Monday, April 14, 2008

It's All About the Fancy Lunch.

I’ve been so busy with work, that I haven’t even had the chance to blog about my fancy lunches. For those of you who are just tuning in, I’m a bit of a foodie. I’m particularly fond of what French Boy and I call “The Fancy Lunch”. Creative huh?

Our favorite thing to do on a Saturday afternoon is pick a restaurant off the Michelin guide website and then call at the last minute to see if we can get a table. Being an artist and all, I am a big fan of food that looks as beautiful as it tastes. For me it’s all about presentation and service. If the food actually tastes great that’s a bonus. *snort*

So here are some of our most recent fancy lunches:

Easter Friday we drove to Nancy because everything in the German departments of France were closed while the Frogs in the next department over were still slaving away. So--We made an obligatory visit to that one fancy square in Nancy who’s name I always forget and then we headed right to the La Mignardise.


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My biggest complaint about the restaurant was the crappy silk flowers they used or a centerpiece. (WTF!?! Unless I am having tea with a 90 year old granny I don't wanna see no dusty-ass fake flowers on the table! Thanks.)

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Fake flowers aside, the food was beautiful and the service was OK. Now when I say OK, I mean good. I’m just a real stickler for service and I am absolutely unforgiving when a waiter makes a mistake. Personally I think servers should be guillotined for pouring the wrong water in the wrong glass….or at least bitch slapped. Hell, at these prices I expect them to not only remember that I was drinking the pétillante, but also recall my blood type, and the correct spelling of my middle name. But that’s just how I am. I digress…

Just look at this effing food!


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Our next fancy lunch wasn’t really all that fancy, but when the plates arrived they looked so delicious that I decided to include them anyway. We were downtown running some errands and doing some shopping, so because we were in a bit of a rush we quickly stopped into the lobby of the Novotel hotel for a bite to eat. Check it out:


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After lunch we decided to skip the Novotel Café’s overpriced coffee and instead we headed directly to the absolute best patisserie in Metz: Patisserie Claude Bourginon. There were so many beautiful Easter treats to choose from, but I was somehow able to restrain myself from buying a 70 euro chocolate bunny.





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The cakes at Bourginon are so good that after just one bite you jump out of your chair and start dancing. Like this…

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Thou shalt have no other gods before me? Might as well just put me on the express elevator that goes straight to hell now.

And of course no Easter weekend would be complete without at least one Fancy Lunch at our very favorite restaurant in the world: Chez Evelyne’s. David’s mom makes some of the fanciest lunches in Lorraine and best of all they are free! Also they have the good liquor. I have no recollection of what we ate for Easter lunch. From the photos it looks like lamb, some type of beans, and tomates farcie. Oh and asparagus of course.


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Then, as if I wasn’t already drunk enough. After Easter lunch we headed over to Cousin Sara’s for cake and champagne. There is no way to recall how many bottles were opened, but everybody had at least a glass.



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Even Mamie Claire joined in the festivities in spite of being forced to sit next to the "Easter Tree".

(Again, I ask: WTF?!?)

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And last but not least, the fancy lunch with the JR, Isabelle, and Constantin who were all witnesses to our super-top-secret wedding. They are the sweetest people ever and we don’t get to see them nearly enough, so we invited them to Metz for a Fancy Lunch at Au Pampre D’or. If you are ever in Metz and want a Fancy Lunch of your own, run do not walk to this restaurant. Plus it’s right down the hill from the Cathedral so you’re bound to pass it if you’re doing touristy stuff. But enough talk. Check out the eats!:

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So all this explains why I’ve gained about 20 kilos since moving to France. (More on that later...) Yeah, that and spending several hours a day in front of my PC eating Cheerios directly out of the box and writing this blog for you charming folks.

But whatever, untill next time, bon appetite!

12 comments:

fashion survivor said...

Must...plan...visit...must...eat...pastries...

Megan said...

"Might as well just put me on the express elevator that goes straight to hell now."

Haha, very funny. Must remember that one.

Leah said...

Umm, I'm not even hungry and that made me hungry. That's absurd. I agree about the fake-a$$ silk flowers, though.

Dannelle said...

Good Lord I envy your life.

screamish said...

I'm pregnant OK my food lustings are bad enough already!!!

Its 8am...going to make a croque monsieur...and its your fault...mmm...croque monsieur...cake....breakfast...

Penny said...

Oh yum! I havent had one fancy lunch yet since coming to France - so I'm living vicariously through your's! I really shouldn't have read this before breakfast - now I'm so hungry I'm off to eat a ton of chocolate cruesli

:)

Camille Acey said...

oh dear, i shouldn't have looked at this on a day when i've chosen to fast!

Travel said...

Wish I was there, you don't want to think about what I had for lunch yesterday.

DG

Madame K said...

...yet still, sometimes I have cravings for a McDonald's cheeseburger...

Black Women in Europe said...

Bon appetite!

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http://blackwomenineurope.blogspot.com/2008/04/black-women-bloggers-in-europe-series_18.html

If you haven't already please join the Black Women in Europe social network:
http://blackwomenineurope.ning.com

BlondeInFrance said...

Au Pampre D'Or is (roughly) two feet from my apartment and I found this out when one day when some nice old man asked me where it was, and I didn't actually know. I hope I did not spoil what would have been a super Fanncy Lunch for him. One day I hope to have one of my own there, but I will have to wait till I too am fancypantsgrownup lady instead of pooryoungpoorlivingabroadpoor girl. Gives me something to work towards :-)

The Late Bloomer said...

AUGH! Everything looks SO FABULOUS! And you just HAD to do this right about the time that I'm constantly craving sweets -- and when I say constantly, I mean CONSTANTLY! I feel like I could eat chocolate 24 hours a day right now... Ergh, I need to get myself to a fancy restaurant again one day soon -- but for sure I'll have to wait until after the pregnancy so I can enjoy the yummy wine too! (which in all honesty probably means I won't make it back to a restaurant for a long, long time...)