Research

It’s a good idea to do your research on wine. I found this little gem, a Pico Maccario Lavignone Barbera d’Asti 2021, at my local wine shop for less than $20. It appears at number 36 on The Wine Spectator’s “Top 100 Wines of 2023”:

https://top100.winespectator.com/lists/

Here is how it is described:

…bright and aromatic wine with aromas and flavors of red cherries, violets and wild herbs. Soft tannins and a moderate level of alcohol and medium weight make Lavignone an ideal wine for immediate enjoyment.

Château Margaux

My first taste of an outstanding wine, Château Margaux Premier Grand Cru from 1990, was a revelation. Though it was in the early 2000s when I sipped the superb wine, its velvety texture and ripe fruit flavor will live in my mind forever. I recently had a similar sensation drinking the 2006 vintage. Thanks for the memories.

Poetry on a Plate

The chef of a little French restaurant called Fleurie composes poetry on a plate, and the sommelier matches his eloquence.

Champagne was paired with a lobster and cucumber salad and lemon panna cotta amuse-bouche, and a rich rosé accompanied a beet salad with horseradish ice cream and squash soup.

Chablis arrived with seared scallops and cauliflower in verjus sauce and smoked and cooked trout.

White Burgundy complemented Dover sole and mushrooms in truffle sauce, and red Burgundy was poured for braised short ribs.

Flaming rum topped a baked Alaska.

Café de la Paix

The famous Café de la Paix is at the Place de l’Opéra near the Palais Garnier opera in Paris. It was originally built in the Haussmann style like the Grand-Hôtel, which it served. Paix means peace, and though it is at a busy intersection and buzzing with tourists can be a restorative spot to drink a café crème and eat a croque-madame.

Clamato

If you cannot get a reservation at the one-Michelin-starred Septime in Paris, which fills up fast two months in advance, you can get a taste of it in its more casual Clamato, which has the Michelin designation of Bib Gourmand, next door. It is first come, first serve, and expect a line down the sidewalk thirty minutes or more before it opens.

L’Ambroisie

Bernard Pacaud, the chef and owner of L’Ambroisie in Paris, acquired three Michelin stars in 1986 and has maintained them since then. Aptly named, ambroisie in English means ambrosia, or the food of gods. Located in the historic, seventeeth-century square Place des Vosges, the restaurant exudes elegance. The museum-quality tapestries and other antiques add old-world style to the surroundings. And the food is classic French at its best: gougères and sabayon to start; langoustines and spinach with sesame seed tuiles in a curry sauce; sea bass and artichokes in a caviar-dotted beurre blanc; a dark chocolate tart with intense vanilla ice cream and mini madeleines.

Macarons in Paris

Macarons, especially ones from Pierre Hermé, are a must in Paris. We cannot wait until we return to our room to try a few of the flavors.

Frenchie

Chef Gregory Marchand asks for carte blanche on his tasting menu at Frenchie, where he has earned a Michelin star.

Rice chips with mackerel and fennel; beet chips with mango, horseradish, and smoked tuna; mushroom tart with buckwheat and coffee

Yellow tomatoes with pastis, rum, and vanilla

Seared tuna with seasonal vegetables and fruit with tuna sauce

Grilled lobster with chanterelles, fig, and almond sauce

Chicken with squash, saffron sauce, and sherry vinaigrette

Caramel, banana sorbet, and pecans

Fig and matcha mousse with pistachio sauce and caramel miso

Marshmallows with seasonal fruit

Frenchie Bar à Vins

Frenchie’s bar à vins promises to have everything you want to eat and drink. In addition to enticing small plates from gougères to veal tartare, it offers fish and meat and cheese and dessert. It’s also a lively place for un verre before dinner at Frenchie across the Rue du Nil.

Le Chardenoux

The hundred-year-old bar, Le Chardenoux, is listed as a historic monument in Paris. It is a bistro now, owned by Chef Cyril Lignac of the one-Michelin-starred Le Quinzième. The menu is seafood-forward, and the desserts are divine.

L’Ecailler du Bistrot

L’Ecailler du Bistrot in Paris is the seafood side of Bistrot Paul Bert. Famed for the fresh catch from Brittany and Normandy, the bistro has many specials based on what is available. The Homard Bleu au Kari Gosse, which is lobster in a curry sauce, is served with frîtes.

Ode to a Farmhouse

A farmhouse of white clapboard and black shutters

Had porches with scrolled rails and spindle posts

And in the shade of eaves or leaves of trees

Adirondack chairs reclined in the grass

Where we sipped hot coffee or chilled rosé

While lazy dogs lay sprawled at slippered feet

Lilacs or hyacinths scented the air

In those rooms where jam-jar vases were placed

On holidays, we roasted or braised game

With aromatic herbs and vegetables

We gathered around the long farm table

Set with chipped china and well-worn linens

Fireplaces played as stage sets for portraits

The mantels displayed tarnished silver frames

The knotty pine floors were mostly concealed

With threadbare, flat-weave, Persian kilim rugs

Upholstered furniture wore slipcovers

To guard against dog hair and muddy paws

A battered Louis Vuitton trunk rested

Next to a down comforter–topped mattress

On which English literature was stacked

Including Ms. Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own