A Paris Christmas: Part 2

I don't know how often the average French person eats escargot (or snails), but as Americans visiting France, you know we had to order some. I had tried escargot in the U.S., but they were a first for my family. On a cold night, we stopped in at a restaurant which I'm 99% sure was Grand Bar Cluny (sorry, I was foolish enough to think I'd be able to remember everything from our trip with laser accuracy) and lo and behold, escargot were on the menu. The snails arrived on table with special utensils to get them out of their shells (smart French people and their utensils); while an entire meal consisting of escargot would have been too much, my family and I enjoyed trying this well-known dish in real, live Paris.



The rest of the food didn't photograph well, but the picture of my smoked duck salad came out all right. The slightly bitter endive was a nice counterpart to the rich smoked duck; the salad felt very French (okay, through an American perspective) to me.



More Paris food to come, dear readers! Next up is the Asian food! Yes, you read that correctly.

Grand Bar Cluny
82 Boulevard Saint-Germain
75005 Paris

A Paris Christmas: Part 1

I always spend Christmas with my family, but this year was quite different as we headed to Paris for the holiday! Having never been to Europe before, I had a lot of anxiety and excitement in the months leading up to the big trip. Once in Paris, though, my family and I hit the ground running and ended up having a very memorable and special trip. And as it turns out, most everything I had heard about Paris and French food turned out to be true (the bread! the cheese! the charcuterie!) and the wines were affordable and lovely. I didn't document all of our meals, but did manage to come home with a good amount of food photos. First up is Les Fontaines, a bistrot near the Pantheon that we stumbled upon after our brunch destination, Le Vin Qui Danse, was full.


Foie gras terrine: creamy and oh so French. Apologies for my hazy memory, but I wasn't in the mood for taking notes while on vacation.


Charcuterie plate: all my little heart ever dreamed of in terms of cured meats! Heavy on the flavor and the portions; one of the best starters we ate while in Paris. We also had a few other dishes, but these were the only photos taken. Check my next post for our obligatory ordering of escargot!

Les Fontaines
9 Rue Soufflot, 75005
Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 43 26 42 80 ‎

Sweetsalt Food Shop

Sweetsalt Food Shop is one of those places you keep your eye on for months, finally stop in and then kick yourself for not making it in when you first heard of it. Opened last January by husband and wife team Alex Eusebio (Top Chef contestant season 5) and Sara Mann, Sweetsalt is an adorable shop that serves sandwiches, salads, soup and baked goods with an unpretentious French flair. I stopped in on a weekend morning; while there is no breakfast menu, per se, many of the sandwiches work perfectly for starting off your day.


Serrano ham & fig sandwich ($9): crusty bread, salty ham, sweet fig preserves and brie to bring it all together. I was incredibly happy while eating this sandwich and it's been a long time since I've had that blissful feeling. Swoon. The salad was fresh and had a slightly tangy dressing that seemed to be Dijon mustard based. I was stuffed from finishing the sandwich, but I ate as much of the salad as I could.


Eggnog macaron ($1.50): I have started a slow courtship with macarons (I am unsure yet if I can't live without them or not), so I've been ordering them when they're around. Chewy and without an overwhelming eggnog flavor, their version was a light end to an indulgent breakfast.

I want to try so much more on their menu, such as: lavender duck sandwich (lavender as an ingredient intrigues me), Sweetsalt BLT (with pears!) and grapefruit truffle salad (pancetta, wild mushrooms, and a citrus-truffle vinaigrette warrant irresistible investigation). Add the fact that they have espresso and tea? You're going to see me eating and reading leisurely here through the winter, for sure.

You can read LA Weekly's Squid Ink interview with Alex Eusebio here.

Sweetsalt Food Shop
10218 1/2 Riverside Drive
Toluca Lake, CA 91602
(818) 509-7790

Banh Mi Che Cali

I did something daring today: I went in search of breakfast in the San Gabriel Valley without a game plan! I just chose an exit at random, drove around a bit and stopped in at the first place that looked somewhat promising, which was Banh Mi Che Cali. Of course, I did not get the two things they are famous for: cheap banh mi and buy one get one free boba. Instead, I chose to grab pre-made eats and ended up eating in my car on the side of the street like a madwoman.


I'm going to need some help here, but it was some sort of pork products and noodles. I was starving, so I wolfed it down.


Vegetarian spring roll. I could identify it, but I wasn't that pleased with them. Considering my breakfast total was $5.77, I wasn't that heartbroken about my very basic meal.

