Culinary Retreat with Shannon & Wlady Grochowski

Meet Shannon Grochowski, our hostess at the culinary retreat. I will post mostly photos..the wi-fi at Abbaye de Reigny was a tad slow…

The aroma of molten Valrhona chocolat is in the air. We inhale 👃 only the best chocolate 🍫 

A Benoit Thanksgiving

Thank you Benoit for thinking of hungry Americains👍🏻 

And for thinking you are serving a Very American traditional dinner. 

And thank you PBers Bonnie and Rob for taking me to divine Benoit at 20, rue St. Martin. 

BENOIT  opened in 1912 by the Petit family. 

Alain Ducasse took it over in 2005 but has maintained all their classic French bistro traditions. 

The special menu says 'Dinde fermier (free-range)something something aux champignons airelles (wild mushrooms) something something' with cranberry sauce and gravy (46€).

Reading it on the menu it didn't sound like that much, so I ordered my fav starter, snails. Big mistake. I am still repenting. Splish splash in the pool 🏊‍♀️

They didn't mention we would get an 'amuse bouche' - a tiny cup of velouté(creamy soup) de panin(a kind of white turnip) with crunchy bits of chestnut in the bottom for contrast.

Why did I eat every snail🐌? If anyone had said to me you will someday move to Paris & eat snails 🐌 2 days in a row I would have socked them silly.

The main course. The stuffing is the squarish block of wild mushrooms 🍄 , plus mystery bits. We got both dark & white turkey 🦃 meat. Très riche. FYI I read somewhere turkey breast/dinde is the most frequently eaten meat in France. The little pan on the left contains an individual escallop of potate douce (sweet potato to you) with plenty of maple syrup (something else the French are mad for - usually Canadian). Just above - a big slab of butter 🧈 from their own fermier. We were told this after the dinner. I wanted to ask for the butter back but was restrained by my companions. On the left a small bowl of cranberry sauce. Fortunately my dear friends from Vermont wanted none, so I ate all of the lingonberry sauce myself. Bear helped out. I passed on the gravy so it balanced out. The 2 whitish strips are turnip again.

The waiter assured us they do not normally serve ‘American-style’ food like this. Does this look American 🇺🇸 to you aside from the gravy boat. Not that I'm complaining, just stating a fact. FYI it was all extremely delish with great service. Benoit gets E for effort. We were hesitant whether to get a dessert.

Their baba au rhum is famous. We settled on 1 order of 3 flavors of home-made ice cream (from their own farmer)as sort of a digestive. They kept bringing us freshly baked madeleines. A little plate of marshmallows, more madeleines and little ganache chocolates. I imagined we would be skipping the usual I-ate-too-much feeling. No way. We needed cranes 🏗️ to get out of there. 

             Oh la la la la la.

Outside a Christmas marché by Tour St. Jacques. 

Crossing my bridge a lovely light show as always. I hope you very much enjoyed your turkey too🎉. 

Please Keep Bear 🐻 in Paris with letters from my Paris Etsy shop. FYI 🐻 is 🏊‍♀️like crazy to work it off today and the rest of the week.

Soufflés at Le Recamier

On the last day of PBer Carolyn's Paris trip we met again for lunch. She picked LE RECAMIER. 

I visited Le Recamier a couple of years ago guest of some very kind blog readers. Like an idiot, I thought I'd keep vegetarian and ordered an omelette. 

Meanwhile my hosts were gobbling up stunning soufflés, speciality de la maison. 

Meanwhile our waiter thought I'd ordered a 'bavette' (a cut of French steak 🥩). I ate it and it was lovely. This visit I knew exactly what to order. SOUFFLÉS! 

Carolyn got the chevre (cheese) soufflę. Carolyn is the only person I know who looks good eating while having her picture taken - a rare talent.

We decided the vinaigrette on our salads may be the best We've ever tasted. The waiter revealed it was olive oil, hazelnut oil and lemon. C'est tout. I ran and bought some huile de noisette 🌰 Update I never opened the bottle. For years.

I ordered the escargot 🐌 Not as pretty but out of this world delicious if you're fond of French snails.

Our neighbors had mini starter soufflés.

Behind me on the veranda someone was having this fab sliced-truffled haricot vert salad on top of artichoke hearts? Le Recamier is one of those places where you want to see what everyone else is eating. Its theater.

We shared a dessert soufflé - Madagascar vanille with red fruit couli.  

I was certain painting watercolor soufflés would be easy peasy. Not so. After many doodles ✍️ and trial and error, 4 days later I figured it out I think. You tell me. LE RECAMIER is a charming place for lunch on 4, rue Recamier, 75007. 

*Just do not order an omelette. Thanks for reading and sharing Paris breakfasts. 

Subscribe and get letters 💌 sent from Paris every month 📮. 

From Paris with love ❤️ & Soufflés XXX🥂🐻

l’Escargot Paris

Restaurant L'Escargot Paris, 5" x 7"

Have you had snails 🐌 at restaurant L'Escargot?

I've passed by many times at 38, rue Montorgueil 75001, 

And perused the menu.

No guts, no glory

While I was busy prepping for the March trip, I noticed something - how Paris arrondissements are laid out.

Paris is laid out like a snail 🐌 with the lower numbers in the middle. 

French Girl says, "Paris was built like a snail. You can see it perfectly when you look at the map with the quartiers. 

Take your finger ☝️ Imagine #1 is at the center. Then draw a snail 🐌 with the other numbers and you'll be able to place the "arrondissements. “Yes we Parisians are snails 🐌 "

 I saw a million chocolate snails in Paris for Easter.

  Not a snail, but a close relative.  

Is this a French snail?

This gorgeous snail was in New York Bergdorf Goodman's Xmas windows. I once had snails at now long-gone classic Bistro de Saint-Peres. Eating l'escargot is similar to eating 🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐 croissants at one sitting, the butter 🧈 is that rich.
Paris provides the antidote - ODDIBIL 250. Available over the counter at pharmacies - just plain old charcoal tablets.  They filter out the gras/fat so you can live to eat another day.

The rue Montorgueil Map is in my Etsy shop now.

Please share all l'escargot 🐌 stories.

BONJOUR JEUDI!