Nourish the Planet: Hearty, Healthy Multigrain Yeast Bread

 
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To complete our Nourish the Planet bread trifecta, here is a hearty and sustaining yeast-leavened bread recipe. If you haven’t yet taken the plunge to make your own starter and sourdough or are looking for a quicker way to make a home-baked loaf, a bread risen with dry active yeast is a good place to start. The rise time is short, and while you won’t have the same lactic flavors of a classic sourdough, the combination of wholewheat, rye and spelt flours and mix of seeds give this loaf an earthy complexity that is deeply nourishing.

So why is bread an issue for the environment? The commercial refined flour that ends up in our bread, pasta and baked goods is produced in huge mono cultures (bad for biodiversity), requires large amounts of commercial fertilizer (energy intensive), pesticides and herbicides (bad for soil and the health of the local ecosystem) and the processing of the wheat not only strips most of the beneficial nutrients but is also very energy intensive. When we bake bread using ancient grains such as rye and spelt, and wholegrain wheat grown on small scale farms that respect the environment, not only does it taste so much better, but it is supporting a much more equitable and resilient food system.

Hearty, Healthy Multigrain Yeast Bread

Makes one 3-pound  (1.5 kg) loaf   |   Equipment: A heavy-duty mixer fitted with a flat paddle; a scale; a large bowl or linen-lined basket lined (banneton) ; a cloth; a shaker filled with flour for dusting; baking parchment; a pizza paddle; a baking stone; a razor blade; an instant-read thermometer

Ingredients

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
3 cups (750 ml) warm water
2 cups (280 g) white bread flour
2 cups (280 g) light whole wheat bread flour
1 cup (140 g) rye flour
1 cup (140 g) spelt or épeautre flour
1 cup (150 g) mixed seeds: equal parts sesame, flax, and sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons malt flakes or malt powder (optional) (see Note)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Method

1.  In the bowl of the heavy-duty mixer fitted with a flat paddle (not the bread attachment), combine the yeast and 1/4 cup of warm water. Mix at low speed to dissolve the yeast. Set aside to proof, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining 2 3/4 cups water and mix. Add the flour, cup by cup, mixing just until the dough is hydrated. This should take 1 to 2 minutes. The dough should be sticky, thicker than a batter but not so dense that the dough could easily be kneaded. Knead at lowest speed for 5 minutes. The dough should be extremely sticky and wet, with web-like, visible strand of gluten.

 2.  Add the malt flakes, salt, and grains to the dough, mixing at low speed just until all the ingredients are well-incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. The dough will be sticky. Line the bowl or basket with a clean cloth and dust the cloth generously with flour. Carefully transfer the dough to the flour-dusted basket.  Cover and let rise until the dough has risen slightly, about 2 hours.

3.   About 20 minutes before baking the bread, place a baking stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).

 4.  Place a sheet of parchment paper on a pizza paddle. Turn the dough out onto the pizza paddle. Score the loaf with a razor blade. Carefully transfer the dough on the parchment onto the baking stone. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the loaf is evenly browned, and until the bread reaches an interior temperature of 200°F (95°C). Watch carefully, since ovens vary: If the bread seems to be browning too quickly, reduce the heat.


5.  Transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool. The bread continues to bake as it cools so resist the temptation to cut the bread before it is thoroughly cooled, at least 4 hours. (If you do, it may tear, with an uneven texture.)  Store the bread at room temperature in a cloth towel or cloth bag, slicing off only as much as you need at a time. The bread will stay fresh for 1 week.

NOTE

Malt flakes or malt powder can be found in health food stores.

VARIATION

For a festive touch of color and sweetness add about 3/4 cup (4 ounces; 125 g) dried cranberries, 1 cup (4 ounces; 125 g) slivered almonds, and 1/3 cup ( 4 ounces; 125 g) pistachios, adding at the same time as the coarse sea salt.

This is a Nourish the Planet recipe, a collaborative series by Patricia Wells and Emily Buchanan. © 2020 – All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce without permission.

Find our more here about why we created this series.

Nourish the Planet: Amazing All-Grain Bread

 
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This amazingly simple and delicious bread was originally created by Canadian cookbook author and nutritionist Sarah Britton. She calls it The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread, and it truly is a miraculous creation, a wholesome mixture of grains and seeds, held together by little more than pysllium husks. As it is not actually bread in the traditional sense, there is no kneeding required and the most difficult part of making this wonder is gathering and measuring the ingredients. At a time when supermarket shelves are increasingly devoid of flour (hopefully a sign that people are learning to bake their own bread!), this is a great alternative. It is also a chance to get more nuts, seeds and whole grains into your diet, key ingredients in a healthy, plant-forward, planet-friendly diet.

The below recipe is only a slightly adapted version of the original. We have opted to replace the ghee or coconut oil with local olive oil, which has a lower carbon footprint, and have omitted the maple syrup from the recipe as we found it perfectly balanced without it. Don’t skip the psyllium powder however as this is a crucial ingredient holding the seeds and grains together.

This base recipe lends itself to all sorts of variations. We’ve had a lot of fun turning it into a fruit loaf by swapping out the hazelnuts for pistachios, adding half a cup of chopped apricots and figs, adding back in the tablespoon of maple syrup or even better, local honey, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom.

For a savory twist that produces a slightly lighter, springier loaf, swap out the 1/2 cup of flaxseeds for 1 cup of sprouted lentils.

Amazing All-Grain Bread
(or The Life Changing Loaf)

Makes 1 loaf | Equipment: A 1 quart (1 l) nonstick baking pan, lined with parchment; a baking sheet

Ingredients

1 cup (135 g) sunflower seeds
1/2 cup (90 g) flax seeds
1/2 cup (65 g) hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups (145 g) rolled oats
2 tablespoons chia seeds
3 tablespoons psyllium husk powder (see note)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) water

Method

1. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, stirring well. In a measuring cup, combine the oil and water. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix for about 1 minute, until the dry ingredients absorb the liquid and the mixture is cohesive. (At first you will be convinced that the dry ingredients will never evenly absorb all the liquid. Be patient and keep mixing until the grains have fully absorbed the liquid.)

2. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan, smoothing out the top with the back of a spatula. Set aside at room temperature for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.

3. About 20 minutes before baking the bread, center a rack in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

4. Place the loaf pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the bread from the loaf pan, remove and discard the baking parchment, and return the bread to the baking sheet. Return to the oven and bake until the bread is deep golden brown, about 40 minutes more. Let cool completely before slicing. Store loosely in a fabric bag for up to 2 days or freeze up to 2 weeks. Do not store in a closed plastic bag, for the bread is very moist.

NOTE: Because this bread contains no flour or yeast, the psyllium husk powder is used as a binding agent. It is the fiber-rich covering of a seed from a plant grown in Asia that can absorb more than ten times its weight in water.

Nourish the Planet is a collaborative series by Patricia Wells and Emily Buchanan. Find our more here about why we think it’s important.

Nourish the Planet: Sourdough Bread

 
 

There is nothing more life affirming than being able to bake your own bread. Perhaps it’s because it has such a long tradition of sustaining people using two such simple ingredients: flour and water. Many people are intimidated by the process, but once you’ve made your own bread we promise, you’ll never look back.

