little life happenings

This post is just going to be a hodge podge of the things I've been doing recently... enjoy!

La Féte de la Musique was a couple of weeks ago. Every solstice (the first day of summer, June 21st) they have a music festival at night in Paris. Every single café, bar, and restaurant opens up their doors and windows and plays music loudly. There are bands everywhere, small and big. People are parading down the streets playing instruments and blasting their Ipod players (Don't you wish people still walked around with boom boxes? I do). Kansas needs to start something like this. Someone get on that.

Next on the list is cupcakes with munchkins. We had a bunch of rainy days in Paris and one I babysat. We usually like to go to the park and play outside but we had to get creative. So, what better to do on a rainy day then bake with a 4 and 5 year old? It wasn't messy at all.

 I went home for a week to see my friends and family. Oh, right.. that's you guys. The only people who read this. It was great to be home and see all of you. Kayla picked me up from the airport and we proceeded to go to Chipotle and order two burritos, tacos, and chips & guacamole. Yes, for just us two. Don't underestimate my smallness when it comes to eating. I went to Shadow Glen that night and it was so good to see everyone. Especially Bradley, I missed you! That night I woke up at 4am (thank you jet lag) and never went back to sleep, tried to go running but realized I didn't have running shoes, so I woke Annie up for entertainment only to end up taking her to her doctors appointment. I did get Smokin' Joes BBQ for lunch with Andrew though so I can't be that mad about that day. Plus, Annie and I got awesome hairwraps from Meredith that make me feel like I'm in the 90's... how could you not love that? That night my mom made me homemade sketti and I spent the night with her at her farm. Her lab just had 9 puppies that could barely walk or open their eyes and I fell in love. I almost slept in the barn with them. I also named each one. We won't get into that. The rest of my time in Kansas I spent at the Lake of the Ozarks at Monica's house. I can honestly say it's one of my favorite places in the world. I'm always happy when I'm there. Thank you Moni for sharing that with me! It was a great couple of days spent with my best friends and I had the absolute hardest time leaving.

But, now I'm back in Paris and I was homesick for about a week or so but decided to stop that nonsense. I've been given such a great opportunity to be here and I'm going to keep taking advantage of that. I was gonna blog about our class dinner and learning how to make falafel but then my internet shut down and erased half of what I was writing so I'm giving up for tonight. I'll leave you with some random pictures that I've taken lately and love.

"We are so often caught up in our destination that we forget to appreciate the journey, especially the goodness of the people we meet on the way. Appreciation is a wonderful feeling, don't overlook it."

"A smiling face is half the meal" -Lavian Proverb

xoxo, al

ps. albakey@tumblr.com - let me know what you think about this new project.

Le Chateaubriand

Yes, this restaurant deserves its own post. I would give it 10 posts if I had the time. But I don't.

Brian and I went to Le Chateaubriand what seems like 5 billion weeks ago. I can honestly sit here and say it was the best meal I have ever eaten in my life. Ever, people. Thank you, Brian.

I didn't have a camera so there are no pictures but I promise to describe to you in detail every course.

For those of you who don't know, Chateaubriand is owned by Chef Inaki Aizipitarte and was named #9 on the S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2011. I'll let them paint the picture for you...

"It's hard not to be excited by Le Chateaubriand. It is effortlessly cool, understated yet accomplished, democratic, affordable and, perhaps most importantly, fun. Its lack of airs and graces – hard chairs and bare tables, the take-it-or-leave-it five-course fixed-price menu and the championing of natural wines – is not to everyone's tastes, but Le Chateaubriand doesn't really care." 

How could you not love it? You have to make reservations in advance for the first seating or show up at 9:30pm and wait in line to get into the second seating. Brian and I started out next door at their Tapas restaurant, Le Dauphin for a drink. We had a glass of Vin Blanc BB1 from Jura. Then we waited in line at Chateaubriand got in pretty quickly. We had a glass of Rose Brut at the bar. It was a bubbly pink champagne like drink that I consider dangerous because I wanted to drink it like juice, it was so good. The restaurant seats about 50 people with 15 tables. The waiters wear white aprons with whatever shoes and pants they want. They were all men with dark hair and beards. When we sat down our waiter brought us a paper menu with the 9 courses typed out in black ink and in French. He also dropped off four little Gourges topped with poppy seeds. Gourges are Pate a Chou with cheese and bechamel inside, yum. We ordered a bottle of Vin Rouge from the Loire Valley. Then, the magic began...

Amuses bouche

un: yuzu lime cerviche with avocado & cilantro flowers

This tasted just like guacamole in your mouth. The liquid was pink and clear. There were small dices of avocado floating in it with cilantro flowers. It was served in a small bowl so you could drink it like a shooter. It made my mouth salivate like crazy.

deux: duck heart topped with coco nubs, cardamon seeds, sesame seeds and salt 

I've never had heart of any animal before but it was delicious. To me it tasted just like any other part of the duck and the texture was creamy, a little chewy and crunchy from the seeds. After I ate it I felt adventurous. 

trois: mini baked potato with burnt eggplant and pig fat 

This mini bite was such a surprise. The burnt eggplant paste was dark black and when it was all in my mouth it was bitter, starchy, creamy, and salty all at once.

quatre: mushroom broth & cured mackerel 

This mushroom soup was unlike any I have had before. It was a littler bitter so the sides of my mouth were salivating like crazy. There were tiny squares of salty cured mackerel in the bottom and garlic flowers that were beautifully floating on top. We started to eat it with a spoon but then just picked it up and slurped it down.

