In the nineties, when organized tours were in vogue, many Israelis succumbed to the prevailing confession and flew during the summer months for group trips under the iconic title "Classic Europe". They returned home from France full of experiences imprinted on film, with illogical amounts of Mozart chocolate, sticky marzipan and gifts like accordions, postcards of the rooms of the Palace of Versailles, or elegant tiny bottles with drops of magical scent concocted in the City of Lights.
These treasures made the writer feel an inexplicable love for France. No wonder for many people Paris is a favorite destination. We want to taste everything it has to offer (except frog legs perhaps) and know that a lifetime can't be enough to swallow this bewitching city.
In the last few days we have returned to her, to feel if anything has changed in her, at her own pace. After all, this is a city that is considered a center of fashion, art, music, food and a few other things that the French boast about even though only they know how to pronounce their names. Places of food are sacred here and cooking traditions that the French lean on, even more. The country recently made headlines following the riots that erupted there on June 27 following the death of Algerian teenager Nahal Marzouq. Places with an extensive history have also been closed in recent years, including during the coronavirus pandemic, causing hearts to break. On the other hand, new places with a fresh agenda and strong roots have opened up and with them a renewed culinary scene has opened.
Arc de Triomphe in Paris, photo: GettyImages
Shana Restaurant by Chef Assaf Granit
Among the restaurants that have opened in the city in recent years and have a culinary impact, the restaurants "Shabur" and "Mess" by Chef Assaf Granit and the Makhanyuda Group received official recognition ("Mess", as you will recall, recently closed its doors). With creativity and endless imagination, the group manages to combine the language of Israeli-Jewish food with France with its raw materials and cooking traditions. And that, apparently, is why many Israelis come to eat at an Israeli chef's restaurant in Paris. This time we headed to the wine bar "Shana" which the group recently opened and located on the street where "Shabur" operates.
A year of Assaf Granit,
When the place opened about a year ago, a deli called "Shosh" operated during the day, and in the evening the lights dimmed, the music softened and "Shana" emerged from the shadows. On her Instagram page, Shana says she has "no story to tell, no specific agenda, just delicious food, amazing wine and good people." These words stand a bit in contrast to its setting, which actually does tell a story. Through a large room that looks like the beating heart of a house, you can watch a bustling kitchen. The stove in it is always lit and their flames dance on the sooty bottoms of pots and pans. We sat down around a large wooden table with a tray with candlesticks, lit candles and flowers.
Stuffed zucchini,
The meticulous design goes angja (crossed hands) with the varied food menu designed to be shared. The menu includes cold and hot dishes, raw and cooked foods. Shana also boasts an awe-inspiring wine list.
Alongside a glass of rosé that tastes a little like red grapefruit, we opened the meal with a delicate asparagus gazpacho drowning in chunks of Jerusalem pretzels seasoned with za'atar and mint oil that binds it all together. The dish is delicate and gets a twist thanks to the hyssop and oil. We also tasted soft Kaunas that knows how to absorb any juicy left on the plate. We continued with a tabbouleh salad stacked on a white fan and well-concealed emitted slices of orange from which the liquid dripping together with the bites of the tabbouleh and the softness of the cheese create a particularly tempting bite in the mouth.
Lamb chops and veal almonds on brioche, photo: Racheli Zurawsky
Then come to the dish table with the warmer, deeper flavors: melted lamb chop candies already on the way to your mouth. Brioche with golden-colored charred sides topped with soft, crackling veal almonds are placed in sauce, stuffed zucchini flowers. We dessertd in creamy asparagus malabi watered with strawberries from pink syrup granules.
At the end of the meal we ran into Chef Eviatar who conducts the kitchen in the restaurant. With a twinkle in his eyes, he served us one bite with all the fresh and fresh Paris has to offer - a crispy Baby Jam leaf poured into it raspberries, peas, a vinaigrette of brown butter and goat brick balls.
14 Paris, France
Wine per year,
Breakfast Restaurants at Hôtel Plaza Athénée
For those who do not have a million dollars and want to feel like there is, one of the options is to stay for tea, coffee or a full meal at the Athena luxury hotel and thus get a one-time and somewhat painful experience in your pocket. The red shades that adorn the windows of the building are the hallmark of the hotel (which turned out to be a particular favorite of Beyoncé).
Please note that seating for outside guests is set to the lobby area only and that in such a case there is no possibility to sit on the gorgeous patio. We sat down on wide, antique armchairs next to a low round table covered with a white tablecloth. We ordered the continental breakfast and the Franz toast dish with caramel sauce. Slowly, waiters dressed in white gloves filled the table with coffee, fresh orange juice, tart yogurt, sweet fruit salad, fragrant pastry basket, and golden granola. Under the dome of the closh was a puffy and airy omelet with warm, soft goat cheese prepared using the soufflé method.
25 Paris, France
Morning in Athena, Photo: Noa Plump
The terrace on the last floor of Galeries Lafayette
Galeries Lafayette is a prestigious international department store chain whose main store is located on Boulevard Haussmann in the ninth arrondissement of Paris. Galeries Lafayette's expansive terrace overlooking the city has a nice food bar. On the first floor of the building you can purchase a few macarons from the stand of the pastry chef, Pierre Hermé, go up to the last floor by the electric stairs and then - after a small staircase - go outside, grab a small plot of the railing, take a moment to look, listen and eat.
40 Paris, France
la grande epicerie de paris
The place is adjacent to the "Bon Marsha" department store and offers under one roof countless culinary options. This is a building with three floors offering food and another lower floor offering alcohol. You can find all the best things France has to offer culinary-wise. Some options can fit in your suitcase and give you a brief feeling like you're living in Louis XIV's kitchen. From special spices, extraordinary salts, wines and everything imaginable to crockery and cooking utensils that make all the senses work together. We did balsamic vinegar tastings from Modena, purchased bowls of soup with lion heads and renewed ourselves with other amazing products.
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Patisserie Aux Merveilleux de Fred
The hallmark of the place is the shop windows. Behind them you can see bakers in white uniforms working on the confectionery work in front of passersby. Only three products are expertly prepared here and served: meringue cake in different flavors and sizes, thin waffle leaves baked in a traditional appliance and wrapped in a creamy butter filling seasoned with brown sugar or vanilla according to personal preference, and the highlight - a brioche that dreams are made of and comes in two versions that you can't refuse. One with chocolate drops embedded in the soft dough, the other with sugar pearls sprinkled on the tanned crust.
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Two culinary discoveries of locals
Café gourmand- In many restaurants you can order this wonder. Ask for gourmet coffee and you'll probably get a personal favorite coffee with petit fours (small cakes) that usually represent the desserts served in the restaurant and allow you to taste everything but with a conscience.
Aligot- melted mashed potatoes fertilized with butter and cream into which hard cheese is melted. The dish is considered street food and is served at Christmas markets. The cheese spices the mashed potatoes with its flavor and out of all this goodness a necessary hybrid is created, which is simply a molten and stretched pleasure.
Mashed potatoes stretched, photo: Noa Plump
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