Before I went to Corsica last week I managed to squeeze in a little visit to the restaurant Nanashi in the Marais neighbourhood. I’ve heard quite a lot about it so I was excited to finally try it! Except for the starter, it didn’t disappoint. I loved my main dish (which you can see in the photo above) even though I don’t remember the name of it… I’m coming back for sure. It was well priced, good food and the space is just huge.

During Friday I met up with the lovely Aisling for a morning date at Rose Bakery, located on the second floor inside Le Bon Marché. The space is light, bright (and so far pretty calm), everything is organic and very tasty if I can say so myself. We started with scones, smoothies and granola but quickly moved on to their desserts, of course. Who can ignore a freshly baked brownie and a straight-out-of-the-oven muffin? Not me, that’s for sure. We might as well have stayed for lunch too. Oh well, another time!

Last week I met up with Diane for a lunch at Verjus. They’ve recently started serving sandwiches during lunchtime so I was very excited to find out more. To sum it up, this was probably one of my favourite lunches in a long time. So simple but absolutely delicious! I wish that I lived next door so that I could eat this fried chicken sandwich every single day. And the caramel (which just happens to be my favourite) brownie didn’t hurt either.

I can’t wait until the weather improves so that you can order them to go and grab a seat in Jardin du Palais Royal!

During my last four months in Paris I tried, just like everybody else, to get a table at super popular Frenchie around a million times but without any luck. Eventually I gave up and decided to go to Le Chateaubriand instead, which was more like a nightmare (more about that here) I’m afraid. Anyway, after my visit at Le Chateaubriand I kind of lost a little bit of hope for a few of these super hyped and much talked about restaurants…

So when the lovely Diane asked me to come along for a dinner at Frenchie Wine Bar I was a little bit scared of a similar experience but said yes since I’ve seen her absolutely gorgeous photos of this place more than once and heard her words of praise at several times. Let’s give it a try I thought, and boy am I glad that I did!

The relaxed yet bustling atmosphere, the concept of smaller dishes, the window into the little kitchen, the great variation on the menu and last but certainly not least, the amazing food made this restaurant a place I immediately wanted to come back to. And being there with the Frenchie expert (i.e. Diane) didn’t make it worse either, as she was kind enough to guide me through the menu, picking the dishes I wasn’t allowed to miss out on. The dishes we ordered, from top to bottom were (simplified since I can’t possibly remember all the details): foie gras (which I’m usually not the biggest fan of but this was just perfect), the burrata with mushrooms, tortellini with amaretti cookie crumbs (sounds weird but oh so delicious), quail with mashed potatoes (which was the best I’ve had since these), panna cotta with avocado foam and last an absolutely delicious lemon tart.

Another great thing was that the prices were far away from being too steep. I would happily return every single week if my bathroom scale and my wallet would allow me to.

I have to quote Diane because I think she said it the best: “I didn’t believe the hype, and I apologise. I get it now.”

Today I met up with the lovely Sugared & Spice for a little breakfast at Café Saint Régis. And I know what you’re probably thinking: that doesn’t look like Café Saint Régis… And you’re right, it’s not. For some reason we didn’t get enough and decided to move on to the coffee shop Ten Belles which we’ve both been wanting to visit for a while.

Right now it seems like these kind of coffee bars are popping up all over the place in Paris and I think I’ve been a little bit resistant to try them all since they remind me a little bit too much of many cafés back home (and I’m here to experience more of Paris, not Stockholm) but I must admit that I’m happy I visited. It was such a cosy place with a very sweet staff and a yummy selection of drinks, sandwiches and desserts. The raspberry lemonade and the pastries were hands down the favourite part of my visit. The pastries tasted sooo much like home (the flavours that is, since I’ve never seen these exact pastries before) that it almost made me feel a little bit homesick… So I guess it wasn’t too bad that there were a few similarities to Stockholm. Now I’m going to have to come back for another taste of home very soon.

