Dinner at mine, 19th July

It was a baking hot evening last Saturday. London is experiencing a mini-heatwave or perhaps the long-promised "barbecue summer". I even had to excavate the fan from the cupboard where it has been hidden for the last 11 years. ACC and the Baron arrived, the latter resplendent in an orange work-coat as modelled by a certain electronic duo who we went to see recently - very chic.

We promptly got down to business with a cold glass of fizz and some Roka Cheese Crispies.

This was the fizz that G picked up in Mi Fugue, Mi Raisin in Paris - Demarne-Frison Lalore, Brut Nature, Blanc de Blancs. It went down very well and I don't think I'd have realised it was a low dosage champagne if others hadn't pointed it out. Enjoyable and a bit different.

For our starter, since it was so hot, we'd come up with the idea of ham and melon to be served with a glass of cold Amontillado. The ham was Jamon Iberico de Bellota from Waitrose, which was runner-up in the FT mag's taste test a few weeks ago, but a fraction of the price of the winner. The melon had been chilling in the fridge all afternoon, and the sherry was this Amontillado Napoleon from Hildalgo, in a useful 50cl bottle (procured from the Burgundy Portfolio). I was really pleased with how well this combination worked.

G was in charge of the main course and he cooked some excellent wild sea trout with potatoes and peas. We drank this Saint-Aubin 1er cru Les Frionnes 2007 from Latour-Labille with it which was my penultimate bottle. I've really enjoyed drinking this wine and am so happy it turned out how I hoped it would.

Cheeses, controversially, were from Paxton and Whitfield in Jermyn Street rather than the usual place. This was due to assorted public transport problems that afternoon which led me to decide that discretion was the better part of valour. I hadn't been into Paxton for years and they immediately received a big black mark for not having an Epoisses ready to eat that evening, but at least they admitted it, and the substitute was quite interesting. They do have a great range but I'm still loyal to Beillevaire, tube and buses permitting. 

With the cheeseboard we drank this Chambolle-Musigny 2006 from Roumier, brought by ACC. We chilled it slightly, as it was such a hot day. It was wonderful mature Chambolle, sensual and with lots of interesting meatiness - G and I both felt it was better than the Mugnier of the same vintage we'd had at Taillevent two weeks earlier. This has been noted for future reference. Enormous thanks to ACC for sharing it with us. 

For pudding we had some Eton mess and a bottle of this German riesling auslese provided by G, which was relatively light and fruity and complemented the pudding well. Then we scoffed some delicious Charbonnel et Walker chocs provided by the Baron, along with coffee and Felettig vieux marc de bourgogne - a great end to a wonderful evening.

Trip to Paris, part three

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast at La Coupole again, which was noticeably busier than it had been the day before, and then returned to the hotel to pack and check out. They kindly agreed to look after our suitcases while we went out.

It was raining, so we decided to take the Metro to our destination, Portes Vanves flea market, or "Marché aux Puces". The word "puces" reminds me irresistably of this video... FLEA ATTACK! The market turned out to be an interesting experience - there were lots of little stalls selling all sorts of weird and wonderful things. G told me not to take any photos as the stallholders might not like it, so I behaved myself.

We didn't find anything that we particularly wanted to buy, so after a while mooching around, we returned to Montparnasse - complete with accordionist accompaniment on the Metro, much to G's disdain - and had a pre-prandial Ricard on the terrace of the Select, where the entertainment mostly consisted of watching pedestrians nearly getting run over.

Then it was our turn to cross the road without getting run over, as we had a lunch appointment at Le Dome. This is a brasserie that specialises in fish. I'd lurked outside the day before while G went in to book, and had heard an English couple being given a choice of eating inside or in the conservatory thing at the front - it seems these may have two different menus - but we were definitely inside eating off the serious (= quite expensive) menu. Everyone around us seemed to be French, although occasionally the sound of some loud Americans at a table about half a mile away wafted over.

To drink, we had this bottle of Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2002 from Etienne Sauzet, which was initially rather dumb as it was very cold, but then opened up after some time in the glass and out of the ice bucket, and showed its chops. It was a very fine wine and a great complement to the fish we were eating, but if I had a choice of that or the Coche-Dury Meursault we had at Taillevent, for me the Coche wins hands down every time.

I had a mystery fish to start with which was like large whitebait, while G had sardines. Then it was on to the main event, the bouillabaise for two. This turned out to be quite a piece of theatre, as after a long wait, the waiter came to our table and said "Attention!" and then presented a platter of fish to us. There were four fish and he went through the names which I have of course forgotten (clearly I wasn't actually paying attention after all), but I think red mullet was one of them, and G said something about scorpion fish which apparently you can't get in the UK. Then the platter was whisked off to a side table where the fish were taken off the bone etc and then they were served up to us in bowls, along with a simmering pan of fish soup, a bowl of croutons and a ramekin of rouille.

