I Prefer Paris

Cooking Dinner at Le Troisieme Café

So the big day arrived on Thursday for my return to the kitchen. 

I was at the Le Troisieme Cafe at 4:30PM to cook dinner for 30 people and start serving at 7:30pm. 

I was already a little ahead of the game because I baked the dessert at home, so all I had to cook was the appetizer and the main course. Even with that advantage, I found myself prepping until almost 7:30. Things went pretty smoothly, and I had two excellent volunteer assistants Evagn, and Natalie (who was the original owner of the wine bar/bookstore La Belle Hortense in the Marais). They were efficient and easy to get along with, which I appreciated so much. There was no way I could have done all the work myself in time. 

Most of the guests arrived between 7:30 and 8pm and enjoyed some wine and beer before dinner was served. Twelve people were a combination of friends or blog readers and 10 others made reservations from the café’s website. 

The interesting part about cooking at Le Troisieme, was I realized I had never cooked in a restaurant before and also never cooked in an open kitchen with people watching me. It was a bit of an adjustment at first, but then I liked the idea of not being isolated in the kitchen and to be able to talk to people while I was cooking. After serving the main course, I took a break for a while and talked to my friends in the dining room. 

This was the menu: 

Appetizer

Tomato leek soup with Middle Eastern Spices

Main course 

Spinach and Emmenthal cheese gratin 

Zucchini and Emmenthal cheese gratin

Chickpea rice with cumin and caramelized onions

Cucumber and yogurt salad with Zaatar 

Dessert 

Coconut American-style macaroons with fresh mandarin orange 

When I was growing up, every Thursday night was dairy night at my house and my mother would frequently serve the main course dish. I eventually incorporated it into my catering menu as a vegetarian option and it was a big hit. 

The coconut macaroons were my most popular dessert when I was a caterer, and at one point I was selling them to Dean & Deluca in Soho. 

The night ended at about 10pm and many of the guests thanked me for the experience. It was a fun and fulfilling night for me and it reawakened my cooking and baking skills. In fact, I’ve been mulling over the idea of introducing Parisians to my coconut macaroons by possibly selling them to food shops and cafes. I’ll let you know if I do. Meanwhile it’s back to blogging, touring and photography for now, but leaving room for the possibility of cooking again. 

Le Troisieme Cafe serves a three-course lunch for 10€ and a three-course dinner for 12€. 

Le Troisieme Cafe 

16 rue de Beauce, 75003

https://troisiemecafe.org/

Open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner

Cash or check accepted, no credit cards 

I am pleased as punch to have my friend Lisa Anselmo as my guest on A Bite of Paris. Lisa is the founder of Save the Paris Cafe/www.savethepariscafe.com, a website which celebrates the Paris café and the preservation of them, which in recent years has been threatened by rising rents and cultural changes. 

Click here to watch video or link below 

https://youtu.be/Jyt4wx3K8ZQ

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

Mordu Restaurant Saint Germain

I’m always hard pressed to find good restaurants in Saint Germain des Pres. Yes, there are the famous cafes, Les Deux Maggots and Café de Flore which are great to go for a coffee, but not to eat at, and Le Comptoir and Semilla are easily the best restaurants in Saint Germain, but other than that, the neighborhood is sorely lacking. 

Nicolas Paradis is a wine specialist and entrepreneur in Paris. He owns the very successful wine tasting venue O’ Chateau and Caves de Louvre, a unique space which houses a wine museum, wine cellars, tasting room and a wine making facility. 

Nicolas emailed me recently to promote his latest venture, a restaurant in Saint Germain des Pres and invited me to have dinner. 

Hoping to finally have another address to go to in Saint Germain, I eagerly accepted his invitation. 

I went with Vincent to Mordu, which is located in the Marche Saint Germain, once a sleepy, almost hidden food market, now transformed into a hotspot for gourmet food shops. 

The dining room with high ceilings and low lighting was elegant but not stuffy.

Chef Baptiste Trudel has trained in formal restaurants such as Le Grand Vefour and the Cristal Room at Bacarrat, but also at more casual venues including La Machine à Coudes at Yard, and Iratze in Paris. Trudel’s versatility is shown off with an eclectic menu.

