(and a vacation notice!)
my memories of that night in paris are slipping away. i know that it was a fall night in montmartre and my four friends and i had an incredible time at la famille restaurant on rue des trois freres. i have these grainy pictures to prove it. the one above is of the five of us, drunk, full, totally happy and speaking for myself, practically in love with the staff of la famille. we sat at the communal table, next to the bar with turntables on it. the restaurant was packed and everyone stayed well past close and long after their food and wine was done. even after we'd paid the bill, the staff brought tasty shots to our table to have with them and tied the restaurant's mementos around our wrists: white ribbons with the words "la famille c'est important".
but i made no notes of what i ate and i can hardly remember what i had that night. one of my friends found the menu from that night and sent it to me just a few weeks ago, but the chef went "off the menu" for me and made a delicious vegetarian meal for me that's not listed here. still, i'm so happy to have another piece of that night–i'm totally framing this menu. and…just last week, i booked a last minute trip to paris–i leave in two days and i cannot wait. there are a million new restauarants i'm going to try but i also have to go back to la famille. i'm not worried about it being nothing like it was before because nothing will change how i remember or feel about that night in '05. but i'm going with three other friends this time and i would for them to have as great an experience as i had there.
so while i won't be posting recipes over the next couple of weeks, i will be posting lots of "random bites" and "i loves you" entries straight from paris so check back often!
p.s. i also love ma famille. my lovely partner just bought me a spotlight for taking pictures. now i can combat the potlights in my kitchen that aren't white enough or bright enough for picture-taking in the evening. they cast a shadow no matter where you place a plate of food. and while i was writing this post he was making a ragu so delicious (i just snuck a taste) that i wonder why he doesn't have his own food blog. merci! beaucoup!
