Toujours, Paris…. Always Paris.
For those who have visited Paris, returning provides another opportunity to see old friends, enjoy familiar restaurants and drink at favorite wine bars. But whether it’s a return trip or a first-time visit, the famed “City of Light” always offers chances to experience new discoveries in food, wine and culture around every corner.
My wife, Kate, and I recently made it back to Paris for the first time since the pandemic and after grappling with difficult physical challenges from a terrible motor vehicle accident in 2021.
Our eternally beautiful old friend did not disappoint with visits to Luxwmbourg Gardens, Au Petit Suisse Brasserie, and Marco Pelletier’s incomparable Vantre wine restaurant for bottles from Champagne Michel Gonet and Domaine Michel Lafarge in Bourgogne.
Luxembourg Gardens
When possible, in Paris we like to stay on the Left Bank of the Seine River that bisects the city from east to west. We prefer to stay near Luxembourg Gardens, one of Paris’ largest urban greenspaces. Fortune smiled upon us this trip, so we were once again able to stay at Hôtel de l’Abbaye, a charming and intimate 44-room hotel in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, just blocks away from Luxembourg Gardens.
We visited on May 8, a French national holiday marking the end of World War II in Europe. On this brilliantly sunny day, Luxembourg Gardens attracted a crowd. Parents taught children to ride bicycles, tennis enthusiasts played on the clay courts, joggers toed the gravel paths, joyful children had fun on the playgrounds and tourists snapped photographs.
Other gleeful children delighted in the P’tits Voiliers — sailing miniature antique wooden boats with colorful sails. The children use long flexible sticks to guide the twirling boats in the Grand Bassin, a large octagonal pond and fountain in the middle of the public gardens.
Despite all the activity, Luxembourg Gardens still afforded plenty of quiet, shaded spots to sit back and relax in the popular metal Adirondack chairs. After reposing for 30 minutes or so, we leisurely strolled toward the Médicis Fountain, a monument first installed around 1630 by Queen Regent Maria de Medici. The fountain is famed for its 50-meter basin where the water, through a trick of perspective, appears to defy gravity and flow upward.
Au Petit Suisse Brasserie
After exiting the park onto the sidewalk next to the busy Rue de Vaugirard thoroughfare, across the street we spied Au Petit Suisse Brasserie as a convenient place to quench our thirsts and grab a bite for lunch. In front of the restaurant’s open sliding windows, no round tables were available. But just inside the door, we snagged a snug table affording a perfect perch for people watching.
Au Petit Suisse Brasserie was completely new to us, but we quickly saw from the classic large mirror on the dining room wall that the establishment dates to 1791 — the year before the French Revolution. Au Petit Suisse is convenient for students and professors from the nearby Sorbonne University, patrons from the next-door Odéon Théâtre and tourists.
The drinks menu features Beaujolais red wine by the glass and by pichets, i.e., pitchers holding either a half bottle (375 ml) or a full bottle (750 ml). But Au Petit Suisse’s cocktail offerings are particularly intriguing.
The delicious Spritz Auvergnat is a refreshing concoction of Fontbonne, Liqueur de Plantes, France (Available nationally according to www.wine-searcher.com for around &60), sparkling wine, sparkling water and a dash of crème de cassis. The vivid green-hued Fontbonne uses a proprietary recipe of 26 plants, roots and spices that are distilled, blended with spirits and sweetened. It offers distinctly herbal and floral aromas. Another popular and refreshing Parisian cocktail, the Lutecia Spritz, blends Liqueur de Plantes and sparkling wines over ice and a slice of lemon.
The Spritz Auvergnat comes in a large glass filled with a few ice cubes. It pairs beautifully with Au Petit Suisse Brasserie’s classic French menu, including the tasty Planche Mixte, a mixed board with hearty, shareable portions of green salad, Roquefort and Cantal cheeses, dry sausage slices, country ham, pork terrin and spreadable rabbit rillettes. Plenty of crusty baguette slices accompany the board.
An ethereal shared pot of chocolate mousse topped off our little meal. Sated and pleasantly fatigued from our walk in the crowded gardens, we returned to the Hôtel de l’Abbaye’s quiet oasis for rest and relaxation.
Vantre, 11th Arrondissement
Vantre occupies a modest storefront in Paris’ edgy, high-energy 11th arrondissement. Not far away lies the Place de la Republique, where Parisians gather frequently for manifestations, i.e., protests.
