2 weeks in France-5-26 to 6/8/2022

Paris-6/3/2022
Coffee shops/Pere La Chaise/Lunch

Centre Pompidou
Dinner au Pasage

Paris-6/4/2022
Stroll in Paris

Family get together

Troyes-6/5/2022
Old town

Troyes-6/6/2022
Troyes Cathedral

Jardin des plantes
Lunch in the old town
Lake Orient

Paris-6/7/2022
Paris Landmarks

Church La Madeleine
Dinner at Caillebotte

Paris-6/8/2022
Eiffel Tower

Jardins du Trocadero
Walking around/Lunch
Church of Saint Gervais
Dinner at Frenchie

Paris, France-6/2/2022 to 6/8/2022

Au Passage, Paris -6/03/2022

I found this restaurant by reading David Lebovitz's blog.  For those who do not know who he is, David is a Chef and author known for his documentation of his life as and ex-pat in Paris.  He has written many cookbooks and he is also a well known blogger.

In his Blog,  David described Au passage as: this youthful restaurant and wine bar is located in a passage, which you might need a map to find. It’s gone through a few incarnations of chefs, but the food is always fresh, interesting, and available in small plates (and a few larger ones), meant for sharing. There’s a focus on quality ingredients and the wine list has some affordable treasures on there. The staff is earnest and friendly if you have questions, in spite of how busy the dining room is.

I also looked at pictures on the internet and like the low key and fun atmosphere of the restaurant and tonight we are taking Hoa's nieces and their significant other.

Thanks to Google map we had no trouble finding the restaurant.

 

The entrance of the restaurant.  We had reservation at 7:30pm and to our surprise we were the first few customers inside the restaurant.

 

There were 2 tables of 2 people before us and beside that it was totally empty.

 

This is the view of the restaurant from our table.  Like I said it was weird to see the restaurant with barely any customers.

The bar is at the end of the room and can sit about 6 people.

 

Our table.

I overheard our waitress saying something like it looks like everybody will be at the restaurant at 8:00pm instead of 7:30Pm.  The first service starts at 7:30pm and they are pretty relax and are totally ok for the customers to be 30 minutes late.  In the U.S., if you are late 15 minutes, they give your table away unless you call.

 

 

While waiting for the others to arrive, Hoa ordered a Negroni, his favorite cocktail while in Europe.

 

Cheers!  We also ordered a bottle of white wine to start.

 

Cheers!

a

The menu changes all the time according to produce so they write the menu on a huge big chalkboard.

All the dishes are meant to be shared so our waitress suggested that we ordered a bunch of dishes.

The menu is written in French and our waitress explained every single dish to us.  I also noticed that there are few dishes that are Vietnamese influenced so I asked what is the inspiration behind.  She told us that the sous chef is Vietnamese so they wanted to incorporated a few dishes reprenting his background in the menu.

The menu is also printed out.

A round of cocktail before starting our meal.

Jeremy, Arnaud, Hoa, Me, Melanie and Julie

 

The three musketeers: Jeremy, Arnaud, and Hoa

 

Charlie's Angels: Me, Melanie and Julie

 

  

Pani puri, King Fish, caviar, plum, pomelo, raw cream

 

The first dish came out and we like what we see.  The Pani puri (popular Indian street food of crispy, hollow, fried dough balls) was crispy, the fish was fresh, the pomela added a bit of acidity, the caviar added a bit of saltiness , and the raw cream was unctuous.

Overall a great starter.

 

Vietnamese Fried Chicken with Foie gras sauce.

 

Interesting concept by combining a traditional Vietnamese fried chicken and adding a foie gras sauce.

We actually like it a lot!  The chicken was deboned so it was easy to eat, fried properly and the skin was crispy.  The sauce is what makes this dish by combining foie gras with a bit of nuoc mam (Fish sauce) and making it a yummy sauce.

 

Rustic bread and we also ordered more wine.  This was the 2nd bottle and we also ordered a 3rd bottle of red but I forgot to take a picture.

 

Sashimi de Pelamide, petit pois, ponzu yuzu kosho-Sashimi of stripped bonito, fresh peas, Ponzu yuzu kosho

 

Lovely dish with Japanese influence.  I like the texture of the Tuna, and the sauce had a lot of umami.

yuzu kosho is a pasty Japanese condiment made from fresh chilies (most often green or red Thai or bird's eye chilies) then fermented with salt along with zest and juice from yuzu, a tart and fragrant citrus fruit that grows in East Asia. The trifecta of chilies, citrus, and salt come together in a powerful and distinctive flavor that enlivens a dish instantly

 

As you can see an hour later, the restaurant is full of people. People do eat later in Europe.

 

Cheers!

 

 

Anchois de Cantabrie, chutney de mangue, Banh da- Anchovies of Cantabrie,  Mango chutney, served with Banh Da (crispy cracker)

 

The chutney was full of flavors and served with Banh Da, a traditional roasted rice cracker to add crunchiness and texture.

 

Asperge blanche, sake kasu,  jaune d'oeuf marine- White asparagus, Sake Kasu, egg yolk

 

The white asparagus is grilled and brushed with Sake Kasu (paste that is left over from the sake making process) and served with egg yolk in a yummy sauce but I am not sure what it made with.

 

You break the yolk and dip the asparagus in it.  Simple but so delicious.

 

Ris de Veau, Legumes de printemps, Amanande de mer, ail des ours-Calf sweetbreads, Spring Vegetables, cockles, wild garlic.

This a traditional French dish. The sweetbread is soaked in milk for 8 hours, boiled quickly, breaded and fried yielding a crispy outer skin with a creamy interior.  Here is it is served with lots of fresh seasonal vegetables and served is a cockles, wild garlic sauce which really enhanced the dish.

We also ordered a few more dishes but we were having to much fun that I forgot to take a picture.

 

Hoa loves cheese so we order a plate to share: Crotin de Chavignol, Shorshire, Moelleux du Revard.

A very good selection of cheese.

 

For Dessert we order a Ganache chocolat,  creme Laurier, Tagarashi Noisette- Chocolate ganache, bay laurel cream, togarashi with hazelnut.

 

Simply delicious!

 

The 2nd dessert is a Sorbet miso,  lait ribot, Gariguette Sable au poivre sichuan Surreau - Miso sorvet, buttermilk, Gariguette sable with sichuan pepper and Elderberry flowers.

 

Another excellent dessert to end our meal.

 

Uyen Thuong stopped by really late around 11:00pm to be with us.

 

The meal is over and we are walking out of the restaurant around 11:30Pm.

 

Saying goodbye to Melanie and Arnaud.  Our Air B&B was about 15 minutes of walk for the restaurant so Uyen Thuong walked with us and then took a taxi home.

 

We had such a good time catching up with everyone, and time seems to fly by too quickly.  I love the atmosphere of the restaurant, I also like the concept of small plates for the table to share and all the conversations that came with it.

Thank you everyone for coming, especially to Uyen Thuong for making a huge effort to stop by to see us for 30 minutes.

Until the next meal!

 

NEXT.... Stroll in Paris

 

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