weinoo

Certainly not as affordable as eating in Florence!

Many years ago, we ate at a wonderful restaurant called Rino (in the 11th), with a chef named Giovanni Passerini. A Roman, he was cooking real Italian food...in Paris. It was somewhat groundbreaking, in that aspect. Long story short: he went on to open Passerini, to great acclaim. Writers calling it not just the best Italian restaurant in Paris, but the best in Europe. I remember reading this Alec Lobrano piece when Passerini opened, but we'd never been. There's also a Passerina wine bar, across the street, where we'd shared a glass or two a few nights prior. And an Italian "deli" as well. Passerini We started with brandade - These were a must... And better (?) than mine, at home! This was great: Bigoli. Which if memory serves me correctly (hah!), was Significant Eater's main course. Mine... Lotte...aka monkfish. Really excellent. For dessert, semifreddo. From my investigation of the bill, a fair amount of low ABV alcohol was consumed. I can recommend this place.

Yeah - the 3 or 4 or 5 books I just glanced at show bell pepper as a potential ingredient, but it's all about the onions and tomatoes. And plenty of good olive oil. The first one that I see online when I googled sofregit:

This is where you'd run afoul, especially of my memory.

At Soces, with the veal, they're Pomme Dauphine. At Le Grand Bain, they're gratin dauphinois. But look like pave. Probably a cross between the two.

I take this back. As I take a better look at this picture... I realize it was a play on a tarte tatin, and I think it was savory - a leek tarte tatin.

This recipe for peperonata is fairly classic. And fairly stolen from this book (acknowledged as such)... In which it is called "Peppers Roman Style." To know more (than you really need to know), well - why not Serious Eats? It's also spelled pepperonata.

Yes indeed. Have had it these various ways in restaurants in Spain. I think it's also (or at least peppers are also) an important ingredient in sofregit.

Yes - "back in the day" it was a much easier rental (they do have another property right nearby - did you see that?). Prior to staying here a number of times, we'd found a place via VRBO, and liked it a lot; then that place came off the market. So - it's always something, as Roseanne Roseannadanna might have said. Le Grand Bain Le Grand Bain is a place we're somewhat familiar with, having dined here on previous trips. As we like a lot, and as it's open on Sundays, it works quite well. This particular Sunday night, however - slightly different, as it was World Cup final night...and we know the results of that! (Yes, France lost to Argentina...on PKs). Paris was insane, and we made the ridiculous mistake of trying to take the Metro to the restaurant. Long story short - we ended up walking, all the way to the restaurant, in the rain. Another little side story...I've been semi-watching this cooking show called Paris Bistro Cooking, for a bit of time now. It's not a competition show, which makes it at least watchable, in my opinion. Turns out the chef on the show is actually the chef at Le Grand Bain; I'd never put the two together until I saw the credits at the end of an episode. Weird. We were seated next to this really cute (okay, hot), young couple from Germany. They were quite interested in some of the dishes we'd ordered, and asked for advice on what they might like, which was fun sort of helping them along with their meal. Even let them taste one or two of our dishes before we'd taken a bite, something I rarely do (did I mention they were hot?). Anyway, what'd we eat again? This! Gratin Dauphinois. This head gets the heads turning for sure. Head of a sea bass,. A nice hunk of pork, with the crispiest skin...quite good. There was also Céleri-Rave Rémoulade, a snack of panisse, a play on Tuscan ribollita, and (evidently, as I look at the bill), 2 desserts. One of which was this tarte tatin. A genuinely pleasant evening, on a rainy night in Paris.

I'm sure when I first joined the club, they were impossible to find around here as well.

With any number of people expressing a dislike for bell peppers (green being the major offender, red another), and with references to pepperonata sprinkled throughout the forums, why not a dedicated topic? Also, I just made a batch. Simple, classic Italian flavors. Fucking delicious. Get over pepper problems and make this!

As I told @rancho_gordo in an email, I think my subscription ought to go to a more deserving person. And since I can shop for a wide variety of Steve's stuff in my local gourmet store, I'm okay with it.

Thanks for reminding me...I just canceled.

Different protein content of flours maybe?

Picked up some gigantic artichokes today at $4 a piece. which isn't that terrible of a price, considering the size and still semi-freshness of them.

I'm pretty sure the butter is for the bread that's also on the table...somewhere! The little bowl looks to be red wine vinegar mignonette. We tend not to use anything on these oysters, other than a little squeeze of lemon juice.

On our second night in Paris, we dined at what may have been our favorite meal while in Paris. Soces (in the 19th) This was one of those all-out dinners; that is, we ate a lot!! Cap Ferrets. So good. In the upper right hand corner, the tarama. And the rillettes were somewhere on the table as well. Carpaccio Saint-Jacques. Oysters and Saint-Jacques deserved this... Côte de Veau. Allegedly for 2 people, but could have fed like 5. The thing was huge! And hugely delish. The potatoes that came with were unbelievably great. Said potatoes - don't even ask me how they were prepared, other than the perfect frying at the end. So a really crispy shell, with creamy mashed potatoes within. Dessert, too. Cause we're nuts! What a meal - wonderful service, lively place without being crazy noisy. Just great.

Absolutely - but be forewarned; it's booked up A LOT! https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/10824038?source_impression_id=p3_1675081304_gPGUBJANYHGzzYTl

Undoubtedly referring to that cheese shop...

After our visit to Florence, our second and final stop was Paris. We've stayed in the same apartment a couple of times; it's located on Square du Temple Elie Wiesel, with a view of the square from its windows. It's around the corner from Rue de Bretagne, home to any number of fine food shopping establishments. There's the Marché des Enfants Rouges, established sometime in the 1600s. Fun to walk through, maybe grab a bite or a quick glass of wine. Nearby are a couple of groceries; I wish my grocery here at home did something like this... Lots of oysters! To take home!! (Here on the lower east side, they're more likely to be selling weed...https://www.instagram.com/p/Clt3VDTOlsU/?hl=en) There's an amazing cheese shop, which we take advantage of... Chocolate, butcher, patisserie, etc. all within a stone's throw - it's great. Our first night in Paris, we met an old friend for dinner. L'Attache All the tableware reveals itself as you finish up the dish. The food was good (wine great); the plates are...interesting.

Needed a simple, easy to put together dinner last night. Almost-composed salad. Castelfranco, vinaigrette. Artichoke heart marinated. Avocado sliced. Olives rinsed. Shrimp poached. Cheese ravioli tossed in butter and Parmigiano.

Appears as if you're using leg/thigh combos. Any special chicken? Love the dry rub!

Actually, I think the opposite...simply called gouging.

And this surprises anyone...why? All one has to do is look at the profits of a cartel like Cal-Maine.

Sar-Cilian?!