On a dark cloudy rainy day in the 13C or 54F sitting in my computer looking out the window hearing the thunder of the storm Eleonor in France which luckily by pass us; it’s time for more news on my belle France! Some of the latest changes , trend in culinary delight of Paris are here :
Apicius after 13 yrs there is a change of ownership in the street level of a building in the triangle of gold or Triangle d’Or ; this will be the fifth property by same owner ,other notables are the Ambroisie (managed with his father), then, Hexagone, Histoires and,le Divellec. Apicius. 20, rue d’Artois (8éme). Opens this month Jan 2018. More here: http://restaurant-apicius.com/
The last two floors (French) of the men’s store Au Printemps de l’Homme will be dedicated to French gastronomy with groceries and restaurant area, with chef Akrame Benallal, pâtissier Christophe Michalak, boulanger Gontran Cherrier,the M.O.F fromager Laurent Dubois ,and the Torréfacteur Lomi. Le Printemps du Goût. 7th and 8th floor (FR)du Printemps de l’Homme. 64, bld Haussmann (9éme). Opens January 10th 2018. More here still only in French: https://www.printemps.com/magasins/actualites/ouverture-printemps-du-gout/paris-nation
At the interior of the Halle Charolais with 4500 m2 covered that will host for dinners in large wooden tables the pizzas of Faggio, the Chinese of Mr Zhao,the Mexican of Chilam , and the Argentinian barbecue of The Asado Club. Not to missed either the events space with boutiques and market with a vegetable garden. Ground Control. 81,87 rue du Charolais (12éme). Opens January 19 2018. More here still to be updated: http://www.groundcontrolparis.com/
After the Faubourg Saint-Denis, Oberkampf, and the Marais, Paris New York lands in south Pigalle with it’s tempting burgers and 10 drafts beers local and international. On the fourth spot to rend hommage to the musical story of the neighborhood with a analog sound system. PNY Voyager. 24, rue Pierre Fontaine (9éme). Opens this month Jan 2018.More here: http://www.pny-hamburgers.fr/#pny-voyager
Maison Plisson is growing, three years after boulevard Beaumarchais, they are now in the place du marché Saint-Honoré. Bigger, this new boutique has all the ingredients of the first address with grocery and fresh produce ,cellars, and restaurant. To add a big family table every day with continuous service, tasting rooms and a space dedicated to kitchen utensils. Maison Plisson 2. 35, place du Marché Saint-Honoré (Iéme). Opening May 2018. For now this is it: http://lamaisonplisson.com/
And Gerald Passedat,the 3 stars chef of the Petit Nice at Marseille is annoucing to be in charge of the brasserie of the Hôtel Lutetia,that is due to open in Spring after four years of renovations. The brasserie,completely redone will find its original 1910 look on two levels with terrace hosting up to 180 persons. Brasserie de l’hôtel Lutetia. 45, boulevard Raspail (6éme). OPening Spring of 2018, and gladly waiting for it, many nice memories at the bar here lol!! For now more here: https://www.hotellutetia.com/fr
And now the Fauchon, the hotel. Expecting to open by the summer of 2018 on the place de la Madeleine, historical place of the brand, the very chic Hôtel Fauchon will have a Café Fauchon very artistic that will rend hommage to the French gastronomy in continuous service from breakfast to dinner. Café Fauchon in the Hôtel Fauchon. 11, place de la Madeleine (8éme). Again opening by Summer of 2018. For now this in French: https://www.luxe-et-passions.com/Ete_2018_ouverture_de_l_Hotel_Fauchon_Paris.html
And how about those galettes des rois for Epiphany in France, some of my best selection.
Pâtisseries Benoît Castel. 72, rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud (11éme).As well at 150, rue de Ménilmontant (20éme) , and street level at the Lafayette Gourmet (Galeries Lafayette)(9éme). Done with leaves in reverse starting from AOP butter, garnish with almond cream and vanilla of Madagascar, a model of the galette de roi 27€ for 6 persons. The lucky ones will find a bean figurine of the cider and juice brand Le Coq Toqué normand to share a galette and cider bio to offers.More here: http://benoitcastel.com/
They have imagine a galette in a dough simple with butter in the middle covered with hot meringue and almonds candies dragées , 32€ for 5 persons, need to cook for 5 minutes at 150C before serving it. The ice cream of almond will not melt as it is protected by the meringue on white of the egg that will become crusty. Une Glace à Paris. 15, rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie (4éme).And 44, rue des Abbesses (18éme).More here: http://uneglaceaparis.fr/web/
It is available in the classic version, perfum with rum agricole from teh Caribbean Martinique, but also in chocolate. The almond cream is very nicely blend with the crusty dough as well as fondant 34,80€ for 6 persones. Sébastien Gaudard. 22, rue des Martyrs (9éme). As well as 1, rue des Pyramides (Iéme).More here: http://www.sebastiengaudard.com/
And mixing in a charitable worthy cause like each year the Disciples d’Auguste Escoffier Paris organise with the support of the caterer Potel & Chabot, the Galette du Coeur, place Saint-Germain-des-Prés. This 14th edition will be on Saturday January 6 between 9h and 12H . A bit late in reporting but worth it anyway to post. The galette is done by the great chefs themselves such as Pierre Hermé, Yves Camdeborde, Hélène Darroze, Thierry Marx, Eric Frechon, Guy Savoy, Jean-Luc Poujauran, Gilles Marchal ,and Gontran Cherrier. All the funds goes to help the charity association des POIC (Pseudo Obstructions Intestinales Chroniques). Place de l’Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés (6éme). Galettes from 20€ to 50€. More here in French with last year’s picture : http://mon-patissier.restaurantemploi.com/2016/01/06/la-galette-des-chefs-la-galette-du-coeur/