Making your own bread has so many benefits. As well as the deep satisfaction of pulling a golden crusted loaf from the oven and sharing it with friends and family, making your own loaf from scratch allows you to be in control of the ingredients, a wonderful way to support farmers that grow their grains organically and use production methods that promote healthy soil and biodiversity. If it’s available to you, buying locally grown and milled flour heavily cuts down on transport emissions too, making it extra planet-friendly.

To make naturally leavened bread you must use a starter. While it’s a fairly simple process to create your own starter, it does take a little patience in the initial stages as you “feed” it daily with flour and water. As it harvests the natural yeasts from the surrounding air it becomes bubbling and alive, a fascinating process in itself of science and alchemy. Many recipes require you to discard part of the starter every time you feed it, which is hugely wasteful or requires you to cook several other recipes using your starter discards. We don’t find any of this necessary and the below starter recipe, which does not use this technique, results in a lively, active starter in just five days.

In a time when we are being asked to slow down and stay home, what better time is there to learn how to bake our own bread?

SOURDOUGH STARTER

 Ingredients

2 cups (280 g) white bread flour (preferably organic)

 

 


Method

 1.     In a 1 quart (1 l) container, combine 1/4 cup (60 ml) of room temperature water and 1/2 cup (70 g) of the flour and stir until the water absorbs all of the flour and forms a soft dough. Cover loosely with a cloth and set aside at room temperature for 24 hours. The mixture should rise slightly with visible bubbles starting to form and may take on a faintly acidic aroma. Repeat this for 3 more days, each day adding an additional 1/4 cup (60 ml) of water and 1/2 cup (70 g) of flour to the dough.  Each day the starter should rise slightly with bubbles starting to form and should become more acidic in aroma. By day 5 you should 1 pound (500 g) of lively starter. If you are in doubt, add 1 teaspoon of dry active yeast when combining the starter and water.

SOURDOUGH LOAF

Makes one 3-pound (1.5 kg) loaf  

EQUIPMENT: An airtight container; a large bowl or linen-lined basket lined (banneton) ; a cloth; a shaker filled with flour for dusting (optional); a large bowl; a heavy-duty mixer fitted with a flat paddle (not the dough hook); a kitchen scale; a flat cast-iron grill pain or baking steel; a baking peel or wooden chopping board lined with baking parchment, a razor blade or very sharp knife; an instant-read thermometer, a baking rack.

Ingredients

1 pound (500 g) sourdough starter
7 cups (980 g) white bread flour (preferably organic)
2 tablespoons malt flakes or malt powder (optional)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Method

1.     Line the bowl or basket with a clean cloth and dust the cloth generously with flour.

 2.     In the bowl of the heavy-duty mixer combine the starter and 3 cups (750 mls) room temperature water and mix on low speed to dissolve the starter. Add the flour, cup by cup, mixing just until the dough is hydrated.  This should take 1 to 2 minutes. The dough should be sticky, thicker than a batter but not so dense that the dough could easily be kneaded.  Mix at the lowest speed for 5 minutes. The dough should be extremely sticky and wet, with web-like visible strands of gluten.

 3.     Remove 1 pound (500 g) of the dough and transfer it to the airtight container and reserve as a starter for your next loaf (there is no need to feed your starter from this point on, simply store it, refrigerated in the airtight container, for up to 3 days. It can also be frozen almost indefinitely. Thaw at room temperature for 24 hours before the next baking).

 4.     Add the malt flakes, salt to the remaining dough in the mixer, mixing at low speed just until all the ingredients are well-incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. The dough will be sticky.

 5.     Carefully transfer the dough to the flour-dusted basket.  Cover and let rise until the dough has risen slightly, about 6 hours. (To guage how the dough is rising, leave the starter on the counter in its airtight container. If the starter is rising nicely – with big air bubbles throughout – you can be assured that your bread dough is rising as well).

6.     About 20 minutes before baking the bread, place the baking steel or cast-iron pan on a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) .

 7.     Carefully turn the dough out onto the parchment-lined pizza paddle or chopping board. Score the top of the loaf with a razor blade. Carefully slip the dough, still on the baking parchment onto the grill pan or baking steel and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the loaf is evenly browned. Continue baking until the bread reaches an interior temperature of 200°F (93°C), 20 minutes more. Check the temperature by piercing the center of the loaf with the thermometer. Watch carefully, since ovens vary: If the bread seems to be browning too quickly, reduce the heat.

 8.     Transfer the bread to the baking rack to cool. The bread continues to bake as it cools so resist the temptation to cut the bread before it is thoroughly cooled, at least 4 hours. (If you do, it may tear, with an uneven texture.)  Store the bread at room temperature in a cloth towel or cloth bag, slicing off only as much as you need at a time. The bread will stay fresh for 1 week.

VARIATIONS:

light wholewheat sourdough loaf

For a heartier loaf, substitute 3 cups (420 g) of the white flour for the following:

 1 cup (140 g) light whole wheat bread flour
1 cup (140 g) rye flour
1 cup (140 g) spelt flour

 
multigrain sourdough loaf

For a multigrain loaf with wholegrain goodness:

Add 1 ½ cups (about 200g) mixed seeds (equal parts sesame, flax and sunflower seeds).

 

cranberry, pistachio and almond sourdough loaf

 Add 3/4 cup (4 ounces / 125 g) dried cranberries, 1 cup (4 ounces / 125 g) slivered almonds, and 1/3 cup (4 ounces / 125 g) pistachios, at the same time as the coarse sea salt.

 

TIPS:

  • Be sure to keep your starter pure, nothing but water and flour. If the last loaf has not rise as you want, it is ok to add 1 teaspoon or less of active dry yeast when adding water to the levain, until your starter is lively and bubbly. As an insurance policy, you can add a touch of yeast to the dough when you thaw a batch of frozen starter.

  • Before you begin, measure everything. A dough scraper can be particularly handy. Be sure to dust your bowl or your linen-lined basket (banneton) with plenty of flour, measure out all the flours, have a clean container for your levain and so on. Your hands will get sticky and the more you do in advance while your hands are clean, the better! 

  • Your first several loaves may not rise very much. Do not be discouraged and just forge on ahead! You can adjust rising time, from 6 hours to 24 hours, depending upon your schedule and the vitality of the starter. If you bake every few days, the starter will get more and more active and the bread will rise more quickly and will of course be lighter.

  • A starter can virtually be kept forever. When baking bread daily, keep the starter on the counter, in a securely covered bowl, at room temperature. If you won’t be making bread for several days, refrigerate in a covered container. And if you won’t be making bread for several weeks, freeze the starter in a covered container.

  • There is no getting away from it: Sourdough is a messy affair, with sticky dough  that, well, wants to stick to everything in sight, including the bowls, the spatulas, your cloths, your arms. I clean up immediately after preparing the dough, making sure nothing has time to stick too much. I also reserve a sponge just for cleaning up, since it usually gets matted with bits of dough.

  • A great zero waste tip if you eat fresh mozzarella is to reserve the liquid that comes in the packet to preserve the cheese. Its faintly lactic flavors adds a special touch to the final loaf. Combine with the water in the recipe to make the 3 cups (750 ml) needed for a loaf. Do not use 100% mozzarella liquid as it can create a rather funky-tasting bread!

The original version of this recipe was published in My Master Recipes. All rights reserved, please do not reproduce without permission.

Nourish the Planet is a collaborative series by Patricia Wells and Emily Buchanan. Find our more here about why we think it’s important.

