BonjourParis

We’ve all been in this scenario. You and your spouse are at a nice restaurant for a fine occasion. You both have some idea of what dinners you wish to order, based on personal preference and perhaps, some idea of the specialties of the restaurant chef. Then the Sommelier delivers the restaurant wine list, pauses briefly to see if you have any questions, then disappers, to return shortly. You flip the pages, noting columns of expensive wines, and wonder what to order. Here are some thoughts that might help you out.

Little did I know, growing up in Geneva, that the popular Café de Paris, down the street from the Gare Cornavin, was already an icon. I just knew it smelled great inside, a busy, beefy aroma of thin-sliced entrecôte, bubbling butter sauce, and frites à volonté. Replicated in Paris and renamed l'Entrecôte, the concept became the embodiment of the French steakhouse. For me, it's comfort food.

Recently, after much urging from family and friends, I decided to start my own little business: La Cucina di TerrESa with the simple desire of offering cooking classes that celebrate the vegetable kingdom—more specifically, organic, seasonal produce—and food tours emphasizing all that is organic to Americans vacationing or relocating in Paris.

Let’s try something new for Valentine’s Day. You’ve already got the card (or sent one by email) and the chocolates. Now comes the celebration. This year, how about a choice? Here are some possibilities, a champagne tea, or a special dinner with wines. Either will be a treat if you are tired of surf and turf and cutesy restaurant ads for two for Valentine’s Day.

With antique shopping at St. Sozy behind us, geese grazing under walnut trees grab our attention more than the gentle bends in the road toward Creysse, our anticipated next stop. We think, “Why not pull over and watch school children in the valley below conquer a cornfield maze?” Then, downstream, a huge roadside factory interrupts the lazy day and a billboard notifies passers-by that tours of the fromagerie are being conducted. I lift my accelerator foot a bit but then press down again, chased away by the smokestacks and the parking lot built for tour busses.

I was pleased to note this title on the front page of the December 26, 2007 Washington Post. Finally, I thought, we will have a column that explores the merits and demerits of point scores for wine! Turning to the Food Section to the article indicated revealed a disappointment. Here was no analysis of point scores at all. The author said that point scores “allow the average person to choose a good bottle without knowing the soil characteristics of the Medoc.”