It was a seriously good fish soup and G had a second helping, while I was quite stuffed by this stage. Which was unfortunate since we had already pre-ordered our puddings! I had this chocolate fondant-type pudding which had the magic words "salted caramel" somewhere in the description on the menu, but I struggled to detect it. It came with a very enjoyable dark chocolate ice cream served on the side, which was great.

We had a Calvados to finish off with, and the waiter clearly approved of this choice. At no point during this trip did we encounter any of the famous rudeness from waiters - everyone was very professional.

After half an hour or so sitting there wondering how on earth we were ever going to move let alone make it home, eventually we heaved ourselves up, collected our suitcases from the hotel, which was fortunately just down the road, and grabbed a taxi to the Gare du Nord. By the time we got there and had queued for what seemed like hours to get through the Eurostar check-in, my stomach was feeling more comfortable. There was certainly no need for dinner, and G and I agreed that if (I should say when) we go back to Le Dome, a starter and the bouillabaisse would be quite sufficient!

This concludes my account of our weekend away, and thanks are due to G for suggesting and arranging it - I had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back to Paris for more.

Trip to Paris part two

Making up for the lack of photos in the previous post...

On Saturday morning we had breakfast at the enormous brasserie La Coupole which was very enjoyable. For 11.50 euros you get coffee, orange juice, a roll with jam and butter, a small croissant and a small pain au chocolat, which does the job nicely! The atmosphere is hushed with a handful of regulars sitting by themselves reading the paper or doing the crossword. I'm advised that loud conversation is a faux pas, not that I'd be likely to engage in loud conversation at breakfast at the best of times. We brought our own reading material - G had the New Yorker and I had Time Out - I enjoyed the irony.

After breakfast, we strolled down the Boulevard Raspail and turned left at the Rue de Sevres in order to reach our destination, La Grande Epicerie. I'd heard great things about this place, along the lines of "like Selfridges food hall only better" which indeed turned out to be the case.

Fruit display on the back of a vintage truck

Exotic spirits!

Fine champagne...

Other exciting goodies

Bridge of sighs between Bon Marche and la Grande Epicerie - happy sighs of anticipation I assume

We had a good mooch round but didn't buy much, except for 6 bags of Soisson beans which G had been commissioned to bring back for his pere - essential for cassoulet, apparently - partly because the booze section, although beautifully presented, didn't offer any exciting rarities or bargains. It was all quite standard stuff and not particularly cheap.

By now it was 11.30 so we had a wander round the area and checked out a possible lunch destination, then failed to find an acceptable pavement cafe for a pre-prandial. Several were considered and rejected and the one that would have been all right turned out to be full already, so somehow we ended up wandering down the Rue Chomel where we discovered a little wine shop, called Appellation and Co. It turned out to have some very interesting-looking white Chorey-les-Beaune and the owner, who speaks very good English, told us that it was made by some friends of his, so we couldn't resist.

Then we wandered around a bit more and got slightly lost - at one point the Eiffel Tower loomed over the rooftops surprisingly close by, I had no idea we were anywhere near it! - but G eventually navigated us to the lunch destination we'd identified earlier, Chez Germaine. This turned out to be a charming bistrot with a lot of elderly ladies having lunch and a good gossip. It was just the sort of place I could imagine myself going for a good gossip with a friend when I'm 80.

In fact we didn't go for this deal, as G wanted fish and asparagus and I wanted the scallop risotto!

These went down a treat along with a bottle of Chablis which sent me into something of a coma.

Fortunately we weren't in a rush to do anything, so an afternoon nap was indicated, followed by an ice cream from Amorino on the Rue Vavin. They had a great selection.

I went for coffee and pistachio - fab!

The Jardin de Luxembourg was looking verdant, especially since it was raining slightly.

On the way back to the hotel, I couldn't resist taking a photo of the window of my favourite cheese shop, Pascal Beillevaire on Rue Delambre.

Then G had to get ready for a wedding celebration that he was attending, which had provided the excuse for the entire trip. I wasn't going but was quite happy to stay in by myself reading and watching bad French TV, and I'm sure I waited at least three seconds after he'd left before I opened this packet of excellent French-style Monster Munch, ham and cheese flavour. They were possibly the highlight of the trip!

Trip to Paris part one - Taillevent

G and I have just come back from a gastronomic weekend in Paris! 

On Friday, we caught the lunchtime Eurostar. (Train music: Axis) A hen party were sitting not far away from us, and I was amused and rather touched by the way that one of the group laid out a pink tablecloth on their table in preparation for their picnic. I wasn't quite so impressed by the bottle of "Spritzini" that was produced. Fortunately G and I had a bottle of Madame Bony's finest 2009 Passetoutgrains, lightly chilled, which went down a treat with the steak baguettes I had put together before leaving. 