Sourdough photos © David Japy

Nourish the Planet: Lemon and Olive Oil Tart

 
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With this Nourish the Planet recipe we’ve taken my classic lemon tart recipe and given it a planet-friendly makeover, swapping out water-thirsty almonds for hazelnuts (which have a much lighter water footprint), butter for olive oil in the pastry and sugar in the lemon curd for my own organic honey. In the end, small changes can make a big difference. The pat in the pan pastry is truly "as easy as pie” and the lemon curd filling is a bright and fragrant contrast to the earthy crust. The garnish of sliced kumquats, lemon thyme, and a dusting of sumac is inspired by the exquisite lemon tart from the talented Moko Hirayama, co-chef with her husband Omar Koreitem at the popular Paris restaurant Mokonuts, in the 11th arrondissment. 

EQUIPMENT: A food processor; a 10-inch (26 cm) tart pan with a removable bottom; a baking sheet; a fine-mesh sieve; a 3-quart (3 l) saucepan.

INGREDIENTS

OLIVE OIL PASTRY
2 tablespoons hazelnuts
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (160 g) unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (40 g) organic, lemon-scented cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup (80 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1 large egg, free-range and organic

LEMON AND OLIVE OIL CURD
1/3 cup (125 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice, preferably organic
½ cup (125 ml) light, liquid, organic honey
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 large eggs, free-range and organic
2 large egg yolks, free-range and organic
Grated zest of 2 lemons, preferably organic
1/3 cup (80 ml) light-flavored extra-virgin olive oil

GARNISH
Minced fresh thyme leaves, very thin rounds of limequats, kumquats, or lemons cut into thin rounds on a mandoline, a fine sprinkle of sumac powder (see Note)

METHOD

1. Center a rack in the oven. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

 2. In the food processor, grind the hazelnuts to a powder. Add the flour, sugar, and salt, and process to blend. In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil and egg. Pour the mixture through the tube of the food processor and pulse just until the mixture comes together into a rough ball.

3. Place the dough in the center of the tart pan. Work outward from the center and press evenly to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Working around the edge, use your fingertips to press the dough firmly into the corners of the pan. Go around the edge once more, pressing the dough up the sides and into the fluted edge. Use your thumb to level off the top edge. To help make for a level bottom and sides of crust, line the bottom of the tart with baking parchment. Using a metal measuring cup, smooth the bottom and sides by pressing gently and evenly. Remove the parchment paper. Place the tart shell on a baking sheet.  Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

 4. Prepare the Lemon and Olive Oil Curd. Place the sieve over a bowl.

5. In the saucepan, whisk together the lemon juice, honey, cornstarch, eggs, and egg whites. Make sure everything is thoroughly mixed. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and bring a gentle boil, whisking regularly but not constantly,  for about 7 minutes. Watch carefully, and do not allow the eggs to scramble. Remove the saucepan from the heat and strain through the sieve, discarding the contents of the sieve, which may contain bits of cooked egg white. Whisk in the lemon zest. Whisk in the olive oil, whisking vigorously until smooth and well combined.

6. Pour the lemon curd into the cooled pastry shell, spreading gently and evenly, shaking the pan lightly to smooth out the top. For best flavors, the tart should be consumed within 24 hours. Remove the tart from the tin and cut into 8 wedges. Garnish with minced thyme leaves, thin slices of citrus, and ground sumac.

Ingredient note

The sumac bush, native to the Middle East, produces deep red berries, which are dried and ground into a fine, colorful powder. Ground sumac pairs well with lemons, since on its own has a tangy, citrusy flavor.

Nourish note

Don’t toss the egg whites! They will keep in the fridge for 2-4 days and in the freezer for up to 12 months and can be used for meringues, pavlovas, mousses and other desserts.

This is an original recipe created for Nourish the Planet, a collaborative series by Patricia Wells and Emily Buchanan. © 2020 – All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce without permission.

Find our more here about why we created this series.

Nourish the Planet: Fregola, White Bean and Pumpkin Minestrone

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This hearty and satisfying soup is a great way to start embracing more seasonal vegetables and plant-based meals. It contains many of our favorite colorful and healthy winter vegetables, including carrots, celery, and pumpkin, but you can really swap out the vegetables for whatever you can find locally and in season. During the summer months when fresh white beans, known in France as cocos blanc are in season, we shell the beans and freeze them to have on hand come winter. Of course, dried ones will work just fine if that’s what you have available to you. As a novel pasta variation try fregola, the Sardinian specialty made from semolina dough and toasted in the oven. If this is tricky to find just go for any small pasta shape that you like the texture of. Let this simmer away on top of the stove, serve with a crusty sourdough bread and you will be duly rewarded!

ingredients

2  medium onions, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut into thin half moons

1 head garlic, cloves peeled, halved, green germ removed if present

1 leek, white and tender green part only, rinsed, quartered, and thinly sliced

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Fine sea salt

3 carrots, scrubbed and cut into thin slices

4 celery ribs, rinsed and cut into thin slices

4 cups (2 pounds; 1 kg) peeled and cubed pumpkin

1 pound (500 g) fresh white beans (or dried, see Note)

Two 14-ounce (400 g) cans diced Italian tomatoes in juice

2 quarts (2 l) cold water

1 cup (170 g) fregola

method

  1. In the Dutch oven, combine the onions, garlic, and leek, oil, and salt to taste. Stir to coat with the oil. Sweat – cook, covered, over low heat – until soft.

  2. Add the  carrots, celery, pumpkin, beans, tomatoes, water, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring just to a simmer over moderate heat. Simmer, covered (so as not to reduce the liquid) until the vegetables are soft and beans are cooked through, about 45 minutes.

  3. Add the fregola and simmer until the pasta is cooked through, about 15 minutes more. Taste for seasoning. Serve in the warmed, shallow soup bowls.

MAKE AHEAD NOTE: The soup can be prepared and stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for 1 month.

NOTE: If using dried beans, rinse them, place them in a large heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water, and set aside for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. Drain the beans, discarding the water.  

VARIATIONS: Try brightening the soup up with a quick, non-garlic pesto, blending basil leaves with a touch of olive oil and salt in a blender, adding a dollop at serving time.

This recipe was first published in My Master Recipes.

Nourish the Planet is a collaborative series by Patricia Wells and Emily Buchanan. Find our more here about why we think it’s important.

Nourish the Planet: A New Plant-Forward Planet-Friendly Recipe Series

 
© David Japy

© David Japy

 

I am truly delighted to announce Nourish the Planet – a new series of recipes, inspiration and kitchen tips about delicious and nutritious plant-forward food that doesn't harm our planet.

It’s hard to open the environment or food section of a major newspaper these days without seeing headlines about how our modern food system is a major player in the environmental crisis. The mind boggles thinking about how the production, land use and transport of our food is responsible for somewhere between 21 – 37% of greenhouse gas emissions (these are some of the most recent stats from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). As you know, I am not an environmental scientist, but I do trust what the scientists are telling us, which is that we are in big trouble and must do everything we can to limit the rise in global temperatures. Our food system plays a major role in this. As a food writer, cookbook author and cooking school instructor, this goes right to the heart of everything I do and is impossible for me to ignore.

