A Serious Wine Article or not !

A “philosopher” with whom I’m very close says that “The wine you like the most is actually the best wine”

Taking courage from these words, I decided to write an article on wine. However, I must confess up front that I might be way in over my head. I have many friends who know a lot about wine, I even have friends who are professionally involved in wine. While they are all out there, it’s me who’s attempting to write about wine. That’s some courage! Or maybe foolishness, we’ll see.

I will not bore you by starting with the fact that wine is an alcoholic drink produced from fresh grapes or grape juice through the process of fermentation, neither will I explain all technical details such as how during fermentation the yeast produces 1 degree of alcohol for each 17 g of sugar it consumes. Nor will I talk about how sometimes, when vines are planted too close by, they get stressed by the competion and send their roots as far as 20 m underground. However, I would still like to taste a glass of wine one day and turn around to tell my friends that “This wine has never aged in an oak barrel, it was aged in a steel tank into which oak shavings were added. It just doesn’t have the smoothness, that’s how you can tell.” Even imagining the shocked expressions of those around me is enough to give me joy right now.

Just like all other Turkish teenagers in that time, my first introduction to wine was probably by Kavaklıdere Yakut. I don’t actually remember because it has been so long, and as someone who started their drinking life with the awfully insufferable vodka and sourcherry juice, I really don’t want to go into my previous drinking experience. My true introduction to wine has come very late. When I first went into the restaurant business in 2010, I had my first chance to learn about the old and new Turkish wine brands, local grapes and their prices. That’s why it’s really not very realistic to expect a deep range of knowledge from me in such a short time, please don’t stress me with very high expectations!

When we were opening our restaurant in 2010, it was already decided that our menu would be based on fresh and local produce, therefore by selling only Turkish wine, we wanted to do our part to support the business. Another rule we had was not to have any sponsorship agreements with bigger brands so that we could include smaller producers we liked in the menu. You can see that we were very free-spirited. I saw now that we had wines from 16 different producers on the menu in 2015. It’s not bad at all for a small restaurant that seats 50 people. Of course you should never think that we forgot to take care of our customers who claim that Turkish wines ‘give them an headache’. We included 2 white and 2 red French wines for them on the menu as well. Naturally I did not see French wine as I see it now. But still I see that we still managed to choose good French brands, such as the 140 year old winery Joseph Drouhin, whose wines I had a chance to taste here in France later on. They are a 4th generation family-business in production in Burgundy. We had their Pinot Noir and Chablis on the menu. This reminds me of a joke I heard the other day. . “What gives people feeling of power?” Money? Status? Knowing that Chablis is Chardonnay? Correct answer is the last one. 

Since we’ve mentioned French wines, let’s continue in that line. When it was confirmed that we were actually moving to Paris, I decided to learn more about French wines. I started studying the wine menus at each restaurant we went to. After a couple of times, I realized that almost no restaurant has the same two producers on the menu. The menus are sometimes like little novels, pages long but still 95% of the wines are from different producers. That got me discouraged and I just thought there was no way I could accumulate any sort of knowledge. I can hear some of you saying “Don’t be ridiculous.” For those of you, I have prepared just the right analysis. And I believe this huge study deserves its own paragraph.

While we were stuck at home during the pandemic, as a way to keep myself busy, I decided to save to an excel file every single wine we drank between April 2017 and April 2021, collecting all data from my Vivino account and my phone. Yes I really did that, and I already had every wine we drank saved somewhere. The results are pure madness. To start with, in the last 4 years, we have drunk a bottle of wine every 3.5 days. However let me say, we are certainly not alcoholics. For example, I’ve been on antibiotics for 5 days and I drank a half-glass of red wine, only twice. See, I am able to control myself! I also want to give an idea on the price data I’ve collected so that you can see that there is a certain price range. Looking at that, you can understand the vastness of the French wine industry when you include all the more expensive and cheaper wines out there. Apart from a couple of specials occasions, the wines we drank are all between 20€ and 70€. This includes both supermarket and restaurant prices. It’s time to reveal numbers. In the past for years, 95% of the time with Ayca, we drank a total of 299 bottles of wine. Of these 167 are white, 123 are red and only 9 are rose. (There might a few more roses but they probably did not leave a mark strong enough to be recorded) But what is most amazing, is the number of producers these 299 bottles are from. We drank 299 bottles from 259 different producers. This is a mind blowing number for a Turkish person who has had a brief encounter with the restaurant business. I’m still analyzing the list, therefore there might be more articles about that coming your way. For now, I’ll leave it at that by finally mentioning more numbers about the regions of those bottles.

