Great thread - enjoyed reading it - thanks for posting!!
As always, love reading your thread. Looks like a great evening!
Thanks for sharing. Great stuff. I guess I assumed Savoy was living in Vegas full time now.
Glad you’re enjoying the thread; it has definitely been an adventure.
re: Guy Savoy / high-end dining - have to say I’m turning a corner on this. I’ve been blessed to go to quite a few Michelin-starred restaurants and have had wonderful experiences, but it’s starting to lose its appeal. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve seen every Chef’s Table (including the France line-up) and I fully appreciate that there is as much artistic value to the experience as culinary… but I’m finding that I’m enjoying the high-end bistro/wine bar scene a lot more. I like the casual nature, the quality of the food (yes, the played out farm-to-table them of “chickens from Farmer Bob’s ranch”) and the affordability of bistros (relative to Michelin-starred places) more.
Had to share one last post, as it always makes me laugh. I had dinner last night with French and Brazillian colleagues… which devolved into a political discussion over low-end Cote Rotie. This meme came up during the convo and I had to share, as it represents all things French for me - politics, food and the insatiable need to correct people’s understand/perception/accents of all things French 
OMG too funny! ![[rofl.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7452fcd8e675af869f8da01174474a545b03944.gif "rofl"){kind=small}
Thanks for sharing your dinner at Guy Savoy. What you said about Michelin places rings true for me, I so much prefer the small gastro-bistrot/wine bar scene in Paris. Can’t wait to be back in February!
All you said, Michel. Except it’s this Thursday for us!
We went to Guy Savoy for our 25th, and it was very opulent and very good. But it was more memorable for the occasion and the company than the food. And oh yeah, the price tag. A week’s worth of lunches and dinners at other restaurants we love.
Funny I’ve gone the other way. I’ll take one 3* over a week of bistro lunches. Last month visits were to Ledoyen and Arpege. Probably because I have serviceable bistros locally but nothing very fine.
Andrew,
This thread has been a really, really enjoyable read. Thank you.
I’m in complete agreement with you on the 3* vs. high end bistro aspect of dining. I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying many high end Michelin type meals. Some of which are the most memorable meals of my life. But these days, the prices have gotten astronomical and it’s very difficult to remove cost from the equation. Additionally, I like the casual aspect from the dress code to the service. I haven’t been to Paris in a while, but the combo of food quality/price/atmosphere/etc. was unbeatable at Chez L’Ami Jean. I could have five dinners at the likes of CLAJ for the same cost as Guy Savoy.
As an aside, my wife and I ate at Guy Savoy for our second anniversary in 2000. Wonderful meal. To this day, we receive a handwritten new years card from Guy Savoy every year.
I had some extra time and a funny conversation with a buddy last night, so please forgive the tangent.
My best friend and his wife are coming to Paris to spend the Christmas holidays with us. I’ve known the guy for almost forty years and we’ve done everything from serving as altar boys together to working in restaurants to standing in each other’s weddings. Needless to say, I’m excited for him to visit, as his only international travel was as a UN Peace Keeper back in the early 90s. We Skyped last night and the below is a pretty accurate representation of the conversation.
AK: “We’re really excited you’re coming to Paris! What do you and the wife want to do while you’re here? Do you have a short list, with restaurants, or museums or what?”
SO: “We just want to experience your life. We want to see what you do every day. You know, go pick up some baguettes and cheese, get a bottle of wine and hang out.”
AK: “So we can totally do that, but that really isn’t what I do every day. I leave the apartment at 08:30 and walk two miles to work, dropping the kids off at school on the way. We’ll make sure to jump around the piles of poop, because I live in the 16th and the expats/old money don’t clean-up after their dogs. Then, we’ll suck down some bus/traffic fumes and try to avoiding stepping in the hole I broke my ankle in, because I was doing email on my cell phone (true story).”
SO: “Yeah, but don’t you guys go out to dinner at little cafes and stuff? You know, sit on the chairs outside at one of those round-abouts and drink wine?”
AK: “I’ve got 4 kids; I’m not sitting outside of a café and people-watching at noon. If I get out to a nice bistro on Saturday night once a week, I’m happy… but we’re not still sitting outside. It’s 30 f’ing degrees out. You’re coming in the middle of winter, and I hate to break it to you… the leaves are dead, the birds aren’t chirping and there aren’t any mimes here either. If you want to hear an accordion, take the metro; one of the gypsies busking in the station or on a car is the only way you’re going to check that box on your bucket list.”
SO: “You can be a real assh*le some times.”
AK: “Don’t forget to bring the bourbon. And Stumptown (coffee beans).”
He’s right, of course, but that’s beside the point. The great thing about this move is the realization that there is so much more to life than just “doing what I do every day.” The things that resonate the most for me about Paris aren’t my lifestyle or access to mind-blowing cheese (the reason I walk two miles to work each day); it’s the idea that there is a surprise waiting around the corner that I wouldn’t have experienced in Seattle. As much as I’d love to sit on the couch and binge on Netflix, I know the clock is ticking for our return back… so we force ourselves to get out of the apartment and go do something, looking for that surprise.
