The Best Things I ate in Paris

I was lucky enough to spend a week in Paris with my wife for our twentieth anniversary.  Having never before visited the City of Lights, I was excited to eat as much amazing food as humanly possible.  Based in the Rue Cler district, we branched out all over the city center and ate and ate and ate.  Given that it was my first trip, I make no claims to having uncovered anything veterans wouldn't know well, but these were my favorite things.

Cheese.  There are more cheese shops in Paris than anyone could make a dent in during a one week trip, but my very favorite was a small shop on Rue du Champ de Mars called Marie-Anne Cantin. They age their own cheeses and have a wonderful selection.  Epoisses is one of my favorite cheese and Cantin's had a wonderful grassy note, but I also loved their pungent Camembert, and their wide selection of aged goat cheeses as well as their butter.

Baguettes Cereal.  A baguette is a simple enough thing, but Paris baguettes are a wonder, with a density and richness absent in even the best baguettes I've had in the U.S.  While wheat breads in the US tend to be hard and flat tasting, the baguette cereal, a French whole grain baguette, is intensely flavorful, adding a zing to the regular baguette.  There were numerous boulangeries that had amazing baguettes, but one of my favorite cereal baguettes was at Nelly Julien on Rue Sainte Dominique.

Chocolate apes at Patrick Roger

Chocoalte Truffles.  The amount of cheese I ate in Paris was second only to the chocolate. Chocolate stores abound and display their wares like jewels in glass containers.  I'm a fan of the plain, cocoa coated chocolate truffle.  The two best I had were at Patrick Roger and La Maison du Chocolat.  The Patrick Roger truffle had a stronger and more complex flavor with a good balance of acid and bitterness. The Maison du Chocolat truffles may not have been as complex, but they had a creaminess that made them even more enjoyable.

Hot Chocolate.  Laduree is a chain of chocolate cafes.  Looking like a frilly English tea room, they might have been decorated by my six year old daughter, but they are oh so good.  Hot chocolate is everywhere in Paris in the fall, and the hot chocolate at Laduree is the best I had.  It's really a very thick ganache, much like the kind I make at home.   The serving is enormous and I'd recommend getting it with whipped cream (a la Viennoise) to cut the richness a bit because it really is more like drinking melted chocolate than any typical hot chocolate, though it is oh so good (and it'll give you a bit of a caffeine jolt as well).  They have great macarons as well.

L'As du Fallafel.  I thought it was curious that this little falafel stand seemed to be the single most recommended eatery in Paris by my friends and guidebooks alike.  Located in the Jewish corner of the Marais neighborhood, L'As dishes out falafel sandwiches to long lines day and night, and they are worth the wait.  These are small, perfectly fried, perfectly spiced falafel in a pita with a number of veggie slaws, grilled eggplant and an awesome, garlicky, hot sauce.  This may have been my favorite meal in Paris (I went twice).  The sweetness of the eggplant, the piquant sauce and the plethora of little falafel balls all comes together in perfect balance. You can go to the take out window or eat in, but the advantage of eating in is that you get your own little bowl of the hot sauce, which is a big plus.

Aux Merveilleux de Fred

Meringues from Aux Merveilleux de Fred.  These things are crazy.  Layers of meringue covered in whipped cream and rolled in chocolate (or other flavored) flakes.  Akin to a meringue layer cake, they come in various sizes.  They are creamy, chewy, melt in your mouth miracles of taste and texture.  The cream is not overly sweet and comes together with the delicate meringue to create a crunchy, creamy wonder.  The whole experience is like biting into a sweet cloud.  I'm not usually a fan of white chocolate but that was my favorite flavor.  The dark chocolate flakes overwhelmed the subtlety of the cream whereas the white chocolate just added to the creamy richness.

Ice cream. Ile St. Louis is a small island in the Seine that seems to consist mostly of ice cream shops.  Flocks of tourists window shop with cones in hand.  Most of the shops serve Paris' legendary Berthillon ice cream, but if you continue past the pretenders, you'll reach the actual Berthillon shop and find that its reputation is well earned.  Bold flavors and a creamy texture made this some of the best ice cream I've had.  We tried the rich, dark chocolate cacao, tangy passion fruit sorbet, and a creamy but nutty pistachio. 