For those of you who have followed my cookbooks over the years, embracing the climate-change solution for a more plant-based diet will come as no surprise to you. From Vegetable Harvest to Salad as a Meal, my books have always celebrated the joys of a plant-centered plate. My connection to all this began with my 1950s upbringing in Wisconsin with a mother who made everything from scratch in the kitchen, fed us from a vegetable garden full of tomatoes, salads and Swiss chard, and preserved everything she could get her hands on. For many of you probably, back then “local” was the norm not a trend – I didn’t know what salmon or lamb tasted like until I left home for college. Cooking with seasonal, local produce and embracing the French concept of terroir has always come naturally to me – notions I have always tried to infuse into my books and share with my students. And now, with every headline I read about our need to decarbonize our lives, I am more convinced than ever that there is no better way to cook.

My wonderful assistant, Emily Buchanan, with whom I have worked for many years and has collaborated with me writing the latest Food Lover’s Guide to Paris (both the book and the constantly updated app) and My Master Recipes, is also a certified health and nutrition coach who helps people to rethink their relationship to food: for themselves, their family, their community and for the planet.

Through Nourish the Planet we will share our joint passions with you – bringing you recipes and ideas about how to cook vibrant, delicious plant-forward food that has a limited carbon footprint.

We’re not suggesting you have to go vegan or even vegetarian, but rather offering you fun ideas and enticing recipes to encourage you to put plants at the center of your plate and consider how what you eat (and what you don’t!) impacts the planet.

You can follow the series here on the blog, or the Patricia Wells Facebook page, Patricia’s instagram account or over at Emily's instagram or website The New Superette.

We hope you’ll use this to inspire a greener, low impact kitchen and share with your friends and family!

Mercerie Mullot: An Ideal Little Paris Restaurant

 
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There is no one single way to describe the ideal little Paris restaurant. But should I try to describe my ideal restaurant I would begin by saying it would be run by dedicated, experienced owners with a serious respect for fresh ingredients, a fine sense of wine, matched with extraordinary generosity and a shared spirit of joy. And this is exactly how I would characterize the always-cheery Pascal Barrière and his companion Céline La Corre who run the pint-sized, cozy, 22-seat Mercerie Mullot bistrot, hidden away in the charming Notre Dame de Champs neighborhood in the 6th arrondissement.

I first encountered Pascal years ago at the tiny the 14th arrondissement restaurant Jeu de Quilles. Today, at this happily miniscule, white-tablecloth bistro on rue Bréa, you feel as though you are invited to a well-orchestrated dinner party. Pascal is there in the open kitchen all alone, a culinary musician, joyfully concocting original creations all of his own, mostly super-fresh fish and shellfish, woven into tiny bites and presented on elegant pottery. Try the tasty slices of torched mackerel with a crab tartar. Or the amazing duo of lobster and langoustines bathed in a coulis of carabineros, the outrageously delicious red shrimp from Portugal. Everything here is always pure, fresh, simple. Perhaps best of all is when Céline arrives with a tiny plate of irresistible, savory gambas de Palamós, from the Costa Brava in Spain. The little red crustaceans are a treasure, full-flavored, with just the right amount of crunch, and here served with an ingenious tarama of sea urchin. There’s also perfectly cooked octopus accompanied by a favorite pasta, the tiny Sardinian fregola: as well as a Normandy oyster ceviche paired with crunchy bursts of cédrat, the giant, golden citrus.

And what could be bad about finishing off a meal with an irresistible blend of meringue, chocolate, and pistachios?

My only disappointment here was a ravioli of beef cheeks, surrounded by a very ordinary pasta. But all is forgiven!

There is no à la carte menu at Mercerie Mullot, just a chance to sample 4 to 6 of Pascal’s creations of the moment as a fixed menu. The wine list is excellent, with some fine offerings from the Loire, Burgundy, and the Rhône, including Fanny Sabre’s welcoming 2018 Meursault.

MERCERIE MULLOT | Fish & Shellfish Bistro | 19 rue Bréa | Paris 6 | Tel: +33 1 43 26 08 06 | Métro: Notre-Dame-des-Champs | Open Tuesday to Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday | 38€ lunch menu and 65€ dinner menu | Reservations recommended | Atmosphere: Smart Casual

Silken satisfying dumplings at Café Lai'Tcha

 
 

The newest addition to the Yam’Tcha family is Café Lai’tcha. Number three in a trio of gastronomic destinations created by Michelin-starred chef Adeline Grattard and her tea-master husband Chi Wah Chan. Their principal address Yam’tcha has long been a favorite of mine since its early days of opening in 2009 and remains so after it’s refurbishment a few years ago. So I was curious to see what this new casual dining spot might offer, tucked away in a small side street of the Les Halles neighborhood.

The décor is simple yet elegant, a mixture of exposed brick, stone and wood, with beautifully chosen Chinese details in the vases and wall hangings. The atmosphere is relaxed as customers sit on low stools around wooden tables and the staff work industrially behind the long bar preparing the hand-made wontons.

 The café has recently developed a simple lunch menu of two starter options and, as a main, homemade wontons – silken wheat dumplings with a fresh shrimp filling, either in a slighty peppery Sichuan sauce or swimming in a rich, warming broth. Beware, the dumplings are on the large size and tricky to eat elegantly in one bite. We loved the vegetable and peanut crispy spring rolls and dipping sauce, but the salade chinoise of tofu, shiitake and 5 spices dressing, although good, lacked the vibrant flavors of the other dishes.

 In the evening and on weekends they have a more expanded menu of Chinese-inspired bistrot dishes, which we have yet to try but promises the opportunity to discover Grattard’s unique cooking style in a more casual, affordable setting. Watch this space.

CAFÉ LAI’TCHA   |   7 rue du jour   |   Paris 1   |   +33 1 40 26 05 05   |   Métro: Les Halles   |   Open Tuesday 4–10pm, Wednesday–Saturday noon–10pm, Sunday 11am–4pm. Closed Monday   |  directionlaitcha@yamtcha.com   |   Lunch: Wonton 14€, entrées 6-10€, lunch menus 20-25€   |   reservations recommended   |   Atmosphere: Casual

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Good fun and good food at Coya

 
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I confess that as I watched the construction of Coya – the huge Peruvian restaurant off Rue du Bac in the 7th arrondissement – I doubted that it would be my kind of place. The posters on the walls announced that Coya already had outposts in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Monaco and London. I assumed it was going to be a late-night, beautiful-people scene with little of interest on the menu. Well, I was wrong, at least as far as the food and service are concerned.  

Peruvian cuisine is a blending of Latin American flavors with influences from the local Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish immigrant populations, all of which play out on the Coya menu. The Indian-born chef, Sanjay Dwivedi (who reportedly has cooked for the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney) navigates this immense territory well but not without some bumps in the road.

The 130-seat restaurant, located on two levels, is located in a former 17th century church and convent built for the Récollettes nuns, where the windows make for a warmly dramatic space. The word coya translates as princess in the Inca language.

Service here is impeccable. On just my second visit the hostess at the door recognized me from the week before and each subsequent waitperson was warm, helpful and friendly.

The menu is fairly broad in scope with vegetarian and gluten-free notations for each dish, offering something for everyone. We sampled several dishes that ranged from superbly delicious to simply banal.

 The food I enjoyed the most included a fried baby squid served with Peruvian marigolds and quinoa (calamare con ocopa), prepared as I love them, golden and crispy. The 35-euro giant tiger shrimp (langostino tigre) is worth the price, moist, full-flavored and bathed in a spicy sauce. I could endlessly order the seabass (lubina clásica) paired with crunchy corn and sweet potatoes. As a corn-on-the-cob lover, I was delighted with their presentation of maiz a la brasa (sweet corn, lime, and red pepper) where the cob was divided in thirds, seasoned and grilled, and pierced with an oversized toothpick for eating with your fingers. Delicious!

