1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,520 Hi everyone, welcome to potluck foodparks. Today we're going to talk about Paris. 2 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:17,200 Paris. Paris. Yeah, I mean what other city is more famous for food than Paris? 3 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:20,720 It's the gastronomic capital of Paris Saint-Lens. 4 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:26,800 Paris Saint-Lens, yeah. That's right. It used to be like that and then it went really downhill for Paris, didn't it, for a long time. 5 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:32,960 When the Spanish avant-garde kind of like broke through and then Paris climbed back out of the gutter. 6 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:40,960 But I guess there was always a strong scene. I wasn't there like in the 2000s or 90s, but I would guess there was, no? 7 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,400 There has to be. There were always the big ones, no? 8 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:44,960 Yeah. 9 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:55,600 I mean, yeah. But in the like overall scene, I think like at one point it was just a little bit swamped with really shitty touristy places until local people were sort of like, this is enough. 10 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,040 We want good local stuff for everybody. 11 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:04,640 I was in Paris only once and this was actually during Covid. So the city was completely different. 12 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:09,760 Everybody told me like, this is crazy that there are no Asians, only the local Asians. 13 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:14,160 Because apparently usually there is always like a lot of tourism from Asia. 14 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:14,400 Yeah. 15 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,520 And this was like something really weird to see the city like that. 16 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:23,200 And yeah, and I stayed there for three weeks and I went out to eat a lot pretty much every day. 17 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,600 That's amazing. Yeah. Three weeks is a long time. 18 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,960 Yeah. I had a free apartment. Thank you to my friends Raul and Pamela. 19 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:30,080 Yeah. 20 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:37,440 Yeah. I'm still here whenever you want. And yeah, stuff that I found interesting. Well, we can talk about the big names, right? 21 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:42,880 Yeah. I mean, there's such a broad spectrum of restaurants in Paris. 22 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,960 Obviously, you know, you have the huge Michelin star bunkers, right? 23 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:58,880 That are like so extremely famous and so mythical, but then you have a lot of like lower sort of like restaurants and then you have a lot of chefs in Paris that came from these like big Michelin star bunkers and open up much more casual places, you know? 24 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:04,240 So you have a really sort of like wide spectrum. I mean, yeah, like you say, La Perche, you know, Le Passard. 25 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:08,080 Like, I mean, he's been cooking in La Perche for so long. 26 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:12,440 I mean, he used to be hired as a chef there. It used to be belonged to somebody else. 27 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:18,200 And then when that chef retired, he bought it from him when he was like 20 something, which is also super crazy. 28 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:23,560 And yeah, I mean, he's especially nowadays, you know, with so much Netflix exposure and stuff. 29 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,800 He's probably one of the most famous three Michelin star chefs in Paris now. 30 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:34,200 I always pronounce it wrong. La Perche. And I always mistake it with La Strasse. 31 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:34,600 Yeah. 32 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,760 I find them like somehow confusing. 33 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:38,280 Yeah. 34 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:40,880 La Strasse is the one from Pascal Barbour, right? 35 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:41,480 That's right. 36 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,520 And La Perche is the one from, what's the name of the guy? 37 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:46,240 Alan Passard. 38 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:47,360 Alan Passard, of course. 39 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:47,640 Yeah. 40 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:55,120 What I like about La Perche is that it's such a forward thinking restaurant when it comes to vegetables. 41 00:02:55,120 --> 00:03:04,440 They have such a central place in his cooking and elevating vegetables to a three Michelin star place for me. 42 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:05,920 It's amazing the way he does it. 43 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:10,760 Yeah, totally. I mean, in like many aspects, you know, for me, honestly, 44 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:18,680 he's one of the most inspiring chefs that like I've met and like that I never worked with him. 45 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:23,000 I applied a couple of times when I was younger, but now I got an answer. 46 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,720 But yeah, like when I ate there, the food was amazing. 47 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:33,080 But also what you get from him, like his philosophy, he's such a poetic guy. 48 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,840 The way that he talks about his craft, his job, he really, you know, 49 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:41,720 he really sees himself as a craftsman and as an artist and he lives it unapologetically, you know. 50 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:53,200 And he also does it like unapologetically exactly what he wants without getting influenced by this dish or that dish or this guy does this, this guy does this. 51 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,360 He doesn't give a fuck. He just does. 52 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,720 He's completely enveloped in his world. 