Fine Dining.  I ate at a lot of bistros and cafes, but while in France, I wanted to do a splurge meal at a traditional French temple of fine dining.  On a friend's recommendation, I chose Le Pre Catelan.  The restaurant is located in Bois de Boulogne, a huge and beautiful (though somewhat seedy) park on the northwest outskirts of Paris.  The dinner menus at this three star Michelin eatery are extravagant and extravagantly priced, but they have a lunch prix fixe for 105 Euro (140 with the wine paring).  The lunch is an even better deal than it looks like as each course actually consists of two or three parts.  I will resist going through each course of this meal and say only that it was one of the most memorable meals of my life.  The ambiance, including the traditional French service with an army of waiters set in a beautiful dining room with a courtyard view, was of course memorable.  But, as part of my three part pork entree, the meal included probably the best cooked piece of pork belly I've ever had, with cracklin' skin, a thick, toothsome but somehow not fatty layer of fat and meat that was the rich essence of all that is good and porky in this world, all bathed in a pork jus (the other two pork courses were a braised pork in tomato foam and a sort of liquid head cheese served in a martini glass and topped with mayonnaise.  And of course, the cheese selection was wonderful, with a particularly well aged Mont D'Or.  The wine pairings added depth to each course, and unlike in most American tasting courses, the pours were generous and bottomless.

Not everything was perfect in the world of Paris food, but it was pretty close.  Sure, we had some mediocre bistro meals, and I can only imagine the world of tiny, out of the way treasures we had no clue about (and please let me know what they are!), but generally, the availability and quantity of amazing food was, well, just as true as everyone says it is.

Kabab Mahaleh

The first thing you notice when you walk into West LA Persian kabob house Kabab Mahaleh is the bread making.  A baker is stationed to the left of a giant cylindrical oven.  He plops down a large pile of dough with a consistency that appears similar to The Blob.  He then pats it into a thin sheet and it goes into the oven, pizza style.  When done, the huge sheets of bread, long, flat and sprinkled with sesame seeds are laid to cool on a rack before being served, still warm.

The bread, known as sangak, is chewy with crispy spots and is one of the highlights of Kabab Mahaleh, but most everything is great.  The kabobs are moist and nicely spiced.  The ground beef and chicken are similar to kefta kabobs at Lebanese restaurants.  The regular chicken and salmon are all moist and delicious and all the meat is perfect wrapped in a greasy piece of sangak and sprinkled with sumac and a leaf of lemon basil.

Kabab Mahaleh
8762 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA  90035
(310) 275-3000

Endless Salad: Itzik Hagadol

Itzik Hagadol is an Israeli restaurant with a branch in Tel Aviv and a branch in Encino. For convenience sake, I chose to try the Encino branch.

The centerpiece of any meal at Itzik Hagadol is the salad course, which includes more than 20 salads, plus falafel. The salads are $18 per person if that's all you are getting, but only $9 per person if you also get an entree, but trust me, you don't need an entree, just a glass of a Golan Heights red wine to wash it down.

The salad course is an all you can eat mezza tour de force which also comes with hot out of the oven sesame flat bread. There are the traditional dips hummous and baba ganouch, but the salads go way beyond that. There are two plates of roasted peppers: a plate of mild, sweet red bell peppers and a delightfully spicy plate of pickled jalapeños. There are at least a half dozen preparations of eggplant, the best of which contrast the umami of eggplant with various sweet and salty elements. There is the surprisingly wonderful vegetarian chopped liver, a meaty amalgam of who knows what, and very nice rendition of real chopped liver. There are beets, cabbage slaw, egg salad, sweet stewed carrots and numerous chopped salads. Inexplicably, there is tomato salsa and guacamole. The faster you eat, the faster the little boats full of salad arrive, both refills and new dishes. After only a few minutes, I completely lost count and couldn't even begin to recall every dish. It is a huge amount of food and a huge amount of fun.

The entrees are largely grilled skewers. We got veal sweetbreads, the house kebab which is a kefta like sausage, and a mixed meat kabob. The kabobs were fine, but nothing exceptional. I was excited by the prospect of sweetbread kabobs (other interesting choices include foie gras and turkey testicles), but the grilling did not sufficiently crisp the sweetbread exterior so it had a uniform pillowy consistency which, while not offensive, didn't capture the rich texture of sweetbreads. It also lacked much seasoning. The kefta and beef were good but not out of the ordinary for Middle Eastern kabobs.

Going to Itzik Hagadol is great fun and gives you a sense of the Israeli appreciation of food. I would recommend bringing a large group and skipping the entrees. The salads are what it's all about.

Itzik Hagadol Grill
17201 Ventura Blvd
Encino, CA 91316
(818) 784-4080

Mantee Mediterranean Cafe

My latest obsession is Mantee Mediterranean Cafe in Studio City, a decidedly atypical Armenian-Lebanese-Turkish restaurant.

The salads at Mantee are stupendous. At first, the Armenian salad appears to be a fairly typical Middle Eastern chopped salad of tomato, cucumber and lettuce; to be honest, I expected a throw-away dish, but this salad tastes far better than the description merits. The fresh lemon vinaigrette is super-tangy and loaded with spices. It's the perfect version of a very standard dish. The fattoush, a traditional Mediterranean salad with crisp bits of pita was composed of sumac, radish and mint with a similar dressing and was also quite good if not quite as wonderful as the Armenian salad.