It is the cake with the orange flower ,pistaches, fruits confits and skin of oranges, a crown briochée,as you see often in the Loire region early January 5€ the cake for 6-8 persons. Pâtisseries by Cyril Lignac : 133, rue de Sèvres (6éme), 24, rue Paul-Bert (11éme), 55, boulevard Pasteur (15éme), 2, rue de Chaillot (16éme),and at 9, rue Bayen (17éme. More here: http://www.cyrillignac.com/patisseries/
This one is made in a cake in the form of a hazelnut taste and looks combine. The crown is around the hazelnut one fruit done in majesty inside; 24€ galette for 4-5 persons. Pâtisseries by Yann Couvreur : 137, avenue Parmentier (11éme), and 23 bis, rue des Rosiers (4éme). More here: https://yanncouvreur.com/
As you know Champagne is French ….they have sold more than 312 millions bottles in 2015 (numbers coming from the Comité Champagne). The increase has been by an large due to exports outside Europe, that went from 134 to 150 millions in five years. Comité Champagne, will tell you the Champagne is not threatens by other bubblies from Italy or Spain especially. The Champagne stays the leader in sales volumes even if they only produce less than 10% of the sparkler wines in the world market. The sales has gone down to 268 million bottles in 2016 due to world economic situation, and still has over 300 houses today. Pinot Noir apports 38%, Meunier 31%, and Chardonnay 31%. 4,7B euros with 2,6B exports. In bottles the top countries are UK, USA, and Germany, but ,also, Italy and Spain in the top 10! This is the official site of the Comité Champagne growers; https://www.champagne.fr/en/champagne-economy/key-market-statistics
Something closer to me, the oysters of Brittany are tops. And one of the toppers is Prat-Ar-Coum, used by all the grand chefs of France including Guy Martin, Pierre Gagnaire, Alain Passard, and Alain Ducasse. The owner is at this spot since 1898, Yvon Madec in the bay of Aber-Benoît at Lannilis, Finistére. He proposes oysters and lobsters there on his cabin. Prat-Ar-Coum, 29870 Lannilis :tel for orders +33 (0) 2.98.04.00.12 and webpage here : http://prat-ar-coum.fr/fr
It’s about time the car dealers are gone from the Avenue des Champs-Elysées as once was known as the avenue of the automobile. Mercedes Benz was the last one leaving during 2017. Toyota did it last October 8th, Citroën was out December 31st last; the site at no 42 opened by André Citroën in 1927. The 100 million persons that walk this avenue every year will dream no more of these cars. All because big increase in rents, fear of the automobile due to ecologists, and the pedestrian fancy of the city with airport boutiques all are good reason to make the auto makers leave. There are still some there such as Fiat, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati there since 2010 at the rond-point des Champs-Élysées. Renault, the first one since 1910 and Peugeot have no intention of leaving. You can still come to DS World on the nearby avenue François 1er and reach the BMW by the avenue George V. Citroën, has chosen to create their concept store name the «La Maison Citroën» at 39 rue Saint-Didier.
In a few years about 95K passengers will transit on the new station or Gare du Pont de Sévres in Boulogne-Billancourt. It will have brand new sidewalks and hallways to reach the line 15 Sud or the Line 9. However, for this to happened heavy work has to be done here; they need to close part of the road D1 starting Thursday January 4 night. The D1 will be prohibited traffic between the pont de Sévres and the pont Renault for 34 months! I like to take this route sometimes so alternatives, here is the map of the construction .
And the new invited person to preside over the French film 71st Festival de Cannes next May will be the Australian actress Cate Blanchett, already with two Oscars herself . A designation showing support for the proper behavior of men, or sexual harrasement. She will be soon in the new films Ocean’s 8 and also in Where’d you go Bernadette, an adaptation of the Maria Semple novel by Richard Linklater. More on the event here: http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/
There is a nice shopping center to shop for clothing in Paris. This is the Centre Commercial at 2 rue de Marseille, between place de la République and the Canal Saint Martin in the 10éme arrondissement. All in transparency for the ethical sales of clothing, accessories and misc. All done with ecological material or recycle and decent work ethics. They have just open a new location at 9 rue Madame (6éme). More info here: http://www.centrecommercial.cc/
On the rive gauche or left bank of Paris, there is the store Merci, 3 bvld Beaumarchais (11éme). L’ens with historical brands. Also, PHM Saints Péres at 50, rue des Saints-Pères, (7éme) dedicated to men’s labels in exclusivity. The store The Broken Arm , 12, rue Perrée, (3éme) in a creative way; clothing for the now men. Here are the webpages
https://www.merci-merci.com/fr/
http://www.phmsaintsperes.com/
https://www.the-broken-arm.com/fr/
Enjoy my belle France, and almost weekend already!!! Cheers!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 