We arrived in Paris on Friday, feeling lucky to make it out of New York given the snowstorm. Our plan for the 4 days we are here is very simple: to eat at a different, well-chosen restaurant every day for lunch and dinner. And to enjoy the wine with the food. Whatever else we do is extra (so far we aren’t doing well on the extras but are doing pretty well on the plan).

Friday lunch: L’Ami Louis

Our first destination after checking into the hotel was a place in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, a very simple place that is an authentic old bistro. It was cold and raining when we landed in Paris, but had slowed down to a drizzle while we were walking about, and checked out the market in the Marais. The rain had picked up again just as we arrived at the restaurant so we were in no hurry to go back outside. Good thing because this place needs a little time to enjoy fully; not to mention time afterwards to recover. The food is genuine bistro food: spectacular in both quality and quantity. We had escargots to start followed by a veal chop for Adrian and confit de canard for me. A perfect introduction to escargots for me – lots of butter and garlic and delicious.

Looking through the wine list – a veritable tome – was a treat in itself. The white Rhones (Jean-Louis Chave!) caught my eye along with the Alsatian Rieslings. But we’ll have to go back because after all it was lunch-time and we were only 2. We chose a half bottle of Domaine Trapet Gevrey-Chambertin 2006, feeling very virtuous as the other tables (all of 2 people also) had no qualms of having at least a full bottle. Presumably not much business was being done that afternoon for anyone – but it was Friday, and a ‘snow day’ in New York which may still slow things down in the markets (or at least it sounds like a good excuse, if in fact one is needed). The wine was beautiful, with a velvety texture, red fruits, minerality, and a robust structure underneath – a perfect illustration of the ‘finesse and strength’ of Gevrey-Chambertin. And perfect with the duck and the veal.

The meats were served alone on a plate – not a vegetable in sight in fact at any of the 6 tables unless you count the potatoes. A huge mound of pommes frites with the veal and the most delicious potatoes I’ve ever had with my confit: perfectly roasted and incredibly creamy.

The next day we met Alain Blanchon for a glass of wine, as it happened he was in Paris at the same time. Some of you may have met Alain in our shop and if not, you have another chance on Thursday evening. His mother, who is a true Parisian, gave us several recommendations for restaurants and we were quite pleased that this was one of them!