Although it was an odd choice for a cold winter’s night, I enjoyed the vitello tonnato, which I frequently eat in the simmer. This version was light with thinly sliced veal and the tempura fried fresh capers were a delightful surprise. Vincent’s dish listed on the menu as smashed potatoes, was unidentifiable, when presented. It looked like an order of oysters with black shells perhaps because of the dim lighting. Once Vincent figured what it was, he told me I have to try it. I did, and it was the best part of the meal. The texture of the potatoes, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside along with a wasabi mayo was sensational. When I ordered my main course, filet mignon of pork, which was served with potatoes, I asked the waiter if he replace them with the exact potatoes, and happily he said yes. The pork medallions were tender and juicy and served with braised romaine lettuce and horseradish cream, another wonderful taste and texture. Vincent, who can be a picky eater, was happy with John Dorey served with gnocchi (one of his favorite dishes). 

The limited wine list is all organic and Vincent had a red 2016 Sancerre from the Loire, which was light but had a bit of body. 

There was only a choice of two desserts, so we opted for the chocolate ganache with a crumble of hazelnuts and salted butter caramel. To say this dessert was rich is an understatement, and in fact history was made that night when Vincent and I could only eat half of the one dessert. We have the highest thresholds for desserts of all the people we know, so this came as a surprise. 

The wait staff was friendly and laid back. 

When I left, I demanded that they keep the potato dish on the menu permanently, as they change the menu frequently. 

Mordu offers a two- course lunch for 26€, three courses 30€. 

 

 2 rue Felibien, 75006

https://en.mordu.paris/menu

Open Monday to Saturday 

Tel. +33 (0) 142 39 89 27

The potato dish!

I am pleased as punch to have my friend Lisa Anselmo as my guest on A Bite of Paris. Lisa is the founder of Save the Paris Cafe/www.savethepariscafe.com, a website which celebrates the Paris café and the preservation of them, which in recent years has been threatened by rising rents and cultural changes. 

Click here to watch video or link below 

https://youtu.be/Jyt4wx3K8ZQ

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

Shadow Photos 3

Here’s another series of shadow photos. I experimented once again with black and white, so let me know whether you like them. Many photos were shadows of trees, which I think give off an interesting effect. 

Click on links below to view my other series of shadow photos. 

https://www.ipreferparis.net/2019/07/shadow-and-reflection-photos.html

https://www.ipreferparis.net/2019/07/shadow-photos-tuileries-.html

https://www.typepad.com/site/blogs/6a00d83451b0bd69e200e5508218638834/post/6a00d83451b0bd69e20240a4b24214200d/edit

Links Eye Like 

The New York Times selected Paris as one of its 52 Places to Go in 2020. It's #31.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/travel/places-to-visit.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Travel

I am pleased as punch to have my friend Lisa Anselmo as my guest on A Bite of Paris. Lisa is the founder of Save the Paris Cafe/www.savethepariscafe.com, a website which celebrates the Paris café and the preservation of them, which in recent years has been threatened by rising rents and cultural changes. 

Click here to watch video or link below 

https://youtu.be/Jyt4wx3K8ZQ

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

 

I’m Cooking Again! Save the Date January 15

As most of you know, I was a chef and caterer for 21 years before I moved to Paris in 2005. I had a niche business, where I would cater fashion shoots for magazines, stores, and catalogs. There would usually be a crew of about ten to twelve people, including the photographer, two photo assistants, models, fashion stylist, hair stylist, makeup artist and fashion editor. I never know who would show up on a shoot; one day, there was Cindy Crawford munching on my carrot cake in rollers, another day, Whitney Houston complimented me on my salsa. 

After 21 years spending countless hours in the kitchen and cooking thousands of meals, I hung up my chef’s apron when I moved to Paris. Now, Vincent does all the cooking, and I only venture into the kitchen a few times a year to either make soup or bake a cake. 