 First Course

concombre, coques, algues

(seaweed salad with cockles, apples, cucumber, baby onion, raw peas, & dehydrated seaweed)

Such a beautiful, bright green dish. It was served very simply, mine in a white bowl, Brian's in a black. The seaweed was spongy and crunch at the same time. The raw peas were so fresh. The baby onions;sweet, cucumber; bright, and green apple; tart. The dehydrated seaweed gave a Umami flavor & the cockles tasted like they were delicately cooked in milk they were so creamy. What a great dish.

Second Course

bonite, arroche, jus ibérique

(bonito with basil, lettuce, raspberries & ibérico ham jus)

This was my favorite dish. As i was eating the lettuce leaves and basil I asked Brian why they tasted so savory like I was eating meat. He told me they were laying in a bed of bacon jus. Um... Yum. The Bonito Tuna was of the highest quality and lightly seared, raw in the middle. There was also a small flower on the plate that we decided was a dehydrated raspberry. When you bit into it, it burst with juice. It was all just incredible.

Third Course

volaille jaune des landes, asperges blanches, lait fumé

(poulard aka chicken, with asparagus, shallots, finger limes, & smoked mozzarella jus)

The poulard or chicken in this dish was cooked sous-vide until RARE and then seared so the skin was deliciously crisp. Have you ever had rare chicken? Would you ever even think about eating rare chicken? Me either. But I did and I never want to eat it any other way ever again. It was so moist and flavorful I can't even explain it. I actually wish I had some right next to me this second. The smoked mozzarella jus was so creamy and everything together made for a great dish.

Dessert

un: fraise, petits pois

(strawberries, peas, pea pureé, mint & powdered sugar)

The idea of pairing peas with strawberries to form a dessert has never crossed my mind.. and it should have. Because it was fabulous. 

deux: cerise, sabayon

(cherry sabayon with cherries and kalamata olives)

Yes, I said cherries and kalamata olives in the same sentence. Brian and I took the first bite together and he looked at me with these wide eyes and I was so confused. It just tasted like cherry in cherry foam to me. Then I took another bite and my mouth freaked out. The saltiness of the olive with the cherry was an unbelievable combination and I'm mad I didn't think of it first.

And that's all folks. If any of you decide to come visit me in France and are willing to shell out 50 euro for literally the best meal of your life, please let me know. I will be more than happy to join you. Inaki Aizipitarte not only gave me the best meal of my life, he showed me how to think outside the box with my cooking and challenge my palate to eat things I don't normally think go together. I love the element of surprise in every dish and cannot wait to go back. Dad... can't wait for you to visit. You're taking me here.

xoxo, al

mes choux petite visite a paris

I've had four very special visitors in the last month and a half which is my excuse for not blogging. Molly and Kirsten came in May and Kayla and Mal came at the beginning of June. It's been a crazy month and a half to say the least.

Molly and Kirty's Visit:

I wish they could have been here longer than 3 days but we had so much fun with the time we did have. They also brought along Rob which made the trip even better.

We started out having a drunken picnic at Versailles, standard visitor procedure. Ali's friends were in town too so it was a big fun group. We all came to the conclusion that Rob looked like Zach Galifianakis with his European beard.

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 We did a night at the eiffel tower with crepes, naturally.

Their last night in town we went to dinner at a wine bar and had tapas. Then we walked around trying to find fun bars only to learn that most were closed. So, we picked up some alchohol at a Tabac and walked around drinking. Terrible idea.. I almost left my shoes at a taxi stand. We ended up at a bar that was open til 4am and I have no recollection of how much fun we had there.. but judging by the way I looked the next day at lunch I would say it was a 9 out of 10 good time.

This pose is suppose to be us being 'sexy'.. I'll let you come to your own conclusions.

Kayla and Mal's visit:

Let's just sum up the week by saying that we almost got matching tatoo's one day and would have if the place hadn't been closed...

The first night the girls were here we went to the Canals in hopes of having a very French dinner with my Mom who was also in town. Nothing had room for us so we ended up eating Italian, shoot. Then we ventured to some bars along the canal and met some random French friends who now have been facebook messaging us... yep.

The next day we went to the market and then did the standard Versailles trip. It was such a great time with just the three of us having a picnic in such a beautiful place. That night we went to the Eiffel tower and I've never seen Mallory so amazed.

Over the next couple of days we ventured to Sacre Coeur, the girls came to class with me, we celebrated Elana's birthday at a Karaoke bar, went shopping.. a lot, had fondue with Adam, and drank copious amounts. I've never been happier! I loved having them and I wish they could stay forever.

Here's the evidence:

Sacre Coeur/Sight Seeing

Elana's Birthday night out

Les Refuges Des Fondue (The girls last night in Paris)

It's been so great to share this place I love so much with the people I love so much. Thanks for coming to visit, it was so special for me.

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."  - Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

xoxo, al