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Life in Paris: La Semaine du Goût

// October 14th, 2009 // Comments // General, Restaurants

You would never know it by looking at their women, but the French love to eat. The longer I live in France and Paris in particular, the more I realize how much French life revolves around food. Understanding this and the fact that the French love to celebrate just about every aspect of their culture (heritage, arts, fashion, etc.) helps explain why there’s a week committed entirely to the favorite of the their five senses…taste. Yes, this week is “La Semaine du Goût” or “The Week of Taste,” a week dedicated to appreciating taste and food.

La Semaine du Goût, Paris, France

Unlike other food-related weeks around the world (e.g. “Restaurant Week” in New York City), which focuses primarily on giving people deals on restaurants, La Semaine du Goût has pedagogic goals. According to the official website, the goals of La Semaine du Goût are:

1. Provide taste education for consumers
2. Teach the diversity of tastes and flavors
3. Provide transparent information and teaching about products origin, production methods and their specificity
4. Transfer skills and know-how
5. Highlight the pleasure of taste
6. Encourage behavior and food consumption as part of a balanced land sustainable lifestyle

Pretty great goals, if you ask me. Don’t get me wrong, however, La Semaine du Goût is not all about teaching, as there’s plenty of fun to be had. The website provides an extensive list of “Les Tables du Gout” or some of the best restaurants in Paris where France’s most famous cooks prepare their specialties at highly discounted prices for students, residents and visitors alike. Additionally, throughout Paris in schools, culinary institutes and various public spaces there are free cooking classes, taste testing and wine sampling.

It goes without saying but you foodies out there in Paris should make sure to take advantage of this week’s festivities before its over. And to the rest of you around the world, don’t miss out next year. La Semaine du Goût ends on October 18th.

Life in Paris: Sunday Dinner with Jim Haynes (14th Arrond.)

// October 4th, 2009 // Comments // General, Restaurants

For those of you who follow my Twitter account, you are probably already aware that last Sunday I attended my first ever Jim Haynes dinner over in the 14th Arrondissement. Many who live in Paris or frequent the city may have already heard of Jim, but for the rest of you let me provide a brief introduction. Jim Haynes, a world traveler and expat living here in Paris, has opened his home to complete strangers every Sunday for the past 30 years or so.

Sunday Dinner with Jim Haynes, Paris, France

In Jim’s own words,

“Every week for the past 30 years, I’ve hosted a Sunday dinner in my home in Paris. People, including total strangers, call or e-mail to book a spot… Every Sunday a different friend prepares a feast. Last week it was a philosophy student from Lisbon, and next week a dear friend from London will cook.

People from all corners of the world come to break bread together, to meet, to talk, connect and often become friends. All ages, nationalities, races, professions gather here, and since there is no organized seating, the opportunity for mingling couldn’t be better. I love the randomness.

I believe in introducing people to people…”

As you might imagine, Jim is an extremely interesting and personable man whose outlook on life is inspiring. The writer of a number of books, Jim has enough experiences with people, traveling and women (according to his books) to make just about any conversation and interesting and enlightening one. He does a wonderful job of going out of his way to make a personal connection with just about every person who attends his dinners.

I first heard about the “Sunday Dinners with Jim Haynes” a few years ago, but had completely forgotten about them since. Recently, my friend Ben visited Paris and recalled hearing about the dinners himself, so we decided to give it a shot. After a brief call to Jim (only 30 minutes before the dinner was to start), we were on our way. Immediately after entering Jim’s home, we felt welcome and began to meet people…from England, Germany, Australia, China…people who were traveling, lived in Paris, expats, newlyweds, and so on. A more eclectic and interesting group of people would be hard to find in one place on a random Sunday night in Paris.

The environment is perfectly set-up to encourage interaction among all the guests. Given the fact that there is no assigned seating or even a dinner table for that matter, we spent most of the night mingling with internationals in the kitchen or out in the garden. Dinner, which included three courses, was delicious.

Jim’s dinners attract a very international community, so the language of choice tends to be English, but there was no shortage of French and other languages being spoken. For the most part everyone was very interesting, though as you might expect you’re bound to meet a couple rather awkward people when you bring a group of 60 strangers together for dinner. Regardless, everyone had an interesting story to tell.

Sunday dinner at Jim’s was a unique and worthwhile experience, without question. I met some very good people, practiced a little bit of my French, discussed business with people from all over the world and may have even made a new friend or two. If you happen to find yourself in Paris on a Sunday evening and want to meet have a good dinner and interesting conversation, you should certainly make time to reserve a spot at Jim’s next time you’re in town.

Want to see this location on a map? Map of My Visits

Paris Restaurant Review: Dans le Noir (4th Arrond.)

// September 29th, 2009 // Comments // Restaurants

I can say without question that I had one of the most interesting dining experiences of my life last night. A close friend of mine is visiting Paris and we were looking to do something out of the ordinary, so we chose to book a reservation at Dans le Noir. “Dans le Noir” directly translated means “In The Dark” and the name of the restaurant could not better sum up the dining experience–you literally dine in complete darkness. Interesting concept, right? The inspiration behind this and other so-called “dark” restaurants around the world is that when diners are deprived of their sense of sight, other senses are heightened–namely the sense of smell and taste.

