Chocolate and Other Stuff...

You will not gain any weight from this post.

What a better way to end the posts on our vacation then to end it with chocolate. The last day that Mr. Broad and I were in town, he had the GENIUS! idea of doing a self-guided chocolate tour. (Did I find a catch or what?) A great way to get off the beaten path and just explore more areas. And Chocolate.

PS- Thank you David Lebovitz for all the suggestions.

PPS- Salted Caramels: you rock.

We walked around to a lot of recommended chocolate stores mainly to see their window fronts or to take in the smells. The windows were all decked for Easter with each store outdoing the next. I took some pictures to share because I'm sure you care.

To be frank, it may be my Jewish roots but I don't get the connection of Easter to some of the chocolate displays (beavers?) Regardless it was impressive all the same.

These eggs were filled with chocolate. Not sure how they did it but you could buy them for $30. Wait, it's now occurring to me that the shell is also chocolate. OOH...

Okay, they looked pretty real but I'm not sure...

Little bunnies, ducks, and chicks inside one of the stores.

There were larger turtles than this one, but this chocolate turtle would set you back over $100...

Would you like a sample?

The answer is yes.

Okay, this wasn't chocolate store, but check out the pastries. And note the large macaroons which are pretty wonderful.

Paris and Spain were wonderful. A beautiful vacation that was heightened by the scenery, the food, and the culture. Oh and the wine. Right. Speaking of- I thought I'd include some pictures from La Rioja region that didn't make any of the blog posts.

Breathtaking.

This winery was designed by Frank Gehry. The same guy that did the Guggenheim in Bilboa and lots of other famous buildings. It is also one of these world class hotels that we tried to get into but there was some Peugeot car conference. We still enjoyed the wine tour.

Aah what a vacation.

We're already brainstorming for our next vacation. All recommendations welcome- we're thinking beaches.

Mr. Broad wants to go with Colombia. Yes, the coffee, kidnapping South America capital. It's supposed to be the new Caribbean hotspot.

I'm taking other suggestions.

Anyone??

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You know that Scene in Indiana Jones where they eat Monkey Brains...

Welcome to Fear Factor: Paris Edition

Well first we went wine touring in La Rioja region and spent the night in Laguardia, Spain which was pretty freaking awesome.

I'll post pictures later. But first up, Paris.

Jadis

So meal 1 in Europe, Mr. Broad and I were super timid to ask the waitress for some help on the menu, we wanted to be *cool* Americans that didn't need the waitress's help. Hell, I whipped out my English-French dictionary even.

Come the end of the trip, however, we had no problem asking a little Parlez-vous Anglais?

And we happened to get the nicest waiter ever who translated the. Entire. Menu.

Merci Beaucoup Monsieur.

Of course I didn't write anything down so it doesn't help you at all but it was damn good.

Pork Belly with Chorizio and other yummy stuff. And foam. Ooh fancy.

Heavenly.

And here it is. The garcon (I'm SOO french! Now if only I knew how to do that little squiggly below the c...) went down the menu in English and stopped on the last appetizer.

He looked at Mr. Broad and I. Nervous.

Garcon: Do you know what this is?

Mr. Broad and I: No...

Garcon: Ehh... This is brain and... tongue (pause waiting for Americans to freak out).

Us: What? (I swear we thought he said lungs instead of tongue. Cause thaat would have been gross.)

Garcon: Ehh... It's brain. And. Tongue. A cow's tongue.

Me: A brain?? (He said BRAIN?!)

Garcon: Oui, people like it. It's very popular (of course it is)

Mr. Broad: I'll take it.

Garcon: Oui? You're sure.

Mr. Broad: Oh yes, I'm sure.

Oh boy.

And then it came out. Just like it looks. Now I'm familiar with the Jewish variety deli meat tongue (Mr. Broad and Brother's favorite) but even this was a little different. The tongue was smooth and well, pretty awesome. With your average lamb's brain is the centerpiece of this dish. No idea on the preparation. We're hoping it wasn't raw.

Yes, even I had the tiniest little sliver. Because how often can you pass up brain!? Surprisingly not bad. If you just close your eyes and think of chicken.

You know that halloween prank where you put your hand in the bowl full of peeled grapes and they tell you it's eyeballs?...

Yeah, this was the real thing. With your eyes wide open. And you eat it.

It deserves a close up.

The waiter stopped by several times to make sure we were okay.

