An Insider’s Taste of Paris
Find your culinary joie de vivre in the City of Light
Sur La Table has cooked up a foodie’s dream trip to Paris. With the help of insiders David Lebovitz and Mort Rosenblum, our guests will be treated to private demos and tastings in some of Paris’ most renowned food destinations. Our guides have arranged a fun and delectable food adventure to underscore our reputation for being the food and cookware authority.
Cooking Class, Tours & Tastings
Paris’ E. Dehillerin was the inspiration for the creation of Sur La Table 41 years ago. On this trip you will not only be treated to a private tour of this famed cookware store but also some of the most iconic food purveyors including Poilane, Gerard Mulot, Jean-Charles Rochoux, and Bon Marché’s La Grande Epicerie.
Fabulous restaurants you’ll visit include La Petite Chaise, Paris’ oldest restaurant; Christian Constant’s Le Violon d’ Ingres; Le Nemrod, an iconic café; and Verjus, the newest eaterie by the creators of Paris’ talked-about underground restaurant, Hidden Kitchen.
-
Luxury Accommodations • Breakfasts • Tastings
-
Walking Tours • Hands-on Cooking Class • Iconic Food Attractions
Let Us Help Plan Your Adventure
There are two easy ways to book your trip.
Make your deposit online and our trip concierge will call to reserve your space.
Or if you prefer, call our trip concierge directly at (866) 392-3302 to take care of everything over the phone.
An Insider’s Taste of Paris: October 7-12, 2013
$4,600.00 per person, double occupancy. Single supplement: $1100.00. Airfare not included.
A non-refundable deposit of $500.00 is required to reserve your space.
This price includes:
- 5-night stay at Hotel Bourgogne & Montana on twin basis
- Breakfast buffet every day
- Champagne welcome reception
- Dinner at La Petite Chaise with wine
- Metro tickets. 1 book of 10 per person
- Day with David Lebovitz
- Tastings at Jean-Charles Rochoux & Ladurée
- Espresso at Café Nemrod
- Lunch at Da Rosa’s Épicerie
- Gelato at Grom
- Café on rue Montorgueil shopping street
- Wine tasting and tapas lunch at Ô Chateau
- Dinner at Le Violon d’Ingres with wine
- Dinner guest at Le Violon: Alec Lobrano, author of Hungry for Paris
- Market and Cooking class with La Cuisine (including La Cuisine Market bag)
- Guided visit to Gérard Mulot kitchens with tasting
- Lunch at Crêperie
- Lunch guest at Crêperie: Mort Rosenblum, author Olives: Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit
- Olive oil tasting
- Dinner at Verjus: 8-course meal with paired wines
- All visits as listed in Itinerary
Sur La Table’s Paris Adventure
An Insider’s Taste of Paris
Day 1: Monday, October 7
Welcome to Paris, the City of Light and undisputed culinary capital of the world. Check into your 4-star boutique Hôtel Bourgogne & Montana (www.bourgogne-montana.com) located in the heart of the prestigious 7th arrondissement, overlooking L’Assemblée Nationale and just two blocks from the river Seine.
Tonight meet fellow travelers at a Champagne reception, discussing plans for the days ahead. Take a short walk to the St. Germaine area for dinner at La Petite Chaise, the oldest restaurant in Paris. Sample such French classics as magret du canard (roasted duck breast), tartare de bouef (steak tartare), or appetizers such as foie gras de canard and escargots.
Day 2: Tuesday, October 8
Tasting tour of the 6th arrondissement with David Lebovitz. Spend the day with noted American pastry chef, David Lebovitz, author and prolific blogger who writes (and lives) the Sweet Life in Paris.
Begin the morning touring Bon Marché’s La Grande Epicerie, the finest purveyor of international and French foods under one roof. Besides an impressive fromagerie and a boucherie which features the premium poulet de Bresse and lamb fed on mountain flowers, you can find slices of pata negra hams from Spain.
Just blocks away, walk down the steep stairway of the Poilâne boulangerie to view the ancient wood-fired ovens that bake their famous round boule of bread made only of flour, salt, water and starter.
Two blocks further on rue Cherche Midi is the artisanal chocolatier Jean-Charles Rochoux. Visit his petit atelier, sampling his incredible orangettes or bonbons filled with chartreuse liqueur. Relax with a late morning espresso at a typical Parisian café before moving on to taste the world-famous macarons at Ladurée. Their salted caramels are especially tasty.
Window shop your way to lunch at Da Rosa’s Epicerie. Their famed Spanish jambon Iberico is made from pigs raised on wild acorns. Its distinctive taste is unforgettable. Over glasses of rosé wine and a selection of Iberico hams, olives, cheeses and side dishes you begin to understand how a French lunch can last for hours.
