[Paris] The Broken Arm

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[Paris] The Broken Arm

The Broken Arm

Add: 12 Rue Perrée, Paris 75003
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 61 53 60
Hours: [Tue – Sat] 9am~7pm
Price: [drinks] €2~6 [sweets] €3.5~6
Visited: Jun 2013

I was looking for something bright and airy on a random afternoon in Le Marais neighborhood, and ended up at The Broken Arm. This corner café has all the right elements – large windows, green leaves, adorable potted plants, vintage floor tiles, lovely coffee and sweet bites. Like very much.

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Café crème (€4) with blueberry cheesecake (€6). Yum and yum.

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[Paris] Cobéa

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[Paris] Cobéa

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Cobéa

Add: 11 Rue Raymond Losserand, 75014 Paris
Tel: +33 1 43 20 21 39
Hours: [Tue-Sat] 12:15~1:30pm, 7:15~9:30pm
Website: cobea.fr
Price: [lunch] €44~105 [dinner] €70~105
Tasted on: May 2013

Opened near the end of 2011 and soon awarded a Michelin star, Cobéa is a collaboration between two friends – Jérôme Cobou the host and Philippe Béllissent the chef. The cuisine is contemporary French fine dining, with a style that’s delicate and light-hearted like a breath of fresh air. Served with passion and pride, sans any haughty attitude.

Dinner menu choices include 4 courses (€70), 6 courses (€85), or 8 courses (€105), while lunch starts at €40 for 4 courses. The menu is fixed and changes about every 6 weeks.

For the hands.

Amuse bouche #1: fried shrimps with coriander and Iberico ham.

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[Paris] Pierre Hermé Fetish Saint-Honoré & More

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[Paris] Pierre Hermé Fetish Saint-Honoré & More

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Pierre Hermé

Add: 72 rue Bonaparte 75006 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)1 43 54 47 77
Hours: 10am~7pm (7:30pm on Thu-Fri, 8pm on Sat)
Website: www.pierreherme.com
Price: €4.50~7.30/individual dessert
Visited on: May 2013

From May 7 to June 30, Pierre Hermé reinterprets the classic Saint-Honoré in five flavors: traditional, Montebello (strawberry + pistachio), Ispahan (rose + raspberry + litchi), citron, and chocolate. Here’s Saint-Honoré Carrément Chocolat (€6.90), composed of puff pastry, caramelized choux pastry,  chocolate mascarpone cream, and dark chocolate crisp.

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[Paris] Du Pain et Des Idées (2)

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[Paris] Du Pain et Des Idées (2)

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Du Pain et Des Idées

Add: 34 Rue Yves Toudic, 75010 Paris
Tel: 01 42 40 44 52
Hours: 6:45am~8pm (closed Sat & Sun)
Website: dupainetdesidees.com
Price: €2~6
Visited on: May 2013

Back at Du Pain et Des Idées to pick up some bread (read about this charming corner bakery in this previous post). Slightly disappointed by the viennoiseries which I loved so much on my first visit, but happy to have discovered a heavenly brioche called mouna. Details below.

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[Paris] La Pâtisserie des Rêves (3)

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[Paris] La Pâtisserie des Rêves (3)

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La Pâtisserie des Rêves

Add: 93 rue du Bac, 75007 Paris
Tel: 01 42 84 00 82
Hours: [Tue-Sat] 9am-8pm [Sun] 9am-4pm (closed on Mon)
Website: www.lapatisseriedesreves.com
Price: [individual desserts] €5.50~6.90
Visited on: May 2013

Dropped by La Pâtisserie des Rêves yesterday to try the supposedly very delicious tarte mangue-ananas, only to find out that the item is already off the shelf. What?! Devastated and unwilling to leave empty-handed, I picked up a tarte aux framboise instead.

The tarte aux framboises (€6.90) looks simple and straight forward – just a tart piled with raspberries – but it’s a bit more than that. The cross-section below shows you the layers: sweet tart shell, almond cream, rhubarb confit, vanilla cream, then fresh raspberries. It’s overall a very pleasant tart – the acidity of the raspberries and rhubarb well-balanced by the vanilla cream – though it doesn’t quite blow the mind.

Also, madeleine and brioche feuilletée.

Last time I proclaimed my love for Pâtisserie des Rêves’ madeleine (€2.20), but recently we’ve been making madeleines at work and (all bias aside!) ours are even tastier – softer, more delicate, and a more pronounced vanilla flavor. But of course, Pâtisserie des Rêves’ madeleines are still very good and perhaps one of the best you can find in Paris.

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[Paris] Des Gateaux et Du Pain (2)

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[Paris] Des Gateaux et Du Pain (2)

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Des Gateaux et Du Pain

Add: 63 boulevard Pasteur, 75015 Paris
Tel: 01 45 38 94 16
Hours: [Wed-Mon] 8am-8pm (closed Tue)
Website: www.desgateauxetdupain.com
Price: €5~6/pastry
Visited on: Apr 2013

Once again, back at Claire Damon’s impeccable Des Gateaux et Du Pain for a good dose of patisseries and viennoiseries.

It must be strawberry season, because all I see is fraise fraise everywhere. Tarte aux fraises à l’ eau de fleur d’oranger (€6.20) is shortcrust pastry topped with almond cream, orange flower water cream, fresh strawberries, and transparent cubes of orange flower water.

Orange flower water, a perfumed distillation of fresh orange blossoms, is traditionally used in pastries as an aromatizer for its distinctive citrus-flora scent.

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[Paris] Les Fines Gueules (2)

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[Paris] Les Fines Gueules (2)

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Les Fines Gueules

Add: 43, rue Croix des Petits Champs, 75001 Paris
Tel: 01 42 61 35 41
Hours: [Mon-Fri] 12~2:30pm, 7:30~10:30pm [Sat-Sun] 7:30~11pm
Website: www.lesfinesgueules.fr
Price: €40~50/person
Tasted on: Apr 2013

Had a quick and very pleasant dinner at Les Fines Gueules, 2 months after my first visit to this wine bar/bistro. Love this place for its casual atmosphere, tasty dishes, lovely wine, friendly service, and the fact that last minute dinner reservations actually work here.

Velouté de petits pois, eclats de chèvres (€10), soup of green peas with bits of chèvres.

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[Paris] Le Comptoir du Relais (2)

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[Paris] Le Comptoir du Relais (2)

Le Comptoir du Relais

Add: 9 Carrefour de l’Odéon 75006 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 27 07 97
Hours: 12~3pm, 8pm~1am
Price: €35~55
Visited: Apr 2013

Le Comptoir du Relais is one of the first restaurants I went to after arriving in Paris (review here), and it remains an easy go-to place for the following reasons: 1. good food, 2. opens on Sunday, 3. no reservations needed for lunch. Here are some snapshots from a recent visit.

Foie gras de canard des Landes de la maison Paris aux pruneaux (€16). The foie gras is delicious, but what makes this dish stand out is the accompanying creamed prune, its sweetness a perfect complement to the foie gras.

Os à moelle gratiné, petits pois et feves, caviar de hareng (€11). Bone marrow, peas and fava beans, herring caviar, self-explanatory.

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