My friend Pascal, who runs the terrific website www.parismarais.com, invited me to lunch one day at Café Troisieme last November. Located in the northern Marais, Café Troisieme is a typical café until I discovered it’s a community based, non-profit restaurant. They offer simply prepared lunches and dinners for a nominal price. A three-course lunch is only 10€ and dinner, 12€.The purpose of Café Troisieme is to promote a sense of community for people that live in the third arrondissement. 

As with many neighborhoods in Paris, the third arrondissement has been gentrified to the point that much of the middle class and working class cannot afford local services, shops, and restaurants. Café Troisieme aims to correct that with not only fair prices for its meals, but also bolstering a meeting place for local residents. Besides serving food, Café Troisieme also organizes concerts and exhibitions plus members can organize events in the restaurant. 

I learned that every Wednesday night, they invite a chef to cook dinner, which I thought was a cool idea. Suddenly, I asked them if I could be a guest chef one night, and we booked it right then and there for January 15. 

Afterwards, I had a moment of regret, along with a bit of fear. Questions arose; Why did I do this? Am I crazy to cook again? Will I remember how to cook again? 

Finally, when my self doubt calmed down, I decided it’s going to be a fun adventure. 

I am making a three-course dinner including dessert and I would love for you to come taste my cooking. Dinner will be served from 8pm to 10:30pm. Please email me at r.nahem@gmail.com to reserve your place. Please note, there’s a limit of 10 people, so make sure you reserve quickly. The price of dinner is 12€, excluding drinks, plus a 5€ membership fee to support Café Troisieme.

I look forward to cooking dinner for you. 

For more info about Café Troisieme click link below.

https://troisiemecafe.org/

I am pleased as punch to have my friend Lisa Anselmo as my guest on A Bite of Paris. Lisa is the founder of Save the Paris Cafe/www.savethepariscafe.com, a website which celebrates the Paris café and the preservation of them, which in recent years has been threatened by rising rents and cultural changes. 

Click here to watch video or link below 

https://youtu.be/Jyt4wx3K8ZQ

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.

 

 

Fishing Boats in Marsaxlokk, Malta

Malta has been on my destination radar for a while and when I found a roundtrip airfare for 105€ round trip last November, I couldn’t resist. 

I am changing up the way I present my travel stories outside of France for the moment, so let me know if you like this new format. Instead of writing a general travel story as I usually do, I am going to focus on either a particular site or specific series of photos, unique to where I was visiting. Please let me know if you like this new story idea. 

When I was doing research for Malta, a fishing village, Marsaxlokk, was mentioned in almost everything I read. Even though Marsaxlokk is a village with just 4,000 inhabitants, it’s the largest fishing harbor in Malta. During the week there’s a wholesale fish market where local fisherman bring their daily catch to sell to restaurant owners and fish retailers. On Sunday, stalls are set up to sell fish directly to the public. 

I took a local bus from the capitol, Valletta, where I was staying. It was a pleasant 45-minute ride and I arrived at about 12:30am. It was a weekday, so the waterfront was quiet, with not many people around but there was a small flea and food market.  

It was a beautiful, sunny day with temperatures in the low 70s Fahrenheit and the harbor was lined mostly with small fishing boats moored closely together. The boats were painted in happy, bright colors of seafoam green, aqua blue, pink, red, orange, and sunshine yellow. A number of the boat owners were busily washing down or maintaining their boats. 

From a photogenic viewpoint, it was paradise for me. I began shooting dozens of photos, inspired by the wonderful colors and rich textures of the boats along with ropes, dinghies, and bows and sterns. 

I took a series of vertical shots, capturing the small boats floating on the translucent green-blue water with the sun reflecting off it. I also shot super closeups of the boats, making them more abstract. 

After shooting for more than two hours, I had a hearty appetite and had a seafood lunch at one of the best restaurants on the harbor. 

Do you have some favorites here? 

Later this month, I will feature the special doors of Malta. 

Stay tuned. 

I am pleased as punch to have my friend Lisa Anselmo as my guest on A Bite of Paris. Lisa is the founder of Save the Paris Cafe/www.savethepariscafe.com, a website which celebrates the Paris café and the preservation of them, which in recent years has been threatened by rising rents and cultural changes. 

Click here to watch video or link below 

https://youtu.be/Jyt4wx3K8ZQ

Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.