53 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:03,160 And like what you mentioned just now, it's like that he, after he already had three Michelin stars for so long, 54 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:07,560 he from one day to the other said, I'm not going to serve any meat or fish. 55 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:09,520 That is like insane. 56 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:17,320 Like from a business point of view, you know, from a standing point of view of his sort of like standing as one of France's most famous chefs, 57 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,680 you know, because in France, especially, you know, a couple of years ago, 58 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:26,640 it was much more before everywhere else chefs kind of became public figures in France. 59 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,920 It was already like a thing, like with the Trois-Groves brothers and stuff like that. 60 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,080 They were in the newspapers and TV. 61 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,080 And yeah, and he just stopped cold turkey one day to the other. 62 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:41,320 And also to like put himself in the risk of sort of like being like, now what? 63 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:43,960 You can't use, you can't use chicken stock. 64 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:45,280 What are you going to do now? 65 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:49,280 And like he put himself in such an uncomfortable position to boost his creativity. 66 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:50,680 That's crazy, you know? 67 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,840 I actually didn't knew this because I've been following him for years. 68 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:57,240 So his restaurant is completely vegetarian now. 69 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,160 No, so he did start cooking meat and fish again. 70 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,760 But, you know, he was famous for the way that he cooks meat and fish and seafood. 71 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,680 Like that's what his restaurant was famous for, because he does it extremely well. 72 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:13,440 I mean, like the way that he approaches cooking meat and fish and stuff like that, 73 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:15,160 it's really, really special. 74 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,360 And then he, I mean, I saw an interview with him where he said, 75 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:26,000 I got to a point where I was so saturated with what I was doing and I felt really dull. 76 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,880 And then I got into the kitchen one day and like, 77 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,640 I was working with, I think he said it was like a piece of veal. 78 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,240 And he said in the blood and everything and everything was so vulgar and so like, 79 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,240 bah, and I felt really just like sick and uninspired. 80 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:41,280 And I said everything out. 81 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:42,320 Yeah. 82 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,640 And also what I really, really admire about that kitchen is that there are no recipes, 83 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:48,880 you know, supposedly, like who can say, 84 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:53,360 but the way that they approach cooking is very intuitively, you know? 85 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,040 It's kind of like you have to understand where we want to go. 86 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,760 And you have to change the way that you operate, 87 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:01,440 depending on the products that come in. 88 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:03,040 And it's all very spontaneous. 89 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,040 And I think like, I think it's actually in a Netflix documentary where 90 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:08,880 he describes it so beautifully as well. 91 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,520 He says, we don't know what's going to happen, you know? 92 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:13,280 We don't know what's going to come out. 93 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:16,320 We change it in the moment, but that makes it alive. 94 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,080 And like, that makes it risky. 95 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:23,280 But the reward of that risk is, you know, an incredible feast, you know? 96 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:28,320 Because he takes those risks, but when it works out, then it's like amazing. 97 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:34,320 You've said many things about Alain Passard that reminds me of Pierre de Agner, 98 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:41,520 like on a different way, because you say he just started doing whatever the fuck he wanted. 99 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:45,280 And he just, this freestyle cooking you're mentioning, 100 00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:48,800 all of these things relate completely for me. 101 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:53,520 I would describe Pierre de Agner like as a crazy jazz player, 102 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:57,680 like a freestyler at the highest level. 103 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:01,280 And he's been doing that for decades, you know? 104 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:04,720 Like I actually saw him on a conference and he was cooking there 105 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:09,040 and he was really doing stuff like crazy, you know? 106 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,280 Like putting artichoke leaves into a stock, you know? 107 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:16,880 Like stuff that are completely counterintuitive. 