Culinary tour of the Marais district

Paris has always felt like my soul was born and destined there, returning and visiting like a possessed person once a year, and lingering yearningly the rest of the year, like an arm severed from my body awaiting the annual surgery to reattach it to the body.

Like many who have been touched by Paris, I shy away from tourist sites, bustling squares, tourist-centric streets, and travel book icons. I'll spend a month in Paris and my feet won't set foot on the Champs-Élysées. Paris For me, the Marais is embodied in one small district, and its small, narrow, ancient streets. With inexplicable zeal, I refer to the Marais as Paris and to everything else as leaving Paris. All of this, of course, is completely subjective and inexplicable or justified to those who are offended, and rightly so.

A culinary journey begins with a good apartment

The permanent apartment on Rue Saint Gilles opposite the entrance to the Place des Vosges is the one we return to as faithfully as if it were our own home, in fact it is a kind of one. A supermarket next door, a vegan supermarket below the house, an excellent artisan boulangerie 30 meters from the house and the Bastille Market as a rainbow five minutes walk from the house with a shopping cart twice a week. Everything a chef needs to start the day with a smile.

This wonderful market is the largest inParis markets, open in the morning every Thursday and Sunday, a less picturesque and romantic market compared to the nearby competition (Aligre, Enfants Rouges), but in practical terms it is the big winner, it has everything for cooks, I return every year to the amazing stuffed pasta stall there, to my specific stalls, the Chavre cheese stall, the Boudin sausage stall, the poultry and game stall and the fresh ocean fish stall, everything else changes for me according to need and interest, and there is always something interesting. Buy crème fraîche la crème (unpasteurized) and bright umbrella baskets of red and black raspberries, blueberries and strawberries, add powdered sugar and a few drops of Calvados, mix everything and close your eyes when it's in your mouth.

We wake up, shower, and have our first morning coffee at the home cafe, carette, a Parisian institution that was established ninety years ago in the square Place de Vosges The one next door, 25 Place des Vosges, is surprising, but they make good coffee here, and the point is that the entire rich display case of dozens of types of patisserie is impeccably excellent, to stand there staring and getting confused. I highly recommend the giant elephant ear cookie, crispy and caramelized with buttermilk, excellent for pre-coating the digestive system in preparation for a busy culinary day.

It's fun to start the day in this calm and peaceful spot, to sit comfortably at a table outside, sip a bite and gaze in amazement at the water flowing in the morning on the side of the road that is always overflowing at the line connecting it to the sidewalk, how the municipality opens a tap here every morning at the edge of the city, and all the sides of the roads that touch the sidewalks are washed away by the stream that takes with it all the dirt, leaves and leftovers from yesterday to drainage points on every street corner, how clever it is that with zero effort, thousands of cleaning workers and noisy brush trucks are saved on the streets. Tell me, have you noticed that every morning the sides of the roads in Paris are wet and you didn't know why...

Noel's effort to overcome laziness gets us up from our coffee for a day of curiosity, crossing the Vosges complex in a surprising passage through Sully HotelWe will soak up the beautiful atmosphere of the place and the garden next to it and leave it straight onto the bustling Rue Saint Antoine, a few steps towards the St Paul metro and we will reach one of the most impressive fruit and vegetable stores in Paris, 17 types of lettuce, 15 types of tomatoes, a spectacular agricultural museum that is somewhat reminiscent of what the Fauchon delicatessen used to be thirty years ago and before it went bankrupt, was sold and lost its character.

We devoured a cluster of fragrant Muscat grapes and spent the morning wandering the crowded area between Rue des Francs Bourgeols and Rue Rivoli. A young and fun atmosphere, with innovative fashion stores, modern art, surprising food, and a sea of ​​architectural tradition steeped in the history of the Marais.

It's true that we are Israelis and traveled all the way to Paris, but one of the tastiest places in the complex is theMiznon At Eyal Shani, 22 Rue des Ecouffes, get roasted cauliflower with garlic aioli, and meaty pita with fish cutlets in a khrayma sauce, mush.

Recommended patisseries in the Marais district

Since we still lack something sweet in our mouths, we will surprise ourselves with a Portuguese corner that opened in the complex several years ago, Like a Lisbon Offers two types of Pastel de Nata, a crispy pastry filled with rich, creamy cream, a small and rare pastry with a delicate flavor, one type with cinnamon and a second type without, the pastries are tiny and both are worth a taste. 37 Rue du Roi de Sicile.

Of course, that wasn't enough, so just a few steps on foot and we won't miss Pierre Herme's chocolate and macaron shop on 18 Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie. You must taste several types of macarons here. The variety changes and is called "collections" in this sense, as in the fashion world. Choose a few macarons and enjoy this wonder. Unfortunately, there are no cakes here. You can taste Herme's cakes in the shop on Rue Bonaparte and eat them on the bench in the square in front of the Saint-Sulpice church. You will undoubtedly go for his legendary mille-feuille cake, the best cake in the world, period. Don't forget to close your eyes while eating.

