Louisa Chu

Was LCB doing the International Day when you were here? They'd discontinued it by the time I started but I heard the stories. Did you ever have a chance to make any soul food dishes for the chefs? Though I'd imagine with stuffed pig's feet and andouillette they'd find it somewhat familiar. And how has the classic French training influenced your cooking? What wine do you pair with soul food greens? It seems that the very vegetal nature - as opposed to a lot of French greens which get lost in butter in cream - as well as the vinegar, might be a challenge. What is your experience like as a female African-American cook and journalist here in France? It seems that it could swing between extremes - more free and respectful as quite a few legendary African-American artists have found it - or more openly racist and chauvinistic. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions.

Hi Wolfville, welcome to eGullet. La Grande Epicerie Fauchon Hediard In that order - with the Epicerie far and away the best - they also carry F & H products. I'm not that impressed with the goods from the latter two - sometimes I suspect they just slap their labels on generic. Plus with Epicerie, you're at the epicenter of some serious fooding - depending on the day there's the market on Raspail; go a little further down, take a left on rue du Cherche Midi and there's Poilane, don't miss the little basket of free punitions; next door is their Cuisine du Bar where you can get a salad, tartine, glass of wine or water, and coffee for about 12 euros; a little further still there's Aoki, Franco-Japanese patisserie, known for their matcha green tea millefeuille - I especially like the black sesame macarons; or head the other way from LGE on rue de Sevres for Peltier, very nice salon de the.

Pan, I'm shocked too that they actually let me do stuff that will find its way to clients' plates - and palates. I really thought I'd be stemming strawberries and leafing parsley all day - that and the cleaning. Very happily surprised. And as for my sister and the amorous Frenchmen - no third party kiss and tell! hollywood, now I will have to try to find that song and hear what it sounds like! Moby - hey, hey, hey! I'm trying to keep a low profile here!

Just stopped in and they do have about a dozen different pastries year-round - strong emphasis on chocolate of course. The only pastry they've stopped doing for the season is rasberry. And then on Saturdays only they do eclairs and millefeuille in chocolate and coffee.

Where in the Bellagio? My friend, Frederic Larre - or just Freddy - is the pastry chef at Le Cirque and Circo there. We had a dessert tasting - with wine pairing - amazing stuff. Two particularly memorable elements - a Campari granita and tarte with a rasberry chiboust - I'm a sucker for chiboust. Beautiful quality - especially given that they'll easily serve 500 there on a busy night.

From the laboratoire: "For the pastry chef Pierre Herme, the 2003 Autumn-Winter Collection will be full of color and whimsy, dedicated to the concept of 'kawaii'. In Japanese, 'kawaii' means cute, pretty, adorable, and lovely, all at once." Available 15 September 2003. Macaron au Marron et The Vert Matcha (macaron biscuit with chestnuts, cream of candied chestnuts, and smooth cream with Matcha green tea) Sarah (cakes available in 3 sizes) (crispy, chewy biscuit with chestnuts, cream of chestnuts, smooth cream with green tea, and passionfruit compote) Emotion Velours (served in a glass) (creme brulee with passionfruit, pan-roasted chestnuts, and candied chestnuts, gelee of chestnuts, acidulated passionfruit gelee, smooth cream with green tea) Aztec (individual and large size cakes) (shortcrust pastry with granola, orange compote with balsamic vinegar, flourless chocolate biscuit, chocolate mousse with slivers of chocolate with pure unrefined salt crystals) Surprise Kawaii (meringue, acidulated orange compote with gingerbread, mousseline cream with lemon, biscuit with almond slivers) Azur (chocolate) (ganache with lime enrobed with dark chocolate) pH3 (3 white chocolate boules per package) (lemon compote, crispy hazelnut praline; apricot compote, crispy pistachio praline; caramelized baked apple, crispy hazelnut praline) Emotion Exotic (served in a glass) (creme brulee with pistachio, pinapples seasoned with coriander and slivers of lime peel, coconut juice with tapioca pearls) Barbade (chocolate) (ganache with Tonka beand enrobed in dark chocolate) Sacristan raisins et amandes (puff pastry with caramelized sugar, blond raisins, and almond slivers) Will post more details later - hard to choose but my favourite of the collection - pH3.

Hey, hey, hey - watch it now - you're talking about my fearless leader. Well, there anyway - here's it's Fat Guy. hollywood, that and did I mention the artisanal soap and mineral water?

