Dinner in the Marais

A beautifully presented dinner, put together by Sylvie, our very dear Parisian friend and her daughter, Kelly, who's entering the Sorbonne in the fall

パリジェンヌの親友シルヴィーと秋からソルボーヌ大学入学のお嬢さんのケリーに美味しいディナーをご馳走に☆

Here's what she made last year: http://bentopapa.blogspot.com/2009/07/paris.html

遊鈴 YouLin: Cuisine française à la maniére japonaise

Having dropped our kids off with our Parisian friend, S for the night, our San Francisco friends, A & L, treated us to an amazing dinner at YouLin, an izakaya-style French restaurant in the Latin Quarter (5th arrondissement). Tucked away in a tiny, uphill street, the understated exterior scales down even further to reveal a quiet and intimate interior. With just a few tables, the soft lighting and solid, dark wood furnishings reinforce the interior's elegantly minimal style.

"YouLin" translates into something like "playing bell," which I took to be a play on furin, a single-bell Japanese wind chime. It was an appropriate nod to the omakase menu—a playful, delicious and beautifully-presented, multi-course dinner of French cuisine infused with Japanese tastes and inspirations. Our Japanese waitress quietly explained each dish as she set them down; each was part of a thoughtfully orchestrated progression of flavors, textures and colors. YouLin has an extensive sake collection but the subtle and clean tastes paired nicely with a dry, Alsatian Rieseling.

パリで数日を過ごすとあきてしまうフランス料理。と言っても数多い似非日本料理店では高くて不味い寿司や焼き鳥でがっかり。そこに友達に紹介してもらった５区のカルチエ・ラテンの「レストラン遊鈴ユウリン」。エレガントな居酒屋雰囲気で和風フレンチをご馳走になった。一品づつ出てくるおまかせコースメニュー、地元の食材を柚子などとペアーリングした最高に美味しいディナー。もう普通のフランス料理はや・め・た！

http://www.youlin.fr

Vegetable, salmon sashimi terrine

野菜、鮭の刺身のテリーヌ
Cold, frothed corn potage

冷たい泡立てコーン・ポタージュ
Eggplant mille-feuille

なすのミルフーユ

Shrimp & yuzu mousse

海老＆柚子のムース
Grilled salmon

鮭のグリル
Granita

グラニータ
Sautéed pork

ポーク・ソテー

Dessert: an insanely light, rasberry mousse cake

デザートには軽いラズベリームースのケーキ

Paris

A beautiful summer in Paris - pleasantly warm. Staying near Bastille; sat down at Café Dalloyau and had a couple of macarons with my coffee. Heaven.

最高なパリの夏。バスティール辺りの発音も出来ないカフェでチョコレート、レモン味のマカロンをコーヒーと。うま〜い＾＾

Walked past a brasserie with a row of chairs outside, colors coordinated with flair

ブラッスリーの前に綺麗な色の椅子がセンス良く並んでいた

Met up with friends from SF for dinner at an old-style Parisian brasserie:

• entrecôte de boeuf, served with pepper or bernaise sauce (pepper sauce was the favorite), served with bone & marrow (marrow tastes like a lump of fat, for the record, and had to be washed down with copious amounts of bordeaux) and mâche
• whole grilled sardines
• grilled potatoes
• sautéed zucchini
• rasberry sorbet with almond crisp

友達と典型的なパリのビストロでディナー：

• 牛フィレ肉のグリル（ベルネーズ、ペッパー・ソースかけ）、ボーンマロー（デッカい大腿骨にビックリ！中身のマローは油濃くて不味かった）＆マッシュ
• イワシの塩焼き（超美味しい！）
• ポテト
• コルジェのソテー
• デザートにはラズベリーソルベとアーモンド薄焼きクッキ

7/17/10

Grilled salmon & Meyer lemon

Grilled asparagus

Whole grain & bean salad

Heirloom cherry tomatoes

Blueberries

Watermelon

焼き鮭＆マイアー・レモン

焼きアスパラ

麦＆豆サラダ

エアルーム・トマト（めちゃ甘い）

ブルーベリー

スイカ

Wedding in Napa

7/4/10

Our kids were the flower girl and ring bearer at a friend's wedding, held at V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena, Napa. The ceremony was beautiful (our kids did a great job-whew!) and was followed by a great reception. There was a delicious selection of appetizers before dinner, the kind of things I'd love to put in a bento.

One-bite, open-faced B.L.T.'s

Melted cheese-stuffed oven potatoes

Mini hamburgers served over extremely thin shoestring french fries - very creative presentation

Featured wines: V. Sattui 2007 Syrah, 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and a Rosé

Wedding cupcakes (chocolate) with choice of 3 frostings: pink champagne, "the sky is falling," and limonata

Farro!

I was up in Marin County on an incredibly warm Sunday, and picked up a "farro and fava bean salad" at the A.G. Ferrari market in Corte Madera. It was an incredibly simple and refreshing lunch, perfectly suited for the weather. One bite and I knew I wanted to make it for dinner.

I picked up farro and fava beans at Molly Stone's in nearby Sausalito and googled "farro fava salad." I coincidentally came across a recipe posted by Albion, a Marin blogger who had eaten the very same thing from the very same store and posted a modified recipe on her blog, "Albion Cooks," 2 years ago.

I made my own modifications to it by adding feta cheese and diced mint leaves, and served it with grilled salmon and sautéed kabocha. I packed the leftovers in my daughter's bento the next day.

Delicioso! And a big thank you to Ms. Albion for sharing the recipe.

イタリア食材のお店のA.G.Ferrariで買ってみた「ファーロー（スペルト麦）とそら豆のサラダ）。先週末は特に暖かく、サッパリして美味しかったので早速自分でつくって見よう思った。なんとgoogleで検索したら同じ店で同じものを食べたAlbionさんのブロッグにレシピがポストされてある。偶然にそばに住んでるらしい。

早速つくってみたら、グー！ちょっと材料を変えてフェタ・チーズと刻んだミントの葉を加え、焼きジャケとかぼちゃのオリーブ油ソテーとよそったら、みんな喜んで食べてくれた＾＾夏のディナーにぴったり。残りは次の日、娘の弁当に。

レシピのリンクはここ。Albionさんに感謝！

June wrap-up

6/24/09

Chicken & cucumber salad

Sliced pork, zucchini & carrot stir-fry

Simmered & glazed kabocha

Peaches & cherries

Onigiri

チキン＆キュウリの和えもの

カボチャの煮物

豚肉・ヅキーニー・人参のソテー

桃＆さくらんぼ

おにぎり

6/25/09

Chicken cutlets filled with shiso-plum pesto (an insanely good combo that oozes flavor with every crunchy bite)

Steamed asparagus with sesame dressing

Cherry tomatoes

Pineapples

Onigiri

しそ＆梅入りのチキンカツ

アスパラの胡麻和え

プチトマト

パイナップル

おにぎり