Foodtography: June 2022

Thursday, June 9, 2022

AVIGNON La Fourchette

Trip: Europe May 2022

For our last dinner in Avignon, we chose La Fourchette which had high reviews on the internet. It did not disappoint.

The restaurant was full and very busy. We chose the 3-course menu which included one appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert. Confusingly, an entrée in French corresponds to an appetizer, and a plat corresponds to the main meal.

Everything was good, but our favorite meal in Avignon remains at La Cuisine du Dimanche.

La salade ce chou chinois relevé, calamar à la plancha
(Chinese cabbage with grilled calamari)

Seasonal asparagus (suggestions du jour)

Les St-Jacques planchées à la mangue
(Shrimp with mango salsa)

La daube de bœuf à l'Avignonnaise

Gratin de macaroni, served with la daube de bœuf

Puff pastry with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce

Fresh strawberries with crème chantillaise

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

MARSEILLE Chez Michel's Bouillabaisse

Trip: Europe May 2022

We were not sure we would make Marseille a stop on our visit to South of France, due to some concerns about safety in Marseille. But we were glad we stopped in Marseille for a few hours, long enough to enjoy the beautiful view of the Old Port and to try bouillabaisse for the first time.

Marseille is known for its fresh seafood and the bouillabaisse that is the French version of fish stew. Our search took us to Chez Michel on the Catalans beach of Marseille.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by Monsieur Michel himself, carrying a basket of fresh fish. Looking back, we realized he was providing us with a photo opportunity, but we totally missed that cue. Fortunately, he was very willing to come to our table for personalized photos with him and his fish.

The bouillabaisse experience was out of this world. The fish was so fresh, the stew soup was amazing, and the service excellent. We were shown how to eat the bouillabaisse: first take a little bit of the sauce (white is garlicky, red is spicy) on your spoon, add some fish and potato to the spoon, then dip the spoon into the bouillabaisse soup, then into your salivating mouth. Voilà!

A "must try" if you are in Marseille. Count on spending around 2 hours for the bouillabaisse experience. 38 minutes to cook the four fish for two people, and another hour to savor the meal.

Monsieur Michel and his fresh fish counter at the entrance of the restaurant

The fish, filet at the table, served with potatoes

The stew, served separately from the fish

This beach is across the street from Chez Michel

MARSEILLE Vanille Noire Glacier

Trip: Europe May 2022

Rick Steve's "must try" recommendation of the black vanilla ice cream at Vanille Noire in Marseille was intriguing enough that we searched for the little ice cream shop as soon as we arrived in Marseille.

We were quite lucky, as we spent a long time finding parking and made it to the little ice cream shop right before they closed.

We ordered two scoops of the black vanilla ice cream to share. It was very good, with a slight salty flavor that balanced well with the sweetness.

You should definitely stop by if you are in the area.

ARLES Café Factory République

Trip: Europe May 2022

We spent about 4-5 hours in Arles following in the footsteps of Van Gogh and visiting the old Roman ruins.

We chose the Café Factory République for its simple lunch, so we could save room for our bouillabaisse dinner in Marseille later this evening.

We shared a baguette sandwich and a salmon lunch. This was perfect for what we were looking for.

Salmon over salad and fries

Nice simple ham and cheese baguette

ARLES Café Van Gogh

Trip: Europe May 2022

Even though we did not eat here, we spent quit a bit of time photographing this café made famous by Van Gogh's painting.

Van Gogh had just moved to Arles from Paris during February 1888, and lived there for about 18 months. He painted the café around September 1888 from his vantage point on the street. During this time, Van Gogh spent his time studying the night sky and his nightly surroundings of the café. He wrote in his letters how much he enjoyed painting at night, as "the night is even more richly coloured than the day, in the most intense violets, blues and greens."

We were lucky to have seen the original painting of Café Terrace at Night by Van Gogh in the Musée d'Orsay just a short week ago.

Monday, June 6, 2022

AVIGNON La Cuisine du Dimanche

Trip: Europe May 2022

La Cuisine du Dimanche was highly reviewed, with their specialty being market cuisine, using the freshest produce of the day.

They did not make it easy to book a reservation. Online booking was basically an email request with no ahead knowledge of what was available. A phone call went to voice mail. But our persistence paid off, because they were our favorite meal in South of France. A "must try" if you can get by the reservation difficulty.

Once we arrived, we understood why it was so hard to grab a table. They were a tiny little restaurant with perhaps 8 tables set up in a cute little alley. We were given the option of a "Chef Surprise" or A La Carte menu. The Chef Surprise was either a 4-course or 3-course meal. We chose one 4-course and one 3-course, in case they were all different and we would be able to share 7 different courses! In actuality, we ended up with the same 3 courses (appetizer, main, dessert) and the 4-course had one additional appetizer.

During our meal, a street performer came to play old French love songs on the accordion, and we made friends with the couple sitting next to us, making the experience so magical and romantic and amazing.

Mushroom soup on the house

Burrata appetizer for the 4-course meal

Vegetable soup

Pasta main course

Underneath the pasta: fresh fish and salsa and pork with mushroom sauce

Dessert

AVIGNON Les Halles Marketplace

Trip: Europe May 2022

We were very excited that our apartment was within 2 minutes walking distance to Les Halles marketplace. We were looking forward to picking up fresh local produces for our breakfast and sandwich lunches.

The strawberries were so red and sweet. We tried different flavor yogurts from a couple different merchants. The baguette sandwiches we made to-go were so good. This is living the dream.

Fresh yogurts, ripe strawberries, warm baguette, ham, pâté, proscuitto

AVIGNON La Mirande

Trip: Europe May 2022

Upon arrival to Avignon by train from Paris, we checked into our host's apartment, perfectly located in the center of town, then freshened up to go to our fancy Michelin-star dinner at La Mirande.

From the terrace where we dined, we had a beautiful view of the Palace of the Popes.

From there, things became confusing for us. First we were asked whether we wanted the 3 séquences or the 4 séquences meal. We believed we chose 4, but were charged for 3 (no complaints there!) However there were so many dishes that we could not even keep track whether we ate the 3 or 4 séquences meal in the end.

Also we could not remember all the description and explanation of our food given to us by our waitress, so here are the photos, and your guess is as good as ours at this point.