Yesterday, I decided that since I was the last person in the world to be using Safari as a web browser, I should switch to Firefox. Everyone says it’s better and since I use Movable Type for the blog, Firefox has little buttons to make things bold or to italicize, so I don’t need to type in a bazillion symbols everytime I do that. About…
[UPDATE: The original bakery mentioned here is now closed. However it was replaced by Maison Landemain, which has excellent croissants, and other pastries and bread.] Truth is, I don’t eat croissants very often for the simple reason that I don’t like to get dressed until I’ve had my morning coffee & toast. So having one is a relatively big deal for me, since croissants are…
One of my favorite things to do in Paris is just wander around, often in neighborhoods that aren’t really known for anything special. There’s always something interesting to find; shops specializing in vintage hairbrushes and combs, or locksmiths for doors installed only during the reign of Napoléan III. And of course, I’m usually on the lookout for food, and am especially keen when I come…
I’m fortunate to live in Paris, a city where there’s an unusually large amount of very good chocolate shops. With so many to choose from, it’s hard to whittle it down to just the few, most perfect ones. But I must. And one of them is John-Charles Rochoux. His jewel box of a shop is located just off the bustling rue de Rennes. It’s not just…
That’s the new one meter box of chocolates from Patrick Roger, over three feet of pralines, caramels, nougats, and creamy-smooth ganache-filled bonbons, all enrobed in ultra-dark bittersweet chocolate. I don’t know how someone would brave getting one of those home on the métro, but I’d surely appreciate their efforts if I found one under my tree! Patrick Roger 108, Boulevard St. Germain (6th) Tel: 01…
At last count, there are 1263 bakeries in Paris. On just about every street, there’s at least one, if not two, or even three bakeries. Some of them are very good, a few are perhaps not so fabulous, and several are excellent. Parisians eat a lot of bread, far more than their American counterparts. Visitors often wonder, “How come we don’t have bakeries like this…
People come from all over the world to sip le chocolat chaud in the busy and cozy cafés in Paris. And there’s a reason for that – it’s excellent! But you can’t just walk into any café and be assured of a great cup. Thankfully you’ll find a number of places in Paris that take the time to pour an excellent cup of hot chocolate….
The hardest of all foods to photograph, I’ve learned, are chocolate-covered marshmallows. The bright, fluffy, vanilla-flecked cubes of sweet, airy marshmallow in contrast to the thin, intensely-flavored coating of bittersweet chocolate certainly presents a challenge. I futzed around a bit, trying to figure out how to show the lofty-white cubes in juxtaposition to the coating of pure, dark chocolate. They’re such diverse colors and textures…
Wandering the streets of Paris, I feel fortunate when I stumble across a great boulangerie. In a city with 1263 bakeries (at last count) many of them are good, a few great, and some are disappointingly ordinary. So when I come one that looks, and smells, like it’s gonna be a great one, I hurry inside. Located on a plain, fairly-deserted side street in the…
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