You will find the standard mezze features on the menu, all done well: Hummous, a very smoky motabbal (baba ghanoush) and a slightly spicy muhamarra among them.

The centerpiece of any meal at Mantee though is the eponymous dish Mantee, which comes in both regular and vegetarian. The menu describes the dish as ravioli in a yogurt sauce, but the culinary experience is more akin to escargot en croute. The small, pasta shells are firm and crunchy, almost as if they were made from phyllo dough. The yogurt sauce is thick, creamy and intensely garlicky. I used my pita to mop up every last drop; you don't want to miss this sauce or this dish. It may be my favorite new dish of the year.

Another star was the lamb chops, some of the most tender I've had; they are marinated in a heavily spiced sauce, but that opening spice yields to the smoothness of the lamb. They come with foil on the tips so you can pick them up and eat them as they deserve to be eaten.

The kabobs were also excellent. Mantee's sweet and sour kebab is a kafta-type sausage kebab in a sweet cherry sauce with dried cherries. I never would have thought to pair kafta with cherries, but the sweet and spicy contrast worked well.

The regular shish kebab, featuring a spiced, grilled filet was less exciting but tender, juicy and perfectly cooked.

Desserts were also well done. We had a very nice passion fruit mousse as well as a passion fruit-coconut chiffon. A tri-chocolate mousse cake was good if fairly standard dessert fare.

Mantee is decidedly different from most restaurants in the broad Middle Eastern category and offers a refreshing and innovative take on the cuisine. Check it out!

Mantee Mediterranean Cafe
10962 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 761-6565

Stick a Golden Fork in Me (and throw in a grilled quail)

The Golden Fork is an Armenian restaurant in possibly the smallest strip mall in LA. A tiny two shop operation with a cramped couple of parking spaces (luckily, there is plentiful parking on nearby Serrano Avenue).

The staff doesn't speak much in the way of English, but all you really have to know about is grilled meat. A grilled combination plate yields lamb kabob, lamb chops and chicken kabob, but more importantly, ultra-tender and juicy beef and chicken lula kabobs. Far from the often overcooked dry rocks that often pass for the Middle Eastern sausage, the Golden Fork's lula kabobs pop with juice as you bite into them.

The grilled quail, also part of the combo, is among the best I've had. It's tender with a good rub over its thin skin, and peeling it open reveals a special treat -- the intact heart. The combination is served with home-cut french fries, the best of which are at the bottom of the platter where they've soaked up the grease from the meat. Add a big platter of rice, and wash the whole think down with a fluorescent green Tarragon soda.

There is a selection of traditional mezza at Golden Fork as well, and while I liked the labne, most of them were unexceptional. They also have grilled fish on the menu, which would be worth a trip back to check out.



The Golden Fork
5341 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90029-1105
(323) 467-2224‎

Lebanese Head to Head: Marouch vs. Carnival

When it comes to Middle Eastern food, LA does pretty well between the Persian food of Westwood and the wide variety of Armenian from Hollywood to Glendale, but I'm a particular fan of our two Lebanese giants: LA's Marouchon Santa Monica Boulevard and the Valley's Carnival. I took them head to head, and we'll see who comes out on top.

Hummous: Tie. Both do excellent hummous. Carnival's is thicker and has more chick pea flavor. Marouch's is thinner with more spice flavor.

Fried Kebbeh: Marouch. Both have versions of the little, football shaped, fried sausage balls. Carnival's kebbeh is a bit bland. Marouch's is stand-out with good spice and nice texture.

Falafel: Carnival by a mile. Carnival has what may be the best falafel in LA. Crisp on the outside, moist on the inside, tasting of garlic, parsley and sesame...they are as perfect as falafel can be. Marouch's leaden balls pale in comparison.

Fool Mudamas: Tie. Both serve a good dish of pureed fava beans. As with most dishes, Marouch's version has more spice (heavy garlic, in this case) but both are tasty.

Mezze: Marouch. Carnival doesn't really have much in the way of mezze, just a little appetizer combination, whereas this is a huge strength of Marouch, which offers varying sizes. Two of my favorite mezze dishes at Marouch aren't even available at Carnival: the crispy cheese turnovers, crispy fried dough stuffed with a white cheese and Marouch's delectable mouhamara (a puree of peppers and walnuts), possibly my favorite dish at either establishment.

Baklava: None. Sorry, neither of these giants excel in the dessert range. Both offer a competent but unexciting baklava.

Overall, both restaurants have their strengths. The big mezzes at Marouch are superb, while Carnival rules the roost with its falafel. Just go somewhere else for dessert.


Marouch
4905 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 662-9325

Carnival
4356 Woodman Ave
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
(818) 784-3469

Mid-City Moroccan: Chameau

I'm a late convert to Chameau, the Moroccan restaurant with the industrial-chic facade on Fairfax, but a convert I am.

