made it inside. We didn’t want to bother with the long line and we were getting too tired to fully appreciate such a large museum once inside.
Ham and cheese omelette – Le Rostand
Omelette mixte (jambon et fromage). Garnished with chopped chives. 10€
Le Rostand, Paris FR
This cafe is conveniently located across from the Luxembourg Garden. There’s plenty of seats outside and they’re all covered by their awning. The staff is very nice and professional and the food was delicious. Omg, this omelet was huge! And perfectly cooked. It was soft and oozing with cheese – a perfect meal to kickstart a day of sightseeing.
Coffee.
Palais du Luxembourg. This beautiful is the seat of the French Senate. Wow, what a great work location! And it’s in the Jardin du Luxembourg which is a picturesque setting.
New feature: Restaurant Map!
I’ve finally got around to creating the Vittle Monster Restaurant Map! Each of the map pins contains a link to my food reviews for that location.
Thanks to my fellow bloggers for the suggestion and push. Enjoy and happy eating!
Crepes au Grand Marnier – Feria Cafe
8€
Feria Cafe, Paris FR
We came here during a late-ish night of walking around in the perfectly warm summer air. This area was definitely a tourist trap section with packed restaurants and abundant outdoor seating. Our feet were tired and we were hungry so we snatched a seat at Feria Cafe. I guess it’s supposed to be a tapas restaurant, but their extensive menu has a bit of everything to please any tourist who happens to chance by.
I could have ordered Spanish tapas, burgers or any number of random fried food from the menu but I was in the mood for crepes. This was probably not the best place for crepes, but I always cave in to my cravings. I mean, does it really matter if the crepes are horrible if they’re drenched in orange-flavored cognac liqueur?! LOL! Ok, I guess it does because the crepes were still bad. They poured so much Grand Marnier on the crepes that only part of it burned off after they flambeed the plate. It was like eating crepes dipped in pure alcohol. Lame!
Cafe Viennois. 5,50€
So this version is apparently more a Wiener Melange (cappuccino) than an espresso con panna (espresso with whipped cream). Oh well.
July Column, Place de la Bastille. For some reason, I thought that this area would have some kind of Bastille museum, but it’s just a square with a column in the center. It’s also a major roundabout so the traffic is busy.
Vittle Monster 