In 2016, Marco Pelletier opened Vantre with the goal of “democratizing” fine French wines. If anybody can achieve this lofty goal, it is Pelletier, a wine guide with matchless, encyclopedic knowledge of contemporary French wines and a vast cellar to match.
Previously, Pelletier served six years as a sommelier at the famed gastronomic destinations in Paris’ swanky 8th arrondissement. As a primary buyer stocking the vast wine cellars at these highly rated Michelin-starred restaurants, Pelletier came to know France’s most accomplished wine growers as friends and colleagues.
Even so, the Quebec-born Pelletier has an unstuffy, infectious enthusiasm for enjoying and sharing wine. We first met by chance around 15 years ago after one of his long shifts.
Pelletier was unwinding at a casual watering hole, Gérard Pantanacce‘s former wine bar Le Café du Passage, on rue de Charonne near Place Bastille. Joined by Parma-based professor and sommelier Paolo Tegoni, the four of us wiled away the evening into the wee hours. We ate Pantanacce’s signature rillettes, charcuterie, steak tartare and Saucisse de Morteau (smoked sausage) while tasting blind “mystery” wines.
The food, wines and camaraderie all made for an instructive and memorable experience. Visiting Pelletier at Vantre rekindled the memory and marked a highlight of returning to Paris.
Pelletier brings the same enthusiasm for shared discovery, convivial fun and savoir-faire to Vantre’s wine program. The list offers over 500 selections ranging from “grand vins” to more obscure wines from lesser known but up and coming producers.
During our lunchtime visit in May, Pelletier’s restaurant dog, Cato, calmly rested next to the bar amid the hustle and bustle of the full house. He obviously lives by the Vantre philosophy “En cas de panique, restez calme!” — In case of panic, remain calm!
Our sommelier, Flavian, greeted us at our table while Pelletier was in the cellar working hard to organize a recent wine delivery. On his recommendation, we began lunch with flutes of sparkling wine from 2015 Champagne Michel Gonet, Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Millésimé ($74 on wine-searcher.com).
Pelletier works closely with Michel Gonet by consulting on the entire process for producing delicious Champagnes.
This beauty comes from 100% Chardonnay grapes grown on one of the Champagne’s region’s best, chalky vineyards. After initial fermentation, the wine spent seven long years on the “lattes,” developing ultra-fine, pearly bubbles. In the glass, it is frothy, completely dry yet fruity.
With our taste buds whetted, the first course for lunch consisted of fresh seasonal mushrooms served simply with a frothy broth. We paired it with a modest yet delicious bottle of 2020 Domaine Michel Lafarge, “Raisins Doré,” Bourgogne-Aligoté. The wine comes from old vines of Aligoté grapes grown by the meticulous, hard working Lafarge family near their home in Volnay, Bourgogne.
This gorgeous white wine is crisp and fruity, with ample body balanced by terrific freshness through the dry finish. It’s a tasty wine perfect for easy drinking with delicious dishes. (Recent vintages of the wine including 2022, 2021 and 2020 are available for an average price of $37 at wine-searcher.com.)
The wine also paired beautifully with the main courses. Kate choose hake fish with steamed vegetables, while I selected a delicious and utterly inventive bavette steak tartar. The tender meat, minced finely to order, is prepared with buckwheat kernels and wakame, a dried Japanese black seaweed that is both tasty, tender and flavorful.
A plate of cheese followed along with a dessert of stewed rhubarb and cream topped with toasty pistachios. Magnifique! All the dishes exemplified Vantre’s scrumptious, bistro-style cuisine du marché (market cuisine).
Toward the end of lunch, Marco came up from the cellar for a chat. He clearly had been doing some hard, physical work on the wine inventory. That’s not surprising, since Pelletier and the entire Vante team embrace a hands-on approach with attention to every authentic detail. It is their basis for offering guests memorable food and wine experiences every time.
As we prepare to depart, Cato the restaurant dog finally roused himself for a little attention by way of a gentle back scratch. Cato was ready for his own lunch as we headed out into the bustling streets of Paris to discover more experiences. As always.
Cheers!
Dave, so glad you were able to make it back to France/Paris. For old Road Warriors like us, it is so important to our well being. I’ve felt so lucky to be able to return to European wine trips the last 7 years now. In April, after a trip that included 3-12 days each Strasbourg, Metz, Nancy and Colmar, I returned feeling younger than when I started. Colmar was the wine centric part, nonstop all 12 days with the vignerons.