On a recent Sunday, the old lady and I were wandering in the 2nd near rue Montorgueil looking for a brunch. I'm never sure where we'll end up - we each sniff out places in peculiar ways. She looks em over, sometimes reads the menus and otherwise waits for a place to "call out to her." I favor places that are a bit different so when I noticed a sign in the window of Stuart Friendly that read "we're the premiere hetero-friendly restaurant in Paris", it was a lock. This hetero was hungry, friendly or not.
I'd not yet experienced a French brunch so I was curious. Brunch to me means rolling out of bed, brushing yourself off, throwing on a baseball cap and stumbling out for some eggs and coffee. As with most things Parisian, they have a more complicated take on it. Their version is more like a late afternoon fashion show in which the models compete to overspend on eggs and coffee. On the plus side, it's easy to be slim over here when a simple breakfast runs you $35. Yep - my watery coffee, yogourt, baked goods, nicely spiced eggs, salad and salmon cost as much as I used to spend on a week of groceries. I've been here a year and the sticker shock is ongoing. It was good (except for the coffee) but not thirty-five dollars type of good. They should include a foot rub or fashion advice or something for that price.
Of course, you gotta take into consideration the overhead. This is a sweet looking place - they even have see-through chairs, mind you. I'm thinking "hetero-friendly" means something like "we'll take your green too, fool." In the end, given that the company pays for my food and my lovely girlfriend enjoyed herself, it was all worth it. It helped that I could page through glossy design magazines and imagine myself fitting into the fashion set.
2nd Arondissement
Paris
I'm a big Paris brunch fan, but not just any brunch. The brunches worth paying 20 euro for. If you really paid 35, c'est abusé.
ReplyDeleteI can give you some spots that make it worth the money:
Super Nature: mostly organic, a lot AMAZING! Sunday brunch is 20 euro but includes copious amounts of food http://www.super-nature.fr/supernature.html
Le Loup Blanc
Café Central (for breakfast): Right on rue Cler in the 7th, everyday from 7:30 am to 11 or 11:30am they serve quite a nice breakfast for 11 euro: hot beverage of choice (coffee, tea, hot chocolate), freshly pressed orange juice, tartines with butter and jam, a croissant or pain au chocolat, and an organic omelette of your choosing. That is the same kind of spread you get for brunch at 20 euro! So although the idea of brunch is to sleep in, it's worth waking up for this feast in the morning. Probably the cheapest breakfast you'll find in the 7th!
I could keep going, but just wanted to name a few! Love your blog :)
@Lindsey - thanks for the recs, we appreciate it. We leave for Brooklyn tonight for 2 weeks and I cannot wait to have a cart coffee and everything bagel with butter for 2 dollars!!
ReplyDeleteHello 小明！In Cantonese, it's Siu Meng! Did my sis forward you the iht/nytimes articles i said was good? I love the way the author writes! Check out those places the next time when you're in Paris! It looks good! Hope you liked it!
ReplyDeletethe pesky little sister
Small J - how come you keep having different sign in names? Why? I started to read the article on your sis's crackberry and got a headache. She then deleted it..... You still got it? Resend, please.
ReplyDeletehttp://travel.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/travel/22Grimod.html?emc=eta1
ReplyDelete- sleepy J goes back to sleep
@Sleepy One - thanks, am reading it now.
ReplyDeleteWe have just rented a studio apartment at this same address! For the first week of April 2011. Hope it's not immediately above a noisy restaurant. Nevertheless, I wanted to say how much I appreciate your review and some insight into our immediate surroundings. If we try it, I'll post another comment to your blogsite.
ReplyDelete@Pretty - you've rented in a great area! It's very hip around there. You're right around the corner from rue Montorgueil which is loaded with cafes and markets. You're a 2 minute walk from Frenchies in one direction and Les Halles in the other. And you have subways all around you. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteMy Wife and I ate lunch here twice in 2009. The restaurant was right next to our rented apartment.
ReplyDeleteThey had really fresh salads,great sandwiches and really good soups...The prices were reasonable. The staff was friendly and the restaurant was very clean... We're planning a trip to Normandy stopping in Paris for a couple of days and hope to go back to Stuart Friendly.
There ya go, more heteros extolling the hetero-friendly vibe!
ReplyDelete