108 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:19,920 And he's where he is and he's got the respect he has. 109 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:21,920 Man, I absolutely love Pierre de Agner, man. 110 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:22,960 I mean, it's such a... 111 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:28,080 Like again, like I have, I never worked with him, I never met him, 112 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:32,000 but like I have so much respect and admiration and sympathy for the guy 113 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:33,920 because of exactly what you say, you know? 114 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:35,760 He's so like manic in a way. 115 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:37,920 Like when you see him cooking, he's like fully in. 116 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,280 Have you seen those like old documentaries, 117 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:43,440 L'Invention de la Cuisine? 118 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:43,760 No. 119 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:45,120 The invention of cooking? 120 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,800 Man, you have to, anybody who like can get their hands on it, 121 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,840 they sell it as a DVD set, I think still, like you can buy it. 122 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,040 But it's these, I think it's in the early 2000s, 123 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:59,280 it's like an hour each on Pierre de Agner and Alain Passart. 124 00:07:59,280 --> 00:07:59,760 I think... 125 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:03,120 I don't know, but like on Pascal Babot or Michel Bras. 126 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:04,960 I know, I know the documentaries. 127 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:09,040 I haven't seen them, but it's just a series of great friendships. 128 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:09,680 Yeah, exactly. 129 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:10,800 So good. 130 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:12,480 Well, Pierre de Agner was so good. 131 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,320 I met these guys, both of them, Alain Passart and Pierre de Agner, 132 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,520 also on a TV show, but do you know Iron Chef? 133 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:20,240 Yes. 134 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,760 But like the ones from the 90s, the Japanese ones, 135 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:30,560 where the Japanese would dress with this super funny, colorful chef jackets, you know? 136 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:34,400 And there was this special episode in France, 137 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:37,440 and the challengers were Pierre de Agner, 138 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:42,720 where Alain Passart and also the chef from La Tour d'Argant. 139 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:43,200 Yeah. 140 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:45,120 Those were the three challengers, you know? 141 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,040 And they beat the Iron Chefs, of course. 142 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:53,440 Yeah, but you know, actually what I found out like not too long ago is that 143 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:57,440 that episode with Pierre de Agner, which is an amazing episode, by the way, 144 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,320 like he does... there are scenes in there which are iconic. 145 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:04,880 I still remember, yeah, like he mixing the butter with his hands into the spot, you know? 146 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:10,320 Yeah, but he's like cooking crazy stuff also, like it's like lobster in like... 147 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:13,920 Yeah, it was lobster with pigeons, something like that, right? 148 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,080 Yeah, yes, exactly. Like something super crazy. 149 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,280 Yeah, like you say, he's kind of like, he's looking for a spoon, he can't find it, 150 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:24,400 he just puts his hand in the pot, and just stirring around with his like long hair, 151 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:25,760 kind of like falling in his face. 152 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:31,680 But what I've heard is that that episode, it was part of a movement of like people, 153 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:33,440 especially who were the judges. 154 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:38,320 It was like Trois-Bours, and it was... what's the mashed potato guy? 155 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:39,120 Yeah, Robuchon. 156 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:40,000 Robuchon. 157 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,640 Yeah, Robuchon was the jury in a few episodes. 158 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:47,760 Yeah, and Pierre de Agner went bankrupt, you know, and he had a restaurant in the 159 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:53,600 countryside first, and he went bankrupt, and he went bust, and a lot of the great chefs 160 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:58,320 from France, they supported him so that he could come to Paris and open his new restaurant. 161 00:09:58,320 --> 00:09:59,200 Oh, nice. 162 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:03,120 And that was... I heard that that was part of it, this episode, of supporting him and 163 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,080 getting him the funds to start his new project. 164 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:10,960 Yeah, this inside thing that happened in a food scene, it reminds me of, I mentioned 165 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:14,960 La Tour d'Argent, which is probably the oldest open restaurant in Europe. 