76 bottles from Burgundy, 57 bottles from Loire, 47 bottles from Rhone, 30 bottles from Languedoc-Roussillon, 28 bottles from Provance, 25 bottles from Bordeaux, 13 bottles from Alsace, 8 bottles from South-West, 5 bottles of Beaujolais, 4 bottles from Savoie, 3 bottles from Corsica, 2 bottles from Jura.

Looking at these results, we can see that as a couple we drank mostly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, followed by Sauvignon Blanc from Loire. Are we a bit boring? Why always the same classci grapes while there were so many options out there?!?!? Ayca, let’s think about this a little, he?? Hahahaa Talking about different grapes, some of the grapes that I heard of for the first time were Poulsard from Jura, Rolle from Provance, Marsanne from Rhone, Clairette and Roussanne, Jacquère and  Gringet from Savoie. I must also say that I tasted 3 of these grapes in Septime, one of my favourite restaurants in Paris. And I remember buying the rest of them from a wine store in our neighborhood. Every year at Christmas I set myself a certain budget to gift myself some new wines. This selection is usually chosen by Didier to take me on a wine adventure. Every year is a new excitement. Didier is extremely knowledged about wine. Every year I show his selection to my philosopher friend mentioned at the beginning of the article, or should I say my friend ‘the talker’? And Didier’s selection passes his evaluation with flying colors very year. Well, if Didier has managed to pair our Turkish style chickpeas with lamb and rice with butter with an amazing bottle of white wine, what more can one say about his skills. It was an amazing pairing. In case you are able to come across it one day, it was Rieffel Winery’s Granite, from the Alsace Region.

What deserves respect in France is the amount of varity available, and the effort all producers put into keeping high-quality standards in a sustainable production approach under the pressures of the threat of enviromental change. I’m impressed by and envy how the whole society works to own and preserve their food culture.

PS: The talking philosopher whose knowledge and friendship I value immensely is Levon Bağış. Nothing should stay hidden!

South of France I - Arles and Gordes

This article has been published in Turkish on Gastereamag on 24.08.2019

I’ll describe you a city, let’s see if you can guess which one? There is usually construction on the roads and sidewalks for long periods of time, a structural frame is up at least on one building on every other street, most of the sidewalks are so narrow that two people cannot fit at the same time, and it takes extra skill to push a pram on these. I’m not even mentioning the dog shit for your sake. Traffic and parking is impossible beyond words. It even has its own traffic rules. Honking the minute the light turns green is another pleasure endowed on the pedestrians. When an important politician visits from another country, most of the roads are closed off. The same goes for when it snows. When the weather gets warm, the suffocating metro cars are very disturbing. In the last two years, one patisserie blew up because of gas leakage, almost taking the whole street with it, a woman set fire to her neighbor’s apartment who complained from the noise she was making, burning down almost the whole building, a fire during the renovation works annihilated most of a historic building, heavy rains flooded some parts of the city.

Sounds familiar? Istanbul, right? No! Let me give you another clue. For more than 20 weekends, there hasn’t been metro service to one of the most important avenues in the city because there have been protests! Yes, now you know! I’m talking about Paris. As you see, even with all the picturesque beauty, widespread public transport and the forests on two sides of the city, it’s still not very easy to live here actually. I’ve haven’t even mentioned how expensive it is. Therefore, here too, we use every chance to get out of the city. On one of these escapes this April, we went to the south of France. I’ll write to you about the places we visited and enjoyed. If you get a chance to visit, I hope you’ll enjoy them too.

