Louisa Chu

Michael - it's NOT about losing the money - it's just not possible to start a surprise second service at gastronomic restaurants - especially at L'Astrance where they have a TINY kitchen. It's about keeping standards - and some semblance of a life outside of the restaurant. I'm not talking about going out for a drink - I'm talking about catching the last Metro in time to get home for a few hours of sleep - before starting this all over again the next morning for lunch service. BackwardsHat - I'm not sure where the chef's market dishes show up. When I went to Rungis with him he found some crosnes/Asian baby artichokes - I asked him how he was going to prepare them - he said he didn't know yet - and gave me a look like it was so weird that I even asked. Smackdown.

Yes - but that's not their primary concern. The day that I went to Rungis with the chef - Pascal Barbot - his primary focus - joie de vivre - was on his freedom. He'd said that he did NOT have money - but he had happiness. He said that the money could come later - over time. My God - I love the French sometimes. And one more thing - about the allegedly hard to keep L'Astrance reservations - I don't buy it - at least not by any fault of the restaurant's. It's hard to think of a more more conscientious group of restaurant people anywhere in the world. And the day to go - Tuesday night for dinner. The chef goes to Rungis Tuesday morning and picks up things for which he has no plans whatsoever - it's a night to share in some gastronomic discovery.

Chablonner - to spread a very thin layer. I just checked my notes - because the first time I DISTINCTLY remember using the term chablonner was when making Opera cakes - and it was in reference to spreading the thin layer of glazing chocolate underneath the bottom layer of biscuit - and then also checked Meilleur du Chef terms - and it seems that this term only correctly refers to spreading melted chocolate underneath the base of a cake - to create a protective shell for imbibing or from sticking to a plate. So there you go. What's the recipe say? HEY - they have an ENGLISH VERSION! Check out Chocolate Coating for Chablonner.

Jamie, thanks so much for immortalizing our dinner with those great photos and play by play. Thanks too for respecting Karli's privacy - we're trying to work out one of those Prince William/Prince Harry deals. I know what you're all thinking - pupperazzi. Yeah - me too. I tried to go again a couple of days later but they were totally booked - and that was on a Tuesday night - second service. And let me add that I especially liked the little pinot blanche aperitif they offered - the gesture and the wine itself. I had the pate en croute - tasty technical achievement with a nice cool, clear aspic UNDER flaky golden crust; the aforementioned table-winning rognons - which WERE alarming at first sight - a HUGE, in your face/this IS offal kind of experience - but delicious - perfectly done - they actually ask how you want them done - tender, meaty, chewy, with some of that good gelatinous connective tissue action. By the time we got the desserts, we were already the last table in the house - funny when our waiter went to cut my chocolate tarte - on the center service table - I saw him start to cut a normal human-sized portion - and then just kind of figured what the hell - and chopped off the massive wedge pictured above - which is why it's just slightly assymetrical. That alone endeared them to me forever. Great dinner - great company - thanks again.

Cherie - bleuauvergne - thanks - pearl sugar it is then. It really does not SEEM like it should be called pearl sugar - it's so un-pearl-like. Lesley - thanks too - I will check that out. I LOVE the idea of a greyish/stone-y colour ice cream - the green does not do it for me. Ted - sorry - I have no idea. I never really baked before I went to France. I can tell you the theory from notes - but I have no real working comparison - and I'm not a patissiere! The international pros here can tell you better.

Not necessarily that the recipes were written at different times - fleurette and liquide just interchangeable - but it's usually just creme - maybe creme liquide - rarely called creme fleurette in the kitchen. Thanks for the info on atomised glucose - if I see it at El Bulli, I will be thinking of you. And it's almost painful to bring it up now - but when Peltier was open, they always did have the most stunning array of tuiles. And yes, sucre vergeoise is brown sugar. Check out this fun French sugar site - they have a British English version too.

And creme fleurette and creme liquide are the same thing - in case you come up with this in another recipe. BUT if you see a recipe for creme epaisse - literally thick cream - it's a TOTALLY different thing - thick like creme fraiche but not acidic. And cuillere a cafe is a teaspoon - even though it translates as a coffee spoon - even though in France a coffee spoon is what Americans think of as an espresso spoon - confused yet? But it's weird that they called for a measure like that - weird that it wasn't in grams. And just wondering - is there any pistachio paste that's NOT green? And glucose/sirop de glucose - same thing - the thick clear stuff. That's what's used at Ducasse in Paris. What's atomised glucose and why's it better? What Conticini recipe are you using that calls for canned corn?? And what IS gros sucre called in American English? I don't think it's rock sugar - which are big, rough, gemstone-like crystals. Also weird that when I googled I found this thread here - that Ted you even posted on - that says maybe it's hard nib sugar?

menton - you had it right - it was La Zucca Magica that I was thinking of - it's right on the old port.