166 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:17,200 It's like a 500-year-old restaurant. 167 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:18,080 Yeah, it's crazy. 168 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:24,000 And this restaurant used to have three Michelin stars in the 90s, and I don't know how many 169 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:27,680 it has now, but at some point, it had only one. 170 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:32,320 And apparently, one of the things that happened in the 90s, and I heard this from... 171 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:36,720 I went to a culinary school, and the teacher was telling this story because he worked there, 172 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:42,240 that they have, I don't know what the name is, a competitive advantage when you bribe 173 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,520 the producers to give you the best stuff, and that's illegal. 174 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:46,480 You can't do that. 175 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:46,880 Yeah. 176 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,720 So, and they told me like they would do that with the sea product. 177 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:55,840 He would be there like in the middle of the night, after cleaning the whole kitchen, 178 00:10:55,840 --> 00:11:01,040 and that's a time where fish produce would arrive, which is kind of like, oh, you know, 179 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,480 like why would you get your supplier at two in the morning? 180 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:06,080 It's dodgy. 181 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:11,280 And he told me like everything was like alive, all the fish produce they would get. 182 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:18,400 They went to a trial, and they lost, and never was the same again for Le Tour d'Organt, 183 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:20,400 but I don't know what they're doing now. 184 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,720 This restaurant is super legendary. 185 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:28,000 When you go there, they give you a number for the Canarte d'Organt, 186 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:32,400 and they will tell you like the numbers, yeah, like Charlie Chaplin was blah, blah, blah. 187 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:38,160 The number, this and that, you know, like they have all the record of all the Canarte d'Organt 188 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:39,120 they've delivered. 189 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:40,160 Yeah, that's super crazy. 190 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:42,240 Yeah, I mean, it's such an iconic place. 191 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:45,760 I mean, for me, one of the most iconic places is also La Strance. 192 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:50,000 La Strance, you know, it's very easy to like, not super easy, but it's kind of like, 193 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:54,800 it's not so far off to mistake La Strance with La Perche, because Pascal Babot, 194 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,920 also for me, one of the most inspirational chefs ever. 195 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:01,200 He was the longtime sous chef of Arnaud Passard in La Perche, 196 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:04,640 until he branched out and opened La Strance. 197 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:10,160 And he, his cooking style is very unique. 198 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,160 He takes a lot of influence from Asia. 199 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:16,480 A lot of it is, you know, inspired by Japanese technique and Japanese ingredients 200 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,360 through the lens of a Parisian French chef, 201 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,480 and also from India and Morocco and stuff like that. 202 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:26,400 He's very free in his way of cooking. He doesn't really get too bogged down. 203 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:31,200 But his, again, his technique is crazy. 204 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:36,160 He's also somebody who just really uncompromisingly does his style of food, 205 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:37,440 what he wants to do. 206 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:39,440 How many are there in the kitchen? 207 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:41,680 Like three or four cooks, something like that? 208 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:43,520 At La Strance, yeah, something like that. 209 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:44,720 Yeah, three or four. 210 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,840 And it's like notoriously hard kitchen to get into. 211 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:55,520 I think David Chang once called Pascal Barbot like the chef that chefs respect the most. 212 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:59,120 He's not that well known to people who aren't in the industry. 213 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,720 But if you're a chef, if you're a cook, he's like a saint, you know? 214 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:04,400 The saint of the four gratotes. 215 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:06,640 Is that in the Momofuku book? 216 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:10,400 I think he writes like a review from a visitor at La Strance. 217 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:11,200 And maybe. 218 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:12,400 I remember reading that. 219 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:16,000 He said like the waiters were like visible ninjas 220 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:20,160 that would just make things disappear at the table. 221 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,440 Then there is also this whole astronomy scene. 222 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:25,920 I was on a bad month, which is August. 223 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:30,640 It's not a good month to go to Paris because a lot of places are closed. 