Dessert is just across the street at what David feels is the best gelato in Paris, Grom. Choose any of their fresh flavors, including gluten-free biscotti de Grom or an intense dark chocolate sorbet. The evening is free for you to plan. Suggestions and dinner recommendations readily available.
Day 3: Wednesday, October 9
Forty-one years ago the founder of Sur La Table visited E. Dehillerin, the family-owned and incredibly well-stocked Paris cookware store founded in 1820. She was inspired to create a similar culinary resource for both professional and serious home cooks in the USA.
Today you meet M. Dehillerin himself and have a personally guided tour through the shelves and many nooks and crannies of this legendary shop filled with high-quality copper pots, carbon and stainless steel knives, pastry molds and unusual kitchen accessories. And yes, they do ship to the USA.
Take a peek at Paris’ latest work in progress, the former Les Halles marketplace. For 800 years this 37-acre site in the center of town was the market place and “belly of Paris.” In 1971 traffic congestion became unmanageable. The market was demolished and a five-level underground modern shopping mall built in its place. Now, some 40+ years later, a 765 million Euro (1 billion USD) redevelopment project is underway. The ceiling of the new shopping mall is a floating 151,000 sq.-foot canopy which lets in light. There’s also a 10-acre outdoor space dotted with trees. Estimated opening will be in 2014.
Day 3 Continued
A visit to G. Detou is a must. The store’s name is a French play on words, meaning “I have everything.” As David Lebovitz says, “If G. Detou didn’t exist, I could not live in Paris.” Floor-to-ceiling shelves are stocked with everything any cook or pastry chef could need including bags of Valrhona chocolate bits, seasonal Iranian pistachios and fragrant vanilla beans—all at very reasonable prices.
Stroll down rue Montorgueil, a neighborhood market street, peeking into fromageries, boucheries, poisonneries and boulangeries.
For lunch it’s a Tour de France in your wine glass at the chic wine bar Ô Chateau. Nibble on a selection of tapas as you sample distinguished wines from the most famous regions of French vineyards. The rest of the afternoon is free.
Our dinner guest this evening is Alec Lobrano, author of Hungry for Paris. Alec says he “fell hard for Paris and began two decades of singularly spectacular eating as well as earning a living writing about it.” Formerly the Paris correspondent for Gourmet, he now writes for a variety of food and travel publications, including The New York Times.
Together we dine at Christian Constant’s signature restaurant, Le Violon d’Ingres, on a menu designed just for us. The combination of innovative traditional haute cuisine, attentive service and warm ambiance creates a memorable evening. For dessert, try the vanilla soufflé with salted butter caramel sauce. Excellent.
Day 4: Thursday, October 10
Today is a hands-on cooking class with chefs from La Cuisine Cooking School of Paris. Begin by shopping at the Maubert outdoor market for the freshest seasonal ingredients. With purchases in hand, walk across the historic Île de la Cité to La Cuisine cooking school. In their two fully equipped kitchens and at your own cooking island, learn how to prepare the classic magret de canard and accompanying side dishes. Sample some of the 465 French cheeses, learning the qualities of each. And when finished, dine together overlooking the Seine on the delicious lunch you have prepared.
Tonight is a free evening. Dinner suggestions as well as optional evening events can be provided.
Day 5: Friday, October 11
Travel to the 13th arrondissement for a private tour of Gérard Mulot’s kitchens. For 25 years M. Mulot has made both innovative and traditional pâtisseries. He is best known for his macarons, petits fours and seasonal gâteaux. Watch them make these famous macarons in a typically small Parisian atelier, sampling along the way.
For lunch today enjoy an authentic Breton crêpe, a hearty buckwheat galette filled with your choice of cheeses, mushrooms, meats or veggies and accompanied by sparkling hard cider and a starter of fresh oysters from Brittany.
Our lunch guest is Mort Rosenblum, author of the James Beard award-winning book Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit. Mort introduces this miraculous little green fruit that has oiled the wheels of civilization since before the Bible was a rough draft.
After lunch Mort guides you in an olive oil tasting where you discover the nuances of different varieties of olives pressed in the mills of various Mediterranean countries. The rest of the afternoon is free for you to enjoy.
Tonight’s farewell dinner is at Verjus, the latest creation by the founders of the famous Paris underground restaurant, Hidden Kitchen. In their inviting dining room, tucked behind the Palais Royal, dine on their bold, refined and contemporary cuisine in an eight-course tasting menu with paired wines.
Day 6: Saturday, October 12
After a leisurely breakfast, depart for the USA.
Checkout time is noon.
Follow us on: