Places I Liked– November, 2010
•L’itinerarire– 23 Rue Ponthieu, Paris – 01 42 25 95 00 in the 6th,  lots of buzz , lots of  fun, lots  of young people. You might like it very much. We did.
•Atelier de Robuchon– always a favorite, love the Dover sole, sit at the counter, wonderful wines, interaction , and very good food.  Near Hotel Montalembert in 7th, no reservations, but you can figure something out. Usually not too long a wait.
•Le Comptoir– for lunch near carrefourre de Odeon, great people watching, go early or go late, crowds gather at lunch and thereʼs a wait unless you decide late or early. They provide blankets if you opt to sit outside Spring– 6 rue Bailleul 75001 Paris 01 45 96 05 72 wonderful, but can you get a reservation????
•La Gazetta– in the 11th, just ok but everyone raves about it.

Places I Will Always LOVE…
•Les Petrelles, in the 9th,  one chef one little kitchen that is the size of a closet, ancient books, rose petals on the table, totally romantic.
•Gagnaire– what is not to love about his wonderful intellectual take on us and what we eat. ($$$$)
•LʼAmi  Louis– if you have never been, you should go ($$$$)
•L’Ami Jean– 7th, on rue Malar * bistro (steak and meats)
•LʼAffriole– also on rue  Malar (very nice, not too expensive, somewhat innovative and good chocolate trio dessert)
•Chez George– rue du mail near bourse, really delicious turbot, wonderful atmosphere, old fashioned, perfect wines, real bistro French food  as we still wished it to be!  Great waitresses, lunch is perfect.
•Allard– another great old bistro, but is coming back with better than ever food, everyone knows it, but they do make a great cucumber salad.

Our Very Newest Places… good value, delicious food…
•LʼAgrume –5 Rue des Fossés Saint-Marcel, Paris – 01 43 31 86 48 about 35 euros,
•La Ferrandaise, open Mondays, refers to a type of cattle, very tasty, also has fish and veggie entrees, prix fixe, fyi- 3 courses, about 32 euros, 8 rue de Vaugirard, 01-43-26-36-36, near Luxembourg gardens (and itʼs open on Monday nights!) 32 euros prix fixe

Highly Recommended…
•Yam’Tcha, 4 rue Sauval, 1st, Tel. 01-40-26-08-07. Metro: Louvre-Rivoli (Asian foods)
•Le 404—  very good for Moroccan food
•Chez Omar, if you like the atmosphere of noise  and bustle (note:  Omar  always makes you wait, even if you have made a reservation!)

Multi-Star Restaurants (trés cher $250-$300 plus wine, pp)
•2010 : Z kitchen Gallerie:  (exceptional price: $ 100 pp w/out wine) least expensive but highly rated, casual, and Carl and I liked it very much, slightly rushed service. Asian touches 6th arr. just off the quays of the 6th Astrance, in 8th, rue Washington,  good for lunch or dinner, hard to get a reservation
•Guy Savoy,  always delicious and probably open for NYʼs Eve, near Arc de Triomphe
•LʼAmbrosie, Place des Vosges, romantic, traditional and delicious
•Gagnaire: 8th, rue Balzac, in Hotel Balzac where I used to stay in the 60s when I was airline stewardess (TWA). I have eaten there 2x’s, intellectual food, interesting ingredients, quite modern dining room, but not a business atmosphere, more foodies here for sure.
•Restaurant Le Grand Véfour: umm, hanky panky upstairs rooms originally used by many famous people of history, one of oldest  restaurants in Paris. I had a lunch downstairs with Marie Risley, lots of fun, beautiful room, in the Palais Royale, (lunch was $400 each, but Mary and I had champagne and a bottle of very good wine).
•Helene Darroze– it must be better  than when I was there or it must have great publicity writers. What I remember was a  fairly sterile upstairs dining room on rue d”assas. Food was not  special, but what was really special was a beautiful woman seated near us, must have been a model, with two men with her. She was elegant, 30-ish, and was wearing an evening hat with a veil and a cerise rose, the hat of course, was rakishly tilted over one eye.
•Eric Freechonʼs The Bristol– formal inside, restaurant inside was a small theater originally. When I was there, the food was good, not great and it was filled with business men doing business,  of course, even during the evening. However, in the summer time, outside is gorgeous!  (desserts to ignore , usually). I have been a fan of Eric Freechon for several years, even when he was out on Ave. General Brunet in the 19th!
(He was doing Spanish ham then too.)

I look forward to hearing about your own discoveries in this most beautiful of cities!

With wishes for Happy Holidays, Happy New Year and Happy Travels to Paris.
Bon Voyage and Bon Appetite!
~Betty

Here are a few photos of Paris from last yearʼs trip. I thought I would share with you just why Paris is called the “City of Light”. Over 4 million blue led lights were used on the chestnut trees that lined the Champs Elysee. In the deep December darkness, keep your spirits light, your decor & food simple and remember to spread your own bit of joy to everyone.