Michael, the Peltier on Rue de Sevres is the main shop but I like the one on Rue St. Dominique better - just a better feng shui on that corner to me. I'd forgotten about them in Japan - I think that's where they did their look first? I'll ask the Japanese girls at work. Maison Kayser - the other locations are just as good - I usually go to the one on Commerce which is a lot closer to me - but the advantage for visitors is that the original on Rue Monge is just down from the bio one which does have seating out front in the summer. All really nice. I ordered big Tarte Monge for a birthday - red fruits with light almond cream in their hearty sweet pastry crust - and they were so generous. Packaged it really well and even included a separate box with chocolate deco - gratis! But come to think of it the MK on Convention does have a nice park across the street - and the Metro's right there too. Did not know he was in Japan too. Have I been that vociferous on Poujauran?! And yes, Lesley's the one who pointed out the obvious to me - that Jean-Paul Hevin's right there in front of my eyes! I'd missed it on my way to Ter when I first moved here. I should add that I think he makes hands down the best chocolate macarons in town. And he does some seasonal pastries too - I've forgotten - I'll check later. Ditto Lesley on Hevin v. Chaudun - not even close. And yes, Aoki's tiny! But they do have a little counter with stools that will seat about 6. Lesley, it's funny - I hadn't realised that I knew all these shops so well until this thread! I only started doing pastry in school last fall! From what I hear from my friend Alexandra who's a Dalloyau regular - I might even say addict - they really changed their focus just recently. Less so on the perfection - and more so on the upscale day to day - I'd guess she gets dinner from there most nights. But they are some dinners - they give you an Emile Henry dish to keep every time - she has a stack of them in her kitchen cabinets - always trying to pass them on to me! And Laduree - they're so after the Japanese market - so very kawaii - you want to get armfuls of bags filled with little boxes. And yes, I feel so lucky to be here during the era of Conticini and Herme.

fresh_a, The Man himself was around this past week - more often than you'd think from what I hear. And thanks! hollywood, are you kidding? Real tortoiseshell - vintage - specially raised - organic pig bristles. Jon, oh yeah, that ganache is mine - all mine baby. You know there are no squirrels in Paris? I suspect they were all eaten during one of the plagues - but that's another story. And thanks!

Oh you're killing me - I so miss good dim sum. Does DTF do just dumplings or other dim sum too? And dfunghi, why don't you like Ocean Star? I was partial to them because I thought they were good - and had weekday discount prices!

I love the whole packaging thing at Laduree but I'm not impressed by their quality. Tired fraises des bois does not surprise me - I've seen cracked macarons in their window! But I do love their packaging which - let's face it - is a big part of patisserie - or should be. Fauchon - too old school for me. Dalloyau I like - not a favourite - but old school with an open mind. But I have to say that Laduree - at the top of their game - is still better than Dalloyau. Dalloyau's just really more a general traiteur and doesn't quite hit the peaks the way a patisserie like Laduree does. I don't like Mulot - the shop is unneccesarily chaotic - and way too much nappage I think. Just not worth the effort to me. Especially not with Pierre Herme about a 3 minute walk away. LeNotre actually has a new cafe over on the Champs-Elysees - where their school is. The location on Rue Cler is very nice - they set up tables inside and out for the summer. I adore both PH and Peltier. The former speaks more to my head while Conticini more to my soul. And there are two Peltier locations - both with salons de the. And sorry, but I'm in the dislike Poujouran camp. He himself is a nice guy - and definitely a boulanger not a patissier - but his shopgirls have some serious problems. I think for the best bio go to Kayser instead. He has an exclusively bio shop on Rue Monge - just a couple of doors down from the original Maison Kayser. From the latter, this summer I had his incredible grapefruit and almond tarte and his peach and hazelnut tarte - I cannot wait for the fig this fall. And he now does chocolate and pistachio financiers too. The French-Japanese connection - don't forget PH himself has a shop and outlets there - and his new fall/winter collection is based on the idea of kawaii - the Japanese word/concept for cute. I had a chance to try the collection and it was all very mignon. The cutest things were the pH3 - 3 in a package - looked like little white chocolate ping-pong balls lined up in a row in clear plastic packaging - filled with 3 different flavours - lemon compote, crispy hazelnut praline; apricot compote, crispy pistachio praline; and caramelized baked apple, crispy hazelnut praline. The macaron flavour of the season - Macaron au Marron et The Vert Matcha - macaron biscuit with chestnuts, cream of candied chestnuts, and smooth cream with Matcha green tea. I'll list the whole new collection on the France board. And then there's Aoki. I love the black sesame macarons and can't wait for the red bean Galettes des Rois. Poilane - definitely a boulangerie - but agree on those apple tartelettes. How about the basket of free punitions on the counter? How many grams can I appropriately eat while waiting to pay? And I really love their Cuisine de Bar next door - a deal - 11.50 for a free salad, tartine, glass of wine or water, and coffee. Desserts extra. As far as other great world pastries, I've had some amazing Chinese pastries of course - there are times when only an egg custard tart will do - I think the Kee Wah chain in the States is quite good. And I nominate the Peltier in the 7th on Rue St. Dominique.

Fat Guy, you rock. And you're such a sweetheart - don't worry, I won't tell. Priscilla, that's so cool. Thanks for risking your rep - we won't tell on that either. Cherie, the French don't say such sentimental things. - it's "merde" for just about everything. hollywood, no Kobe on the Nutella here. They know Jordan and the Lakers and that's about it for the NBA. But it was a special promotional 850 g jar - disappearing too fast! Paul, you were a nervous wreck? Yeah, I know the feeling! Bux, you got that ESP thing going on! And Mark, thanks for the preview - but I was getting to it! So, end of the second week now - but really the end of the first real week. The first day started out like one of those nightmares again. I show up at the employee entrance security desk and they send me over to the admin offices next door. I ring - no answer. I wait across the street like a stalker - until I see the office girls show up right at 9AM - give them a few minutes, then go ring again - again no answer. I could hear them behind the door - and the bell ring too. Wait 5 minutes - then ring and knock sharply again. Door finally opens. Ushered in - I fill out forms, they copy my updated Carte de Sejour in my passport, and then they give me my official Plaza Athenee employee ID card. I'm giddy - funny how it's the little things that make life tangible. I'm taken next door - pass through security with my own card - then very briefly introduced to the pastry department. They look really surprised - which makes me really uncomfortable. Then taken over and issued uniforms - this will change my life - and shown the locker room - full-sized locker and even showers! Left alone to change with instructions to report directly to the kitchen. Change - tuck a pastry scraper into my back pocket and pen and Sharpie into the front of my jacket - then grab my big Ziploc of pastry essentials - oven mitts, Microplane, box cutter, metal straightedge, etc. I walk in and it's a whirlwind of introductions - I remember almost no names - but am pleasantly surprised that everyone pauses to shake hands - or elbows if they're working with something already. Then I'm generally shown where things are in the kitchen. The first task I'm given is to place three tiny thyme sprigs on rasberry tarts. I was surprised that my hands were not shaking. The tart bases are about 3 inches in diameter, piled high with a mound of berries. How the hell I was able to tuck the thyme in without knocking any berries off I don't know. I then watched as an apprentice piped a snowball of cream onto other tarts - muttering merde when they weren't perfect to his eye, scraping off, then starting over - and passing them to me to lightly sprinkle powdered sugar, then even more lightly cocoa powder. Cleaning, rearranging - I thought, you mean there's a place in the professional pastry world for obsessive compulsives like me? Then came a slightly nightmarish call - report back to the admin offices. One of the sous-chefs takes me over - there's a problem with my Carte de Sejour - it's not the right one. I have no idea. A few calls later - while I imagine being yanked out of my fantasy - I'm cleared to go back into the kitchen. Then there's the first cleaning. I start wiping politely when the others start pouring soapy buckets onto the marble counters and on the floors until we're all standing in about an inch or two on the floor. It doesn't phase anyone - who continue walking around with impossibly perfectly decorated petit fours without fearing a disastrous slip and fall. Top to bottom cleaning. Then lunch - an hour - all together. My hopes of cooking staff meals was dashed with the discovery of the employee restaurant. But it's a French employee restaurant - so we have a fully-loaded cheese tray, poulet frites, and wine - and all the cool kids sit in the smoking section so that's where our tribe goes. After lunch I measure out a recipes - held in 11 binders I think - before I'm off to the official Welcome Day. Back to the admin offices and then an informative but lenghty slideshow followed by a tour of the hotel. The best part? The gastro kitchen. We walk up just as they're having a full meeting. Someone once described them to me as the Olympic athletes of cuisine - and they look every bit the part - like athletes and thoroughbreds milling on the infield, chomping at the bit. They stare at me - and I stare back at them. I chomp on my bit too - I want to be in there too. End of the first day. The days so far have been variations of the same - but with fast increasing responsibilities. On the second day I actually made my first own recipe - a blackberry tea infused chocolate ganache - remembering to shake out the air from the immersion blender so there were no bubbles in the finished product - but almost making the fatal mistake of putting it in the walk-in fridge - their ganache never goes in the fridge unlike at school. And yes, all stagiaires are asked to make something representative of their countries - I choose American. I threaten them with Elvis' butter fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches much to their horrified delight - but that's not really a dessert. Hot fudge brownie sundaes? And I'm helping one of the apprentices develop an American dessert menu. There was a surreal moment when I was explaining The Cheesecake Factory - with which the gastro pastry chef was familiar and amusingly added that the portions were enorme - enormous. But my recipe conversions and the ingredient differences wreaked havoc on our results so far. We'll try again soon. So far the stage has been more mentally than physically exhausting. And despite the cleaning - have I mentioned the afternoon general cleaning we do with toothbrushes? - I'm completely giddy. Exhausted and giddy. Thanks so much for your interest.

Thanks hollywood! Just finishing breakfast - a choked bite of baguette and Nutella. I leave in about half an hour - the last few minutes of my pre-Ducasse life! Mercifully it's rainy and grey again in Paris - just the way it's supposed to be. Thanks again!

Sinclair, so sorry to hear about your feet! I feel for you - I have serious feet issues. How can your doctor tell you to wear gym shoes at work? They will slip on water and grease!

A couple of years old?! I thought I was cheap - er, frugal. That's brave. I'd also add that when baking chocolate puff pastry rely even more strongly on your sense of smell. Once you start to smell the chocolate, you're almost there. Like chocolate genoise, dacquoise, etc.

cmckee, what do you want to do and how much time do you have? Sandra's right, at CB Paris, Basic and Intermediate Cuisine and Pastry are done in French with an English translator - all practicals in French only. Superior - all French. Apartments - CB doesn't really help you find an apartment - they'll give you a list of agencies that students have used. But there are a handful of good apartments that students pass on from one to another. I think I'm the only one who has an unfurnished apartment - and insanely shipped over almost all my worldly possessions.

Rhea, thanks! Yep, start on Monday. I know I should be out of my mind, but I don't really feel anything yet. I think if I start to let myself feel something that I'll be overwhelmed. I just can't wait to get suited up and back in the game.

I'm big on Cafe Constant right now. Totally seasonal, lots of Provencal at the moment. Three courses will only set you back about 25. Typical, typical Paris cafe but with a Christian Constant menu. And Au Bon Acceuil. Again, thorougly seasonal; gorgeous, minimalist space; if you sit outside, you have the Tower full on just down the street. Three course menu 25.

Oh Russ - you know Julia invented the whole gastronomic, hip, ironic, detached chick thing. When I met her - at a spry 89 - she still had a full command of what's good - and not so good - for her image.

Bux, did you also see the little Quicktime video of frying the boudins blancs in the pan? Talk about food porn. Wait until you see the stuff - and shop - in person. Dark, cool, deep, narrow - boudins to the left; savoury tartes to the right; cheese in the back, four haunches of jambon du pays on the side. And all the boudins are cooked - just slice and eat - best in this weather. Going back to try some this week. Apartment with kitchen - there's an idea. Did I mention that I'm getting a stove after all?

Bux, it's too funny to me sometimes how everyone falls for this quaint idea that superstar chefs are so removed from the reality of money. When I met Albert this summer we talked about all kinds of product endorsements. And yes, yes, before you ask - more on meeting Albert coming soon. hollywood, I read about that online! But that's different - they've always been more about the marketing than the product.

pim, I never thought I'd wish for that thick Sunset district fog over Paris! Some of that - and some real Thai food please! The heat's supposed to break by Wednesday so you may be in luck - but it's supposed to rain so bring the umbrella - or not. I plan to soak it up gratefully.

John, this is not new. It's kind of like how A-listers do TV commercials in Japan.

fresh_a, where did you buy and about how much was it?

Another great source for take-home boudin - noir and otherwise - Charles Traiteur. Award-winning boudin noir, blanc, and andouillette - lots of varities. Three locations - I know the one on rue St. Dominique near me. They even have a website Roi du Boudin - King of Boudin.