It was something of a vacation of discovery as I found that while I saw a lot of fine chocolate pastries and desserts, I never actually ordered any. I apologize for the disappointment this may cause any readers.
Tart, couscous, and obligatory wine at Rodin Cafe |
"Les Cocottes" was the restaurant recommended to me by a co-worker before I left Seattle and it was a lovely spot too. We sat at the counter which meant we had ringside seats for watching the staff torture the new hire who was wearing an "Apprenti" nametag. He was painstakingly slow in all that he did, and too bashful to answer my question about an ingredient in the featured cocktail though the other servers did their best to force him to speak. The food was good too, particularly my panacotta with mango topping dessert.
Panacotta, coffee, and remains of obligatory wine at Les Cocottes |
But, oh! how all other desserts paled when compared to the raspberry tart at Lenotre by the park on the Champs Elysées (Jardins des Champs-Elysées, I believe; one of the spots that M Proust used to walk about if one is to believe the signage). Lenotre might be a fairly high-end restaurant but they had reasonable (by Parisian standards) prices for food during their "salon de the" hours which happened to be about the time we decided we were famished somewhere between the "closed-due-to-strike" Musee D'Orsay and the Arc de Triomphe. The gazpacho soup I had was nice enough but the tart--oh my goodness me, the tart!--is what causes me to have a faraway look in my eyes. And the coffee came with some swanky little chocolate squares, just so I can say that I had chocolate in Paris:
Lenotre: The little cup holds raspberry syrup to pour over the tart. |
I don't remember the cannelle at Jeanne B; you'll have to remind me what it was like. I remember the potatoes, though. Those were some fine.
ReplyDeleteSee what happens when I don't bring the camera? Though odds are you would have thrown a glass of wine all over it that night.
DeleteI had forgotten about spilling the glass of wine. Really, my table manners are deplorable. You can't take me anywhere.
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