Equally fun is the fluffy pina colada sundae, more like a whipped coconut cream paired with fresh, fragrant diced pineapple.

On the minus side, I don’t know how you can ruin a simple guacamole, but I was disappointed with their insipid, under-seasoned version, served with equally bland crispy crackers. The artichoke ceviche (alcahohofa) was totally uninteresting, as was a Peruvian sashimi (pez limon) – thin slices of amberjack, green peppers and daikon (white radish).

The international wine list allows diners to travel the world of wine. I loved the Chilean sauvignon blanc Viu Manenet; the Argentine Malbec classic Altos les Homigas, Vale de Ucon, and the always pleasing white Austrian Gruner Veltliner from Kamptaler Terrassen.

Coya also sports a Pisco Bar and Lounge, where ceviche is also served, open from 6 pm to 12:30 am Tuesday and Wednesday, and 6 pm to 1:30 am Thursday through Saturday. So while it is pretty much is a late-night, beautiful-people place, at times it is a pleasure to dine well among them.

COYA   |   Peruvian   |   83-85 rue du Bac   |   Paris 7   |   Tel: +33 1 43 22 00 65   |   Métro: Rue du Bac   |   Open Tuesday to Saturday, Closed Sunday and Monday   |   Lunch: 35€ menu, 35-60€ à la carte, Dinner: 65€ and 90€ menus, ` la carte, 75-150€   |   Reservations essential   |   Atmosphere casual.

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Announcing 2021 cooking class dates!

 

It’s hard to believe that another year of classes is now over. It’s been an incredible season, our second year sharing our beautiful Rue de Bac cooking atelier with our students. My Parisian garden gives me endless pleasure, watching my students collecting fresh herbs from just outside the kitchen door and having my very own outdoor pizza oven to cook pizzaiolo-worthy pizza bianca in! Provence continues to share its incredible bounty with us and soon it will be grape harvesting season and time to look forward to another vintage of Clos Chanteduc, our delicious red Côtes-du Rhône.

Today I am excited to announce the dates for the 2021 season of At Home With Patricia Wells cooking classes and remind you that there are still a few openings in the 2020 Truffle Workshop. (Note that all other 2020 classes are now full).

In 2021 we’re offering the same class program as in previous years. See the website for more information about class content, schedules and to sign up to your class of choice. Note that classes are filling up fast and places are booked on a first-come, first-served basis.

As Autumn begins I am back in Paris for lots of restaurant testing and updating of The Food Lover's Guide to Paris app and to collaborate on an exciting new blog series with my good friend Emily at The New Superette. Details to be revealed soon!

 

Solstice: Complex creations from Eric Trochon

 
 

Chef Eric Trochon’s track record is clear. After attaining the coveted Meilleur Ouvrier de France title in 2011, he went on to guide the now always-fully-booked Semilla and Freddy’s to their fame and success, alongside being a professor at the prestigious, professional Parisian cooking school, Ecole Ferrandi. Now, at last, he is showing the world his talents – and there are many – at his very own Solstice, a bright, refreshing 25-seat restaurant in the 5th arrondissement.

Along with his Korean wife and sommelière Mi-Jin Ryu, Trochon has created a very special, warming, sunlit space with white tablecloths, all-white china, sparkling silver and walls covered with rare, hand-made white paper from Korea. All this serves as a clean-slate backdrop for his very personal, modern cuisine. From a starting hors-d’oeuvre of the faintly smoked (over myrtle wood) Sardinian goat’s milk cheese, Pecorino Fioré to the final white peach dessert flanked by a peach and basil sorbet and a umeshu (Japanese green plum wine) granité, Trochon has the palate marching along, applauding all the way.

A late summer first course – a nage of the famed fresh white shell beans, cocos de Paimpol – is like so many of his deeply satisfying presentations. Paired with fennel, cucumber pickles, and a lemon geranium granité the dish makes you sit up, take notice, and say “How did he ever come up with such a lovely marriage.”

Throughout, his food is complex, but does not intimidate or confuse as some modern dishes can. Flavors are clear and concise, and seasonings are incredibly precise. Like many contemporary chefs, he dares you to address new, unfamiliar tastes and introduces you to unexpected combinations. I generally only like fruit in desserts (not in salads or main courses) but his lightly cured daurade (sea bream) paired with gari (vinegared sushi ginger), beets, and multi-colored pickled fresh currants, convinced me otherwise.

The wine list offers some treats. When I am old and rich I will serve Hubert Lamy’s aromatic, citrus-bright Saint-Aubin as my house white.

SOLSTICE   |   Modern International   |   45 rue Claude Bernard   |   Paris 5   |   Tel: +33 6 07 12 08 81   |   Métro: Censier-Daubenton   |   Open Tuesday–Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday   | 35€ lunch menu, 65€ & 90€ dinner menus, à la carte, 75-150€   |   Reservations recommended   |   Atmosphere casual

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Le Jules Verne: A New Beginning

 
 

A new Eiffel Tower restaurant, a new Jules Verne, a new beginning. After months of closure, and an up and down epoch with chef Alain Ducasse, chef Frédéric Anton is now at the reins, with an abundance of confidence and energy.

The restaurant's redesign has dispensed with the dark, heavy, overburdened décor, replacing it with a refreshing and welcoming white, modern palette, embedded with careful details and reflections that allude to the landmark’s powerful metal structure and design history. Refined and yet relaxed, the bare wooden tables are adorned with soothingly simple white linen napkins and all white porcelain.

Anton has demonstrated his talent and success as the current chef at the Michelin three-star Le Pre Catelan, earning him a respected position in the very top tier of chefs in France and elsewhere. Now the challenge is to be as good as he can be at Le Jules Verne and it’s clear he’s working hard at it.

Several meals at Le Jules Verne suggest he will succeed here too. Supported by a talented staff of chefs, waiters, and sommeliers trained at Le Pré Catelan and other renowned kitchens and dining rooms, Anton offers a seasonal menu that has all of his culinary trademarks: Gorgeous food, well-considered and full-flavored, that hits with a punch. He wisely keeps the menu crisp and modern, with no true à la carte menu, only fixed menus with a few variable options at lunchtime. Service is beyond exceptional, and the wine staff keeps your whims and glass filled whenever you desire. The dinner menu could not be more varied, including crab and cabbage, my dear langoustines, cod, farm-raised chicken, raspberries and chocolate. Servings are respectably and thankfully restrained. I most loved Anton’s langoustine ravioli, lush and intense, rewarding, bathed in a Parmesan cream and, yes, truffle jelly.

Lunch is just as festive, and daylight offers an even better opportunity to appreciate Anton’s eye-appealing creations, boosted by the all-white collection of porcelain tableware that creates a crisp canvas for his bright, seasonal dishes. I have decided to dedicate the next year to doing the best I can to recreate his alabastar offering of barely salted codfish set in a bed of fennel-infused shellfish broth, topped with a halo of crispy shredded fennel bulb, generously seasoned with herbs. With every mouthful he convinces me that when food is both breathtakingly beautiful and satisfying delicious, 50 plus 50 equals much more than 100!

