The Monthly Joie Review: March 2024
All the things that might bring you joie and inspiration from March explorations
March felt like such a blur and I hate the fact I am ready for April showers to zip by so we can get to May flowers already. I know that is not wonderful for staying present but it’s just the truth. Howeverrrrr I do have two weeks of travel this month that I am currently enjoying in sunny places so that is bringing lots of joie to my SPF’d face.
In fact, I am writing this from very sunny terrace on the Cote d’Azur in the South of France while staring at the ocean in the distance. One plus of raising children in France is that they have two weeks off school every six weeks, so sometimes we are forced to work remotely from far away places so they can enjoy their vacation time.
So let’s get into the Monthly Review of what brought me joie in March and hopefully might inspire you or will be something you want to check out in the future.
For women’s international month, the Ambassador to France and Monaco hosted a Women’s Economic Forum about Women in Sports. I have no idea why they invited me since I usually get invited to events about food, hospitality, design and French culture, but as a former teenage athlete, I was honored and pleased to be there. I know this isn’t my usual beat but I had so much to say at my table and in the room that my fellow table mates were shocked that I wasn’t more involved in the sports world. As an emotionally troubled teenager, sports brought me so much joie. My team and my coaches were so important to me. In the year of the Paris Olympics and so many interesting exhibitions about fashion and sports, I will save my thoughts for a longer posts. Stay tuned. (Yes I love saying that I will save something for another posts but I usually realize when doing these reviews what I want to expand on later.)
In March, I went to a lot of my usual haunts, including Bonnie, which I wrote about in my round up of hotel bars (link below). My friend Cassie and her daughter were visiting from the states and we thought it would be fun to take the kids up there for a drink and one of the most spectacular views of the city. Most Parisian’s might roll their eyes at a place like this because it’s expensive (a glass of wine is about 18-20 euros) but I go for the view and the design which never disappoints.
After Bonnie, we met my son’s godmother Amanda and let the kids skip down the Seine to Le Louis Philippe, a place that I have walked by a million times and never tried. I can imagine it gets overlooked since it’s right next to Chez Julien, which is trendy, pretty, and made famous again thanks to Emily in Paris. It’s a beautiful restaurant but I am not a big fan of the food, so we decided to try Louis Phillipe instead. The menu was mostly french classics and some additional twists. I went for a French onion soup and the kids all had fish and french fries. I liked that most of the seating is on the terrace, which was enclosed for the Winter but will be a dream come warmer days. Also I can imagine it’s a great spot for people watching and taking in all the Seine views and action.
I guess it wasn’t only usual haunts after all because I finally tried Gros Bao on the canal which I haven’t been to since it opened a few years ago. And since I like revisiting places when I have a good meal, I went twice in a week. Ha! The first time with my friend Cassie, who I mentioned earlier, and then again with my old college roommate Nikki from TCU that I haven’t seen in almost a decade. It was exceptionally nice to be in Paris with Nikki since both of our first trips to Paris was together. We were studying abroad in London and took the train over to Paris for a day, but then had to split up. She was doing a tour with her mother’s friends and I was forced to explore Paris alone, which was magical. I talk about that first trip in my book a bit on page 15.
It was lovely to go down memory lane with my old scrapbook I dragged along while sharing plates of mapo tofu, sautée vegetables and beef ho fun. Both visits, I was seated upstairs at a table overlooking the Canal Saint Martin. You can make reservations to avoid the line that is always forming down the street, which was part of the reason I rarely visited this place. I usually can’t handle lines for food.
Many restaurants require you to order roasted peking duck 24 hours in advance but that wasn’t necessary here…however they ran out by the time we ordered. We went for a smoked sliced duck and still ate it with the pancakes and cucumbers with hoisin sauce and it was delicious.
In my month of reunions, I also spent a few nights out with my friends Mark and Rose from Factory PR, who were in town from New York for a business trip. Mark is quite special because when I moved to New York at 22 years old, he took a chance and gave me my first salaried job. And then he wasn’t furious when I quit a few months later in the middle of fashion week to take my dream job as a fashion editor. I was terrified he was going to kill me but instead told me I was a fool to consider not taking it out of loyalty. He has always been so supportive over the years and when I had left the entire industry to be poor and study the decorative arts in graduate school, he stayed in touch and took me out from time to time. When I was writing my master’s thesis in Paris, he was visiting on a work trip and took me to dinner and drinks where I met his colleague Rose. We became instant fast friends and have maintained that friendship for about 15 years now. As I said in a previous newsletter (linked below), maintaining friendships are one of my superpowers.
