Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Kayo,

You asked me about wine bar in Paris. This is a category that's being
reborn right now as a new generation of restaurant-bar owners rev up
the formula. Two wonderful wine bars are Le Verre Vole in the 10th
arrondissement near the Canal Saint Martin, and QueduBon in the 19th
near the Parc Butte de Chaumont. I also love bistrots a vins, or
wine-oriented bistros. Two of my favorites are Le Baratin and Le
Chapeau Melon, both of which are in Belleville, a very old Paris
neighborhood that straddles the 19th-20th arrondissements. 
  

    
Whoa -- judge on IC in late June? Me too! Let us conspire! :^)
  

    
What date are you a judge, Eric?
  

    
June 23.
  

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I foolow you by a couple of days, Eric. Guess this makes us iron men?
Are you a chef?
  

    
(ironish email sent)
  

    
gower is a cookbook author (Breakaway Japanese Kitchen; Breakaway Cook); 
blogger <http://www.breakawaycook.com/blog/>, elephant juggler and all 
around cool dude. 
  

    
Visited Eric's website, www.breakawaycook.com and it made me very,
very hungry.

I think the core ideas behind break away cooking really are the
culinary way forward for this new century, and it's fascinating to see
how they're cropping up in different cities and countries. David Chang
in NYC, Pascal Barbot at L'Astrance and William Ledeuil at Ze Kitchen
Galerie, both in Paris, etc. There's probably no where in the world,
though, where it would be more fun to do break away cooking than San
Francisco. I was stunned by the variety, quality and affordability of
what I saw in the markets there when I was there on my book tour.
Anyone looking for similar veggies in Paris should check out the stand
of Joel Thiebault on the avenue du President Wilson in the 16th
arrondissement. His website joelthibault.free.fr also offers some great
vegetal porn.
  

    
Thank you Alec (and kayo)!

I want to hear more about L'Astrance and Ze Kitchen Galerie.
  

    
not finding the Joel Thiebault website, boohoo. 
I am also curious about L'Astrance and Ze Kitchen Gallerie. Put off by the 
name of the latter, a little. 
  

    
Yeah, I hate the name Ze Kitchen Galerie, twee franglais, who needs
it. William Ledeuil was the launch chef for Les Bouqinistes (Guy Savoy
bistro on the quai des Grand Augustins) and has become fascinated by
Asian food during the last ten years. He'll do macaroni shells in a
lemongrass bouillon with fine shavings of chorizo and vieux Mimolette
cheese from North France, and lots of other delicious and really
inventive Franco-Asian fusion.

Originally from the Auvergne, Pascal Barbot was chef to the admiral of
the French Pacific fleet and while in Australia, Singapore and
Polynesia he suddenly realized the potential of vegetables, fruit,
herbs and spices in the kitchen. I think his restaurant L'Astrance is
just about the most interesting place in Paris right now to try
intelligent, cutting edge French cooking.

Joel Thiebault's site seems to be working:
http://joelthiebault.free.fr
  

    
Ah, there it is. I see a gower-esque recipe for carrot risotto, which 
looks interesting although I don't understand the reference to hachoir a 
viande... also, would skip the yellow food coloring or add turmeric. 
  

    
I will be beelining to l'Astrance next time I'm in Paris.
  

    
Kayo, no fear over hachoir de viande--it's just a grater. And Pascal
Brabot is such cool dude-o-rama chef, so not French, sincere, earnest,
humble. And what's really interesting in France in veggie terms is the
whole resurrection of "les legumes oublie", or "forgotten vegetables,"
or old breed veggies that have been pushed off page by the huge food
chains. The new generation of greater Paris truck farmers are trying to
revive all of the old fashioned veg varieties before they disappear
altogether, and it's hard, because so many French people associate
these old-line veggies with war-time privation. But a lot of them are
delicious and have genetic lineages that date back to the Roman armies.
I was talking to a food fiend friend in Boston tonight about veggie
resurrection and he said that the same thing is going on in greater
Boston--even though the real-estate is really expensive, there's a
whole new generation of farmers who are trying to save heirloom veggies
that are best adapted to that harsh climate. All of which is to say
that food is completely political.
  

    
Do you think there's much evidence of vegetables in the dishes served in 
bistros or traditional restaurants? I just don't think of Paris as a place 
where I see a lot of vegetables actually being served. Even though there 
are tons in the markets. 
  

    
During the twenty years that I've lived in Paris, vegetables have
evolved from being sort of a bit player to meat and fish to having real
importance on French menus. In bistros now, many of the first courses
are all veg--string bean and other salads, eggplant bakes of one kind
of another, roasted tomatoes, etc. And more and more bistros, even trad
ones, are adding a veggie main course or two--often a pasta or a
risotto--to their menus. The place this change is most pronounced is in
terms of the office-worker lunch. Central Paris is now truffled with
takeaway shops with names like "Green", "Bio" (biologique means organic
in French), etc., that sell soups and salads, which are what many
people eat now instead of the old steak-frites-and-a-Marlboro lunches
of the past.
  

