Le Cordon Bleu

For a birthday present my mom said that she wanted to take me to Le Cordon Bleu for a cooking class. Well, that sounded like a great idea to me, so a couple of days after she arrived we headed down to the 15th to go to the famed culinary school! We had signed up for a food and organic wine pairing and it was a lot of fun! And probably a lot less stressful than Julia Child’s experience!

On the left was our handsome French chef (obviously!), and the man in the sportcoat was our lovable British translator. There was also a sommelier who was a bit roguish in a charming sort of way. The menu, for those of you who are interested is as follows:

• Verrine de guacamole et dés de lotte marinée coco (monkfish ceviché marinated in guacamole and coconut milk) paired with AOC Cour-Cheverny 2007 Cuvée Alandre Domaine Michel Gendrier  
• Blanquette de veau á l’oseille, carottes glacées  (veal slow-cooked with sorrel and glazed carrots) paired with AOC Minervois 2010 Cuvée Paul Domaine des Homs
• Créme Brûlée á la vanille, tuile aux amandes (vanilla créme brûlée with almond tile biscuits) paired with AOC Jurançon 2010 Clos Uroulat du Domaine Charles et Marie Hours

The monkfish was delicious! And really original. I would have never thought to ceviché fish in guacamole. Clever! Here’s a pic of it:

It was a very fun night. The translator was absolutely hilarious, in a dry British sort of way and it really made me miss life in the UK.

After the class, I went up to him and asked him where in England he was from. He said he had grown up in the Lake District among sheep farmers! How idyllic is that? Well, I’m sure it’s idyllic until you have to herd stinky, stupid, stubborn, scared sheep… Anyway, when I told him that I had lived in Oxford and Edinburgh and loved the UK, he actually got emotional and teared up! He said that he would love to go back to his family’s hometown but he has to be here to earn a living as there is no industry. So sad. So we shared a moment of feeling homesick.

The evening was a blast! Afterwards, mom wanted to have a second dinner so we wandered our way into this lovely little French restaurant. We explained to the elderly proprietor that this was “notre deuxième dîner” or “our second dinner” and split one pre-fix diner that was incredible!

I would highly recommend Je Thé…Me – it was charming, very French, and delicious! It’s a bit out of the way being in the 15th, but the food was incroyable! I mean, how cute is it?

Photo from restaurant website.

Thank you, Mom for such a fun and memorable evening!