Paris - Le Comptoir de Relais

Following on from my Paris Gourmet and Random Foodie and Bubbles and Sparkles posts recently, I would like to finish up on Paris with one last post, which is about one of the most amazing meals I had ever had (and currently still in the top five today).  After weeks of researching and booking and planning my 5 days in Paris, I decided to dine at Le Comptoir de Relais.  When I made the reservation it was 6 months in advance and I only managed to get one night out of the five I was in Paris.  A small restaurant that sat 30 guests and the menu changes daily (depending on produce available). Five course meal for 50 Euro with a Michellain star chef, Yves Cambeborde at the pass (and behind the stove!).

 

I felt a little out of place dining solo but it didn't take long for other guests sitting nearby to chatter away.  It's a local neighbourhood place too and I got chatting with a local couple that dine often (and book in for monthly visits (months in advance!).

I start with a glass of bubbles and a bowl of purple crisps to nibble one while perusing the wine list and the menu for the evening. It's not long before the meal begins (even though the experience has started since opening the front door).

I cannot go into full descriptions of the dish and the taste.  This was a time before I started writing down everything about my food experiences.  Yes I was photographing and savouring it, but this was a time way before any thoughts of future blogging and my mind just doesn't remember everything so far back.  All I know is that I know that I enjoyed it so much I still rave about it!

First course is a potato risotto with shaved truffles.  This would be the first time that I had ever tasted fresh truffles and the aroma was delectable. I wasn't disappointed.

potato risotto with black truffles

 

The next course was another dish that would be a new taste sensation.  It was sea urchin omlete served in the sea urchin. As the dish is slide in front of me I am a wondering what to expect with on the flavour.   I needn't have worried.  It's a smooth delicate flavour with hints of the sea.  The crisp biscuit accompaning the dish is plunge into the omelette and I smile as I think of googy egg soliders from my childhood (okay, okay and my adulthood!)

 

sea urchin omlette

The main dish was veal with brussels sprouts with a jus.  The veal was a medium rare and the brussel sprouts were green and vibrant and

veal and brussels

 

When the house cheese board came around to my table I was in awe.  Ten cheeses ranging from soft to smelly to hard, quince paste, cherry compote and crackers.  This board is served around to the whole restaurant at some point after the main dish is served.  It stays on your table until you have finished with it!  Amazing....I just hope that nobody else was waiting on me to finish...it was there for a little longer than I had planned. (I just wish that I had written down all the cheeses).

 

The finishing touch to the meal is a decadent gooey chocolate cake.

After service finishes Yves Cambeborde pops up to the dining room to greet his guests.  Through my limited school French and his lack of English I managed to communicate that I had enjoyed this meal. If you are ever in Paris and can get to this little restaurant I highly recommend it!   

 

 

 

*a few people have noted my weight loss since many of these past dining experiences. Thank you for your kind comments.  It's a work in progress. Having a food blog doesn't always help with the weight loss but it's about finding a balance that works for me.

Paris - Sparkles & Bubbles in the Champagne Region

As Peterson House in the Hunter valley states 'life's flat without bubbles' and I can't argue with that!

I find an excerpt in my travel diary:

 'The sky is a lovely deep purple moving onto mauve undertones as I leave the hotel this morning heading towards Reims (pronounced "Ronce"), the champagne region of France about 2 hours drive away from Paris. I am sitting on a double decker coach with mainly American and Australian tourists. The country side is so inviting as the sun begins to rise and the fields are barren, brown and covered in frost.'  - 2009

Being March, it was cold and an overcast day.    It had been a long winter and it would be another month or so before spring actually showed its face.  The vineyards are bare and brown.  It's a dramatic landscape as we drove through the hills of the region.  It is patchy with different browns, newly ploughed paddocks waiting planting or pruned vines awaiting their new foilage. 

We arrived in the quaint town of Reims and head straight to the House of Mumm, where we took a tour around the processing plant and learnt about making the real champagne (none of this sparkling wine stuff), this is A grade top notch grapes from Champagne! The tour is informative and interesting and I actually learnt something new (I tend to tune out on these tours).