I have to say, I felt out of my element because of the language barrier and their counter setup (I wasn't sure if only certain things could be ordered in each area). The important thing is that I got my Vietnamese cravings taken care of for the time being. However, I'm going to have a Vietnamese speaking friend tag along next time around; I want the good stuff (and not my usual scenario of crossing my fingers, hoping for the best)!

Banh Mi Che Cali
7968 Garvey Ave
Rosemead, CA 91770
626-572-3788

Roy's Fall Prix Fixe Menu

I recently attended a media tasting for Roy's at the downtown Los Angeles location, thanks to my friend Weezermonkey who asked me to be her plus one! We sampled selections from the fall prix fixe menu, which is $35.95 for one appetizer, one entree and one dessert. [Full disclosure: My meal was free and I also received a $50 gift certificate for Roy's.]

Here are the dishes we tried:


"Elaine's" Kabocha Squash Salad: the cinnamon pepitas and cranberry vinaigrette upped the autumnal flair overall, but the amount of squash was less than expected. The flavors worked together well, though.


Blackened Rock Shrimp and Red Bean Soup: comforting with a lot of flavor, especially with the Portuguese sausage, and it reminded me a bit of gumbo. Funny enough, the soup was one of the items I was least excited about on the menu and it ended up being one of the meal's highlights!


Artichoke and Goat Cheese Crusted Salmon: less rich than the name suggests and the goat cheese element was not strongly present. The sundried tomato sauce was pretty on the plate, but I would've still enjoyed the dish without it. Salmon with a little more oomph, which I would happily eat again.


Cilantro Grilled Tiger Shrimp: slightly overcooked, but I had more of an issue with the lentils, which were fine, but didn't add much to the dish. I was a little confused by the mix of ingredients.


Tender Braised Beef Short Ribs: good flavor and I was able to eat the dish with a fork. I don't need much more when it comes to short ribs!


Pumpkin and Ginger Cheesecake and Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle: both desserts were fine, but the pumpkin cheesecake got more points because of the ginger and spice, which were more interesting to me than classic chocolate.

Considering the regular menu at Roy's, the fall prix fixe menu is a pretty good deal. We just had tastes of some of the offerings; you can see all the options for the prix fixe here. Thanks again to Weezermonkey and Allison of Formula PR!

Roy's Restaurant
800 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
213-488-4994

Mapo Kkak Doo Gee

Over the weekend, I woke up with a strong need for Korean food, but wasn't sure which places would be open for breakfast. I had been thinking about visiting Mapo Kkak Doo Gee for a while after reading about it in LA Times and Midtown Lunch Los Angeles. My Google SMS search wasn't very helpful when I requested the phone number, but Koreans are known to eat full meals at the breakfast hour sometimes and my craving for banchan was so pressing, I decided to take my chances and head over. And lucky me! They were open.


I was hoping for more banchan as pictured in the $5.99 lunch special, but I was alone and not in the mood for being pushy with the middle-aged Korean women servers. I was given a seaweed salad of sorts, a few different kimchis, simmered-in-soy potato and steamed cabbage with a hot soybean dipping sauce. I enjoyed the flavors, which were not heavy handed or underseasoned, and appreciated that they make a real effort with their banchan; a lot of Korean restaurants seem to have an obligatory, but not enthusiastic, approach in that area.

I ordered kimchi jjigae ($7.75), which held a nice surprise in store: dduk (rice cakes)! You can't tell from my picture, but I promise they were in there and enjoyed with gusto. Also, apologies about the photo; I dug in for a while before realizing I forgot to click away (yes, my anticipation was that great). Mapo's is a pretty good version, though I wish there had been more kimchi in the jjigae.



Their menu has lots of dishes I'm eager to try (particularly their fish offerings) and considering the quality level and reasonable prices, I must say that I am their newest devotee. Another breakfast spot to add to my weekend list!

Mapo Kkak Doo Gee (I'm going by the full name version as noted on their Korean signage)
3611 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 736-6668

Jalapeno and Apple Slaw

Inspired by The Golden State's jalapeno slaw, I decided to satisfy a craving the old-fashioned way: make it! I wanted some crunch and sweetness, so added Fuji apples into the mix. A very simple method:

1. Slice up whatever you want in the slaw.
2. Throw in a couple spoonfuls of mayonnaise.
3. Add salt and pepper.
4. Combine and taste for adjustments. Voila!

Could it be any easier (well, aside from having it served to you and all you have to do is dig in)? I think not. Hope you'll try making your own at-home versions of slaw!