It used to be easy to recommend restaurants in Paris. An unforgettable dining experience could always be had at almost any price point. If you’re willing to take out a second mortgage, you can spend it all at one of many Michelin-starred restaurants. Alternatively, any number of classic bistros will satisfy most travelers for a quarter of the price. And then there are the inexpensive corner cafes where you can dine on comfort food with the locals and at least one dog (under the table).
But this hierarchy doesn’t work anymore. A number of innovative bistros have entered the Paris dining scene and shaken up my list of favorites. Their well-trained young chefs have rejected the high-end dining model, where you work your way to the top over many years in a large operation. They don’t trust the quality of the goods that bear the seal of France’s appellation system. They seek out quality ingredients independently. Just how does one recognize one of these new bistros?
What began as a standard run to my local grocery store turned into a major frustration last week. As I entered, everything appeared perfectly normal. There were the usual bright lights, clean floors, icy air conditioning. But when I started looking for items on my list, I discovered they were not where I expected to find them. The aisles where I could have shopped blindfolded for the past 25 years had been completely reshuffled.
Tom, the store manager, was very sympathetic. No, I wasn’t losing my mind. Why the change? Younger women customers had complained that the cleaning supplies were too close to the boxed foods across the aisle. I’m not making this up!
The small golden tomatoes looked irresistibly delicious piled in open tubs at my local farmers’ market. If you had popped one in your mouth - as I did - you would have agreed they are super sweet. Like candy. And I’ve become totally enamored of them. Is this normal? I searched Google for a diagnosis.
Strange as it may seem, this small yellow tomato was considered toxic when it was first introduced to Europe in the 16th century. Botanists assumed tomatoes were as as hazardous as the other nightshade plants they knew: belladonna and mandrake. Tomatoes were immediately consigned to decorative gardens, along with the other nightshade newcomer from South America, the potato. (That’s the official story.)
Illinois farmers are risk takers. Every year they risk their livelihood when they plant in the spring. So why would a farmer want to gamble on a new business? That’s what I asked myself when I learned that the Ropp family who farm just outside Normal, were making cheese from a herd of Jersey cows.
The Ropp Jersey Cheese became the first cows milk cheese in Illinois when they began production in 2006. That takes courage when you consider that the competition from near-by Wisconsin has had a 150 year head start in the artisan cheese business. How and why did the Ropps decide to make cheese? George and I headed down-state into rural McClain Country to suburban investigate
The daily lives of the impressionist painters were very much on display in their work. The subjects they chose - family, friends, domestic scenes - give us a glimpse of French middle-class society near end of the 19th century. Only rarely are we able to view an artist's private life as if we were family. The carefully crafted world Claude Monet created at Giverny is one such splendid example.
Before you visit, I recommend you read the short memoir of life at Giverny described in Monet’s Table. (The author, Claire Joyes, is the wife of Mme. Monet’s great-grandson.) There you discover that Monet kept cooking journals and directed a two acre kitchen garden. Today, he would be called a ‘foodie’ although I prefer the French word, gourmand.
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