The towns of Reims and Epernay are the commerical hub of the area. The boundaries of the Champagne region are legally defined and split into five wine producing districts within the administrative province- the Aube, Cote des Blancs, Cote de Sezanne, Montagne de Reims and Vallee de la Marne. It is within these boundaries that champagne can be called champagne. Beyond these boundaries (globally) it is sparkling wine (or anything else you want to call it but not 'champagne').

There are three types of grapes that can only be used to make Champagne. They are: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pino Meunier and there are three areas of growth rated as The Grand Cru rated vineyards received 100 percent rating which entitled the grower to 100% of the price. Premier Crus were vineyards with 90-99% ratings while Deuxième Crus received 80-89% ratings. There are huge oak barrels that once held thousands of litres of bubbles, but nowadays concrete vats are used.

Mumm champagne is famous for being the champagne of choice for motor sport (it's a bottle of Mumms that gets popped when the winners take the trophy) and many other bottles of Mumm have been there to be popped for other adventurers around the world too.

At the end of the tour, we get to sample the Cordon Rouge bubbles (the most famous of Mumm Champagne), the bubbles tickle my nose as I raise the glass to my lips and take my first sip of the famous champagne. There are a number of sized bottles on display, the 2 larger ones are by order only and needs special training to poor the monster bottles...if only I could get that back into the country, oh well a normal size bottle will do (and a glass that accidently slipped into my bag....how did that get there!)

Mumm glasses

 

Mumm straight up!

In Reims, we stopped by the Cathedral, which is like a mini Notre Dame before taking some time out to explore the small town. Lunching at La Gaulois Bistro, was lovely, where the wine/champagne list covers the pillars inside the restaurant (to many to choose from!).

goose rillettes

 

 

steak and frites

It is a lovely little town, which is full of day trippers from Paris.  

Driving through the vineyards to Epernay, about 30 minutes from Reims to visit Moet & Chandon, probably the most famous of champagne names in the world. I am not actually a fan of Moet champagne, but I'd give it a go for te sake of research.

The tour through the chalky tunnels was actually much better than the one at Mumm's. Millions of bottles of champagne were laying in their riddling racks waiting to be turned. Riddling is a term used to turn the bottles a certain way and a certain angle to get the sediment to the neck of the bottle without clouding the liquid. It was once done by professional riddlers, oh to be The Riddler (sorry batman joke there!) but over the years, machinery has taken over and there are only a couple of professionals left (who do the vintage and special bottles). Once the sediment is in the neck it is flash frozen and the top is taken off the bottle the frozen sediment is removed then the bottle is corked.

I also learn that it is in fact pronounced MoEt (hard e) and not pronounced 'moey'. I feel classy pronouncing it properly (and to this day am 'corrected' everytime I say it because many people think I'm pronouncing it wrong!)

However, taste testing the product was more important. The Champagne house is the original house of the founders and the rooms are styled furnished from the era. We are given a glass and, although cool and bubbly, the taste is not really for me....it didn't stop a glass accidently falling into my handbag (honestly I don't know how this happens when I travel - I have quiete the collection!) ! I was eyeing off the bottle of Rose for 2,000 Euro but didn't think that would fit in the handbag safely....

Moet & Chandon by the bucket

if only I could get this in my bag!

I love France and I love Paris.  I will be back mon cheri.

 

Paris - The gourmet and the boutique

*I have updated and revised this post slightly because I found a heap of more photos (which I had a feeling I was missing some when originally writing this post!). Enjoy.