Paris to Marseille is 3h 20 min by train. Therefore we chose to go by train and rent a car there. Because we were trying to get away from the city, we didn’t spend much time in Marseille, so I don’t have much to say about it. Even though the idea of a city next to the sea is very appealing to someone from Istanbul, still we chose to get out of the city quickly because we were more excited about small towns and the island we were yet to visit. I shouldn’t forget to mention that this trip has been planned according to the needs of a 6 year old who gets bored after maximum 2 hours in the car and has the potential to easily disturb your inner peace as well.

Our first stop is Arles, some parts of which have been under protection as an Unesco Heritage. It had first occured to us while watching Willem Dafoe’s “At Eternity’s Gate” on a cold winter night at home. Dafoe plays Vincent van Gogh and the film takes place during his years in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise. Even though he lives here for only 15 months, he paints more than 300 pieces here and goes partially crazy meanwhile, this is the period he cuts off his ear. One of the paintings he painted here is called “Le Jardin de la Maison de Santé à Arles” which he painted while hospitalized there. The hospital garden previously green was later planted with the same flowers Van Gogh depicted in his painting.  You can recognize many locations in the city from his paintings, there are also tours taking you through them. The Van Gogh Foundation in the city center is a must-see too. There isn’t a permanent exhibition, however once or twice a year there are exhibitions of other artists inspired by Van Gogh. There was an exhibition by the Georgian artist Niko Pirosmani when we visited. I especially enjoyed compositions he painted using animals such as lions and giraffes that he never actually saw, but just imagined. There was also a rare animal painting by Van Gogh included in the exhibition. It’s called “Stuffed kalong” (flying-fox or fox-bat). It was very impressive, exhibited on another room, by itself.  We found ourselves museum hopping in Arles, as if we hadn’t been visiting any museums in Paris. After Van Gogh Foundation, we visited The Réattu Museum, 3 minutes’ walk away. Truth be told, I liked it better. First because the museum is 150 years old, and second because Réattu was born in Arles and painted all his work here. In 1867 the building and the paintings were sold to the municipality by his daughter in return for a life-long pension and residency. In 1868 the building was converted to a museum. There are also paintings donated by Pablo Picasso in 1971. One of the exhibition rooms is reserved for photo exhibitions. My favorite was a black and white photo of Pablo Picasso and painter François Gilot who is known as the only woman to leave Picasso.

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After a one hour drive and two museum visits, we were naturally hungry and found ourselves in a French restaurant called “Le Criquet”. It was the type of place we always imagine; max 30-40 seats, not very touristic, seasonal and local food and good local wine. The peak point of the lunch was lamb chops. Finishing off her plate, my daughter ate some of mine even though there was more thyme than she is used to, well let’s say she helped me eat a balanced diet. The balance of little food and more wine. The lamb chops were amazing, they had cooked four chops together without drying out, without drowning in extra sauce, it was very simple and very delicious.

On with walking back in time after lunch, we aimed to go really back in history. We wanted to see the Roman amphitheater built in BC90. This is the amphitheater in one of Vincent Van Gogh’s famous paintings. It is still used as a cultural center in the city. During July and August gladiator fights are reenacted and it is also used as a concert venue during the summer. There is also another activity here that is totally inappropriate for such beauty; even though it is forbidden in most parts of France, there are still bull fights here. This is seen as sustaining an old tradition and has partially given back the city its popularity. Another characteristic of the city is, it is part of the pilgrimage route of Camino de Santiago. Practiced since the middle ages, the pilgrimage has regained popularity in the 90s. In 2017 more than 300.000 people have walked the route. Walking or cycling the route is a great experience, both physically and religiously. There are different routes but all finish at the grave of Saint James at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The routes in France are the most popular. However walking the tidy streets of Arles full of pretty flowers was peaceful enough for us therefore we can leave off the pilgrimage for now. For us, the next step is setting off to our accommodation.

