RESTAURANT REVIEW: Frenchie Wine Bar, Paris

Steve and I took a trip to Paris a few weekends ago with the sole intention of eating delicious food, drinking great wine and taking in some wonderful sights. After a lot of research I decided that Frenchie was a restaurant I had to try but with a near impossible chance of securing a reservation we opted for the no reservations wine bar across the road (there's also a take away next door). We arrived 15 minutes before opening to make sure we secured a table and as the door opened we (and the rest of the queue) were hustled into a bare-brick, low lit tavern with a table next to the open kitchen.

I'm not a huge fan of wine, in fact I don't really drink it at all when I'm home but when I'm in France I always make an effort to sample a local bottle or two because it's always wonderful and not at all similar to the rubbish I come across at home. Being the novice I am I usually ask the waiter to help me decide, on this occasion I asked for something dry, around €30 and was told Macon-Villages was a lovely bottle. The waiter was right, the wine was lovely and crisp and definitely one of my favourite bottles over the weekend.

When it comes to food I am a huge fan of sharing, I don't really understand why people wouldn't want to as it's a chance to sample a greater selection of the menu, especially in a place you may only get one chance to visit. Steve being the helpful chap he is left me in charge of ordering and with a selection of meaty tapas style dishes with an American-French edge I found myself torn between so many options.

 

Much to my disappointment the steak tartare was sold out, thus making my choice of scallop dish a little easier. The tartare was delicious with a mix of incredibly fresh scallops in a tangy ceviche style sauce. The dish was moorish and the pomegranate seeds added a delightful burst of sweetness.

 

I loved the fact we were sitting next to the kitchen and could see our food being prepared, it definitely makes you appreciate the skill that is put into making a dish look so perfect. The potato gnocchi was an interesting one, tasting more like mash potato than any gnocchi I've had before. The truffles added a welcomed earthy tone and overall the plate was refined comfort, very enjoyable on a cold Parisian evening.

I always feel a little guilty ordering rabbit as I have a pet one at home but as soon as I tasted the ragu with home made pappardelle any guilt went out the window. The meat was tender, the pasta almost tangy with fresh lemon and the sauce rich in flavour.

 

The lobster roll was the first thing I knew I would order and despite it being a steep €24 for the portion size, I do not regret my decision in the slightest. The brioche roll was rich and buttery, the lobster succulent and meaty with an overall taste of pure indulgence.

Being the greedy carnivores that we are we choose a final meat dish over any sort of salad or vegetable. I'm glad we did because the melt-in-the-mouth duck was one of the stand out plates, with deep earthy flavours and sweet overtones from a combination of beets and root veg. I loved how colourful it looked.

With just enough room for dessert Steve had a lovely panacotta whilst I had the richest and most chocolatey mousse ever,  indulgent and glorious this was a true chocolate lovers dessert!

After dinner we headed down the road for a few cocktails, stopping first at the Experimental Cocktail Club where they made me a delicious concoction of gin, lemon and whatever else I can't remember. It was a lovely sour and punchy drink.

Second stop was across the road at Jefrey's for a delightful apple pie cocktail. Despite the amalgamation of booze that evening I was hangover free the following day which is a testament to the quality of French alcohol.

Frenchie Wine Bar was an expensive meal, I think the bill came to €150 but I truly believe it was worth every cent. Of all the restaurants we visited that weekend this is the place I would come back to again. The atmosphere was busy yet casual, there was no pressure to order wine (gin and tonic was available) and the food spoke volumes, if you get the chance to visit I guarantee you will love it!

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Catching up

I'm not sure what happened with my blog, there was a time a couple of years ago where I'd devote hours of my evening to this little space on the internet but recently I just haven't been in the mindset to sit down and write. Last year was a busy one in all honesty; I attended countless gigs and festivals, went on a some brilliant holidays and ate at the most delicious restaurants. All of these things I'd love to share but alas time got the better of me and now it all seems a bit late. It's not that I'm lacking ideas, heck I have plenty of those but it's just sitting down and doing the damn thing that I find difficult. Steve and I moved in together last November and I suppose part of me feels guilty about sitting down with my laptop and ignoring him for a few hours which is silly because he is very encouraging of my blog. But with the new year brings new starts and here I am once again trying to reboot and refresh.

So let's start with something small, a little event I went to a couple of weeks ago to be exact. As a keen traveller with a strong addiction to her iPhone I am always interested to know about different phone contracts and the perks they offer. When Three invited me to their #ComeDineWithThree event to promote their Feel At Home tariff I was keen to hear all about it. Being able to use your phone abroad for no extra cost is something that 100% appeals to me as data roaming costs can sure add up after a week in the sun. I was also fortunate enough to play around with the new iPhone 6 Plus that evening. I'm a big fan of my DSLR but sometimes it's a pain to carry around therefore a phone equipped with a fancy camera is just a the thing I need. I was not disappointed. The camera captures colour nicely and deals with low light surprisingly well. It's the perfect little point and shoot. Tramotana Brindisa provided a delicious feast of tapas for us to snap away at and has made be very excited for a possible trip to the Basque Country later this year.

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Christmas Gift Guide: for people who like to travel

Last year I did a nifty little gift guide for music related presents but this year I've gone for my number one passion in life, travelling!

The first part of the gift guide might as well be called, my favourite collection of travelling books!

Travel books are my favourite thing, from extensive guides from Lonely Planet to design and photography orientated books such as Wallpaper City Guides. I love anything with pretty pictures hence my reason for including City Cycling and Herb Lester. Speaking of Herb Lester, I love his maps and already have a fair few to boot but that doesn't stop me lusting over the Everything Box, if £100 for a set of guides you might never get to put into practice then I highly recommend the European or USA box set. And if you're after something more focused then have a look at the London or NYC box set. On a side note the NYC Burger Map is my current favourite.

If you're after some luxury than Louis Vuitton do a cracking set of luxe travel guides and for a few hundred quid you can bag yourself a beautiful box with the complete collection. For a little less you can buy a beautiful box detailing the history of the LV trunk and for even less a single city guide. For more luxe guides check out one of the LUXE City Guides box sets of single issue guides. I already have the European one but I'll be adding the Asian and World Tour box set to my collection shortly. I've not included any on the guide but the Hg2 books are lovely as well, especially the Eat London and Eat NYC versions. I'm still trying to track down the elusive Eat Paris!

A new find to my travel book collection is the Go Unusual books and the new Go Unusual Overnight Directory is just fab, I bought it for myself a few ago and can't help looking at the crazy, unusual hotels.

Steve bought me the Maps book for my birthday and it's gorgeous, it's a kids book full of beautiful illustrations but it would honestly be perfect for anyone with an interest in maps, travel and wonderful drawings. 1000 Places... was a Christmas gift last year and I love it as it's full of tips for every country you could possibly imagine, definitely one for any travel lover.

For the second half I've focused more on travelling related bits and bobs for use of a better phrase. Everyone needs a beautiful passport holder and luggage tag and how gorgeous are these numbers from Aspinal and Liberty? I love the scratch globe (I already have the map) and these two globe baubles are stunning. I love anything from North Face and I've been after a bag and coat for a long time, this holdall come rucksack would be best for a future around the world travelling trip! On big trips I like to keep a diary and these Molekine and Smythson ones are really lovely, how great is this list keeper as well? I would definitely love a TfL art print poster calendar or jigsaw plus this stick on chalkboard map looks so much fun. The globe lamp is really fun and the matching globe necklace is adorable.

I hope this gives you plenty of ideas for presents, a few of these I would definitely love myself (that's if I don't already have them).

Merry Christmas x

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