Traveling France…a private dinner in Paris at Cedric Casanova’s le Consevatoire

The first time I heard of Cedric Casanova was in a post by Hip Paris Blog last June. A place in Paris that has a table for five for a private dinner in the middle of his store where he sells fresh oregano, sun-dried tomatos, and especially his own private label olive oil.

 

Well, I was going to Paris in August and emailed for a reservation…they are closed for the month of August…merde!! So I thought, I’ll get there on my April trip. When I emailed for a reservation, they were already booked, double merde!… but were opening a new place down the street for lunch. I was determined.

It just so happened that TWO blogs I follow, Hip Paris Blog and My Little Paris, both posted about the new location opening…this was right before my trip, so I quick sent an email requesting a reservation, and voila! they had an opening on our first day in Paris for lunch. I took it even though we were flying in that morning and I wasn’t sure how we’d be feeling….turns out, I get a phone call the day before I leave confirming our reservation for dinner…I said ‘I thought it was for lunch…she said we could have either’, so I took dinner. Yea!!

It was raining so we took a cab and at first we thought, this isn’t the place, there wasn’t a sign anywhere, so the taxi driver goes around the corner and calls…yes, that was it, the blue one.

Our chef for the evening was Alix, raised in Paris but sounded just like an American. (Her mother is American and she also spent time in San Francisco) She was excellent. So welcoming and laid back. Perfect for our tired selves.

Our table was set with olives, almonds, eggplant, and an olive tapenade, yummy olive oil (Cedric’s) and some bread. A feast for the eyes. For the next course Alix brought over three plates and set them atop the others, so charming.

  

We were served mushrooms with onions, olives and walnuts, carrots with mint and a bit of oil (my favorite), and oranges with blanched almonds, olives and other ingredients that I don’t remember. Amy has it in her iphone but where is she while I’m writing this??? in Texas.

We then had our next course of fish…tuna…mmm I forget the next one, and anchovies. I had never had anchovies before, just a head block…

Next…wonderful pasta with a squash and just a bit of their homemade tomato sauce that they sell. Light and flavorful, at this point I’m already full before the pasta even gets to the table.

Then came dessert…sigh…I just had to make room. Almond biscotti without the flour, oh my so delicious, and an almond square thing, I forget but was so delicious, and lemon rinds that had been boiled until soft, simple sugar, and sugar. MMM!

We had the best time and it was just perfect for our first evening in Paris. It was so easy talking with Alix, she was perfect. Amy mentioned that our niece was meeting us in Paris on Monday and if she had an opening, we’d love to bring her…she had a table for two coming from Texas…coincidence? and if we didn’t mind sharing a table, we could come. So we did…

Amala, Phoebe, and myself…

This was my favorite dessert from our lunch with Phoebe…frozen lemon slices with powdered sugar. MMMM!!

One more thing. When we had to use the ladies room, we had to go outside to get to it. Just a few pics…

     

I had to get the boots in…oh…and the two women from Texas, that was me and Amy…

More info:

Original location:

La Tete Dans Les Olives, 2 rue Sainte Marthe, 75010 Paris…reservations @ latable@latetedansolives.com

Price: 150 Euros for up to 5 people (four course meal)

New Location:

Le Conservatoire, 14 rue Sainte Marthe, 75010 Paris…reservations @ picnic@latetedansolives.com

 Price: 150 Euros for up to 5 people (four course meal)…There is room for 9 at the new location

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Traveling France…French Cooking Class from ‘On Rue Tatin’ author/chef Susan Herrmann

When we were in Paris in April, we took a cooking class from Susan Herrmann, the author of ‘On Rue Tatin’. I saw an article in Traditional Home magazine the week before our trip. There was a big yellow Tian bowl like we sell in our shop in the photo. Well, that hooked me and I called my sister Amy to see if she wanted to go. OF COURSE she wanted to go, and there were two spots left!

Off we went to rue Jacob, behind the church of Saint Germain des Pris, through a small courtyard, two doors, and up the stairs. Walking into the rooms where the class was held were so charming and beautiful and FRENCH! The table was set and the other students were there waiting for us…we were a bit late, couldn’t get a taxi right away.

  

There were eight of us for the evening class. We were paired in two’s to make one course of the meal. Amy wanted to do the entree…pork with yogurt with lemon zest and cilantro oil. You can see us all at work and Susan is the redhead on the far right in the photo.

The little details in the apartment are what made the space so wonderful. They used old glass doors for the built-in, as sliding doors.

We met people from Hawaii, Texas and Washington State. Conversation was great and the food was simply wonderful.

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