Auberge La Feniére is farm house, an hour’s drive from Arles. It is located between two villages called Lourmarin and Cadenet. It is a beautiful, isolated hotel in nature, growing its own vegetables and it wins our hearts immediately. Seasonally they grow their own tomatoes, eggplants, zucchinis, peas and artichokes. They’ve divided the garden in three parts; aromatic, vegetable and healing. They are careful of using a sustainable farming style. They attribute the success of the garden to the harmony between human, plant and soil. They believe that the three should be able to interact with each other. Apart from the vegetable garden, they also have an olive grove from which they collect around 450 litres of olive oil every year. The lead in all of this is Reine Sammut. While studying pharmaceutics in Montpellier, she meet her husband Guy Sammut and learns the Mediterranean kitchen from her mother-in-law. In 1975 they open their first restaurant and in 1995 earn a Michelin star. Meanwhile their daughter Nadia is born in 1980. She is hospitalized when 29 years old because her immune system crashes and she faces serious health problems, later she is diagnosed with Celiac disease. A chemist herself, she enters the kitchen with her mother and specializes in gluten-free nutrition. They are very careful with what they buy from the outside. For example they buy pesticide free rice from Camargue rice farm, pork from a farm north of Luberon where the pigs are chickpea fed. There are two restaurants in the hotel. One serves a fixed tasting menu and the other is a more bistrot-like a la carte restaurant. We had both dinner and sunday brunch at the bistrot one. Everything we ate was very delicious but I want to stress something else. Listen carefully, this is important!! THE BREAD! We have been in Paris since April 2017, and as a bread lover I always either buy or eat bread in every restaurant or boulangerie I go to. And I’m telling you, I have never eaten such good bread. And please keep in mind that it was gluten-free. Nadia is a bread lover like me and because she needs to eat gluten-free bread because of her disease, she has researched all the way back to the Egyptians and found out that bread was baked in clay pots on stone and that gluten content was actually very low. She then started trying similar methods, and they did so well. Because we were early to brunch, the set up was not ready and there was no bread on the buffet. You should have seen my disappointment. I thought there was no bread at brunch, I could have cried. Thankfully it came out eventually and I lost control eating it. When I saw my wife actually grimacing while I was sipping wine and eating bread, I finally stopped. Of course this was too much. After chasing good food for so long, I shouldn’t have been doing this. Reine and Nadia Sammut use rice, chick pea, chestnut and other grain flours for the bread. I have not mentioned Guy Sammut so far but Reine actually tries all new dishes on him and he might be one of the luckiest men on earth. In short, Auberge La Feniére won our hearts as a very special hotel we would love to stay at again if we come back to Southern France.

Our next stop is Gordes. It took us 43 minutes by car. It is the most famous mountain village in the region. You are already impressed while approaching it by car. It is a very neat, clean and calm village like other examples we have seen in the past 2 years. Two reasons why I love these little villages are the ever immaculate gardens and colorful wooden shutter and doors. Just like Arles, Gordes has Roman ruins as well. Throughout history Gordes acted as the resistance force and its latest ordeal was in WWII. While being rebuilt after the war, it attracted artists such as Victor Vasarely and has been to many artists since. If you visit in season, The Senanque Monastery is a wonder, surrounded by lavender gardens. Unfortunately we didn’t go at the right time, but if anyone reads this and manages to do so, I promise not to be ugly-jealous. We had lunch at Gordes at “L’outsider”. It is a very small restaurant located in a cistern, run by a couple. Chef Patrice de Rosa who is cooking hearty meals with local produce and his wife who was then pregnant with their second child, hosted in a very warm and intimate manner, as if we were guests in their own home. After working abroad for a long time, they’ve decided to move back to a quieter and more peaceful life. When their elder child was friends with our daughter, our enjoyment of the restaurant was of course doubled. As a starter I had foie gras and my wife had smoked salmon with leeks, and both were very delicious. As the main course, I was still craving meat, therefore chose a steak from the famous Charolais of Burgundy. I must admit that it wasn’t very interesting, but still delicious. I’m not sorry that I ordered it. My wife initially claimed that she wouldn’t have a main course, but couldn’t resist ordering one for herself when she tasted our daughter’s chops. Chef De Rosa always recommends it if you like meat. And finally, we had a taste bomb! Warm ganache chocolate cake on vanilla custard! Actually I thought it might have been a bit too heavy because there was cream both in the custard and the ganache, however when you consider both how obsessed the French are about good cream, and the balance in all the other dishes of the chef, there was no chance that the dessert wouldn’t be good. In the end, it was again an amazing lunch. After lunch we kept getting lost in the streets of Gordes and enjoying ourselves. We bought lavender honey and olive oil, which we still haven’t got to opening yet, from Le Miel Peyron, and had ice cream from Le Petit Comptoir. Apart from being homemade there is nothing special about it, however it is the perfect spot for families with kids. Do something for your kids as well, you cannot chase wine and good food all the time, right?

