Le Petite Marche avec saveurs grande!

What's that you say? No pictures of food? No, we haven't been starving, as if that could possibly happen. In fact, the last two days we've had a couple of fabulous dinners, one wonderful picnic, morning oysters and Sancerre, artisan chocolate, and....well, here's a bit to get you caught up....

Wednesday, 5/2
The interior of Le Petite Marché








Dinner tonight was an easy 2 block walk from the apartment, at a cute, charming little café called Le Petite Marché. You see these on practically every other corner, usually with marginal food. This place had been recommended in a couple different books, and seemed a reasonable deal. We walked in about 8:00, and were surprised that it wasn't more crowded. We immediately liked the feel of the place...warm, yellow tones in a who-knows-how-old building, a space loaded with character. We jumped right in with a couple of starters, one was piquillo peppers stuffed with soft, creamy goat cheese with olive tapenade sprinkled on top. Very rich, but really good.
Seasme crusted tuna with dipping sauces.


We also had some seared, sesame crusted thon (tuna) with two Thai dipping sauces, unusual to find in a corner café in Paris, but very well executed. It's nice to see people doing different twists on some classic French dishes. The tuna was perfectly rare inside, the piquant sauces added just the right flavor. Most encouraging so far.
My cornish game hen, with savory sides of mashed potatoes and a vegetable confit.

For plats, w ordered a fresh, delicious dourade, a light, white fish filet with a bright, citrusy sauce and tempura fried asparagus. I had the Cornish game hen which was excellent, served with a buttery, bacony sauce, with lardons and pearl onions dropped artfully around the plate. This was superb, spot on roast chicken. We ended with a creamy, custard filled dessert that hit our sweet spot dead on.
Our dessert, which I can't remember that name of, but which made us most happy!




This was a delicious, creative meal, and I would heartily recommend the place. The food was beautifully plated, again unusaul for s simple café. The all female serving staff was super friendly, spoke reasonable English, and really made us feel welcome. We also learned that the reason the place was so quiet was that there was a debate between the two presidential candidates before this Sunday's general election. This event has riveted Paris, you see signs and posters everywhere, most of them defaced of course. I have to say, if you go by looks alone, Ségolene Royal has it all over Nicolas Sarkozy . She appears the attractive, caring candidate, while he looks, and this is said with all due apologies to smarmy used car salesmen everywhere, somewhat like a smarmy used car salesman. He is leading in the polls however. People here are loving the drama, though. I have to say even we're buying in and can't wait to see who wins.