Absolutely - emphatically - NO - I am NOT in agreement with this. I really hate playing this game - the My Gastronomic Experience is Bigger than Yours game - let me just say that I've made and eaten my fair share of a lot of different kinds of baguettes around Paris - and compared to those with whom I've had the privilege to work, I know NOTHING - BUT I have STARTED to develop SOME kind of a palate - and the average neighborhood boulangerie baguette is pretty good - NOT CRAP.

Rob - very diplomatic of you - and I defer to you on the baking facts - as that is your metier. Steven - I'm sorry - but you're really PISSING me off here - I EXPECT more from you. The idea that baguettes in France are NOT good is an OLD idea - not historically old - but about TEN years old. You CAN get a GOOD baguette in just about ANY boulangerie - in just about any quartier - thanks to the Banette and Retrodor campaigns - started by millers to improve the quality of baguettes through better flour, education, etc. - which was all ultimately to improve sales of their flour - and it's worked - on all levels. Serious props should be given to Steven Kaplan too - the American who helped save French bread. As Rob's said - baguettes chez Julien are considered one of the greats - as are the baguettes chez Poujauran - GREAT baguettes, NOT great service - and chez Ganachaud. I also LOVE the signature baguette at Maison Kayser - the Baguette Monge. A simply GOOD baguette is so good - especially when warm - that just the yeasty aroma alone will compel you to tear into it while walking down the street.

I think, Louisa, you might mean La Zucca Magica right on the old port-- a pure vegetarian without a menu, they just bring out 6 courses of whatever the chef prepared; usually pretty quirky, lots of hanging plants, and organic wines. The owner, Marco, is a transplant from Rome. And, keeping true to the name, there are all sorts of citrouilles decorating the walls. menton, that is it! Thanks! No menu, no reservations - no phone for that matter. You can kind of reserve by stopping in the day of - good food, good vibes - good strong flavours.

Emmanuel Renaut's Flocons de Sel - a Michelin one star - modern take on Savoyard cuisine - he was just a featured chef in Alain Ducasse's Fou de France program - to promote young regional French chefs - and mentioned very well in Departures magazine.

It's been 4 years since I've last been down south. In Nice I liked to hit Le Safari on the Cours Saleya the first night in town to get my bearings and a feel for the place - they did a good assorted plate of the Nicoise greatest hits - including the little meat/rice stuffed Provencal vegetables. And Fennochio - in the old church square - for ice cream - lavender and Cavaillon melon were especially nice. And what's the name of that funky little place on the old port? I really liked that too.

It's Les FABLES - NOT les Tables. And the number to Mon Viel Ami is 01 40 46 01 35 - I just happened to be calling them for reservations tonight. NB: Corrections have been made in the referrenced post to avoid confusion.

Lyle, sandwiches grecques - with or without frites - are totally common in Paris - there's a ton of them in the 5th/student quarter. Kiliki, I'd make Cafe Constant my FIRST choice in the 7th - I've lived there for about 2 years now - and then Cafe du Marche my second. Let me also add - for tea and hearty pastries - Le Loir dans le Theiere in the Marais. Try to snag the worn leather club chairs around the low round table just right of the door - you will NOT want to leave. They also have good looking sandwiches/salads but I NEED the pastries when I get there. Also in the Marais - falafel - the place BETWEEN L'As and Rue Vielle du Temple - I forget the name. And Creperie Beaubourg - next to the fountain at the Pompidou. A sit-down creperie - everything from classic jambon/fromage/oeuf to still classic but not so common roquefort/walnut - with green salad and a pitcher of hard cider. AND Le Pain Quotidien - I know they have quite a few in NYC and around the States now - but I can ASSURE you that they don't have FRESH goat cheese and a living Brie de Meaux there - I like the Brie with acacia HONEY drizzled on top. I like La Cave too - DON'T go there with your dog - not enough room - keep your eye out for the cheese boards - DON'T let the other tables hog them - AND get your desserts EARLY.

You don't HAVE to do this - and it's not even that you SHOULD - but it was just one extra step that we did at the Plaza. Tant pour tant right out of the bag is fine - as is mixing your own powdered sugar/almonds. I'm VERY dubious though about grinding the nuts yourself.

Like a lot of places - flowers should be sent ahead - not brought with - so there's not a lot of fumbling for vases/water - unless it's in a container already. NO white carnations - for funerals. BUT on May 1st EVERYONE gives/gets muguets/lilies of the valley. You can get them everywhere from street-corners - for a euro - to ultra-fashionable fleuristes - a lot more than a euro. It's a really charming tradition that makes me VERY happy. Chocolate - the older crowd really loves the big old school brand names - that means Fauchon and have them giftwrap it - but younger people LOVE and are very impressed by hipper stuff - like Hevin and Delicabar.

