after a visit to the luxembourg gardens, a quick lunch at bread & roses which i'd read a lot of good things about. mostly organic but really popular for their amazing baked goods. beautiful bread and beautiful roses upon being seated.
once we saw the 2-inch high quiche pies in the display case, the only question was which one to have. pictured above was part of our lunch: a slice of the mushroom quiche, spinach and smoked salmon quiche and a glass of chablis.
if i could visit this restaurant often, i would try the many breads and spreads and defintely the fresh tarts and salads. the two men beside us had simple plates of fresh oysters on the half shell with lemons, so even though the menu was little more than piece of paper, the options managed to be pretty extensive.
how is it that this is the 3rd time so far that a light lunch in paris has left me too full for gorgeous desserts like these in the display cases at b&r? i guess it's just responsible eating on my part. i mean, one has to think ahead to dinner…especially when that dinner is at la famille.
our reservation was at 9 but we showed up early since we were in the area already and looking for a place to have a drink. at 8.20, no one was there. at 9.20 the place looked as it does in the picture above. full swing. first up: cocktails. click to read more or the bear gets it!
i think maybe the bartender was the best part. i'm even going to call him a mixologist despite the fact that i hate terms like mixologist or foodie. but lumping this man with anyone other than a drink artiste would be inaccurate. he really was doing what he should be doing in life. he did it so well and he was happy and creative and not at all pretentious even though he was making cocktails so good that he should really just have a place of his own where his creations are the main attraction. last night he used dry ice and pocky sticks with abandon to create drinks like the strawberry and cayenne pepper vodka cocktail above: just-frozen smoking vodka with strawberry and cayenne puree and a poor impaled marshmallow bear floating on top. and the basil mojito with a molded pineapple sac that came with the instruction "don't bite, slurp and pop!"
my entree was a coconut soup which i thought might taste curried (what else do people usually use coconut milk for) but really, the soup, fava beans and pine nuts (the textures worked so well together that i'm totally going to try a soup like this at home) was rich and flavourful even before getting to the cumin and other spices that were sprinkled into the soup, not really cooked right in. which was nice–that flavour came later and really hit the back of my throat. when i saw my main plat (not on the menu because the chef again had to create something "vegetarien" for me) i was like "what??" i still fault them for not providing EITHER protein or carb, but once i started eating, i softened up. a lot. the squares were a tomato gelee infused with hot pepper, with what i would guess was a balsamic and wine reduction. it was fantastic. the rest of the vegetables were good but just meant for the sidelines. it took me time to get through little bites of the totally flavour-packed tomato. another good night but not one to take the place of the epic 2005 original.