Chameau has a hip, modern decor, full of dim lit colors and camel representations (chameau is French for camel). They specialize in traditional Moroccan cuisine: lamb, tagines, couscous, everything you need to pretend you're in Casablanca.

Appetizers were very good though not outstanding. A nice, if standard merguez sausage was served on a delicious hummous. Pan-fried, herb stuffed sardine was tasty. Duck bastilla with almonds and cinnamon, while good, was a bit too sweet.

The highlight of our meal was the various lamb entrees. Almond crusted lamb with orange sauce was my favorite. The lamb was perfectly cooked, crisp on the outside and nicely seasoned. The creamy orange sauce, while a bit too sweet was a nice counterpoint.

The braised lamb shoulder with prunes and pistachios had a nice, gamey, lamb taste.

Couscous was excellent, much more flavorful and better textured than other versions I've had. It was almost al dente in that you could make out the individual grains which gave it a pleasing texture.

The dessert bastilla was fun, a ring of berries sandwiched in a crisp, cinnamon sprinkled pastry, drizzled with cream and topped with whipped cream. I love their whipped cream, which is somewhat sour, probably made from creme fraiche instead of heavy cream, or maybe with some added sour cream. It made for a fabulous sweet/sour interplay.

Cinnamon flan was also well executed and topped with that same whipped cream.

The warm, flourless chocolate cake, however, was atrocious. This thing has been on every menu in the world for at least ten years now. Don't serve it unless you can get it right.

All in all, a great meal at one of our few local Moroccan spots. Next time, I will have to try a tagine.

Chameau
339 N. Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 951-0039

Beautiful, Boutiful Beoreks at Taron Bakery

Taron Bakery is an Armenian bakery on Hollywood Boulevard just behind the big Kaiser complex. They make a limited number of delicious Armenian pastries. Their specialty is beorek (alt. spelling boerek), meat and cheese pies popular in that intersection of Europe and the Middle East.

When you walk in, you will see two shelves of pies behind the counter and the hostess will tell you what they have that day.

They make four kinds of Beoreks: cheese, spicy cheese, beef and spinach. I tried all but the spinach and they were excellent. The beef is nicely spiced, the cheese is salty and oniony. The spicy cheese is flecked with red pepper bits, but only enough to add flavor, not any real heat. The crusts are salty, chewy, wonders, not quite the thickness or chewiness of pizza crust but close, with a nice browning on the oiled surface.

The other mainstay at Taron is the lahmajune, sometimes referred to as Armeninan Pizza. It consists of a layer of spiced, ground beef sandwiched between layers of flat-bread the consistency and thickness of a lavosh. It's somewhat more heavily spiced than the beef used in the beorek.

So, next time you're in the mood for some good meat and cheese pies, check it out in Hollywood or at their branch in Glendale.

Taron Bakery
4950 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 663-4809

1117 S. Glendale Ave., #D
Glendale, CA 91205
(818) 553-1883

Farmers Market: Second Tier

We continue our comprehensive review of the Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax with the second tier. These may not be my very favorites, but they are decent places that will do in a pinch.

Tusquellas Fish & Oyster Bar

Fish and chips are the mainstay of Tusquellas, and they do a competent version. The fish is crispy and the fries have a nice chewy texture, though the accompanying cole slaw is fairly flavorless. They used to do a nice fish/oyster combination, but that seems to have disappeared from the menu.


The Gumbo Pot

Having lived in Louisiana for a couple of years, I love Cajun and Creole food. Uncle Darrow's was my mainstay back when they had a little sandwich shack on Venice Boulevard, but since that closed, there's not much in the way of Cajun food east of the 405 and north of the 10. The Gumbo Pot, the lone Cajun contender is popular, but for me, always seems to disappoint. The po-boys are made from lackluster bread, and while the cornmeal battered oysters are good, there aren't nearly enough of them on the po-boy. The gumbo and jambalaya are passable but nothing to write home about, and the alligator is mostly a good novelty dish. I still go from time to time because, as I said, it's hard to find good Louisiana food in LA, but it mostly makes me dream of real Cajun food.


Singapore’s Banana Leaf

Another relative newcomer, Singapore's Banana Leaf may be the only restaurant in LA claiming to serve Singapore-style food. A combination of the flavors of India, Thailand and Indonesia, my favorite dish at Singapore's Banana Leaf is the Roti Paratha, fried Indian bread served with an awesomely flavorful curry sauce. I also enjoy the Cane Juice which has a wonderful sugar cane taste.


Moishe’s

Moishe's dishes out standard Middle Eastern fare...falafel, hummous, kabobs, etc. Nothing thrilling, but all done fairly well. Their best dish is the lamb kabob, which is perfectly cooked and well seasoned.

Next week: Sweet Shops of the Farmers Market