After the major disappointment of our first meal in Paris at Le Moulin de La Galette, I was determined to make it up with an exceptional dinner. I felt betrayed by the Time Out Paris iPod Touch app, so I decided not to trust it that evening. Instead, I resorted to using a tool with which I have a strange love-hate relationship: Yelp. I had been an avid Yelper a few years ago while I was unemployed, gaining notoriety as both a good and controversial critic, and quickly gained Elite status on the website, granting me access to exclusive events and deals. However, I had quickly taken down my account once I noticed how any idiot could post two-word reviews and gain Elite status while my Elite status was revoked due to my starting controversial threads on the forum (the least popular stated my distaste for South Florida's largest grocery chain, Publix). One could say I became a little bitter by the experience and boycotted Yelp. The website has a lot of flaws when viewed through the eyes of a serious foodie, and current rumors that the website actually asks businesses to pay them in order to hide negative reviews discredits the website even further. However, it is a valuable tool to get a quick layout of the dining landscape in most places in the world, including Paris. That evening, I was very thankful for having Yelp to steer me towards a fantastic (and affordable) meal close to our hotel.
When using Yelp in Paris, the reviews are divided between English language and French language reviews. If you can read French or have access to a translator, the French reviews can be very helpful in getting a holistic sense of a restaurant when read along with the English reviews - you get both the tourist and the local perspective. In the case of our restaurant selection that evening, both tourists and locals posted raving reviews that paid particular attention to the restaurant's low prices. One French reviewer actually stated that it offered one of the best-priced meals he'd had in Paris. The name of the restaurant is called Au Pied du Sacré Coeur, which translates to "At the Foot of the Sacred Heart". Sacré Coeur is, of course, the famous church in Montmartre that overlooks all of Paris, which we had just visited earlier that day. The ironic thing about this restaurant is that it is literally down a flight of steps from the iconic church, meaning that it was right under our noses while we had trudged through 19 degree weather to a less-than-satisfactory lunch at Le Moulin de La Galette. This fact makes it an ideal dining destination after a trip to Sacré Coeur...and if it's your first day in Paris, Au Pied du Sacré Coeur will definitely let you know that you've arrived at one of the food capitals of the world!
The menu is traditional French (no East/West fusion or molecular gastronomy here) and seems to change daily. People seemed to rave about their soupe à l'oignon gratinée (French onion soup) for under 5 Euros, which is a mainstay on the menu. The Momster and I had taken the Yelpers' advice (even the French Yelpeurs), and begun with the soupe à l'oignon, which arrived at our table with a golden-brown and crusty layer of gruyère concealing two rounds of crusty baguette floating in a rich beef and caramelized onion broth. So far, Au Pied du Sacré Coeur was more than making up for our lousy lunch.
We had, with our food, two glasses of Girondas, a red wine with a spicy note that paired beautifully with our soup and main courses, which were really a revelation of all the good that good food could be. The Momster had a dish of rabbit haunches stuffed with prunes and diced winter vegetables served with steamed slices of carrots and courgettes (zucchini) and fried wedges of potatoes. The rabbit meat was tender and pulled apart easily with a fork, while the sweet stuffing complimented the white sauce blanketing the haunches. The potatoes were a divine epiphany...one that, as a Peruvian, I am ashamed to never have had before: the potatoes were exploding with flavor on their own, without salt or any condiment. This was the first time in my life that I had experienced a potato with flavor, and now I understand why my father, mother, and all other Peruvians rave about the 500+ varieties of potatoes native to Peru. If you're only reference of a potato's flavor is from consuming an Idaho spud or a Yukon Gold from the United States, you need to try a potato anywhere else in the world. If you already love potatoes, you will adore and worship them!
The potatoes in my entrée, which were boiled, were also delicious and actually tangy - a departure from the sweet flavor of The Momster's fried potatoes. My tangy boiled potatoes accompanied slices of juicy baked chicken breast stuffed with a blend of chopped dried figs and foie gras under a bed of brown sauce. This was the other-worldy French cuisine that I had heard and read about - the kind that has inspired many people to take up professions in the food industry. For a fleeting moment, while closing my eyes in near ecstasy, all memory of Le Moulin de La Galette disappeared. I can't describe my dish other than stating that it was satisfyingly rich and perfectly balanced. Each element shone through, and not one overpowered the other.
As if this dining experience could not get any better, that evening I was introduced to perhaps my favorite French dining tradition: ending the meal with cheese. I love desserts, but very few sweets can win me over, and I usually find myself wanting something savory immediately afterwards. That evening, The Momster and I shared une assiette de fromages, a plate with an assortment of chef-selected cheeses of that day. Unfortunately, I did not write down the names, but it did include a Bleu d'Auvergne, as well as several soft cheeses similar to camembert and brie. Spread on pieces of chewy baguette, I was hard-pressed to think of any sweet that would compare to the pleasure that these cheeses gave me that evening.
The best part of that evening was that our dinner cost us roughly the same as our lunch, and we left markedly more satisfied than we did at lunch. After having dined at Au Pied du Sacré Coeur, my mood had improved and I was more optimistic about our trip to Paris. Our walk back to our hotel was cheerful and full of excitement about the activities in the days to come. Furthermore, dinner at Au Pied du Sacré Coeur had let me know that I had arrived at one of the capitals - if not the capital - of the gastronomic world. I was very much looking forward to the next few days!
Au Pied du Sacré Coeur
85, Rue Lamarck
Paris, 18th Arrondissment
01.46.06.15.26
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