We arrived at the Gare du Nord and caught the Metro to Vavin in Montparnasse. We were staying at the Hotel Delambre on Rue Delambre, very close to the major brasseries. They greeted G like a long-lost friend and the lift was working, hurrah! We were in G's usual room which was very nice and had everything we needed. 

After unpacking - G's clothes taking up far more of the wardrobe than mine, incidentally - a tour of the neighbourhood was in order, which consisted of visiting Monoprix with its surprisingly impressive range of wine and a little wine shop called Mi Fugue Mi Raisin on the Rue Delambre which had all sorts of biodynamic goodies. They sell music as well as wine, and I gather the name of the shop is a French pun since there's an expression "mi figue, mi raisin" - all completely lost on me at the time. Anyway, G picked up an interesting bottle of champagne there for future consumption and I thought if I lived in the neighbourhood I'd be in there every day.

Then it was time to get ready for our trip to Taillevent, which I had heard so much about but never visited. There was some excitement en route as it appeared my Metro ticket wasn't working - I got through three of the little blighters before realising that you actually have to push the barrier once the ticket has gone through - for heaven's sake, you don't have to do that on the tube! Then we all got kicked off the train after one stop. G figured out an alternative route but that train also stopped before we had reached our destination. Eventually we found ourselves walking up the Champs Elysees trying not to get in the way of the riot police - France were 1-0 down to Germany in the World Cup at the time, boo. 

We reached Taillevent to see a man in an electric blue suit and white shoes being pointed in the direction of another restaurant. Fortunately G knew that it was necessary to confirm our booking the day before so we were personae gratae. We were ushered in past about 10 waiters, all of whom murmured "bon soir", and seated side by side at a great table with a view of the whole room, rather like old lags at a bus stop. Apologies for the lack of photos but G felt that it would be frowned upon, it's not that kind of place. 

Things got off to a great start when a small plate of gougeres appeared. But one slight problem, there were 7 of them and 2 of us. The tension was palpable but G knew that discretion was the better part of valour and said I could have the extra one. In fact, after we'd eaten 5, a waiter whisked them away (I may have emitted a small shriek at this point) and replaced them with another plate of 7, so we were able to have 6 each. G told me to stop stuffing my face as we were about to eat an 8 course meal, but I have a separate gougeres stomach so all was well. 

For our white wine, we chose a Meursault Villages 2005 from Domaine Coche-Dury. I was dying to try this as we have loved his bourgognes and his red Auxey, and it didn't disappoint. It was the Platonic ideal of Meursault, everything you want in a Meursault complete with that slightly vegetal nose and richness and a length that went on for minutes. 

For our red wine, later on, we had a 2007 Chambolle-Musigny from Mugnier which gave a great first impression of heady, sweet fruit but then changed character slightly and became more gamey and leathery as time went on. Both bottles cost less on the wine list than they would do retail in the UK, if you could even find them.

We went for the tasting menu (the Menu Saveurs et Decouverte, 218 euros each, you don't go to Taillevent for a cheap night out) which consisted of the following:

Amuse-guele: a sort of deconstructed gazpacho. I had no idea you could get so much flavour into cucumber and tomatoes. 

1. A perfect circle of dressed crab with radishes. This description may not be doing it justice. It was very nice, but didn't blow my mind. 

2. A "pudding" of lobster (more of a chipolata actually) with the most delicious lobster bisque - now that's the sort of thing I can't do myself. 

3. A little fillet of red mullet - very nicely cooked. 

4. A spelt risotto with girolles - this was surprisingly wonderful! We couldn't quite believe how good it was and it went really well with the truffly elements in the Meursault.

5. A piece of duck with some griotte cherries. 

6. Les fromages, presented on a tray which wasn't being kept at an entirely horizontal angle, which was a cause for concern. I'd already heard the word "Epoisses" coming from the next door room (my hearing is very good for these things) so I went straight for it and the waiter was quite impressed! "Vous aimez les fromages forts?", damn right I do! The cheeses were very well kept, I must say. The Epoisses was up there with that served at Loiseau des Vignes in Beaune, high praise from me. 

At this point G requested the wine list again, but sadly we were unable to find any suitable dessert wines en demi, so instead we went for a couple of glasses of 1972 Calvados from Lemorton. 

7. An amazing glass of strawberries in a sort of custard, with a set layer of sugar on top like you get with a creme brulee - this was also absolutely delicious and very interesting with contrasting textures.

8. A chocolate thing - good but eclipsed by the strawberry thing.

We rounded off with coffee and some petits fours which we just about had room for. 

I was pleasantly surprised at how nice all the staff were - the atmosphere was neither snotty nor servile. Afterwards we had a lovely chat with the maitre d' before our taxi arrived and we were whisked back to the hotel, past the major sights of Paris which were illuminated and looking amazing. It was certainly an evening to remember. I'll be back.