    
INVITATION: Anyone who might be in Paris on June 12, 2008 is invited
to swing by the wonderful Village Voice book shop (12 rue Princesse,
6th arrondissement) at 7pm when I'll be doing a reading from HUNGRY FOR
PARIS. Venez me recontrer!
  

    

> Anyone who might be in Paris on June 12, 2008 ...

don't I wish! Not only because being in Paris would be splendid, but
what better place to to hear you discussing HUNGRY FOR PARIS?

I was lucky to be able to attend a reading you did at Book Passages in
Corte Madera, CA about a month ago, Alec. You're a wonderful, relaxed
speaker, with warmth, humor, and generosity; it was a real treat.

One of the things you spoke of at the reading (and that you mentioned
here much earlier in the conversation) was that you prefer to cook at
home on weekends when the restaurants tend to be more crowded. I wanted
to hear more about the whole "cooking at home" thing.

How do you decide what to cook? Do you plan your meals, then go to the
shops for the ingredients? Or do you browse the markets for inspiration
and make your purchases based on what looks good while you're shopping?

And when you're in the kitchen, are you a seat-of-the-pants kind of cook?
Do you consider yourself a traditionalist or a wildman when you're cooking?
  

    
Hi Cynthia, and thanks for having me here. I've been having a
wonderful time ever since I fell into the well!

On Saturday mornings, there's a "staples" run that always includes the
same things:

Dairy/eggs:
Fresh goat cheese (Ferme de Corbiers in the Nivernais, one of the best
stands at the Batignolles market)
Aged goat cheese
Roquefort or Fourme d'Ambert
Gruyere
sheep's milk yogurt
eggs

Veggies:
fresh thyme, coriander, flat parsley, rosemary, chives, mint
many different kinds of salads (lately I've been insane for mustard
greens, which are delicious served wilted with roast pork)
zucchini
haricots verts
broccoli
new potatoes
avocado
carrots
celery
celery root
and in season:
tomatoes
asparagus
baby carrots
new onions
first-of-season garlic
peas 
fava beans

Then, five-grain galette (crepe) and a honeybush tea before:

Butcher (Chaptal, rue des Martyrs, 9th)
Chicken (whole or breasts)
Country ham
York ham
and then it depends on what I've seen in the market--last Saturday
night I made Spring soup (peas, mint, fava beans, new potatoes) and a
veal roast with preserved Moroccan lemons, lemon juice, white wine,
tomatoes, thyme, and tiny black Nicoise olives, served with roasted
baby potatoes, then cheese, then strawberry-rhubarb soup.

I love fish, too, and have a great fishmonger in the rue des Levis in
the 17th. Last time I cooked fish it was salmon steak in watercress
boullion, but I like cod, which I sear and served with a condiment of
whatever was great in the market--sometimes fruit and herbs, or veg and
herbs (tomato, caper, lemon juice, etc.) 

I read tons of recipes every week, but I find I usually seem to digest
them into my own spontaneous cooking style rather follow then to a T.
At heart, I'm a real market cook, and that's why this is just about my
favorite time of the year in Paris--all of the spring vegetables are
still available, but first tomatoes and cherries are coming in (made a
delicious red tuna tartare with fresh black cherries, a little ginger,
rice vinegar, miso, Espelette pepper) for lunch last Saturday. Saturday
food shopping (I stock up as needed during the week, of course) is
really the biggest treat of my week, since I now know most of the
people I buy from extremely well, so there are lots of jokes and banter
and tasting of new things, and I get to escape my keyboard for a
couple of hours!
  

    
I am so jealous!
  

    
Other favorite markets of mine:

Rialto market in Venice
Borough Hall, London
Ferry Terminal, SF
Les Halles, Lyon
Boqueria, Barcelona
Food market in Cadiz, Spain
Food market (housed in 3 old zepplin hangers!) in Riga, Latvia--sort
of like visiting the world's largest deli!

And I used to love the raggedy old Haymarket market in Boston before
it was driven out of business by gentrification.
  

    
The Smithfield (do I have the name right?) meat market in London used
to be amusing when it had been a public area for centuries and you
could walk right through it even if you had no business there.  I hear
that's no longer the case.  Darned EU regulations!
  

    
EU agricultural policy has been completely hijacked by agro-industrial
companies (chemical companies, oil companies, farm machinery
producers) etc. When I was in Transylvania (pls, no dracula
cracks--it's one of the most beautiful places in Europe) last summer,
the farmers were making cheese and sausage in the middle of the night
to avoid getting busted by a swarm of newly minted EU agricultural
regulation enforcers. Tragic, since the food they were making was
honestly organic and so delicious.
  

    

Your shopping style -- the regular staples, seasonal fresh produce, plus a
"what's inspiring at the market today?" -- is my favorite way of gathering
the groceries too, Alec. I'm fortunate to live in a county where there's
a lot of farming, so the much of fresh produce is truly locally grown. The 
strawberries -- particularly the Chandlers -- are spectacular right now, 
for example. I just bought a flat of them right out of the field ($14 for 
what translated to 32 cups of cut, washed berries) and I've now got enough 
strawberry jam to last me and my husband for a year. 

I realize you live in a city, so you probably can't grow much in the way
of produce. Do you have a windowbox herb garden or anything?