On a recent stroll around Le Marais I stumbled upon this little shop. A store that only sells one thing: jam. How could it get any better than that? I’m definitely going back to stock up my supply.

I’ve had an absolutely lovely weekend and I mainly have to thank Milsters for that. A yummy lunch at Merci (as you can see above) and a cosy little brunch at home. If you haven’t been to Merci yet I can absolutely recommend dropping by. But be prepared to hold on to your wallet! Every time I visit I suddenly realise that I need a million new (unnecessary but fun) things…

A couple of weeks ago Edna and I met up for some sweets treats at Jacques Genin as I previously told you about. After that amount of sugar we were both in the mood for something savoury so we decided to share a pizza at the Italian restaurant Grazie for the first time. And boy am I glad that we did! We both ended up with huge smiles from ear to ear due to the charming Italian speaking staff and the lovely atmosphere. At the end of the lunch I asked myself why I ended up in Paris and not in Italy… Gosh, I miss that country. Perhaps that’s my next stop?

As you know by now I love myself a good pizza and the pizza at Grazie was really good, although I must say that I prefer the pizza at La Briciola (if I had to pick) but the atmosphere at this place was just everything I could ask for and more. I’m definitely coming back (preferably within the next hour or so). Both for the pizza and for the little Italian kick that I got!

This past weekend Grace called me up and asked me if I wanted to go for an early dinner at Verjus‘ wine bar. Since I’ve been wanting to go there forever, I was more than happy when I got her message! I decided to walk to the restaurant and enjoy this beautiful sunset on my way (which even made me a little bit late since I wanted to stop and take a photo every other minute or so).

We sipped on a glass of white wine, which was very delicious, while waiting for the kitchen to open. Verjus‘ wine bar is such a cosy place but unfortunately our experience wasn’t as good once the food arrived. Don’t get me wrong, it was totally fine but fine isn’t the word I’m looking for when I’m dining out. The shoestring fries (which I’ve been dying to try) were way too crunchy, Grace didn’t like her pork-belly at all and the dessert (chocolate mousse) was impossible to eat since it was frozen. Oh well, the fried chicken was at least very enjoyable and the dessert would have been yummy too if it hadn’t been so damn hard to get a bite of.

Sometime you hit and sometime you miss. Although I would come back but mostly for the cosy atmosphere and a glass of wine, and perhaps I would order in a snack or two but I wouldn’t sit down for a dinner again.

(Update: Please note that this is the Verjus’ wine bar we tried and not the restaurant)

Since we felt that we needed some kind of redemption we bought ourselves some ice cream and strolled through the city on our way home. My feet were almost bleeding after a 30 minute walk, in high heels, both to and from the restaurant but it was so worth it. A stunning sunset on the way there and beautiful night lights on the way home. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to remember where I am.

I must say that even though Valentine’s Day may be considered as a commercial trick I really enjoy this day. It’s nice to see a little bit of extra love around the city! Beautiful flowers, cheesy boutique décors, pretty heart-shaped pastries and little bit of red and pink everywhere. I use this day to think about my loved ones, but I also see it as an excuse to indulge in my favourite pleasures and spoil myself a little bit more than usual. Why not? And who doesn’t need that every now and then?

I meet up with adorable Grace for a Valentine’s date at my favourite restaurant Les Cocottes. It was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. If I could I would literally live in this place. Oh yes, that would be my dream! The shredded lettuce hearts with crab and the langoustine ravioli were my choices for the day, together with my favourite white wine. Now I’m getting too hungry just thinking about it. Dammit, I have to go back now…

But of course we couldn’t stop there. Hello?! Dessert was missing of course! Hot chocolate and tons of ice cream at Berthillon was the perfect ending to our day together.

We had such an amazing day; great food, yummy desserts and so much laughter. I couldn’t have asked for a better Valentine’s date! Even though this was my first Valentine’s alone in a long long time I really enjoyed myself, with a bunch of my favourite things. And really, could you ask for a better Valentine’s date than Paris?