Ahhh, Paris. I’ve imagined going to Paris since I was six years old. The fashion, the language, 
the food, the romance – it’s always been this insanely gorgeous image in my head. It did not disappoint. October in Paris is so romantic. It’s cool but not cold, the leaves are changing and while it’s pretty much always packed with tourists, it’s definitely “off season” in that regard. It would be easy to get carried away in this post about everything I loved about Paris (um … everything) but instead, I will focus on the food.
Matt and I arrived in Paris at 9AM on a Monday but we couldn’t check into our hotel until 2 o’clock. No matter. We dropped our bags and were anxious to explore. We stayed in the Trocadéro area of the city, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. In fact, we could see the Eiffel Tower from our room. This area is pretty touristy but we seemed to catch a break from the crowds … meaning there were none, anywhere. Seriously, we waited maybe fifteen minutes to head up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, an activity that most tourism sites tell you to allocate about 3 hours to do. Anyway, it’s also an upscale area with tons of shopping, fine dining and fancy bars. We spent the day café hopping sipping cappuccino and wine and snacking on macaroons (oh man I ate SO MANY macaroons) and cheese. It was, in a word, perfect.
That first night we kept things local too since we were both completely exhausted. We walked to a restaurant down the street and grabbed a small table by the window. We ordered a bottle of wine and some foie gras in the worst French ever spoken and marveled at how decadent our appetizer was. Matt had a steak for dinner and we laughed with our waiter when he teased me for ordering duck. “Every course for you is duck!”
I proved him wrong by capping the meal with the best hot chocolate I have ever had. Ever. Chocolat Chaud is made with milk, heavy cream and REAL chocolate (at least 60-70% 
cacao). It’s served with sugar on the side but I never needed it. It is rich and velvety and it warms your soul and makes you happy. This is a bad photo but I closed my eyes like that EVERY time I had one (I had at least one every day).
The rest of our time in Paris was pretty similar to this first day. We picnicked in front of the Louvre, shared cheese plates in café after café, ate our weight in foie gras and indulged in chocolate croissants and ALL the bread every day. But there was on day that really stood out.
It was our last day not only in Paris but of the honeymoon. *Sad face* We woke up early and took the metro about an hour to the other end of the city. We left the hotel hungry because we had plans to meet up with a Michelin Star rated chef at his apartment for a cooking lesson. We all walked to his favorite open air market with no grocery list and no plan.
“You cannot set a menu without first checking to see all the market has to offer and you absolutely MUST walk the entire market before you even consider buying anything.”
Walk the market we did. Do you know how hard it is to walk a Parisian market when you’re hungry and not buy the first thing that you see?! Anyway, Chef Frederic taught us how to determine which vegetables/seafood/cheese/poultry were the most fresh and then, within moments, proposed a three course menu based on what he had seen. Impressive, right?
We would start with beets stuffed with goat cheese, pine nuts, chives and shallots. The goat cheese had been made only a couple days beforehand so that’s the level of freshness we were dealing with. Our second course was set as seared scallops (that were alive when we bought them) over quick sauteed julienne carrots, zucchini and bean sprouts and last but never least, a passion fruit souffle for dessert.
Ingredients in hand, we strolled back to Chef Frederic’s apartment, spent a few minutes playing with his puppy, Lucy, and then got to work. He walked us through the preparation for each dish and then showed us how he wanted the plates presented. I learned that you could eat a different cheese every day for a year and a half and still not have tried all the cheese that Paris has to offer, that my knife skills are lacking and that my ability to drink wine while cooking is impressive.
The food was amazing. It was so fresh and so light. Ugh, I wish I was eating it all again right now.
“Paris was a universe whole and entire unto herself, hollowed and fashioned by history; so she seemed in this age of Napoleon III with her towering buildings, her massive cathedrals, her grand boulevards and ancient winding medieval streets–as vast and indestructible as nature itself. All was embraced by her, by her volatile and enchanted populace thronging the galleries, the theaters, the cafes, giving birth over and over to genius and sanctity, philosophy and war, frivolity and the finest art; so it seemed that if all the world outside her were to sink into darkness, what was fine, what was beautiful, what was essential might there still come to its finest flower. Even the majestic trees that graced and sheltered her streets were attuned to her–and the waters of the Seine, contained and beautiful as they wound through her heart; so that the earth on that spot, so shaped by blood and consciousness, had ceased to be the earth and had become Paris.”
― Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire
Rebecca McKinney
I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.
So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!
Eat well & travel often,
Becky McKinney
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