224 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:37,040 But this scene of a downbar, a septime, what can you say about it? 225 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:41,040 Yeah, I mean, that's the other sort of like, that's for me, that's the most interesting side. 226 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,160 Because like, yeah, you have those Michelin star bunkers and they're kind of cool. 227 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:48,480 But where for me, the real like lifeblood of the city is. 228 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,800 And in no way, like any less quality at all. 229 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:53,920 It's just a different format. 230 00:13:53,920 --> 00:14:00,640 There's this whole like astronomy scene, which I think then also after it really kicked off in France, 231 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:02,400 kind of like spread around the world. 232 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,720 Also this approach of sort of like chefs that come from really high quality backgrounds. 233 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:11,920 And then say, I want to do something affordable, approachable. 234 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:16,080 I want to have a place where you drink really good wine that you don't have to pay a hundred quid for. 235 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,360 I want a place that I can like take my friends, you know, like you can't. 236 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,560 If you work in a three Michelin star place, you can't invite your friends over, you know, 237 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,520 and say, hey, cool, I'll, you know, I'll give you a discount or whatever. 238 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:32,000 And what's emerged from that, from this new generation of chefs is such a cool, 239 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,000 fun cooking and eating scene that's just really free. 240 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,800 And it's just about making really fucking good food, having a really good atmosphere, 241 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:42,960 really good wine, really good cocktails, whatever. 242 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:44,240 And just having a really good time. 243 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:50,080 And I have to tell you, like my last visit to Paris, that was the time when I went to La Perche 244 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:55,120 and I hyped it up a lot in my head and it was a very good experience, but nowhere near, 245 00:14:55,680 --> 00:15:02,800 like it was nowhere near as fun, as much fun as I had going to places like Bones and Le Cerval 246 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:05,200 and the Baratta and all these sorts of places. 247 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:06,320 I had such a good time. 248 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,480 Yeah, I kind of felt the same. 249 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:14,000 I went there, I was in Paris a few days with my homie, Jean-Baptiste Richer, 250 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:19,200 and we went to Robuchon, to La Terriere, which is like, you know, like something you expect 251 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:24,640 all of your life to go to this place and to try the mashed potatoes from the mashed potato guy. 252 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:30,960 And it was kind of disappointing, some of the dishes, especially the mashed potatoes. 253 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:36,000 I was like, I've done this mashed potatoes myself hundreds of times, 254 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,120 and I know this is not good enough. 255 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,520 And you know, two Michelin star plays. 256 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:47,120 We also had like this famous cherry gazpacho, and it was lame. 257 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:51,280 It was like, we've done gazpacho ourselves afterwards, 258 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,520 and it was like, okay, this is how it should be, you know? 259 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,280 And that was Robuchon. 260 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:01,040 There were a few good dishes and everything, but it wasn't life-changing 261 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:02,800 and it was kind of disappointing. 262 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,240 And then we went to Panhatan, one of the best places ever. 263 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:08,400 Eels, incredible. 264 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:10,080 That was a favorite one. 265 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:16,720 And as you said, like, you see technique, you see high-level product, you see creativity, 266 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:19,840 and also like bold decisions. 267 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:28,000 I'm going to charcoal grill a cucumber and do it properly and serve it with just three other reds. 268 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:30,400 Eels was amazing. 269 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,160 It's one of the best eating experiences I've ever had. 270 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:40,560 And as you said, it feels like a casual place, not pretentious. 271 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,840 The kitchen was open, you know, like super nice place. 272 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:44,800 I really recommend it. 273 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:45,600 Yeah. 274 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,240 Yeah, I'm totally on board. 275 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,920 I mean, sort of like after we had this dinner, I left a little bit, 276 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,600 like not this, no, I mean, you can say I left a little bit disappointed 277 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:57,280 because I was expecting it to be more. 278 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:00,160 And I mean, like for what you pay, especially, it was crazy. 