Lunch in France is a little different than what we do in the U.S. In France, lunch is a time to take step back from work, sit back and enjoy the food. It's a 180-degree turn from how most American's spend their lunch time hurrying to get something to eat, then hurrying to finish their food, then hurrying back to work. During our business trip to Paris to visit the folks at Devialet, we were treated to lunch on our first full day in Paris at a little bistro not far from the company's main office - Le Point Zero.
In front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, there is a small brass compass star that signifies THE central point in Paris and the point where every distance is measured in the city. Brothers Christophe and Laurent Guyader took the name of their little bistro from that landmark. Along with chef Evangelos Guitry-Azam, they came up with a concept where the can go in any direction with the food they serve. Le Point Zero is part bistro, part resto/bar, part "farm-to-fork" French auberge, part "fast food" (as much as a sit down restaurant can be fast food in Paris).
It was less than a 3 minute walk from Devialet's main offices down a narrow side street to Le Point Zero. (see map). The small bistro had a main dining room, but also featured a private dining area in the lower level as well as one on the second level of the building. We took a seat along the wall of the restaurant. Our server came over with a small chalk board that served as the menu that day. Le Point Zero's menu changes periodically as they're searching for the freshest items depending upon the season.
With our host Julien translating for us, the main entrees that day included a strip steak, a duck breast entree, a couple three seafood entrees, a salted pork knuckle dish, and a chicken breast entree with noodles. They also had a burger on the menu - one that someone seated next to us got and it looked damned good. But I was in France - in PARIS! I wanted something exotic.
I can't do seafood in France - I've gotten sick twice on seafood on previous trips. And I try to stay away from lettuce and similar greens (sick on my very first trip nearly 12 years ago). But the duck was calling my name. Julien was explaining to me that it was actually strips of duck breast formed together in sort of a duck breast roll. That sounded intriguing to me.
Julien knows that I like beer and he suggested a Paris microbrew that Le Point Zero served by the name of Gallia. Gallia was a beer brewed in Paris as far back as the late 19th century. About 50 years ago, the Paris brewing operation closed up. I was told that for awhile after that most of the Gallia beer came from Romania. It was still billed as "Paris' Beer" even though it was no longer brewed in the city. Two young entrepreneurs felt it was time to bring Gallia back to Paris and they bought the Gallia name and opened their own brewery. The Gallia I had - the Blonde - was actually pretty good.
We all got gazpacho as a starter for our meal. The deep orange color of the chilled soup came from the tomato base that was pureed with fresh vegetables. Fresh chopped herbs were sprinkled on top of the gazpacho before it was served. It was thick, zesty and very flavorful. It may have been the best gazpacho I've ever had.
My colleague Ian and our host Julien got the sirloin strip stak for lunch. It came with a bed of peas and chopped potato cubelets. A small pad of melted herbed butter came on top of the pan-grilled steak. Both Ian and Julien said their steak was "good".
Looking back, I wish I would have gotten the steak. Or even the very good burger that I saw. Oh, it wasn't that the duck was bad. Quite the contrary - it was fabulous. As Julien explained before I ordered, they took strips of duck breast and wound them together before it was broiled. With a honey wine sauce and topped with fresh rosemary and thyme, the duck breast looked like it was a cinnamon roll. Mashed potatoes and green beans with parsley were paired with the duck. It was - oh! - so good. But it was also - oh! - so rich!
That night, I didn't feel well. My stomach began to turn and I ended up getting sick - again. This was my fifth trip to France - the fourth time that I had gotten sick. But this one was the worst one. I was up all night in the bathroom and had to miss the trip to the Devialet factory in Normandy the next day. I don't know if it was a case of food poisoning or the other scenario a friend told me that my body probably couldn't handle rich foods - rich foods that it isn't used to consuming in the States. All I know is that I ate something exotic to me and I got sick eating it. I'm hoping it wasn't food poisoning or my body telling me that it needed to get rid of the food I had earlier in the day as quick as possible.
While the food at Le Point Zero didn't agree with me too well, it was very darned good. The duck breast roll was one of the most interesting things I've ever tasted. It was a cool little lunch place in the heart of Paris and one that I wouldn't have a problem going back to - even though the duck probably made me ill. I just wish I wouldn't have succumbed to temptation just to try the duck. Oh well...
Comments