La Grosse Bouchee
My super lowkey older sister had her bachelorette weekend in Paris. Given my plans to move there this summer (not kidding), I was definitely not upset about it.
The “best” meal isn’t a straightforward answer
Shamelessly, this was not a museum-packed trip to Paris. We mostly walked, shopped and ate. I felt the need to plot our sit-down dining experiences on a graph. See below for my placement in terms of Deliciousness (vertical axis), Service (horizontal axis) and Value (size of circle).
There are always buds and thorns
Make This OR Buy That: Croissants
I used to dislike croissants because the flaky mess stressed me out, and am still more of a muffin girl, but I've come to accept that such delicate disarray is just the price you pay for the satisfying bliss of a good croissant.
The verdict? Buy croissants. Professionals dedicate their lives to perfecting the croissant! Dominique Ansel requires a daily photo of his bakery’s croissant’s internal honeycomb to ensure standards. However, if you must attempt this as a fun weekend project (I might do it too), follow baker Nicola Lamb’s recipe for at-home croissants. She trained with Dominique Ansel!
Buy That: My limited and random list of croissant recs
NYC: I’m aligned with The Infatuation’s best croissants list
Paris: Tried: Tappisserie; Wanted to try: Du Pain et des Idees
Denver: My sister claims Reunion Bread is the best she’s had and she is well-eaten in croissants
Make This: Nicola Lamb’s guide to homemade croissants
Listen to Nicola talk through how to make croissants at home on She’s My Cherry Pie podcast
Buy her baking baking book Sift with the recipe
Check out her Substack: Kitchen Projects
If you are like me and have naturally cold hands, this is great for pastry baking because you won’t melt the butter 🙂
Tappisserie croissant avec jambon & fromage
I just wanted to eat snails
Having not had escargot since my last visit to Paris six years ago, I was eager to experience the delicacy again. My ranking and prices for six snails for the three times we ordered:
1. Hotel Costes (32 euro): By far most flavorfully infused with butter, garlic and parsley. And I greatly appreciated the skinny bread slices which were perfectly dippable inside the shell tunnel.
2. Les enfants du Marchee (18 euro) – Most tender of the three, but not as deep flavor.
3. Laperouse (32 euro) – Generally disliked this absurdly overpriced restaurant and the escargot were too chewy and not sufficiently sauced or seasoned.
A brief history of escargot… People have been eating snails forever. Consumption became common in France during Roman occupation. In the Middle Ages, snails were primarily eaten by the poor. They gained popularity because they were not considered meat and thus allowed to be eaten during Catholic fasting. By the Renaissance, snails began appearing on aristocratic tables, and in the 18th century, the now-classic preparation with butter, garlic and parsley was prominent. By the 19th century Auguste Escoffier (considered the father of modern French cuisine) included it in his cookbooks, making it a staple of French haute cuisine. And so, American girls like me can’t imagine going to Paris and not eating escargot. Although, today those snails most likely came from a farm in Poland, Hungary or Romania where it is a big industry.
The taste of progress
Travel used to stir up intolerable levels of food anxiety for me. Lack of control over exercise and what and when I ate made me wish I could just take a vacation from myself. But more recently, travel has become a food anxiety check-in. When my carefully crafted routines are disrupted, I can see clearly where these routines have become a crutch and my relationship with food still needs work.
I'm patting myself on the back for eating late meals, enjoying bread and pastries, and having dessert every night. A prior version of myself would have fully restricted from these quintessential Paris trip pleasures. While I still heard that voice justifying these indulgences because "I'll be healthy at home," I didn't spiral into severe rumination.
Progress: Didn't restrict and didn't freak out. Work to do: Stop justifying why I "get" to enjoy vacation indulgences. They need no defense!
New habits in new environments
I have also noticed travel offers the perfect opportunity to break habits or test new behaviors without the impulse of established associations. In new surroundings, we're freed from the triggers and cues that reinforce our daily patterns. In the past, I’ve used trips as a break from coffee (gasp). But when I am not walking into my office at 9am, my body doesn’t seem to scream, “We need cold brew in our veins right now or I am going to freak the fuck out.”
On this trip, I made an effort to leave my AirPods behind when I had a few solo explorations. I've become disturbed by my compulsive need to fill every moment of solitude with audio content, especially when walking or commuting. Fully absorbing the Parisian environment without escaping into a podcast or music was refreshing. I want to bring this curiosity about my surroundings and comfort with my own thoughts back home.
Au revoir
Now that I am in love with Paris again, I am dedicating my free time to finding a restaurant to sponsor my work visa. If you know anyone who can help me, let me know… Again, not kidding.
xoxo,
Mia