279 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:05,120 I think between two people, we paid 900 euros for like a bottle of wine and dinner for two. 280 00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:06,560 And it was like nuts. 281 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:07,060 Yeah. 282 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:08,640 Honestly. 283 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:11,680 And after that, I was like, I was like, man, I'm never doing this again. 284 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:12,720 This is my compulsion. 285 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:14,000 Yeah, that's the thing. 286 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:18,160 That's the reason I don't go to three Michelin star places unless they invite me 287 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:20,000 because I'm not willing to pay. 288 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,720 You know, my top is like 200 euros. 289 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:29,920 And if it's like the experience of your life, maybe 300, maybe, but probably not. 290 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,960 You know, but above that for me, it's just not an option. 291 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:33,200 Yeah. 292 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:34,640 You know, like I don't enjoy it. 293 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:35,520 Yeah, definitely. 294 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:40,400 But like part of the reason we went to Paris that time is because there was a famous restaurant 295 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:44,720 at the time called Bones, which was run by Australian chef James Henry, 296 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:49,440 who's now got an incredible restaurant outside of Paris called Le Doyen. 297 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:53,760 Or Le Doyené, I'm never sure how to pronounce it, where the accent is, 298 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,400 where he grows vegetables in a farm and like has this really beautiful restaurant. 299 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:02,480 But anyway, his restaurant was closing and we kind of took the opportunity to visit France 300 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:04,000 and to go to the restaurant before it closed. 301 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:05,440 And we had such a cool time. 302 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,080 You know, we sat down, we ate the whole menu. 303 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:12,720 And then after that, we sat at the bar and ate like the bar menu, you know, 304 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:17,520 and it was just sort of like oysters and croquettes and grilled prawns and stuff. 305 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:21,360 And just the whole atmosphere was completely different. 306 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:26,560 Where at La Pêche, you felt like the waiters hated you, you know, 307 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:30,720 like there, you know, you're talking to people, you're meeting the people that's sitting next to you. 308 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,640 You're drinking wine together, you're talking to the sommelier and you're chatting about wine. 309 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:38,720 And, you know, he then like recommends you places to go to eat tomorrow. 310 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,440 And like that's kind of what hospitality should be, you know. 311 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:48,000 And the baguette for me was like a super crazy experience, like, yeah, and super like, 312 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,560 I don't know how to describe it, like between mystic and romantic or I don't know, 313 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:57,360 because we go there and then there is this old lady outside, 314 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:01,440 smoking a cigarette on her chef whites and everything. 315 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,520 And she's fucking Spanish, she's Argentine. 316 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,680 She was just having a cigarette and I see her and I think like, 317 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:14,800 okay, maybe this lady works in the kitchen or something like, I don't know. 318 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:18,080 We go inside and we start having dinner. 319 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:22,000 I remember everything was like simple and perfect, you know, 320 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:26,160 like there's some fries as a starter, just French fries. 321 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:31,680 And the waiter would explain, yeah, this is typically done in Argentina 322 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:33,440 and our chef is from Argentina. 323 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,400 I was like, oh, that old lady outside is the head chef. 324 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:42,080 And then at some point I go to the bathroom and you get to see the kitchen. 325 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:44,560 She was cooking alone, that old lady. 326 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:46,640 And she was delivering everything. 327 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:52,880 And this was really feeling like that romantic archetype of grandmother cooking 328 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:53,760 perfectly done. 329 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:56,480 It was exactly that. 330 00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:01,200 And then on top of that, I also go to, I don't know exactly where, 331 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,360 like another room or something. 332 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:08,160 And there is this whole culinary library from that woman. 333 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:13,600 And there were like a lot of super avant-garde books and everything. 334 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:15,360 And I was like, what is this place? 335 00:20:15,360 --> 00:20:17,440 You know, like where am I? 336 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:18,800 Yeah, I love that place. 