Take for example his vibrant seabass carpaccio, sliced paper thin and brightly flavored with Madagascar vanilla, pink grapefruit, and Espelette pepper, offering a trio of flavor-packed ingredients to accompany the elegant fish. Roast duck is cooked oh so rare, sliced paper thin, and married with girolles mushrooms and capers, with an added necessary crunch of tiny, crispy pommes soufflées.

Getting to Le Jules Verne and the modern-day Eiffel Tower -- overloaded with an abundance of safety barriers and tourists -- is now a feat of its own. The restaurant has done its best to help diners arrive with ease. Jules Verne valets lead you from the taxi or parking area through the checkpoint and up to the tower’s southern pillar. After the meal, guides help you to a taxi stand and hail a car for you.

Le Jules Verne | Second floor of the Tour Eiffel | Avenue Gustave Eiffel | Paris 7 (enter near the south pillar Avenue Gréard and Avenue Charles Floquet | +33 1 45 55 61 44 | Métro: Bir-Hakeim | Open daily | Lunch menus: €105 3-course à la carte menu (choice between 2 dishes for entrée, main and dessert), Monday to Friday only, €190 5-course tasting menu, €230 7-course tasting menu | Dinner menu: €230 7-course tasting menu | Reservations essential | Dresscode: T-shirts, shorts, or other sports clothing not accepted | NB Vegetarian and vegan diners welcome.


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Adar: flavorful Levantine fare

 
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Not only is the passage des Panoramas the oldest covered passage in Paris, and arguably the prettiest, it is also the home to a growing number of destination restaurants in the capital.

Its latest culinary addition, Adar, makes for another good reason to seek out this historic 220 year-old location. Make your way towards the back of the alley, past the old wooden shop fronts and cramped bistrot tables that spill out into the tiled passageway, to discover the Levantine creations of Israeli Chef Tamir Nahmias and Boston native Aaron Rosenthal. Together, the two present an impressive resumé, Nahmias having passed through the kitchens of Troisgros, Astrance, Yam’Tcha and Frenchie before taking over Fulgurances for a 6-month chef residency back in 2016. Rosenthal’s bio includes time with Bertrand Grébault at Septime and then as chef at the next-door Clamato. Along with business partner Tiphaine Bailly, these two formidable talents have created something altogether original, combining the culinary influences of Nahmias’s northern Israeli upbringing with classic French techniques and local French produce. The small space accommodates around 20 or so diners, a deli counter for takeout orders, and a couple of tables outside in the passage. As an additional part of the business, Adar also caters events.

 
 

 The menu changes daily according to seasonal availability of produce. On the day we dined, the mezze course consisted of a creamy hummus served with a fluffy, homemade focaccia-style bread, and a zesty little salad of barley, onions, raisins and parsley. The mussel, tomato, haricots Paimpol (white beans from Brittany) and basil salad was a refreshing starter, a great companion to the pissaladière tart of labneh, baby onions, yellow zucchini, a generous handful of fresh arugula and spiked with bottarga (salted and cured fish eggs) and trout eggs. The warm octopus, broad bean, and fresh oregano salad left me indifferent, but the roasted chicken, with an impossibly creamy labneh-seasoned polenta was a triumph. The macerated cherries with pistachio cream was sadly sold out by the time we got to dessert, so we settled for the babka, a twisted brioche-like cake oozing with a caramelized date and coconut filling, so all is well that ends well.

The service was warm and friendly, and the walls are lined with carefully selected spices, grains and condiments, living up to its name which is Yiddish for abundance and generosity.

Adar | 49 Passage des Panoramas | Paris 2 | Tel: +33 6 64 49 18 68 | Métro: Grands Boulevards or Richelieu-Drouot | Open Monday–Friday noon–7pm | Lunch: 19 & 22€ lunch menus, takeaway menu 8-12€ for salads, sandwiches and mezze | Reservations only taken for beginning of lunch service noon-12.15 | Atmosphere casual | info@adar-paris.com

Bright authentic flavors at Les Cuistots Migrateurs

 
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Expect a world tour full of bright authentic flavors when you arrive at Les Cuistots Migrateurs, the socially-conscious restaurant of the Hasard Ludique cultural centre in the 18th arrondissement. Based on the concept that food is the great connector, Les Cuistots Migrateurs (slang for the migrants chefs) aims to change the way people view Paris’s migrant population through introducing them to their homeland cuisines. The restaurant offers a buffet selection of dishes at lunchtime and mezze-style small plates in the evening, all prepared by chefs whose origins span the globe from Syria and Iran to Ethiopia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Senegal, and Chechnya.

 
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The menus change daily, offering fresh, redolent salads and accompaniments, bursting with color and aromatic spices, such as Aloo Dum a warming potato dish from Nepal, a classic Syrian hummus with chickpeas, tahini and yogurt, and a refreshing Afghani salad of tomatoes, cucumbers red onion, and fresh parsley. They offer a meat and a vegetarian option as the plat de jour, and the day we dined we enjoyed a warming yellow split pea curry served with swiss chard and red peppers and a side of springy, nutty wholegrain rice. Desserts were generous and very rich, so much so that we regretfully could not finish them.

 The building itself has a charming history, starting out life as the Gare Saint-Ouen train station over 130 years ago servicing the trains of the petit ceinture, the small rail line that used to run around the outer edge of Paris. Since the train line was decommissioned in the mid 1930s, the space was reimagined into a cinema, and then a homeware bazaar until it was bought back by the City of Paris in 2010 and made available to tender as a cultural project. The façade has been renovated to return it to its former glory as a train station, and in the rear, benefits from a vast terrace of over 100 seats that gives onto the old train tracks, making this an enviable outdoor space in the summer months that is open for drinks non-stop midday to 10pm Tuesday to Sunday.

LES CUISTOTS MIGRATEURS | 128 avenue de Saint-Ouen | Paris 18 | +33 1 48 31 34 36 | Métro: Porte de St-Ouen | Open Tuesday-Sunday | plat du jour 11€, 17.50€ 3-course lunch menu, 4-13€ mezze dishes in the evening | reservations not necessary | atmosphere casual.

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Le Mermoz: a game-changer near the Champs-Elysées

 
 

From the street, Le Mermoz looks like just another neighborhood café. But once you see what’s on the menu and on the plate, you’ll feel differently. Chef Manon Fleury – straight from the kitchens of Astrance and Semilla – offers diners a bright, contemporary, vegetable-loving menu that truly hits the spot.  At lunch, three starters, three main courses, cheese and two desserts are offered. At night, beginning at 6:30 pm, the 1930s-era café – with a large bar, bare wooden tables, and patchwork tile floors – offers a series of small plates.

I totally loved her watercress soup, dotted with chickpeas, and served with a touch of yogurt and the popular North African spice raz-el-hanout, then topped with a generous bouquet of fresh, pungent watercress and cilantro. The grilled line-caught mackerel was equally appealing and well-thought-out, served with crunchy fresh fava beans, leeks, and a flourish of fresh herbs.

Alabaster-white codfish from Loctudy in Brittany arrived on a bed of perfectly wilted fresh spinach, a frothy langoustine sauce, and a delicate dusting of toasted sesame seeds, a unifying dish with just the right touch of acid and crunch. The only disappointment here was a promising dish of fresh cultivated champignons de Paris and feathery pleurote mushrooms, paired with a golden, runny egg yolk and a pesto of the ramp-like ail des ours (wild garlic). Brilliant in concept, but sadly the mushrooms were just too vinegary even for my acid-loving palette, as if someone had in fact made a mistake in the kitchen.