Gordes

Gordes

Frenchie - FTG

This article has been published in Turkish on Gastereamag on 22.03.2019

It’s really hard for me to describe how excited I was when it was confirmed that we were moving to Paris. As someone who had been a restaranteur for a short while, I constantly caught myself smiling. I envisioned myself at French bistrots, having foie gras, steak tartare, onion soup and french fries. And I knew there would be so much more waiting to be discovered.

 We relocated in April 2017, and straight away I started creating restaurant lists for myself from international and local websites. And naturally, these lists have been rewritten so many times. Slowly we started trying out these places and eventually discovering restaurants became my biggest thrill and pleasure in Paris. There are really very few places that I would call myself a regular at. It was exactly the opposite when I lived in Istanbul. I don’t know for how long I’ve been going to beloved Cavit in Asmalı, nor can I count how many times I’ve been to Adana Ocakbasi, Kiyi or Aman da Bravo. Sometimes I think “why the difference?” but it is a totally different subject that I can speculate on forever. Maybe one day I’ll do that in a different article for you to enjoy. I believe right now, it’s better for me to introduce you to the hero of this piece;

Gregory Marchand ! 

 While strolling through the 2nd arrondissement in Paris, if you enter Rue du Nil, you’ve come to the right place for food. Because it also means that you have surrendered yourself to Marchand. On this street you will find Frenchie to Go where he serves gourmet street food, Frenchie Bar à Vins for dishes to share, his wine cellar Frenchie Caviste where he sells really good wines, and of course his first child Frenchie where he offers a menu inspired by food in New York, London and Paris. On the same street, there is also a fishmonger, butcher and a third generation coffee shop. All these little shops supply Frenchie with the best produce. These collaborations are very important for the perfection that is Frenchie.

Dear Marchand is someone who had an unlucky start at life. At 12, his widowed mother dies and he finds himself at an orphanage. After some tough years, he starts his culinary education at 16. One year later, he leaves the orphanage to find himself a job at a pizza parlor at the west of France. In an interview he says he initially chose cooking as an easy way out, but soon it turned into a great passion. He spends his early 20’s in England. He works at The Savoy Grill, Mandarin Oriental and Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen. Jamie Oliver nicknames him “Frenchie” and the name of his first restaurant is born. Gregory then moves to New York where his cooking style takes its final form. Entering 30, when his wife and partner Marie becomes pregnant, they decide to move back to Paris. In 2009 he opens his first restaurant Frenchie in the 2nd arrondissement which is known as the center of textile wholesalers. The restaurant is decorated by Émilie Bonaventure. He starts his first service in the 24 seat restaurant with only one waiter. Everything else, from buying to cooking, to washing and dishes and taking reservations, he does himself. Very quickly his dishes earn a reputation by WOM and Frenchie becomes, even today, one of the hardest places in Paris to make a reservation at.