Oh Mr. Broad was. There was no leftover brain in case you wanted to take some home with you.

Main courses here.

What was this?! UGH. It was good! Tender, juicy and awesome. I think it was the actual lamb.

Mr. Broad got the squid.

I guess with the brain adventure Mr. Broad decided to play it safe and stick with the fish. How about those grill marks!? Perfectly cooked.

Pistachio and Chocolate Pot de Creme

I must have seen 4 of these come out of the kitchen, so it was a no brainer what I was getting.

Oh Paris, how I love thee.

Cheese platter

We had picked up cheese at a fromagerie but we had yet to try the popular French dessert cheese course. Mr. Broad who was really on a roll here, decided to go for it.

A large offering of cheese, it was a different ending for two Americans so used to ending on a sweet note.

I mean, Mr. Broad had a salad.

As he exclaimed. "My last bite and it's going to be salad? Pass me that pot de creme... "

Review:

This place was fabulous. Hell, we're even ahead of the trend as it got written up in the New York Time last week. Not presumptuous, it had a New York feel located in a small restaurant. Mr. Broad proclaimed this was his favorite meal in Paris. I can't decide anymore. But if I ever want brain, I know where to go.

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Mon Dieu! What Portions!

So when you think of French food, you think snobby small portions that you can eat in one bite, right? Well stereotype debunked. Here is where quantity equals quality.

This place was one of my favorites. Just a total French atmosphere with a waiter that played the part. Had his nose slightly up in the air because he knew his food was le shit. And I'm pretty sure he spoke English although fronted like he didn't, but that's part of why I loved it. I'm in your country- speak your language.

L'Ambassade d'Auvergne

Truth be told, Mr. Broad stumbled onto this one because it was open on a Sunday night. Apparently Paris is not New York City.

This place was known for it's lentils so at least I knew that going in...

Green Lentil Salad with Bacon

The waiter served it out of this large bowl and then... LEFT the bowl with us to finish it off. We coulda asked for the check by now.

Mr. Broad went with the Ham platter. Which I'm sure it was called something better in French but he savored it all the same.

This was my favorite part of the meal. The waiter who acts as part chef/ensembler puts the mashed potatoes together tableside. They were quite popular so I took a picture. Mr. Broad wouldn't let me take the picture when he did the schtick at our table. Cause hello, tourists.

Now that's elasticity.

Mr. Broad got the country sausage with the mashed potatoes. Holy creamy. Mr. Broad let me in on the secret that it's the cheese and not the cream that makes it hold that elasticity shape.

He loved it.

I don't remember what this is that I had for my main course but something to the affect of a chicken stew with vegetables. I loved it. Have we mentioned that the French love cream?

Aah. I looked up the menu. Cause what was that? Stew Veal with Blue Cheese Sauce

Yum.

Yep. No dessert. We were stuffed. And when the table next to us ordered mouse and they served it out of a large salad bowl and then LEFT the extra on the table?.. There was just no way.

I am still thinking of those mashed potatoes though. And for an even better look back at them- check out the photo on their menu.

Merci!

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They Don't Teach You This in French Class

Before I begin raving about our restaurant, I gotta give it up for our hotel.

The Westin was in a perfect location- right near the Louvre/Tuilleries... and with preferred status we got an upgrade to a $850/room night. (the price was listed on the door).

So while this isn't a "money saving blog", when you pay less than a quarter of the price and get a view of the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and all the big must-sees... well, I have to advocate the Starwood Credit Card.

Views from our hotel: (there was a mini balcony)

And a view of the Louvre from our hotel room during the day.

A gray day in Paris is better than... ___ (fill in the blank)

Okay. Dinner. First night of dinner, we were a bit jet lagged and took a much needed nap beforehand.

We found this place from Mr. David Lebovitz. Who's kinda like the shit. (Excuse my French... HAH- GET IT?! And it's not French at all!) I think I'll take another post to write about David later.

Aux Lyonnais

Reading over the menu.

Oh Le Shit.

I definitely don't know French.

We didn't want to be *those* Americans and have the waiter translate every item (don't worry we eventually gave in a couple dinners later) so we did our best with my mini English/French Dictionary, my 5 years of French 8 years ago, and Mr. Broad's fluency in Spanish which is kiiiinda similar to French. We tried.

So let me explain what we ate in our English terms cause that's what I know.