The only dessert that was still available by the end of our meal was an excellent creation of a confit of kumquats paired with crunchy hazelnuts and a café-scented pudding bathed in a sweet syrup.

The wine list holds some very well-priced treasures, including sulphite-free wines from young winemaker Laura David, whose dry chenin blanc from her Montlouis-sur-Loire vineyards, will make you sit up and take notice, and enjoy.

Le Mermoz is a good value all around with starters at about 10€, mains at around 23€, and wines at 7€ a glass. The restaurant is just steps from the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées, a neighborhood bereft of good casual spots for eating.

LE MERMOZ | 16 rue Jean Mermoz | Paris 8 | +33 1 45 63 65 26 | Métro: Franklin D. Roosevelt | Open Monday-Friday. Closed Saturday & Sunday | 40-45€ à la carte | reservations essential | atmosphere: casual.

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Etsi: like a big Greek family event

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Dining at the lively, casual Etsi – meaning “this way” or “comme ça” in Greek – makes you feel as though you are attending a big Greek family event. The owner enthusiastically announces the menu to assembled diners, explaining each item on the dining room’s blackboard. Diners respond loudly, drinks and wine are poured happily, and the small plates turned out of the tiny kitchen by chef Mikaela Liaroutsos just keep coming and coming. The 35€ evening menu is a veritable bargain, and, depending on the day, may include their homemade tarama; tiny, crispy spinach-filled spanakopitakia puff pastry pies; giant kolokithokeftedes, or fried zucchini balls served with tzatziki: and grilled octopus on a bed of fava beans and capers. The chef could have been bolder with her seasoning, but we had a wonderful time nonetheless. I was not expecting to fall in love with their desserts, but we literally devoured their giant, bright-flavored lemon tart, as well as the fudgy chocolate creation, adorned with a mix of berries. The wine list offers some Greek treasures, including the fresh, smooth and tannic red, Xinomavro Nature from Domaine Thymiopolous. And for those who prefer something a bit stronger, do try the Athens 42, a peppy, delicious marriage of the pine-like liqueur masticha, gin, and green Chartreuse, topped with vibrant, freshly zested lime.

Etsi | 23-25 Rue Eugène-Carrière | Paris 18 | Tel: +33 1 71 50 00 80 | Métro: Lamarck-Caulaincourt | Open Tuesday to Friday dinner only 7.30pm-midnight, Saturday 12.30-2.30pm & 7.30pm-midnight, Sunday noon-3pm. Closed Sunday dinner, all day Monday, and lunch Tuesday-Friday | Lunch + dinner: shared mezzes 6-9€, evening menu 35€ | Reservations recommended | Atmosphere casual.

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5 Pailles: "Life is too short for bad coffee"

 
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Perhaps it’s the journalist in me, but I always love a good origin story. And 5 Pailles has just that. Pailles, meaning straws (as in the drinking variety) is a nod to a scene in the cult French film Le Péril Jeune, where 5 friends who are lingering in a café and are pressed to order something else in order to keep their table, so they ask for one coffee with 5 straws. The link to this Parisian café: the owners are 5 friends who quit their corporate jobs to start a café with the motto “life is too short for bad coffee”.

The coffee here is indeed very good. About half their beans are sourced from Lomi specialty roasters in the 18th arrondissement, who deliver them, on request, a light and fruity roast. The other half are beans selected from favorite roasters globally, adding variety.

The relaxed and welcoming café feels like a refuge from the bustling and heady commotion of the Faubourg Saint-Denis neighborhood. Make your way past the coffee bar and the café opens out into a spacious oasis of mid-century-style furniture and jungle-inspired wallpaper.

We were tempted by several items on their simple but varied menu but eventually settled on a smoked salmon, ricotta and pickled cucumber tartine, which was fresh, flavorful and generous enough to share between two.

The 5 Pailles team is also doing their bit for the environment, using recyclable and biodegradable packaging, minimizing food waste and working in partnership with charity Eau Vive Internationale, donating a portion of their coffee profits towards improving access to clean drinking water in Africa. We love what these guys are doing from beginning to end.

5 Pailles | 79 rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis | Paris 10 | Open daily, Monday – Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am-6pm.

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Restaurant Eels: Acidity, Crunch and Explosive flavors

 
 

It’s not often that I find myself dissecting a dish in a restaurant in hopes of discovering the secrets to its balance, charm and explosive flavors. But that is just what I spent a recent lunch at Restaurant Eels doing. Chef-owner Adrien Ferrand spent 2 years as head chef at William Ledeuil’s Kitchen Galerie Bis, so it is no surprise that he has honed his skills as a master of layering flavor, acidity and crunch, all punctuated with fragrant fresh herbs.

We began our meal with the restaurant’s signature dish of smoked eel, apple, licorice root and hazelnuts. Soothing soft pieces of smoked eel nestled into a sabayon-like foam, layered with bites and crunch from the tart apples and hazelnuts, showered in pretty pink oxalis petals, a well-deserving namesake dish that was both delicate yet bold all at the same time.

 The starter of carrots, fromage blanc flavored with orange blossom, and grapefruit showed how Ferrand can take a few humble ingredients and infuse them with punch and character. The pungent turmeric bouillon was a clever device that elevated the dish above the ordinary.  As with many of the dishes we sampled, what didn’t always seem obvious on paper turned out to be a harmonious combination of flavor and texture on the plate.

I can’t stop thinking about my fresh pasta main, the likes of which I have never had before. Springy, al dente fresh tagliolini was married up with a fireworks combination of sweet, tenderly cooked clams and razor clams, chamomile, delicately bitter confit of cedrat, (a large perfumed citrus fruit), and some kind of braised celery concoction. Here the sum was certainly greater than its parts, an astounding alliance of flavors that made for a surprising and altogether delightful and original take on a seafood pasta dish.  

It would be hard to improve upon his “chou farci”, moist green cabbage leaves wrapped around tender shredded lamb seasoned with a magician’s touch. (It’s a dish my mother made regularly while growing up in the US Middle West in the 1950s. But sorry, mom, yours was never quite like this!) Like all of Ferrand’s dishes, a welcome bouquet of seasonal vegetables accompanied the stuffed cabbage, bright orange and yellow carrots, turnips and white radish, showered with a welcome garnish of refreshing, fresh cilantro.

The winter citrus dessert felt like a déjà vu, our carrot entrée reimagined into a sweet course, which gave the sense that the menu had not been considered in its entirety but rather as individual elements. The chocolate cream caramel to my mind was unsuccessful, with a rubbery marzipan-like chocolate topping swamped in what was described as banana marmalade but was more like an overly pungent, liquidy banana puree. A heavy and misguided end to an otherwise inspired meal.

The restaurant’s simple, refreshing, no-nonsense décor – bare wooden tables, comfortable woven chairs, attractive lighting, and golden exposed stone walls – reflect the place’s attitude: un-selfconscious, striving but not aggressive, pleasant service, and a clientele that clearly likes having a good time.

The wine list is brief, with a very golden, faintly sweet but appealing acidic white Cour Cheverny from the Loire Valley.