I was introduced to Gregory’s restaurants through the owners of Izmir’s most delicious Patiesserie Arpege, Metin and Beliz Saruhanli. I cannot thank them enough. Metin discovered Frenchie to Go when he first moved to Paris to follow his own dreams, and it is the first place he recommended us when we moved to Paris. In the end it was actually them who took us first to Frenchie to Go. The first time I went, somehow I chose the Reuben sandwich. I believe it was my yearning for pastirma that drove me to the pastrami sandwich. Although they have similar names, they are made from different cuts and pastrami has less spices which naturally did not satisfy my pastirma craving, but still there is nothing to complain about. The balance of cheddar cheese and beetroot coleslaw was perfect. On further visits I also tried “pulled porc” – slow cooked barbecue pork leg or shoulder – beef hot dog and the fried chicken sandwich that was added to the menu this year. I can recommend you all of them. However I’ve saved the best for last. Lobster roll in brioche. I might have taken every single one of my friends who visited us in Paris to try this, and it is the one single dish I recommend to anyone visiting Paris without fail. The perfect harmony of the celery, lobster and herb butter sauce in warmed brioche can make my mouth water. I guess I will have another one before this article gets a chance to be published. To Gregory, “Frenchie to Go” is a reflection of what he ate in London and New York. And for me it is one of the most delicious quick fixes in Paris.

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Even though we go to FTG so frequently, it might still be counted as successful on our part to have to Frenchie at least once so far. I’m telling you, it’s not easy to make a reservation in some restaurants. There comes a point where you just stop trying. Luckily my wife kept her patience and we managed to get in for our anniversary. The atmosphere of the restaurant is an exact reflection of Gregory’s modest personality. There is nothing exaggerated in the decor, it is a small space, simple but tasteful place. The lighting is neither too bright, nor puts you to sleep, walls are bare with mirrors, gray topped tables and black chairs very simplistic. The staff is dressed in the same hues. In general, you feel very comfortable. The way the staff is treating you helps this feeling as well. They are warm and frank, there is no pretension. At least that’s how we felt. At dinner there is a chef’s menu of 5 courses. And like us, if you are one of those lucky people who can eat anything, you will make both the kitchen and the floor staff very happy. And even if you are not, you will be asked beforehand for your special requirements or needs.  The menu is seasonal and changes according to what is available at the moment. As expected the food is also simple, but very delicious. Normally it’s not heard of me ordering chicken anywhere at dinner, but I will never be able to forget the chicken I had here. I have no words to describe the crispiness of the skin. The juicy and soft meat is a whole different discussion on its own. I have tried a lot of restaurant so far in my two years in Paris, but this was definitely one of the best two and made our anniversary dinner unforgettable. I was enjoying myself so much that this time, against all protestations from my wife, I even shared the wine with Levon this time. (And of course she was not happy) I might just as well share it with you: We had the 2016 Pinot Noir, Givry 1er Cru, Clos du Cellier Aux Moines from Damain Joblot, a family chateau from Bourgogne.

Gregory Marchand knows very well that the restaurant business is so much more than just cooking good food, but it takes a great team to be successful. He constantly puzzles over how to make the work environment better for his team and balance out the intensive work hours. He has about 60 people on his team and their happiness at work is very important to him. But of course he is experienced enough to know that too much ease might kill self-development and progress. Very recently Gregory and his team served the lunch at the World Restaurant Awards given out this year for the first time. I didn’t have a chance to attend the ceremony but Arzu was there and you can read about her impressions in her own article about the awards.

Baieta - A little kiss

This article has been published in Turkish on Gastereamag on 22.11.2018

 

I believe there are two types of people. The first are the people who are discouraged and choose to live a quitter life when face with difficulties in life, and the second are the courageous ones, who choose to learn from these difficulties and take a risk to start over again. Unfortunately I must admit that I’m might belong to the first group because my dreams have somehow always been taken from me by events beyond my control. However I’m also very very lucky that my family, especially my wife and my friends have always been there for me and at the end I always had another chance to become part of something new and better. Lately, chance is on my side once again and I’ve become a part of Gastereamag. I’ve even published my second article. I would like to thank dear Arzu for that, because she is one of those courageous people who had the crazy idea of convincing me to write something.