Sometimes the surprise is that raspberry tart I took a picture of and posted above. Other times? Maybe he’s right. Its walking to work and turning the corner to Pont Garigliano, after a Tuesday morning rain, while the sun is coming up.
Sorry Andrew. You can’t leave. We need your Paris reports badly!
Great story and great pic. God I miss Paris!
Great commute. I had a similar experience (domestic version)
Awesome.
Wait, so your life isn’t all hidden bistro’s, cheese eating and drinking wine with Saucisson near the Pont Neuf?
Thread killer.
I love it when people visit and say they just want to experience Parisian life. Most people say that they want to do the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, Champs d’Elysees and Versailles during their 2.5 day visit. There is so much more to Paris. And the best parts are taking in the food and the lifestyle.
All that being said, my 1h15min commute back and forth to work and 10-12 hour working days are destroying the myth of the 35 hour work week…
We just got back from Paris this past Thursday. We went over to check out a school our daughter may attend. We did an AirBnB near Rue de Bac (7th) to try and get more of a feel about what life would be like if we did move, and even though it was a very small taste it did give us ideas of what we already knew, namely it’s not at all the rose colored glasses vision of Andrew’s friend. There were plenty of “we could live here” areas but they need to be pretty close to a Metro and have an elevator in the building.
If she is accepted, the hard work starts.
Laurence - glad your trip went well; good luck with the apartment hunting process. As discussed on PM, it’s fun
Friend and his wife arrived yesterday on Air Tahiti airlines via Los Angeles. As expected, they were exhausted and barely made it with us on a 45 minute walk to pick up Christmas Eve / Christmas food items. Much like the end of July, Paris turns into a ghost town; I think my Franprix (Safeway/Harris Teeter equivalent, but 1/8 the size) is closed for 36 hrs. Rather than rattle off all we’re eating and drinking, suffice it to say I’m as excited about the cassoulet I’m making for Christmas as I am the rib roast we’re having tonight!
We’ll be walking around central Paris today, so I’ll post anything exciting later. Couple of everyday Christmas things that feel unique to Paris below.
Christmas trees - I have yet to stumble across a Christmas tree farm / lot in Paris. They’re usually propped up outside a grocery store or a flower shop and wrapped with plastic mesh to keep it manageable for somebody to carry it home. We paid a little bit extra and bought a tree from a flower shop that wasn’t already wrapped, given a friend ended up with a Charlie Brown tree when he got his back to his apartment. We also waited a few weeks to get our tree, as the French don’t use tree stands; they slam the bottom of the trunk into a stump, instead (see pic below). It’s much more decorative, but with nowhere to put water, the trees dry out quite a bit faster. Next week, we’ll toss it in one of the Christmas tree pens the city puts up in local parks, presumably to keep them off the sidewalks and out of the garbage trucks. I’m pretty sure our apartment concierge HATES Christmas, as he gets stuck cleaning up the eight million dried needles that come off as people drag their trees down six flights of stairs.
Foie Gras - It’s the one time of year most people raid their piggy banks for a few slices of foie gras tochons to bring home for the family. Every butcher looks like they have their own spin on it and, at 190 euros per kilo, their foie is always “the best foie in Paris.” Long story longer, my Paris office has a high-end restaurant in the building with an executive chef who makes his own during the holidays… so I was able to pick up a 600g block from him. I went with a regular foie mi cuit (see pic below), rather than the pistachio or truffle blocks he also makes. On the off chance you’re reading a thread on Paris and not familiar with foie preparations… you generally see it served in one of three ways - seared off at high heat and served as an entrée, served mi cuit/rolled into a torchon or as the center of a higher-end terrine/pate en croute. The perfect pairing is d’Yquem, but alas, I’m a baller on a budget and a long ways away from DavidN, so we’re going with an 07 Sigalas Rabaud.
Chocolate Yule Logs - Few things in life can get me to clap like a 5 year old kid, but chocolate yule logs do it every time. Technical description - flat cake folded over to make a spiral, covered with frosting and decorations (candy mushrooms, etc.). Simpler description - nom nom nom. As you can imagine, everybody has their own take on this, with recipes ranging from chocolate to coffee to grand marnier-soaked, etc. Every patisserie will have them in their window, but if I can get to the point where I’m going go to spend $30 on one, I’d rather go to a nice place and spend $45 instead. #yolo We picked up a traditional chocolate one and will serve tonight. My kids are going nuts already!
+1 on the buche de noel. The wife tried but failed to figure the logistics of getting one home. We had to settle for macarons, several cheeses from Androuet and lots of Bordier butter.
So, Galleries Lafayette was about all I could deal with today, before retreating home to make dinner. On the bright side, I scored 6 bottles of my 2nd favorite rose (Clos Canarelli) and I’m halfway through a 2015 Gerin Côte Rotie Champin Le Seigneur… so i should recover quickly. Highlights from today include the giant candy tree in the center of the Galleries (featuring balloons that go up and down with music on the hour), the window displays (similar to what you’d find in NYC or London) and my favorite - the spice store.
I love Paris and NYC at this time of the year, thanks for the pics.