MIDI VINS

Another day, another neighborhood bistro.  Midi Vins is located on a sunny corner of the rue Cherche-Midi and was recommended to us by the hotel's manager.  We asked where we could go nearby for a simple lunch and he immediately suggested Midi Vins and told us to look for the owner Christelle.  After a short walk to the nearby FNAC, we went around the block and cut through a quiet back street to get there.

The restaurant is cozy with lots of wooden tables (glass-topped wooden champagne bottle holders), lots of vases of multi-colored roses, a zinc bar with many interesting wines by the glass and a blackboard menu.  There is the usual bartender/waiter and Christelle, the owner who was also running around serving tables.

For lunch, there is a two-course set menu - €21 entree et plat ou plat et dessert (starter and main or main and dessert), or just the plat du jour for €15.50. At night the dinner three-course set menu (starter, main and dessert) is a bargain at €25.00.  Where nearby Les Garcons is more for a younger crowd, Midi Vins is where a more mature crowd eat.  As soon as we sat down, we were given a plate of saucisson sec on buttered baguette rounds - the salty sausage and the sweet butter was a pleasure to munch on while we were deciding on what to order.

We had a glass of wine each to go with our lunch.  My mom started off with the rillettes au poissons maison aux herbes (fish rillettes) and I had the melon du soleil au jambon Vendéen. My simple plate of sweet melon draped with raw cured ham from the Vendee region was again one of those perfect flavor combinations of savory and sweet. My mom's fish rillettes were delicious - flaked fish mixed with lots of fresh dill and onion and tangy with lemon juice. Again, the portions were big and as we finished off our appetizers, we were wondering how we were going to get through the larger main course - filet de daurade grille a l'aneth for me and the araignée de cochon a l'ail confite for my mom.  My whole sea bream fillets were served with a spaghetti of zucchini, a fancy French way of calling thinly-sliced zucchini in spaghetti-like strips, and a dill-butter sauce.  My mom's bread crumbed pork came with roasted garlic cloves and a mountain of crispy fries.  Both were good but the fried pork and fries, although a cholesterol bomb, was the winning plat of the day - hot, crispy pork with sweet roasted garlic and crunchy homemade frites.  This was unpretentious bistro food at it's best.  Although we were full, we couldn't resist sharing a plate of tiny framboises (raspberries) simple sprinkled with icing sugar to end our meal.

A long walk around the area was called for after that large lunch and so we continued on towards the end of Cherche-Midi where there were lots more restaurants, the famous traditional restaurant Chez Dumonet and the newer Gerard Depardieu-owned Le Bien-Decide, a rotisserie and cave a vins.  Also on the same street were several outlet boutiques of past season items from fancy children's wear (Bonpoint etc) to designer women's shoes and clothing (Marc Jacobs, YSL etc) and even home accessories and kitchenware.  A fantastic lunch and bargain retail therapy afterwards - who can complain?

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Midi Vins

83, rue du Cherche-Midi

75006 Paris

Telephone: +33 1 4548 3371

*Open for lunch and dinner. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

LES GARCONS

One of the good things about staying in a local neighborhood is that you can pretty much find anything nearby.  Where we stayed, just off Cherche-Midi, in the 6th arrondissement is one such example.  The technical school nearby makes lunchtime busy with lots of students hanging around in cafes and little restaurants.  There's a fantastic boulangerie - nothing fancy but with extra buttery croissants and country bread. A tiny fruit stand with mounds of in-season cherries and fuzzy-skinned white peaches on display sits right smack in the middle of the road.  There are also several pharmacies (typical in Paris), a hardware store, a sweet-smelling flower shop, a specialty coffee shop with a tiny counter to sample the coffees, several traiteurs (takeaway counters) from Chinese to sushi to Middle-Eastern.  All this adds up making the neighborhood lively, full of character and not touristy.

On this trip, my mom and I walked all over the 6th and only took a taxi once to get to the 3rd arrondissement across the river.  The whole week was spent exploring the area and trying new cafes, bistros and little restaurants in the quartier.  One of these pleasant discoveries was Les Garcons.

Les Garcons is a tiny restaurant with a simple white awning over the entrance and a few tables set out outside on the sidewalk, a concession for those who want to lunch and smoke.  The typical small restaurant format is present - a tiny bar, a daily changing blackboard menu, two waitstaff running around serving everyone and a long banquette in front of small tables for two squeezed together.  We arrived at past noon one day just right before the lunch rush and were seated in a table near the entrance.  After making our choices from the limited menu (3 starters, 7 main courses, 1 cheese plate and 3 desserts), the crowds started to arrive and in less than half an hour, the place was packed with several waiting at the bar for a table.

We skipped the starters and went straight to our main courses which was a good idea s the portions were huge.  I had the tartare de boeuf Aquitaine (€13.50) and my mom chose the supreme de poulet roti (€13.80).  My steak tartar was a mound of hand-chopped beef, topped with an egg yolk, drizzled with Worcestershire sauce and with a dollop of finely chopped capers, onions and cornichons which I was meant to mix and season on my own. Since I like my tartar spicy, I added some Tabasco, sinus-clearing Dijon mustard and lots of freshly-ground pepper to the mix. It also came with sauteed new potatoes and a small green salad.  My mom's crisp roast chicken breast was served over penne tossed in a creamy spinach sauce.  We dug into our simple but delicious food and listened to the conversations of the other clients nearby who in typical French fashion, were talking about the food on their plates.  For dessert, we shared a Calin 0% avec fraise gariguettes (€6.80) - fromage frais topped with extra-sweet in-season strawberries. The food at Les Garcons is simple home-style cuisine at very reasonable prices (about €40 for two with a bottle of Badoit).  The fact that it's packed with locals proves that sometimes, comfort food is all we crave.

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Les Garcons

79, rue du Cherche-Midi

75006 Paris

Telephone: +33 1 45 49 08 59

*Open Mondays to Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to midnight. Closed Sundays