 

Way back when I first went travelling circa 1998, I ashamedly admit that I did Europe on a bus full of 18 - 30 something's either on a backpackers trip, a gap year, a college break trip or just looking to see as much as you can in a small amount of time through a hangover.  The aim for many was partying all night and sleeping on the bus between stops.  I wasn't nearly that bad but I know I could have done better, but I was younger and 'naive' (okay maybe not naive). Yes I had a fantastic time and I loved it, but it did take a year of or so living in London to realise that I probably missed out on a TON of stuff and not the way I want to travel ever again.  My style of travelling and goals changed over the years and I either became a 'solo' traveller or at least if I was going to do a tour it would be grassroots travelling and supporting local communities (local transport, guesthouses and local guides etc...giving back to the community).  Also over the years my passion for food and my thirst for knowledge on all things food has developed from that first European jaunt.

 

Anyway, while I was living in Dubai (there's an oxymoron right there re grassroots) circa 2009 I managed to get back to Paris for a week (with a few days at Disneyland Paris but that's another post!) and I did it the way I wanted to (it also helped that I had a little more money (a tad more) than I did back in my early 20's as a backpacker!)

 

I spent my days eating and drinking my way around Paris and I loved every minute of it.  Needless to say, I am desperate to go back and explore France more...one day!  and I need to brush up on my 4 years of French from school....My bucket list is long!

 

I stayed in the Marais - a great little pocket of Paris.

 

 

 

One of the areas that I did explore was Place de la Madeleine which is known for its gourmet/ boutique food shops.  I was in for a treat (but my wallet wasn't) :).

 

Here are a few places I visited.

 

Hediard

 

A gourmet heaven. Market style.

 

 

 

Hediard

 

 

 

La Maison de la Truffe (The Truffle House) 

 

 

  

 

 

Truffles!

 

That's fungus gold right there at over 2,000 euros per kilo.  I couldn't afford to buy any, nor did I eat in the restaurant (EPIC fail on my part) but I did however get to taste the elusive truffe in a meal I had later in the week. 

 

Fauchon with its black and hot pink packaging it screams chic.....gourmet grocery store at premium prices! Think David Jones Food Hall (but pricier and more upscale!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ham of the Gods

 

but they do have iberico ham also known as pata negra. The black hoofed pigs are raised mainly on roots and acorns and are the prize ham of Spain.

I popped into Maille Mustard* shop and ordered my own freshly poured from a tap (think beer taps!) into a pottery pot, corked and all.

Mustard on tap!

the mustard wall

* You can now buy Maille mustard at the grocery store, but there nothing like fresh mustard from a tap, and they have all sorts of other flavoured mustards too.

Mariage Freres - Stepping into this quaint tea shop, the smell of a variety of tea leaves wafted through the air.  I felt like was in an old apothecary shop.   which was wall to wall tins of fantastic blends of tea.  You can sample teas before buying. oh and there is a museum of all things tea related!

It's a tea tease

 

Other stores that I popped into around Paris was fromage shops (wonderful cheeses galore) which are found everywhere along with bakeries, with the glorious, wonderful smell of fresh bread and the markets were full of great fresh produce. 

cheese heaven

 

These strawberries were sweet and juicy and had the taste of summer, there were some strawberries at the market that were as big as my palm but sweet and juicy too!

fresh strawberries

 

 

 

Even though Dubai had a Paul's I did indulge in a fresh raspberry tart (and the raspberries haven't been flown in to make them!) and a macaroon.

chocolate macaroon

 

raspberry tart
 

I was in heaven when I visited Pierre Herme, who is the Zumbo equivalent for macaroons.  These little babies cost the earth but worth every little bite and crumb!  I got to the shop just as they were about to close and I was whisked behind the curtain (yes a curtain) which signals the shop has closed but there are a few customers still in the shop. I was the last one allowed in (which made up for the Notre Dame debacle the day before when I was cut off from the end of the line at closing time, literally the red rope was put in front of me...seriously!)  Anyway, here at Pierre Herme, I felt like I was given the VIP treatment!  This is macaroon mecca!

 

 

trays of macaroons

 

dessert heaven

 

 

macaroon mecca

Paris is a food lovers delight and I didn't even scratch the surface.  There is so much to explore, taste and discover.  More posts to come on champagne houses and restaurant meals and more foodie delights!