Since we have started off by talking about courageous people, I would love to introduce you to Julia Sedefdjian, whose restaurant I visited in June 2018. She is a very young lady, born on the last month of 1994. She has the courage, diligence and determination that only a few people have in the world. At 14, she has stood up to her parents when she decided to become a chef and enrolled herself at  the Lycee Hôtelier of Paul Augier.  While studying, she also started apprenticing at David Faure’s restaurant Aphrodite in Nice. (The restaurant has closed since then.) Working in a serious job has helped her mature and grow. From an early age she has learned the importance of taking responsibility, the amount of hard work necessary to succeed and how making sacrifices becomes a natural part of your life. At 17 she moved to Paris where she didn’t know anyone and found an apprenticeship in “Les Fables de la Fontaine” through the employment agency. Here she continued to work with seafood just like in Nice. Julia says she loves to cook dishes that combine fish and vegetables and this is evident in her menu as well. When I visited her restaurant, there was only one starter and one main dish that did not have seafood in it.

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Julia is very attached to her roots and her restaurant that she opened in January 2018, is called “Baieta” which means little kiss in Nice dialect. It is this “little kiss” that greets you when you enter the restaurant. It is a beautiful black and white painting by Frédéric Agid.  In the painting the two partners - Sébastien Jean-Joseph in the kitchen, and Grégory Anelka in the dining room – are caricatured while kissing Julia. The amuse bouche is a pissaladière, a type of tarte/quiche typical to Nice. The anchovy, black olive and caramelized onion pissaladière is really delicious. The chef says that her favourite ingredients with fish are lemon, garlic, fresh thyme espelette peppers from Basque Country. As a starter I choose octopus that is served with espelette. The velvet crab is served in a white bowl with a juicy and sweet gnocchi. The sweet potato chips served at the top of the plate were wonderful. I have nothing to say against the gnocchi, nor the crab broth and the taste of the octopus. However, if you are used to eating octopus in the Greek Islands, at our late Lokanta Maya or Aman da Bravo, you would not be happy with the texture of this octopus. It was not one of those soft octopuses you would be used to that you could eat in two bites, almost without chewing.

Talking about “softness”, I have to mention how smooth and organized everything ran in the dining room. The well-informed and warm service, the distribution of the tables and the timing of the food were perfect. This is due to the previous experience of Julia and her team at a Michelin starred restaurant. Mentioning Michelin, I just realized that I forgot to mention a very important fact. Uuppss !! Julia Sedefdjian is the youngest chef to earn a Michelin star in France.  Yes, what you just read is true. At the age of just 20, she became head chef at Les Fables de la Fontaine, and next year was awarded by the red book. Naturally, this brings her to the spotlight. At the beginning she felt weird when she started working as head chef and realized that she wouldn’t have anyone to teach or guide her. However she is very open minded, curious, reads a lot and has a very small ego and therefore she is open to keep learning from everyone. She says that having her own restaurant has made her feel more independent, which has improved her creativity a lot. One of her mentors is Christian Constant, from a neighbouring restaurant on the same street. Her role model as a female chef is Anne-Sophie Pic who was the fourth female chef to earn 3 Michelin stars and was awarded best female chef in 2011. Not a bad role model at all.

Lately, as has been the popular move among other young chefs in Paris, it was a very courageous decision, to leave her Michelin starred position to open her own restaurant. The reason behind this move is to serve more reasonably priced by high quality dishes. The chef’s signature dish, ”the Bouillabaieta”, is an upgraded “bouillabaisse”, the renown Marseillais fishermen’s stew. I found myself wiping the plate with my bread no make sure there was nothing left. Of course they make their own bread as well and serve it with a flavoured butter that they change seasonally. I was very glad when the Bouillabaieta came that I hadn’t already finished my bread. I believe I will be curiously following the development of Julia’s dishes and her restaurant for the next couple of years.

Note: I’m sorry but I will refrain again from mentioning the wonderful wine I had with my dinner because my neighbouring writer Levon will keep pestering me until I bring him some.