Last month I read an article in The Guardian about the Top 10 new restaurants in Paris. They mentioned Rachel’s, a restaurant in the Northern Marais/NORMA opened by American Rachel Moeller, who before opening her own restaurant supplied other food establishments with her excellent breads, cakes, and baked goods. I went by Rachel’s and looked at the menu where the lunch prices seemed a bit steep- 18.50 euros for a main course salad and 17.50 for a sandwich. The Thanksgiving Salad had smoked Jack Daniel’s turkey, roasted sweet potatoes, green beans, and Stilton cheese dressed in a cranberry vinaigrette. It had my name all over it and I dreamt about having the salad for weeks. I finally caved when it was time for Lunch with Lynn and realized it was still under 20 euros.
Lynn wasn’t available so I invited my friend and former Parisian of the Month Susan Shup to join me. We perused the yummy menu and both immediately decided what we wanted. I, of course ordered the Thanksgiving salad and Susan went for the Buffalo style shrimp Po Boy with blue cheese, celery, fennel slaw with a buttermilk ranch sauce along with French fries and salad. A basket of house made sour dough bread and cornbread. The cornbread was authentic and not too sweet. (So many times there’s too much sugar added to cornbread, which makes it taste like dessert instead of bread). The presentation was beautiful on white oversized china, straight out of Martha Stewart. Susan’s sandwich was enormous with five jumbo fried shrimp topped with a yellow edible flower on long roll with a heap of thick cut fries and salad. Susan dug in and within moments orgasmic sounds were emitted. Now mind you Susan is a great cook and foodie who has eaten in most of the top and trendy restaurants in Paris, and she exclaimed hands-down this was the best lunch she had in ages in the Marais. (Susan has live in and worked in the Marais for over 20 years). She parted with a piece of shrimp and a fry and man-oh-man it was GOOD.
I dug in to my salad with similar accolades, enjoying the explosion of the pungent tastes of the sharp Stilton, sweet cranberry dressing, the smoky turkey, and the ripe corn right off the cob. The waitress offered a bowl of mushroom lentil soup for an additional 4 euros, so I splurged.
While we were waiting for our food we spoke to Rachel the owner, a friendly mid-western gal. We learned everything is made from scratch including the ketchup for the fries, the turkey hand smoked, and even the pickles were home made.
The dining room was comfortable with retro style furniture in muted gray and blue tones with a black and white tiled floor.
Even though the appetizing desserts were staring right in the face, we were to happily stuffed to have one.
Other tempting dishes, which I will try for sure in the very near future, include Jack Daniel’s smoked turkey on house made bagel, home made pastrami on rye and lamb, bacon, and fig salad.
Susan and I concluded in the end the lunch was actually a bargain considering the quality of the food and the size of the portions, since many of our two and three course meals have still left us hungry after their precious, pretentious portions.
Rachel’s also serves breakfast and dinner.
25 rue Pont aux Choux, 75003
Metro: Saint-Sebastien-Froissart
Open 8:30AM to 11PM, Tuesday to Saturday, Sunday till 6PM
Tel. +33 1 44 61 69 68
Rachel-the master chef
Christmas/Holiday Tour of Paris for 2014
Paris is magical during the holidays and I am happy to announce a special Christmas/Holiday Tour of Paris for 2014. Clients will experience the marvelous shop windows, gleaming outdoor lights, beautifully decorated trees, and festive Christmas markets. The tour includes a visit to Galeries Lafayette and Printemps department stores, the Champs Elysees Holiday market, the yummy gourmet shops Fauchon and Hediard on Place Madeleine overflowing with delicious holiday goodies, and the rue St. Honoré, with designer shops Hermes and Lanvin. To warm up, we stop for an authentic hot chocolate at one of the top Paris chocolate shops.
Tour times 10AM-1PM or 2PM-5PM
Cost: 225 euros for 1-3 people, 75 euros each additional person. Hot chocolate is not included in price. Click here to book the tour or for more information.
Tours will be conducted everyday from December 20, 2014 to January 5, 2015 except on Christmas and New Years Day.
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte's professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.
Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday,Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.
Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.
I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.
Tours cost 210 euros for up to 3 people, and 70 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com
Click here to watch a video of our famous Marais tour
