What I ate and drank in Paris
sharing some excellent food and drink tips
Dear Reader,
I hope you’re enjoying Easter holidays and some fantastic food and wine. I celebrated my 30th Birthday last weekend with 30 guests from Finland here in Bologna. It was an unforgettable celebration for three days and I could’ve not been happier.
Before getting back to the Italian food, wine and travel content, I wanted to share my food and drink highlights of my week in Paris. As much I love the food and wine scene in Bologna, it felt great to leave and experience the vast variety of options particularly in ethnic foods in Paris. To my surprise, I ate less traditional French foods and more alternatives as that was something I realized I’d been craving for. I share with you two great lunches and two more traditional French dinners and all the sweets in between (there were plenty…).
Now I will continue eating chocolate eggs and figure out what to bring with to the Pasquetta picnic tomorrow with some local friends. I wish you a wonderful Easter Sunday!
Cari Saluti,
Emilia in Bologna
1. Lunch
On my first full day after classes I met an old friend for lunch, who happened to be in town. We went to Tigermilk in the 2nd arrondissement. Tigermilk is a Mexican restaurant chain with three restaurants in Paris. We shared the guacamole for starters and I had their El Superbowl which was quite good. It had salmon, mango, edamame beans and a lot of cilantro.
On the next day we walked from our hotel to Le Marais and Saint-Germain-de-Prés and grabbed lunch at the famous L’as du Fallafel. I ordered the first item on the menu, the ‘Fallafel special’ with falafel, greens, eggplant and tahini stuffed into a pita. It was huge but a great lunch to eat outside on the street.
Where to find them
Tigermilk Paris, several locations
L’as du Fallafel, 34 Rue des Rosiers, Paris
2. Sweets
In between the main meals, I tried a lot of sweets Paris had to offer.
Here are the best ones:
1. The Vanilla Donut and coffee at Boneshaker and Coffee
I tried the vanilla donut and loved it. A half a donut was just enough.
2. Chocolate chip cookie with sea salt at Fluffy’s
Fluffy’s is a bakery and coffee shop and they had just opened in the 2nd arrondissement. I talked with the founder on my last morning and she recommended me trying their freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. It was to die for!
3. Pierre Hermé Macarons
Our professor generously gave our class Pierre Hermé macarons on the last day of our Luxury Marketing course. It felt very on brand and was a nice way to end the intensive course.
3. Dinner
On consecutive nights, we had a more traditional French dinner. The first one Le Bélisaire is located in the 15th arrondissement and specializes in fish dishes, which were wonderful. Filled with locals on a Wednesday night, the passionate chef came to our table to shake hands with each one of our party of eight. I ordered the sea urchin as a starter followed by their dish of the day, which was a piece of white fish on a polenta bed in a butter sauce. It was a heavenly dish. I also tried the sole meuniére, the classic French fish dish, which was also a delicious experience. I ended my dinner with their crème caramel, which was perfection.
The next evening was our last and a group of our classmates met for dinner at Les Rupins. We shared some appetizers to begin with. For the main course I ordered their dish of the day. It was a type of beef bourguignon on a mashed potato bed, some vegetables and accompanied by a Hermitage Syrah. After all the sweets I’d had during the day, I skipped desert at Les Rupins.
Where to find them
Restaurant Bélisaire
2 Rue Marmontel, Paris
Les Rupins
35 Bd de Magenta, Paris
4. Extraordinary Drinks
I wanted to share two extraordinary drink experiences I enjoyed in Paris.
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