Pig something. It came in a jar, was spreadable, and I'm pretty sure it was innards, pate, yet creamy. Mr. Broad chowed down. Il l'aime.

A creamy bacon leek tart

All I knew was that I was getting something with leeks. Yum. But helloo cream! I was getting flashbacks to Meryl Streep adding cream to her dishes a la Julia Child. I never saw the movie but saw enough of the trailers to get the picture. The French like cream.

Blood Sausage

...Sorry Mr. Broad, I didn't know how to say bone marrow (which our neighbors got). No loss though! This blood sausage was easily the best he's ever had. Oh and with amaazing apples on the side. RIGHT! Pomme de terre is potatoes but pommes is apples. I totally knew that. Oops.

Quenelles- fish dumplings. The waiter explained what it was and it was in my mini dictionary so it had to be popular.

An odd texture if I do say so. A dumpling- a creamy one- and my guess was it was like a gefilte fish but well, without the jelly part. (It was just Passover, give me the comparison...) And I don't even like gefilte fish! But this, creamy and really good. Just a bit different.

Dessert. EVERYONE orders dessert. We were stuffed (CREAM much??) but decided to split a dessert (Helloo, it's France) and got the "Areyousureyou'reSPLITTINGadessertandaren'torderingyourown?!" look from our waiter. Yes that's a look.

Introducing the souffle.

The most airy and creamy and soft and delicious souffle I've ever had. Not that I'm a souffle expert but if I was, this was the one. It came with some orange soaked grand marnier thingy which we eventually incorporated.

Mr. Broad and I were adamant that we wouldn't go to any touristy like places. We wanted to go where the locals went- no English menu options and just damn good food. (And wine.) The restaurant lived up to expectations. I think I would brush up on my French if we were to go back. Way too much food envy.

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How did France claim naming rights on French Onion Soup?

Mr. Broad and I were doing our best to have all the necessary "must tries."

Croissants- check
Macaroons- Check
French onion Soup-- Check
French Fries- Check

Mr. Broad and I were doing the tourist thing for a day (The Louvre, Musee D'orsay, Notre Dame...). We were in Les Halles area when we walked by a rather showy restaurant. Mr. Broad recognized it from a recommendation from a friend.

(SEE! NOT ALL our meals are planned out!... Okay but all the Paris dinners were...)

Au Pied de Cochon
Les Halles, Paris

After doing a little googling there's also one in Miami and (gasp!) Atlanta. But don't tell Mr. Broad, and this one is the original from 1946. So at least I feel better now.

It's funny instead of the bread/butter combo, they put out bread and a pork pate of sorts. Oh it was good. And we later learned, this was not the first restaurant to go down this path. They heart the pig.


French Onion Soup
Probably about an inch thick in cheese. And a baquette soaked within the soup, but with minimal onions. But wow that cheese. This was probably the most dense soup I have ever eaten (When does it become a casserole?) and could barely make a dent in it.


Steak Tartare
I'm not the biggest steak tartare fan (One guess who is...) but the waiter does a little schtick where you watch him make it (I mean it is raw beef). This one had extra relish and capers in it. And hello... What's up HUGE portion of raw meat. Cooked hamburgers don't come this large.




You can tell this is a popular brunch place. The white table clothes and all they still admitted me in with my tourist sneakers.

Thanks for the recommendation!

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Oh Paris. Ooh la la

So I'm going on a little hiatus again. But I'm announcing it so it should be fine right?

Mr. Broad and I decided to go on a spring(ish) vacation.

Paris and San Sebastian! With some other towns in between. Because we can't just go to Paris and Versailles!

We're going for 9 days and our itinerary looks like this:

Saturday-Monday: Paris

Monday-Tuesday: Biarritz

Renting a car and driving to San Sebastian!

Driving onto the WINE REGION that specializes in La RIOJA!

More Basque food and then a flight back to Paris for the following weekend.

Some highlights:

SPAIN- Wineries and tapas.

FRANCE: More wineries and croissants. Oh and the Mona. And the Eiffel...

Similar to our Brazil trip, I'll make sure to update you all when I get back. You know you've grown up when you now book not just your hotel in advance (and not a hostel!) but all of your restaurants for dinner. Yeah. Let's just say Mr. Broad has done his homework. I've been brushing up on my French and we downloaded a France/English dictionary. We're ready.

Au revoir!

PS- Don't worry Ma, we'll be home just in time for Passover.

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