Dans le Noir, Paris, France

The evening began by checking all items at the door that have the ability to emit light including cell phones, lighters, and watches. Next, we were asked to select what we wanted to have for dinner.  There are only a few options to choose from: appetizer + main course, main course + desert or appetizer + main course + desert. We both chose the third option. While guests have the ability to select what they’ll actually be eating (food allergies are taken into consideration), most choose to go with the “mystery” option which means exactly what it implies–you don’t know what you will be eating. After selecting our dinner option, we were introduced to our waiter Moran. Moran, like the entire wait staff, is completely blind. Each waiter/waitress has memorized every square foot of the interior “dark room” of the restaurant. A brief introduction and instructions followed and then I placed my hands on Moran’s shoulders and Ben did the same to me. We were led into the dark room slowly and when we finally reached our table, I was told to stand completely still while Ben was led around to his seat on the other side of the table. Moran then explained what exactly was on our table and gave us instruction to call his name if we needed anything, then we were alone with our bottle of wine and what I would guess were about 20-40 other diners.

After strategizing for for a minute or two with Ben about how we were going to pour our wine, we eventually agreed that the best move was to pour it while holding one finger just inside the glass–it worked out quite well. A few minutes later our appetizers arrived. Moran called Ben’s name first, as he reached out to feel for his hands to hand him the plate, then came mine. Our attempts to use our forks and knives turned out to be futile relatively quickly and we instead chose to eat with our hands. While you could hear the clanging of utensils around us, I personally think eating with our hands added to the experience. The tactile sensations were quite interesting as we tried to eat without spilling dropping food all over ourselves. Throughout the night we played a guessing game, attempting to pinpoint what exactly we were eating. Most of the time we were pretty far off (as we found out later). I can say without question that the entire meal from appetizer to desert was delicious. The quality of food at Dans le Noir is up there with some of the better restaurants I have dined in here in Paris.

When the meal was over, we were escorted back out of the dark room and into the light. The first thing I did after trying to handle the harsh light was to check out my white shirt (not the best choice when dining at Dans le Noir)–I only had two small spots, not bad. We were then presented with a menu binder that included pictures of everything we ate. As I mentioned earlier, we were pretty far off in guessing what we were actually eating, but I can say that the dinner looked as good as it actually tasted.

I would recommend that everyone dine at Dans le Noir at some point during their time in Paris, as the entire experience is one that is not soon to be forgotten.

Want to see this location on a map? Map of My Visits

Paris Restaurant Review: Domaine de Lintillac (2nd Arrond., Paris, France)

// August 22nd, 2009 // Comments // Restaurants

This was the second time I’ve eaten at Domaine de Lintillac, but the first time since I started AmericInParis.com, so I had to take the time to briefly review it. Domaine de Lintillac was recommended to me by a former coworker and as soon as she described her experience, I had to give it a try.

To begin, I like the fact that the restaurant is located on Rue Saint Augustin, a relatively quiet street in the 2nd Arrondissement. There are only a couple of shops on the street and the restaurant’s bright red exterior makes it stand out nicely. We made a reservation ahead of time online, as this place can get pretty busy at night and you can’t be guaranteed a spot without a reservation.

Domaine de Lintillac, 2nd Arrond., Paris, France

If you don’t have your own booth (there are several around the restaurant), then the seating can be a bit tight at times–you might find yourself seated directly next to another party. But if you have a larger group or don’t mind cozier seating, then you shouldn’t have any issue. The interior is nicely decorated and this place would certainly make for a good dinner party spot or even a date, though again, you might not have much privacy if you’re doing the latter.

Each table comes with it’s very own toaster, something you don’t see every day, but it’s definitely an interesting touch. The wine selection is pretty good, with about 20 different wines to choose from. I’m not a connoisseur (yet), so I’ll spare you any attempt at a wine review. For an appetizer Duck a L’orange Pate (3.65 €) which was delicious. The portion was plenty for our party of 3 to have a nice pre-dinner taste of what was to come. For my main course, I chose to go with the Duck Carpaccio (they don’t have this listed on their website, so I can’t give the full description w/ price).  I was happy that I went with this, as opposed to one of the larger cuts of duck. It had a delicious flavor and came with a side of salad and potatoes. However, one of my fellow dinners got the “Breast of fattened Mulard duck with Sarladaise potatoes” (9.70 €) which was quite good as well, though I would still go with the carpaccio if you’re having trouble deciding. Both of these meals are certainly enough to fill up any one person, as they don’t skimp on the serving. For dessert we split the “Brive la Gaillarde nut cake with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream” (3.05 €) and the “Praline ice cream sundae with chestnut cream, nut liqueur, whipped cream and nuts” (4.70 €) The Brive la Gaillarde dessert was very good. Deliciously warm cake and the vanilla ice cream adds a nice touch. The Praline Sundae, on the other hand, while decent, had much too strong a liqueur taste to it which ended up overpowering (and ruining) the flavor.

While the service was a bit slow at times, the overall experience was a very positive one (as it was the first time I went). I would definitely recommend Domaine de Lintillac to anyone visiting Paris and especially to those of you who are duck (eating) lovers.

Want to see this location on a map? Map of My Visits