And donʼt forget the oysters!

Les Grands Magasins are also practicing ”Le Recyclage”.  They are using the same decor and window displays as in 2009.

Betty Zlatchin Catering is now a certified “Green” Caterer.  We here at BZC do our best to reduce the impact and foot prints we make on our earth.  I snapped this photo last year at Christmas when I was in Paris.  Paris & “Le Recyclage” has been ahead of the game (see photo) but thatʼs for many reasons, some of which have to do with smaller refrigerators, “bagging” and providing oneʼs own grocery bags at food stores, and of course French frugality.

My grandaugher, Ava, turned 8 years of age this August. When asked what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said, “I want a party…. at Dad’s Kitchen!” She began planning it way back in April. Her guest list was made, her food choices were decided (lots of chocolate). The surprise was, she told me, she wanted to cook it all, with her girlfriends.

So, David and I began to put together the dreams of her special day.

AVA’ S BIRTHDAY MENU

Sushi Maki Rolls,
with cucumber and avocado

Chicken Nuggets
made with Goldfish bunnies and ranch dressing

Mini Beef Burgers & Tuna Burgers

David’s Special Asian Three Color Slaw

“Bugs on a Log”
(cream cheese or peanut butter filled celery sticks topped with raisins or with chocolate chips)

Long stemmed Strawberries
dipped in warm dark chocolate
&
The Birthday Cup Cakes
36 Chocolate Cup Cakes,
decorated by all the girls, with 10 beautiful colors
of buttercream icing , in piping bags for the girls to use
&
One Very Special Large Cupcake with 8 candles,
decorated by Mom, Tiana.

*

The Nitty Gritty
We divided the kitchen into station sections to handle the various tasks. We invited family members to supervise the girls and assist if needed. We gave instructions on kitchen safety procedures ( no running in a kitchen, pick up and clean up all spills to avoid slippage, sharp objects are pointed down toward the floor when walking to the dishwashing station, our chefs will handle all knives and cutting, and we will show you how to safely cut a piece of celery or sushi, using the back side of fork tines — any variation of the above rules and you are on KP duty .

Each little girl got to dress in white chef coats, aprons and “work” each station , rotating around as they wanted. Due top popular demand, we saved the dessert station until the end…

What was amazing to us was our group of girls really got into doing their jobs, so much so that they wanted to keep on doing the sushi rolls, to perfect them, or forming the burgers “ just so,” or crush with the rolling pins the cheddar goldfish duckies and bunnies to fine crumbs, or dipping the strawberries into warm chocolate so that the chocolate was smooth and only half way onto the berries.

At long last, the cupcakes were decorated. They placed them on the three-tier etagere
and Ava’s special cupcake was placed at the very top.

We gathered the girls, applauded our new chefs,
and everyone chowed down, loving the buffet created by Ava and her friends.

It will be a birthday for sure that we will always remember. I think Ava and her lucky friends will remember it too!

***

RECIPE FOR CHICKEN NUGGETS

2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
1 package Goldfish bunnies or duckies
1 bottle storebought Ranch dressing

Directions: preheat oven to 400 degrees
crush goldfish into cracker meal,
cut chicken breasts into 6-8 slices each, depending on size of chicken breast
pound chicken breast pieces to thin slices ( about 3/8 inch thick ) between 2 pieces of wax paper
dip pounded chicken into ranch dressing, then into the goldfish cracker meal.

place chicken pieces on sheet pan or baking sheet lined with parchment.
bake 8-10 minutes until cooked through

That’s it : Kids and adults loved it . The moms & dads present asked for the recipe, which could be simpler. Be sure to offer a favorite vegetable or salad with this dish, as you will feel better about serving it and maybe the kids will surprise you and eat their broccoli or spinach…yah right!

Guests really enjoyed this wedding and so did we!

Our placement of the band’s stage and dance floor in the middle of the room with the guest tables centered around them made for a communal and intimate feel.  Note the side “lounge” with the white ottomans and blue light up bar we set up in the corridor which had a fun photo booth by Denon and Doyle.

The black and white theme really made this event classy.  No need for specialty linens on this one. Once the lights were dimmed and the tables are pin-spotted, the less formal white duck linens disappear and the table settings glistened with candlelight.  We loved the tiered candleabras by Floramor Studios. Instead of the old fashioned large wedding cake (so many of our wedding clients seem to moving away from nowadays) this couple decided on small individualized wedding cakes as table centerpieces by Cake Coquette (delicious and so stylish).  Later, the cakes were removed and set up at a cake station with coffee.

Mac and cheese, a Bride and Groom favorite, made it’s way onto our menu as a special amuse course. We added gorgonzola, toasted walnuts and grannysmith apple to make a delicious gourmet version. Enjoy the photos!