337 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:20,640 It's one of my favorite places in Paris. 338 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:24,880 I think you described it perfectly. 339 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:29,280 It's this mix of romanticism and mysticism. 340 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,960 You know, it's like also, I think it's her husband, 341 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,280 the guy who does the wine behind the bar. 342 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:37,680 I looked at this guy and I was sort of like, man, 343 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:40,000 you're one of the most handsome dudes I've ever seen. 344 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,960 You know, it's kind of like black jumper, gray hair, slick back, clean shape. 345 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,040 You know, with like a small like pair of glasses. 346 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:48,720 He was the coolest dude ever, you know? 347 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:51,840 And these guys, you know, it's kind of like there's no pretentiousness. 348 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,320 It's just like, they also, they do their own thing. 349 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,480 You know, it's kind of like the guy's a little bit moody, 350 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:57,920 but he's not unfriendly. 351 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:01,200 And you know, she, like you say, like she's just cooking by herself. 352 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:03,680 And the food was so nice. 353 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:09,440 I remember like as a dessert there on the menu, it said rice pudding, you know? 354 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,240 And like, I love rice pudding, like at home, you know, 355 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:14,160 like my grandma made rice pudding all the time. 356 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,920 And so I ordered it and it came and it just hit the right spot, you know? 357 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:19,600 Because it was perfectly made. 358 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,960 It was like with, I think it was with mirror bells or something like that. 359 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,600 Super simple, but just really lovely cooking. 360 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:31,280 I remember we had oak cheeks, we had brains, we had sweet breads, 361 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:34,160 and everything was like sweet breads, potatoes, and a sauce. 362 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:34,480 Boom. 363 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:34,880 Yeah. 364 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:38,400 Same with, she would even repeat some of the garnishes. 365 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,760 And yeah, some nicely cooked vegetables and butter. 366 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:43,600 And you would get the same in three different dishes, 367 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:45,920 because that's not the point of the dish, you know? 368 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:51,040 And then for dessert, we had also homemade hazelnut ice cream. 369 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:53,600 Like a crazy place, really. 370 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:55,280 Yeah. Super, super nice. 371 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:59,440 Yeah. And I think that, like I mentioned before, you know, like a lot of places 372 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,760 and a lot of chefs who also then like kind of come from this background, 373 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,400 they then went and tried to get that sort of vibe. 374 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,960 And one really good example for me is like, 375 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:14,960 especially after we spoke about La Strasse on La Perche, is Tatiana Lever and her sister. 376 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:18,880 And so Tatiana Lever, she was already like pretty well known, 377 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:23,280 even like when she was like, before she had her own place. 378 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:27,280 And she was one of the chefs in La Perche, and then she was, I think, 379 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:29,680 the sous chef in La Strasse for many, many years. 380 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:34,000 And like, as we mentioned before, on La Strasse, the chefs stay for a really long time. 381 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,640 It's a really hard kitchen to get into, the level's incredibly high. 382 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:41,280 And so everybody was expecting her to like leave after how many years 383 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:46,000 and open another Michelin star restaurant. 384 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:51,120 And instead she opened a really casual restaurant together with her sister, 385 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:56,480 who runs the front of house, where they cook French, Asian food. 386 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:00,480 Asian because they're both, I think they're Filipino, like half Filipino, half French. 387 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:01,840 And it's so nice. 388 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,040 And I had a really crazy moment there, actually, 389 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:07,280 because the food is very, very simple, you know? 390 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:11,600 You get sort of like sauteed clams with homemade sweet chili sauce and Thai basil. 391 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,360 As like a starter, you get sort of like blood sausage, wontons, 392 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:16,800 just really delicious things. 393 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,920 And as a main course, I had like a piece of pork belly, 394 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:23,120 and next to it was sort of like sauteed vegetables. 