The Main Challenge - Vegetarian food in Paris! Le Potager du Marais

Lunch today was another false start in trying to find some hot (aka cooked) food not too heavy/creamy, in a not too stiff (and overly expensive) establishment.

Had my eye on Monjul (a swanky little restaurant in Le Marais), which had a pretty creative and seafood rich menu. However, not long after sitting down and asking for the missing menu, the waiter revealed that the set lunch du jour was sweetbreads. No my friends - we are not talking about gingerbread and raisin toast, cinnamon buns or sticky pudding. Here, we are swallowing euphemisms. Depending on your gastro-timeline i.e. BPP/V or APP/V, as a pollo-pescetarian or vegetarian, sweetbreads are not something you've ever seen "in the flesh" (except, maybe, as plastic game pieces deftly extracted from a highly-charged patient in "Operation").  Indeed, sweetbreads are [quoting BBC Food] "delicate little morsals of flavoured offal"...specifically, the thymus gland (from the throat) and the pancreas gland (from the heart or stomach) of calves and lambs. Niiiiice. A true example, in this case, of the old adage "one man's meat is another man's poison."

So, I set out along rue Rambuteau around the corner, in search of greener pastures - well at least, greener lunch offerings. Not wanting to perch myself on the busy sidewalk between "see and be seen" chain smokers and tourists (although not mutually exclusive)...on a table the exact circumference of a dinner plate (handbag on the lap, if you please), I came across Le Potager du Marais, 24 rue Rambuteau • 75003 Paris.  Truth be told, I'd found this little gem when planning my trip, but hadn't been so organised as to mark it on my map. Finding it by accident added to its charm.

 
 Original photo from Hotels Paris Rive Gauche blog.

A rustic and cosy themed restaurant, I was lucky to be seated by 12.30pm, the place quickly filled up with "earthy types". The friendly and happy waiter single-handedly tended to the crowd with a smile, maintaining his calm and attentive manner even when the place was buzzing.

The menu is purely vegetarian, and has vegan and gluten free options - largely soy and rice/quinoa based dishes, and not just "mock meat" concoctions. There were an equal number of dishes for those who love the taste of veggies and clean, slow food, as well as substitution dishes for folk who are keen to experience classic french meat dishes without eating meat i.e. onion soup, and burgers. I suspect these dishes are equally popular with the carnivorous suitors of vegetarians/fine art students, where in the early days of courtship, no mountain is too high to climb - but a chairlift is still appreciated!  For the main vegetable dishes, to complete your meal, you can choose a side of brown rice and almonds, quinoa, or sliced garlic potatoes.

I ordered a pot of green tea, and "pink lentil balls" on creamed spinach with quinoa. It was served with green beans (cooked in tomato reduction), and sliced pear. Very nice. My beau ordered the "eggplant surprise", which turned out to be 3 slices of chargrilled eggplant in pesto and tomato sauce enrobing vegan cheese, and garnished with pine nuts. Both meals were tasty and filling, without causing an "urgh" feeling. Good energy food to hit the kooky boutiques in Le Marais.



Eggplant surprise with quinoa (we had brown rice). Original photo: serious eats.com

Entree!

Entree! It's a start(er), and a warm pollo-pescetarian welcome.

This blog has been created by yet another gluttonous and self-proclaimed foodie whose only qualification in identifying and writing about "good food" (in the category of "two legs or fewer" except, of course, "long pig"...which is foul, not fowl!), is a keen enthusiasm to share great moments of taste-aesthetic synchronicity.

For a sweet beginning, first up on the menu is L'Eclair de genie (or, Eclair Genius according to my monologuistic tongue and tastebuds); a sweet little eclair and chocolate outfit in La Marais, Paris. 

(Whoops! seduced by appearances alone, I've failed to do a background check on my new love before formal introduction to the disciplined pollo-pescetarians at the table. Specifically, I haven't ruled out the chance that these tempting beauties might be gelatin carriers...proceed at own risk). Which brings me to disclosing my blurred dining boundaries. While I do consider cows, sheep, pigs, deer, hare and goats as four-legged meal invaders, I am rather partial to a pongy cheese board and a dairy-based dessert.

Back to L'Eclair de genie...below are the eclairs I have tried (so far). Okay, I've doubled up on the choccie (that's because I am a sharing, caring kinda girl...and when you're a foodie, its always good to keep a few friends close. Why? For proper optimisation of tapas, dim sum and high tea occasions, which require many mouths to make light work of tasting everything on the menu. So, I've kinda limited my spiel a tad - but here are the flavours tried and tested:

(From left to right) Chocolat grand cru, Caramel pop corn, Praline noisette, Rouge Framboise, (repeat No.1 ;-), and Caramel beurre sale. 

Hmm, I suppose I'd better get this out the way now, too, so you can decide whether you'd like to continue our acquaintance. Not quite gastronomy alter call material, but...perhaps a taste sensitivity flaw worth confessing...(deep breath)...I am a die hard caramel fan. The aroma of freshly burnt butter, sugar, sea salt and cream is what I'm smelling. Oh yeah.

So, a bit about the eclairs and less about my caramel bias (although somewhat inescapable, given that 2 of the flavours I tried were of this persuasion). These eclairs, were probably, no, were, the best eclairs I have tasted in my 36 years.

Yeaaah...not such a young buck(ess) that I haven't been around the block and chowed my way through a number of classic gastronomical life stages:

1) Small town, healthy home cooking - weekday school lunches: banana and honey brown-bread sandwiches, with  weekend naughties: fish and chips from the video hire cum chippy cum caravan park office. 

2) Impoverished student cuisine - $5.00 Vietnamese set dinner consisting of frozen shrimp in yellow curry powder, BYO Thai, city work lunches (sushi handrolls, foccacias, pseudo-laksa, gourmet sammies);

3) First "real" job "nice dinners" with first real job friends - stone fired pizza, moroccan mezz platters - wine safely in the handbag until a non-halal thirsty oasis gathering later...and so on until

4)You hit your mid 20s' - early 30's where, after working on your career, you achieve economic independence and thus social - and gourmet- mobility...putting you at the same chic bar or table as another eligible foodie, who has waited his/her whole life to share a future with that special someone who has (equally) impeccable taste.

Sorry - the eclairs! Fine chewy pastry, solid custard or chocolate mousse fillings, citrus-spiked glazes to stop the whole confection being too cloying and heavy...Aaaah. Best thing for it - you can try them yourself next time you are in Paris.

The address/website is: http://www.leclairdegenie.com/eclairs.

J'aime et je recommande!