A guide to eating well in a French restaurant

For two decades and a half, I am grateful for the privilege of studying and working in Italy, England and France. Since 1986 when I was appointed to represent the Philippines in the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris, I had to attend both spring and autumn conseil executif sessions each year. About 70 of us board members representing elected countries lived in three-star hotels along three avenues surrounding the Place de Fonteroy UNESCO headquarters: the Avenue Duquesne, Avenue de Sevres and La Motte Picquet. I found Duquesne Hotel Eiffel accommodation rather neat, elegant, convenient, offering a hearty Parisian breakfast compared to our first Paris experience in Hotel San Bernard in the Sorbonne area which only included croissant and café au lait. The Duquesne petit dejeuner offered additional soft French omelet with bacon, three cereals, fromage (cheese) with jams, fruit juice and the famous French breads ­— crispy croissant, baquette and Danish pastries. The Kenyan housekeepers brought each of us a choice of café au lait or chocolat served in individual coffee and milk pots.         

Everyday Parisian fare

Queuing at lunchtime and in the evening to get a place in a brasserie and bistro is a French custom. Well patronized bistros are by the Metro station of Ecole Militar and the Invalides close to the Eiffel Tower. This is the 6th arrondissement (district) left of the Seine River. Bistros can be found near the famous Sorbonne area. Eating at Brasserie Lipps across which is Café de Flore and Deux Magots is a must for they were historical habitués of writers and artists. Give yourself a splurge at old La Cupole in Montparnas for the three-tierred seafood platter good for four. Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements divided by the River Seine into Rive Gauch (Left Bank) and the Rive A Droit (Right Bank). Across the river are the 7th and 8th arrondissement where citizens of the world promenade the Champs-Elysees. One can walk down the avenue of shops to Place dela Concorde where the Louvre Museum is about two kilometers down. The Notre Dame Cathedral is on the Isles dela Cite, the island on the Seine. Cross the river to the left bank to visit the famous Musee D’Orsay, a large collection of French Impressionist paintings. Bistros and brasseries surround these areas. Food courts can be found in the museums. One cannot go wrong ordering the Croque Monsieur (toasted ham and cheese sandwich, Quiche Lorraine, French Onion Soup, Boeuf Entrecote (grilled one inch thick steak) with Pommes Frites.

The French and Italian way of eating

Both the Italians and French use a course meal. For appetizers, Italians refer to antipasto while the French, hors d’oeuvre or entree. The Italians have a choice of pastas or lasagna for the primo and often do not take the antipasto except in the north like in Milan, Turin, Bologna, Venice, etc. Pilipinos married to Frenchmen may even use for hors d’ oeuvre the Vietnamese fried lumpia cha gio or rellenong alimasag (stuffed crabs). After this the main dish is ordered. Parisiennes like grilled sirloin beef steak with lots of pommes frites or French fries. A carafe of house wine is usually good enough specially if you are alone or with a companion. Otherwise you must try a whole bottle of the local or special wine.

Nowadays, the figure-conscious Italians specially the young ladies order either the secondo (chicken, beef or seafood) or only “un mezzo” or half-order of a pasta. The contorno is fresh salad or boiled vegetable one mixes with olive oil, vinegar and salt. Ratatouille is a vegetable stew in France. The meal is usually concluded with either cheeses or fruits of the season in both Italy and France. The French who have more fresh and soft cheese offer a variety of cheeses for dessert.

Ordering in a French restaurant

Bistros are smaller and more casual than restaurants. Most French restaurants display a menu outside complete with prices. Tourists look for the cheaper fixed-price menu of the day, while the French usually order a la carte since they have more leisure time. A beautiful restaurant ambience is an add on cost. Meals often run to three courses, with or without wine. Words like maison or du chef next to a dish listed on the menu are clues that the dish is a specialty of the restaurant. Below are some useful French phrases used when eating out in Paris.

Reservations are necessary. Most restaurants are small and intimate. A day or half a day earlier one telephones “Je voudrals reserver une table pour 4 personnes Nous viendrona a 13 heures. Pouvons-nous avoir une table dans un endroit pour non-fumeurs?” (I’d like to reserve for four. We’ll come at 1 past noon. Could we have a table in a non-smoking area?)

Garcon/Mademoiselle! Puis-je avoir la carte? Avez-vous des specialties locales? (Waiter/Waitress! May I have the menu please? Do you have local dishes?)

Je voudrals un hors-d’oevre. Que nous/me recommandez-vous? (I’d like an appetizer. What do you recommend for me/us?). Quelles salads servez-vouz? (What salads do you have?). Quel genre de fruits de mer servez/vouz? (What kind of seafood do you have?)

Je prendrai un dessert. Quelque chose de leger. Une petite portion, s’il vous plait. (I’d like dessert. Something light. Just a small portion, please.)

Common starters in France

A popular hors d’oevers is the pate, an exquisite liver puree which may be blended with other meat like a pate de campagne; pate de fois gras indicates a fine paste of duck or goose liver, pate en croute in a pastry crust. The terrine is flavored meat loaf molded in traditional earthenware pot “terrine.”

The soufflés are among the most dramatic dishes in the French culinary repertoire. Only experienced cooks can do it although the recipe is simple. A puffy, brown dish served in a small porcelain bowl, it is made of egg whites, beaten in peaks before adding the yolk, delicately folded with cheese. Quiche Lorraine, is an egg pie. The egg is combined with shredded cheese and bacon.

Assorted appetizers are known as assiette anglaise and the assiete de charcuterie which is assorted cold cuts and pork products.

Potages (soup) are found in a French menu: Bisque is a creamy shell-fish based soup somewhat like a seafood stew or chowder. The bouillabaisse, a Marseilles specialty is a fish and seafood stew usually a meal by itself. A bouillon is a clear soup. The consommé can either be served with raw egg or with port wine. Commonly served cream soups are the crème d’ asperges (asparagus), crème de bolets (mushroom) and crème de volaille (chicken).

The Guide Michelin

French gourmet or French enthusiasts have grown up with the red Michelin guide of hotel and restaurants. Michelin is a tire company which first promoted Michelin guide in 1900 in the World Exhibition. The 500-page narrow booklet guides car drivers where to stay, eat and communicate employing the Star system in 1926. One three-star is a greatest acknowledge of a chef that guarantee his reputation, prestige and customers. The powerful and rich of the world are willing to wait a month for a table in a newly appointed three-star restaurant. Sous Chefs like Bocuse, Haeberlin and Troisgroin have held this highly regarded three-star rating for decades. It uses the symbol of glass and fork with a roof to mark a good restaurant. There are 500 one-star restaurants, 70 two-star, and 21 three-star. The secret of their success is the reliability, help travelers get to find reliable accommodation, unbiased impartiality of its restaurant critiques. Like other guests, they order, eat, drink, pay and leave the restaurant without making their identity known.

I wish one day the Philippines’ small hotels and restaurants could be rated impartially with our version of Guide Michelin.