395 00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:26,640 And it was aubergine. 396 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:28,880 One was cooked, one was pickled. 397 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:34,400 And then there was like a sort of condiment with it, like chard, peppers, and coriander seeds. 398 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:36,800 And I remember like eating it, right? 399 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:38,160 And it's like, it's very simple. 400 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:42,000 Like there's no hiding any sort of like weird technique or anything. 401 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:43,680 And it completely blew me away. 402 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:45,280 It was so perfectly seasoned. 403 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:51,840 And there was so much like intricacy in the way that it was spiced, pickled, cooked aubergine, 404 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,480 the like coriander seeds that were sort of like, 405 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:57,360 they weren't like, they must have been really high quality coriander seeds 406 00:23:57,360 --> 00:23:59,600 because they had this really fragrant aroma. 407 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:06,480 And just that impressed me so much more than any sort of like high level technique 408 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,160 that I saw on any of the other mission stuff is, because that's really difficult. 409 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:16,240 Also, like on the popular level, there is this super strong Asian food scene. 410 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,800 They brought me to a restaurant called Pho Thai. 411 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,400 It's a Vietnamese, and it's by far the best Vietnamese I've eaten. 412 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:24,240 I've never been to Vietnam. I would love to. 413 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:29,360 But I remember they served us, there was like this kind of ravioli 414 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:35,280 with pig trotters and something that they said that is, ah, this is Vietnamese pho. 415 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,480 And it was like some sort of liver pâté. 416 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:44,960 And also a duck marmite, chicken, because of friends, I went there. 417 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:50,800 They worked with Gaston Acurio, who opened some restaurants there in Paris. 418 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,560 And that was a place also that Gaston would go, 419 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,760 and he would tell them that that's a place, 420 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:02,400 Alan Passard would go when he would eat Chinese or Vietnamese. 421 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,520 That there is also like a lot of street food and stuff. 422 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:10,640 You can find bakeries just eating like a super nice baguette, 423 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,840 which is part of being in Paris, you know? 424 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,680 Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, we haven't even talked about the baking scene yet, you know? 425 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:24,400 Obviously, a huge part of French culinary identity, you know, like places like Dupas et Desidets, 426 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:29,120 I think it's called, you know, very famous for the pistachios, snail and stuff like that. 427 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:33,760 Obviously, Paris has a huge melting pot of cultures also, you know, like you say, Chinese, 428 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:40,000 lots of Jewish culture, Middle Eastern, you know, there's really lovely Middle Eastern places like 429 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:46,080 Mise-Nord. I think it's Israeli food. There's Ulfah, Dürum that make like super simple 430 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,960 lahmacun. And I mean, they're just, I mean, they're just incredible, you know, 431 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:55,520 just like freshly baked lahmacun salad. But everything has this vibe of amazing produce, 432 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,960 amazingly made. You mentioned Mise-Nord in the Jewish quarter. 433 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:04,720 Yeah. Yeah, I love that place. Yeah, they have these kebabs or just like an artichoke. 434 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:09,440 Here's an artichoke cooked and enjoy it. I really like that place as well. 435 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:14,320 Yeah, they also do this like just like a whole cauliflower head and they like roast it until it's 436 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:18,400 super dark and brown and super, super tender. And then they like have like sauces and like 437 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,560 siege and stuff like that. And it's just like no bullshit, just super, super tasty food. 438 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:27,200 Yeah, we'll do that one. We'll do that. Yeah. Yeah. Super nice. It's actually one of the places 439 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:34,560 that they recommended me in Bones. There's too much to talk about with Paris, you know, 440 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:39,840 I think we could easily make another. We didn't even touch the sweet stuff. 441 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:44,560 Exactly. No, Pierre, I mean. We can leave that for another episode. 442 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:51,920 Yeah, we can do an episode on pastries or whatever. Yeah, I think we should. 443 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:57,120 That's it for this week's episode of Potluck Food Talks. If you like what we're doing, 444 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:00,880 make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. 445 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:15,760 You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok as Potluck Food Talks. The show airs every Monday.