 

Well, it's time to sit down and rest a bit, so we headed to the best crepe restaurant in Paris, right next to the Picasso Museum. Breizh Caffe, a culinary project brought from Saint Malo in Brittany to Paris, a compact crêperie on the corner of the street, in the popular Brittany regionCrepes Dark and made from rich, gluten-free buckwheat flour, an exciting selection of crepes and galettes with a variety of fillings and preparation methods, using artisanal Bordeaux butter, recommended crepe tatin with brown sugar apples and Calvados flambé, and smoked herring galette and warm potatoes, a selection of chilled ciders of your choice, a fun break.

At the end of this meal, we will walk a few meters on foot, cider in hand, towards the charming garden on the Rue de Temple square and the corner of Rue de Bretagne. A short rest that reassures us of what is to come, because thirty meters from the garden we enter the market. Covered Market of Red Children, a small, covered market in the north of the Marais, offers a selection of raw material stalls alongside a selection of street food stalls, cafes and restaurants, an experiential and fun stroll that allows you to see, buy and taste as much as you like. The complex is pleasant and contains within and near it a variety of eateries for a snack, 39 Rue de Bretagne.

But we will not waste the remaining potential capacity here, I move towards the sweetest ending of all, from here we march to the house of God, to the temple of the best pastry chef in the world. For a man whose level of commitment, perfection and precision in his product is unmatched by any competing pastry shop, welcome to the Chocolatier Patisserie of Jacques Genin The man and the legend, you enter and it seems like you've entered a museum and not a cafe. There isn't a single cake in the display case, nor can you order a cake to take home, there are chocolates, nougat candies and marmalades on display, cakes you sit down, order and they'll serve you. The idea – in order to get the best of the best of the best – the dough must not be in contact with the cream for more than a few minutes before it reaches your mouth, otherwise its crispness will become soggy and ruined.

You order and they make you the cake you asked for on the spot, neither Pierre Herme nor Michalek nor Hugo Victor nor any other pastry chef in Paris or the world practices such extremes, and the result is undoubtedly justified. Take your time and spend at least two hours here, divine pistachio mille-feuille, legendary lemon basil pie, amazing fruit brest, some of the best chocolat choux in Paris, fruit marmalades and especially vegetables that you will never taste anywhere else, crazy caramel sweets, don't give up, tomorrow I'm on a diet. Jeanne is the first place I visit when I arrive in the city, it's my regular starting point. 133 rue de Turenne.

And finally, two more recommended restaurants in the Marais district

For those of you who decide to invest and go all the way with your fantasy and touch paradise, I am at this point returning to my home, where nearby, on the southwest corner of the Place des Vosges, stands a restaurant. L'Ambroisie The beauty of mega-chef Bernard Pacaud, who has held three Michelin stars for thirty consecutive years, is particularly appreciated here. If Holland chose to invite Obama to dinner here in 2015, maybe you can afford it too. Contrary to the norm at Michelin restaurants in France, there is no tasting menu here, everything is ordered a la carte. Again, contrary to the stereotype of foodie hooligans at high-end gourmet restaurants, the dishes here are generous and filling. The menu is in French only and dinner here will cost around €380 per person before wine and service.

A couple here would probably part with four thousand shekels for a once-in-a-lifetime meal. I know it sounds far-fetched, I just think that the intensity of the experience and the memory that will remain from it will be much more significant than two nights at an all-inclusive hotel in Eilat, a matter of worldview. It's a shame that the more realistic option for mortals (most of us) to experience a Michelin restaurant doesn't exist here, a lunch option costing about 100 euros per person, a particularly worthwhile experience that is available at most Michelin restaurants in Paris. To reserve a place at L'Ambroisie, you must make arrangements at least a month in advance. 9 Place des Vosges.

For those who are tired from the long day and skip the Michelin stars of L'Ambroisie, I would recommend ending the evening at our home bar, At Janou's, a quiet and secluded corner like an island of peace in the heart of a trendy neighborhood with bustling complexes at night, a family place specializing in the pastis drink, serving several dozen types of pastis, sitting on the beach in the open air, sipping a good pastis (the service is also friendly to English speakers and they will recommend you). Since Chez Jean is a bar that also serves food, so if you are hungry, go for the goose breast and stuffed rabbit, risotto with Saint Jacques cookies and of course their famous chocolate mousse. Take your time, you are here to stay. 2 Rue Roger Verlomme.

I hope you enjoy the recommendations, they of course must be updated every year, I will continue to write Paris and food On the blogEnjoy your meal.

Have you already taken a culinary tour of the Marais district and are you looking for more ideas?

• Why not take a historical tour of the Marais district where you will discover the charming palaces, hidden gardens and spicy stories of the district? You are welcome to choose between The tour of the central and southern Marae and theTour of the Northern Marais in the footsteps of the Marquise de Savigny.
• Looking for more restaurants in Paris? Enter To the next article And you will find quite a few recommendations for restaurants that site members liked.