Paris Journal 2011 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com

Photos and thoughts about Paris

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You may or may not know that barbequed spare ribs can be especially good in France. When it comes to pork, the French know what they’re doing. For days now, I’ve been building up a craving for travers de porc – barbequed pork ribs. When we started our walk, up the rue du Commerce and the avenue de la Motte Picquet yesterday evening, we checked the menus posted out on the sidewalk at a few of our favorite places. I’ve been disappointed that La Gauloise is not regularly changing their specials on their menus anymore. And the Café du Commerce, which had shown such promise last year, did an unusually bad job of cooking Tom’s main course, a jarret de porc, the last time we were there. Inexcusable. But La Gitane has been consistently good. And voila! The menu told us that the regular Tuesday night special is travers de porc! (The daily special for yesterday was jarret de porc, which looked good.) We finished our walk up into the 7^th and back through the Champ de Mars again, then we entered La Gitane. A new young, male server greeted us cheerfully and gave us our choice of tables. We both ordered the travers de porc. While waiting, we were given delicious bread, and butter as always (at La Gitane, but not most places), and a special mis en bouche – some potato chips made right there in La Gitane’s kitchen. I ate two chips and let Tom consume the rest. I wasn’t surprised that the ribs arrived with fries, which are also made there at La Gitane and are especially good. I was surprised and delighted with the little pot of barbeque sauce that came with the ribs. It was clearly homemade, too, and was absolutely wonderful – dark, rich, and impressively flavorful. As is typical in France, not so much of the fat layer had been removed from the meat, and the ribs had been cooked slowly so that the meat was very tender, and still very moist. With the sauce, it was divine. What a way to satisfy a craving! We didn’t have a reservation, so it was good that we arrived early (7:30PM). And we find it fun to watch this restaurant fill up. We like the kind of locals who frequent the place – these include plenty of well-established people who have the air of those who are deeply involved in their community. These are not shallow people going someplace to see and be seen. These are people who are gourmand, and they deserve to be fed very well indeed. But some tourists will wander in once in a while, too, because the Eiffel Tower is not far away. After we’d been seated, had ordered, and were waiting for our food, one of the owners, Corinne Mayeras, arrived. As soon as she saw us, she gave us a warm and bright “Bonsoir monsieur-dame!” She recognizes us! We smiled and returned the greeting. A couple gay men, American tourists I think, arrived and were seated near us. I thought to myself, “congratulations, guys, you picked an excellent restaurant to try!” Later, I wished I’d actually said that to them. Corinne brought menus to them. I don’t know if they were English or French menus. Corinne then explained to them the two pork specials, which are not printed in English. Her English is rough, and I could hear a bit of strain in her voice as she tried to use it. Only a minute or two later, the guys gave each other a look, got up, and started to leave. Corinne came over to see what was the matter, and one of the guys just muttered something about “another restaurant.” I was stunned. Corinne and one of the servers saw that I was stunned. I could not believe that those guys were going to miss out on this wonderful place! It was their loss. I puzzled over what it could be that turned them off. Because the menu is so prominently posted outside the entrance, in an attractive polished brass stand, they most certainly had a chance to examine it before entering. I think the English menu may be posted out there, too, but I haven’t looked at it in a while. Maybe it isn’t there anymore, and maybe when they were given the menu inside, it was in English. This can be a problem because the translations are often not done quite so well, and then the food doesn’t sound so appealing and it really isn’t accurately described. Or maybe they heard the strain in Corinne’s voice as she struggled with her English, and they mistook it for iciness. I hope that’s not the case, because she is not icy at all. She’s professional, personable, and treats all people well. Anyway, after oohing and aahing over our main course, and consuming every tiny scrap of it, we ordered a café gourmand for Tom and a calvados for me. Tom’s café gourmand came with a tiny fruit tart, a tiny dish of specially prepared diced pineapple, a delicious scoop of strawberry sherbert, and a warm, rich, moist chocolate brownie. Gourmet it was. And the calvados was the best I’ve ever had. Chapeau, La Gitanne! We salute you, and we thank you. Sign my guestbook. View my guestbook. Note: For addresses & phone numbers of restaurants in this journal, click here.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 Travers de porc and homemade barbeque sauce & fries at La Gitane restaurant, on the avenue de la Motte Picquet. Ceiling light fixture, which appears to be originally gas but rewired for electric, at La Gitane. The Ysmailoff oriental rug shop at La Village Suisse, across the street from La Gitane, has an educational prop, a tiny loom, to demonstrate how oriental rugs are hand notted. ← Previous Next →