Bonjour Pain Quotidien

It's not just my Moleskine who likes to hang out at Le Pain Quotidien. I'm a fan of the 1131 Madison ave. branch near 84th street. The light is particularly good there for doodling, reading and taking table shots. Here's a café au lait bol hanging out!

I love the long spacious common tables. The condiment bottles sail across that broad expanse like ships - think the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria..it's a landscape to my eyes.

You can pretty much pick out what you want to eat by looking over at your neighbor's plate. Guess I'm "outer-directed" but it always works for me. "Ah..I'll have what he's having please?" This is the Paris Jambon with 3 mustards plate. The food is delicious and plentyful. Though an overseas Le Pain fan says we're getting bigger portions in the US.

Hmmm..that's not going to help the national waistline problem Le Pain. Please give us those tiny postage stamp portions the French are famous for. OH heck nevermind. Just look at this lush plate - the Mediterranean Tartine - Ricotta, Prosciutto, Pesto, Olives + Tartines. What's a tartine you ask? It's a hunk of bread on which you can slather anything you like - an open face sandwich that works for breakfast or lunch. Le Pain usually gives you 3 different types of bread, all very homey, all made from organic stone ground flour. Le Pain Quotidien is a Belgian company started in 1990.

Quotidien means everyday things and Le Pain's common table is full of them. I fell so hard for this little milk jug that I went on a quest to the Bowery restaurant supply stores and bought 4 of them. I love the reflections and metal is always a challange to paint. The common table allows you to overhear conversations too. Often strangers start conversing across their tartines and by the end of they meal they are exchanging email adresses. Where else can that happen in New York?

I used to focus only on Le Pain's desserts (the Belgian Brownie was a favorite) I'd walk in, get my brownie and walk out. Then I discovered the the joys of sitting down at the big table and multi-tasking eating, sketching and shooting.

There's always a delicious trio of Le Pain's homey brand of apricot preserve, real hazelnut nutella, and 4-red fruits preserve just waiting for you on the table. And if you've got a bit of leftover crust from your savory tartine... Well you can end your meal with a sweet by dabbing on spoonful of jam or a glop of their outrageous hazelnut nutella. YUM!
This is a repost from exactly 3 years ago...ahem

BONJOUR LE PAIN!