Before and After

Berry cobbler at Christian Constant's Le Cocotte near the Eiffel Tower was damn good. And it was fast. Real quick. Gone. Coupling the appetite of a few American chef's with the quality and portion size of French food led to many a cleared plate. Something mesmerizing about a just emptied plate. How much did they like it? How's their diet going? Did they scrape the plate? Did they make like my girlfriend and just lick the plate?

Plating of food is so temporary. Chef's can worry about where to place each item, and perhaps a moment after reaching a diner, the destruction has begun.

The proof, my friends, is down below. Total elapsed time between the first and second photos? Any guesses?

Ahh Belota!

Fresh off a week in Paris, the Sunday Dinner crew found a Spanish ham to remember. These Iberico jamons tasted as good as they looked. We spent an evening at a wine bar and gourmet food shop called Da Rosa in the Latin Quarter. These guys have the right idea for a business - collect the very best Spanish, French, and Italian delicacies, put them on a plate, and charge a lot of Euro for them. You don't even have to cook, and everyone is happy. And happy is an understatement. We were thrilled.



Take a peek in that bowl there. It may not look like much, but this is what they present you at the end of the meal. France is full of culinary surprises, but this one changes everything. No those aren't Raisinets, those are Sauternes soaked raisins, coated with dark chocolate. Yes, they were good. We bought a bag. Maybe we bought more than one.

Anyway, just a moment in a week of them. Look for more Parisian delights in future posts. We may have even found an underground restaurant that might be able to give a certain Chicago hidden kitchen a run for its money!