Thank you so much for clarifying what I wrote! I think I'd copied that straight from my Cordon Bleu notes - with a warning that it was written in my own shorthand - I never expected anyone to make macaroons directly from that mumbo-jumbo - much less such GORGEOUS ones. ComeUndone, yours are STUNNING. More translation - plaques are baking sheets - mounting is just whisking whites to peaks - sealing is a fast thorough whisking to finish off the whites OR when piping just finishing the piping off to the side so there's no little point of batter on top. I am NOT a patissiere - I ONLY started pastry here in Paris - so sometimes I don't know some words in English - or just think of them better in French. A few more things I've learned about making macarons - at the Plaza/Ducasse we used TANT POUR TANT - the common commercial mix of equal parts powdered almonds and powdered sugar. Weigh the tant pour tant just over the weight needed for the recipe. Use a scraper and run it through a tami/drum sieve - it WILL be slow and tiring. Do this on to a large surface of parchment paper. Work in batches. Pour off the finished product onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Then dry overnight in VERY low oven - lowest setting. Weigh out again for the recipe. And for piping - start by piping the MIDDLE row across. Then pipe the next row down - staggered across. Once done to the bottom of the sheet - turn the sheet around and pipe the other half. This way you NEVER PIPE OVER your product. The cold water works - BUT you must work fast. I'm glad to hear the freezer method works well - something we could not do in a commercial kitchen. Again, I STRONGLY suggest using an unsweetened filling. My FAVOURITE is a chocolate macaron pastry with a VERY bitter chocolate ganache filling. At the Plaza/Ducasse, when we did our big Friday night cleanings, it was a macaron free for all. We could DISCRETELY eat as many of the unused macarons as we wanted. I'd position myself strategically by the pastry kitchen's door. I THINK my record was six macarons in the mouth at one time - hey they COMPRESS - but this is our SECRET.

Sorry - you still won't be satisfied because I'm neither a sommelier nor a meister - but I do share your disappointment - but just a pale shadow of your outrage! I was VERY excited to see your post title because I THOUGHT that there was such a serious qualification - BUT apparently there's NOT. But I do find it amusing that the meister certification fee includes lunch! As someone who's been a chef/owner, I feel totally comfortable with just being called a cook in the company of those from whom I'm now learning. Those titles - sommelier, meister, chef - have just been tossed around too much now with people with a few bucks spent on courses and tests. We've had this discussion before on the title of chef and it's been a heated one. It would be amazing to really learn from a rice master. I've just been starting to REALLY explore the world of rice - with the help of my friend/ex-roommate/fellow Cordon Bleu Grace - whose mom grew up in one of the premier rice regions in South Korea. Her family makes PILGRIMAGES there now JUST to eat the rice - well, that and maybe play a little golf. BUT I do eat some rice now and want to spit it out across the room - it tastes DEAD - like drinking a bouchone-ed wine - just horrible. Is there no real know rice master in the world? Surely there must be. If not there needs to be.

They're actually not sandwich cookies really - just a single flat cookie - they look like thin albeit shorter tongue depressors - to give some unromantic description. And a pommade is not quite a creme epaisse - which is a thick cream - beurre pommade is not quite as soft as that - it is essentially a creamed butter. I made these ONCE at Cordon Bleu - and no, you don't need a mold - nor do you really need to pipe them that thinly - as the batter will melt down - giving you a very fine finished product. And what you're looking for in a finished product is a cookie that's just slightly browned around the thin edge but still rather pale gold in the center. They're a really nice, delicate butter cookie - and yes, by all means use a silpat if you can!

tate - no problem! I thought I'd actually said that sometime - in some stress and exhaustion induced haze.

PCL, thanks so much for sharing that. It's rekindled in me the long-held desire to roll in there with a rowdy group of friends at 4 o'clock in the morning - to honor the late, great Les Halles. Thanks again.

Have I EVER said that stagiaires should NOT be paid?? You do NOT need to tell me about the sacrifices.

Monica, my three favourites are the Alain Ducasse cuisine book, the pastry book, and El Bulli's.

Hi menton - thanks so much for asking - I'm alive and fairly well - BUT in PURGATORY at the moment - will explain later. Cafe Constant - open lunch and dinner - and then you can get coffee/drinks at the between services. They've FINALLY opened their second floor/premiere etage - but STILL usually PACKED. And still - God bless them - closed on Sundays. Have I mentioned here the OTHER new Christian Constant option? It's his SEAFOOD place - Les Fables de la Fontaine. Chef took over Paris-Brest - right up the street - still a modern seafood cafe/bistro/brasserie - not quite a restaurant. So now it's the Cafe, Le Violon, and Les Fables.