EELS | 27 rue d'Hauteville | Paris 10 | +33 1 42 28 80 20 | Métro: Bonne Nouvelle or Château d’Eau | Open Tuesday–Saturday. | €28 + €32 lunch menus, €59 decouverte menu (2 starters, 2 mains and dessert), à la carte 55-65€ | reservations essential.

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Baieta: Sun-kissed cuisine from Julia Sedefdjian

 
 

Julia Sedefdjian’s Mediterranean, sun-drenched cuisine is a welcome injection of warmth at any season of the year. Sedefdjian came to fame at the 7th arrondissement restaurant Les Fables de la Fontaine when she, at the age of 21, was the youngest woman chef in France with a Michelin star. This gutsy young woman continues to impress: She is now running her own restaurant, Baieta, and still in possession of a Michelin star - this one acquired in the latest round of awards in January 2019.

There is much to love about Sedefdjian’s style and creativity as both a chef and a restaurateur. As much attention has been paid to the small details of design and decor as to what’s on the plate, although the food is really what stands out here. Julia’s unique cooking style is both a calling card to her hometown of Nice (the restaurant's name means little kiss in the Nice dialect), celebrating all the flavors of her southern French origins. Guests are welcomed with a small sample of pissaladière, a well- known tart of onion confit, olives, and anchovies, here served on a square of pillowy-soft bread, in all its glory atop a mini wooden stool, a cute and original touch. The warm confit of octopus was bursting with sunshine flavor, marinating in the rich comforting flavors of Provence: olives, tomatoes and olive oil. The sweet potato gnocchi that accompanied it felt slightly like an imposter and lacked the finesse and natural sense of place of the other ingredients.

The daurade tartare was a bright refreshing entree, exquisitely fresh and tasting of the sea, bathed in a subtle lime dressing and accompanied by a lemongrass infused cream – a little too subtle to be the highlight of the dish though.

Her bouillabaieta, a personal interpretation of the classic southern bouillabaisse fish soup is a triumph. It’s a modern revisit yet clearly recognizable as a classic, original without being wacky or losing sight of the heart of the dish that made it famous. Big chunks of monkfish, cubes of potato, garlic-rich aioli are set in a golden pool of rich fish sauce and served with a vibrant red rouille – a chile pepper mayonnaise -- making you feel as though you could be nearer the Mediterranean than the Seine.

A thoughtful and original offering of moist, delicately smoked chicken breast arrived with a flavorful package of ground chicken wrapped in cabbage, a showering of delicate greens, and a welcome, bright-tasting “tartine” of toast was topped with a silken spread made of the chicken’s organ meats, a clever way to use all parts of the bird.

Throughout, careful thought is given to the dishware, with each plate and bowl set to match the dish at hand. Sometime all white and modern, sometimes hand-crafted pottery in earth tones, always seeming to flatter the offering.

Sedefdjian’s solid qualifications in the pastry arts shine through in her desserts, the chocolate praline option came in the form of a row of mini soft chocolate biscuits filled with a rich dark chocolate ganache, interspersed with praline cream and small quenelles of hazelnut ice cream. A generous dessert of clementines teamed up with a delicate yogurt sorbet flavored with my favorite mouth-tingling Timut pepper, was served along with little cream-filled choux pastries and thin crisps of chocolate.

Service is warm and friendly albeit at times slow and distracted but if you are not in a rush, it doesn’t detract too much from an overall excellent dining experience. We were inspired by the passing dishes being delivered to neighboring tables and I suspect it won’t be long before I return for more of Julia’s sun-kissed cuisine.

Those who remember the Paris restaurant scene in the 1980s may recall that at this same address Colette Dejean officiated at Chez Toutoune, offering up an excellent red pepper mousse, fresh pasta with shellfish, and grilled leg of lamb with French fries. Vive les femmes!

Baieta  | 5 rue de Pontoise. | Paris 5. | Tel: +33 1 42 02 59 19 | Métro: Maubert-Mutalité | Open Tuesday-Saturday. Closed Sunday & Monday | 29€ (starter + main), €45 (4-course) lunch menus, €85 7-course menu for the whole table (lunch and dinner), à la carte 60–80€ | reservations essential | atmosphere: smart casual.

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Sauvage: an updated review of a favorite neighborhood restaurant

 
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Unexpected. This is the word that immediately sprung to mind when I first encountered this small unassuming restaurant-cum-wine bar that quickly shot to the top of my list of favorite neighborhood dining spots some time back. Unexpected because of its unlikely location, its curious chef and the spectacular dishes served up for such a humble establishment. Such a restaurant might be more at home in the 9th or 10th arrondissements of Paris, yet has found itself nestled among the upmarket fashion boutiques and classic bistros of the well-heeled Sevres-Babylone neighborhood – luckily for me just steps from my 7th arrondissement apartment.

As the crowds grew, so did chef Sebastien Leroy’s ambitions, and what started as a few café-style tables scattered around boxes of wine for sale at a modest wine shop/restaurant at 60, rue du Cherche-Midi soon moved across the street, expanding not only the restaurant but adding a wine bar and converting the original wine shop into a casual place offering cold plates. Soon after the move, I had some good and some indifferent meals at the new spot – a rather cold place, with bare wooden tables, bad lighting, and walls plastered with bare boards. Now, at least and at last, the restaurants seems up to its old speed, offering super-inventive and healthy combos, with fish, meats, and poultry surrounded by an avalanche of seasonal fruits (yes!) and vegetables. Vibrant blood orange slices team up with all manner of root vegetables, and the delicate celery-root-like cerfeuil-tubereaux sits alongside a delicious serving of quail and a generous offering of wild mushrooms.

Like many of the most interesting new wave of chefs in Paris, Leroy does not have classic French culinary training. He spent his early career as a graphic designer and then as a set designer in films, before turning his long time passion for food into a fulltime occupation. However, his earthy roots as the son of farmers goes a long way in explaining his deep affinity for all things seasonal and wild (the translation for the restaurant’s name).

And true to its name, Leroy’s wild personal cooking style is punctuated with fresh herbs and edible flowers, sourced carefully from the likes of herbalist and professional forager Stéphane Meyer (also known as the Druid of Paris!).

My first meal there, in the restaurant’s original address, made quite an impression – an entrée of raw mackerel, green asparagus, toasted buckwheat and white nasturtium flowers was united by a vinegar dressing whose acidity was perfectly balanced. And herein lies what I love most about Leroy’s food, his understanding of acidity and how to make it bring a dish harmoniously together.

This perfect introduction was followed by a slow cooked pork dish served with a bright refreshing salad of raw thinly sliced cauliflower, radish, coriander, mint and punctuated with a vibrant miso dressing, a dish I immediately wanted to figure out how to recreate.

Most dishes seem to follow this formula, meat or fish, simply prepared and accompanied by one or two star vegetables, a scattering of fresh herbs, leaves and/or flowers, and a sauce with near perfect acidity every time to bring the dish coherently together – a rather ingenious blueprint I would say.

All three of the spots are dedicated to natural, organic and biodynamic wines from small, lesser known producers. The right balance of acidity, for Leroy, is just as important in the wines he sources as it is in each dish that he constructs. Since his early days of solo operation, Leroy works with a front of house who can knowledgeably talk you through the extensive wine selection and will happily make food pairing recommendations.

Sauvage   |   Modern French   |   55 rue du Cherche-Midi |   Paris 7 |   Tel: +33 1 45 48 86 79 |   Métro: Sèvres-Babylone, Rennes or Vaneau |   Open Monday through Saturday

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