We have settled into a bit of routine of eating at home one night and then out the next. This week we had a very good meal at a little bistro near Place des Vogues - Le Petit Marche'. We arrived at about 7:30 and joined the one other non-Parisian couple inside. We sat with Debbie's back to the kitchen, and me looking in. The kitchen was open to the room, so you can watch the chef. I don't know if that is really good or not, but he was really into the work. I notice that he was constantly tasting whatever he prepared. And it was warm, so he was getting quite a workout. Debbie had salmon and I had steak. The salmon was great, and the acompaning cucumber salad was very refreshing. I always get my beef well done (since there is nothing in between very rare and well done here, I think). It was fine and the green beans and mashed potates were superior. On top of it all, the waitress spoke very good English (says she gets to practice every day). We will probably return here. By the time we left at 9 or so, many people were waiting for a table.
Yesterday, our eat-at-home day, I picked up a roasted chicken and potatos from the butcher shop, some green beans from a Lebonese deli, and cheesecake from a specialty store (all between the metro and home). We have enough for a couple meals from that! When you get home from work at 7pm, that is my kind of cooking! I also had a St Rieul beer I got from a specialty beer store near the metro (quite nice).
And tonight, we decided to try the San Paulo tapas bar near the St Paul metro stop. We passed it the other night and it looked cool. But when we arrived, we found it was "not possible" without reservations. So, one of the guys there asked if we were looking for tapas. We said yes, so he directed us to Bodegas, a few hundred yards down the street. He told us to tell them that Brutus sent us (and we would get a free sangria - didn't really work actually, but they did know who he was). We had a meal of 4 different tapas. Deb and I hadn't gone for tapas ever before, and I think we were expecting some sort of pastry (like empanadas). Well, that isn't what we got. I tried to order stuff we would recognize (ham, chicken, cheese), but it ended up a bit of a mystery. The one thing I know, the chorizo was sausage that tasted a bit like bacon. Debbie would not go for it, so I ate it all. So far, I'm surviving. We also had a ceasar salad - not much like what we have in the US. But this did have some very good parmesean cheese flakes along with chicken and tomatos. We were just outside the restaurant, and it started to pour. They had an electric awning that kept most rain off, but I drank my espresso especially slowly until the rain let up. The best part is the area we found was new to us, and we spotted some more interesting places to try in the future. Bon apetite!
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