I booked a reservation at Boubalé, an ashkenazi restaurant, in the Le Grand Mazarin. (Also in my hotel bar-resto list). I have visited for lunch before and the menu is almost exactly the same. The lunch prix fix is 39 euros for entree + plat or plat + dessert and 47 euros for all three courses. We ordered the Hallah bread with dips to share and I ordered the herb salad with coriander, parsley, grapes, and almonds with a horseradish cream for my starter then a sea bream with pine nuts and olives on a yogurt sauce for my main course. It was basically the same two dishes that I had for lunch on my last visit. I probably should have shaken things up but I enjoyed these dishes and felt like choosing lighter options.
To celebrate my daughter’s birthday which is my BIRTHing day, I had lunch with a girlfriend whose daughter was also born the same day. We went big with a 7 course menu for 190 euros at the Michelin starred French-Chinese restaurant yam’Tcha. The chef Adeline Grattard combines her classical French training with influences from her time spent living in Hong Kong and every dish is a wonderful discovery full of flavors. There is no way that I can tell you everything we ate but I do remember a few that I jotted down. The first course of oolong tea with caramelized walnuts and a mushroom and caramelized onion tart, my fav combo, was divine. Another course I really enjoyed was a tuna tartare fish ball with sriracha sauce and a veggie nem (egg roll) with smoked tofu. I loved these small dishes and then the main was a slightly larger dish of caille with sichuan aubergines. Then the famous bao with cherries and stilton cheese came out followed by two other small desserts. It was a long lunch but we didn’t feel uncomfortable or too full at the end and strolled around the Bourse and discovered a new(ish) brasserie called Le Baltard with service continue, which means they serve food from morning till midnight. It is was a great place to sit for a drink and people watch, but I can’t yet vouch for the food.
Now that you probably are understanding I often return to the same spots often, I do manage to try new places as much as possible. However if it’s good, I am usually craving to eat something specific on the menu and end up retuning. What can I say? I like to be a repeat client.
Last month, I was one of the first customers at a launch party for Public House, a brand spanking new British restaurant near Opera. The decor by Laura Gonzalez is meant to be inspired by British pubs and the food by famous Brit chef Callum Franklin, also known as the “Pie King,” is typical pub fair of savory pies and scotch eggs. My absolute favorite pie with the dauphinoise potatoes with caramelized onions, which the chef told me was his favorite too. Lindsey Tramuta wrote a great review in the New York Times which you should read (link below). I am excited that there are more options for food and going out near Opera, but also as I am enjoying going out with more purpose and entertainment this year, I appreciate they will have jazz nights with musicians and performers.
The notes
You can find mentions of Bonnie, Boubalé, and Hotel Providence in Beautiful Hotels Bars & Restaurants in Paris
Le Louis Phillipe
66 Quai de l'Hôtel de ville
75004 Paris
Check out their website here
Follow them on Instagram here
Le Gros Bao
72 Quai de Jemmapes
75010 Paris
Website
Instagram
Yam’Tcha
Michelin stared Franco-Chinese restaurant with a 7 cours tasting menu for 190 euros
121 rue Saint-Honoré
75001 Paris
Website
Instagram
Le Baltard
Cafe-Brasserie with service continue near the Louvre and the Bourse
9 rue Coquillère
75001 Paris
Website
Public House
English
21 rue Daunou
75002 Paris
Website
Instagram
Read Lindsey Tramuta’s review in the New York Times here.
Up next a new series called Table Topics, a 48hour trip to Arles, the Spring antiques Treasure Trove drop, and a list of exhibitions in Paris this Spring and Summer.
Lovely recap✨ I enjoyed reading this while sipping on a freshly brewed cup of ginger/tumeric tea. I can’t wait to be back in France soon.
Love your book and have given it as gift’s for good friends. Will miss Paris until after Olympics.
R