Parisian restaurant help...
 

I'm going to have to hide behind some anonymity here to admit that I'm nervous to eat in some finer French restaurants due to so many menus being based on things like veal, caviar, lamb, rare beef, various animal organs, etc. Not the attitude to have when heading off to Paris, I know, but I am squeamish. Though I'm not a card-carrying vegetarian, will I be able to eat gorgeous meals that aren't made up of gag-inducing things like veal and force-fed duck livers? I don't have a problem with others eating things like that, but I'm afraid I won't be able to enjoy some great Paris restaurants. I love cheese, veggies/fruit, bread, lean meats/chicken, grains. I'd appreciate recommendations or insight on this topic -- lectures about my culinary narrow-mindedness may be posted elsewhere. THANK YOU!!!!

Get a glossary of French food terms. Patricia Wells has one in her book about eating in Paris. You will eat very well avoiding the things you listed. Most restaurants have menus in English--as someone pointed out, not because of Americans but because English is spoken by many other nationalities.

Hi there, Unknown, I do not eat red meat..I have had no problems whatsoever eating in Paris.I do eat fish and fowl.Even the first time I went and I was not adept at "menu French" I still managed.Take a Menu Master with you so you won't be surprised when the dish you ordered includes brains~gag~and you will see that you still walk away stuffed from every meal! Vegetarians can enjoy French cooking,just the fresh veggies and cheeses alone would make most happy...and topping it off with the many wonderful desserts,..who needs meat!<BR>Happy traveling and eating!

One very fine Michelined star restaurant that is vegetarian is Arpege, rue de Varenne.

Hi UNKWON,<BR>if you don't like eating meat,<BR>try a wonderful location the<BR>"Le Divellec "La cuisine de la mer""<BR>Franch and mediterranean styled nouvelle<BR>seafood cuisine with astonishing accesoires!!!<BR>The spledid, classical bright dinner room is a perfect surrounding to enjoy this delicous specialities.<BR>Preices range from EUR 60 for menues<BR>and "a la carte" around EUR 100,-<BR>+ plus a great wine selection.<BR>Need more info about it ? email me.<BR>The alternative for me (even if a bit more expensive), the<BR>"les Ambassadeurs".<BR>THIS is a GRAND restaurant. Everything you can think of what is french, is spread inside the "dining hall" and ecpressed by the classical french LouisXVII interior.<BR>Monsieur Bouchet will offer it's guests<BR>always very nice dishes (creationes raffines) - and makes you soon also<BR>(if not already) a very great lover of the french way of enjoying life(food and wine). Anyway - Menues (often<BR>offered in french restaurants) will start at EUR 60 and eating a la carte<BR>starts at around EUR 130,-<BR>I think I don't have to talk about the <BR>incredible wine carte.<BR>Maxims is also an option - but these are my favourites especially if you really wabt to dive into this culture of food (or should I say gourmet-temples?).<BR>Need more info ? email me.<BR>Shain/eu/de/d&uuml;sseldorf<BR>

Important advice: master distinction between riz and ris. One is a thymus gland and one is rice. Sorry but I can't remember which is which!

Hi Sue,<BR>the answer is:<BR>riz :cereal originaire d"extreme orient... it cost from the far orient - so this is rice !!!<BR>ris (de veau) your thymian !<BR>Bon appetit et bonsoir<BR>Shain/eu/de/d&uuml;sseldorf

Mary Ann-<BR> Riz is rice and ris is thymus or sweetbreads, which I hope to order in Paris in March. They weren't serving them last year due to the Mad Cow disease period.

Riz reminds me of when we had a salad in a small bistro where there was really no English spoken and I, the know it all,convinced my husband that the word meant mussels with his salad,mine was fine, his came with shaved beef tongue! OK ok, so I don't know it ALL!

Merci!!!! This is all such wonderful and very helpful feedback. You can bet I now know the difference between rice and glands! Someone mentioned the effects of mad cow disease -- are most Paris restaurants still serving beef? What's the latest on this in Europe?

I'll make you a deal - I won't give you a lecture on your culinary narrow-mindedness if you don't call veal and duck liver "gag-inducing." While I'm almost a vegetarian myself, I fail to see why thin animals and chickens are not deserving of our sympathies, while fish eggs, young cows and lambs and geese are! :)<BR><BR>Anyway, Marling's Menumasters are a great help. If there are foods that are particularly repungent to you, make yourself a reminder note with the French words for those items. It's usually pretty obvious which dishes have organ meats, or are lamb or veal, and except for foie gras and maybe cavier, they won't be served as part of a more pedestrian meal. And I'm sure there are few Parisien restaurants that serve ONLY that kind of food.

One other item, that maybe you can research a bit before you leave. Even familiar foods that aren't on your "list" may not look the way you expect. I'm thinking of two occasions with two different companions who gasped when their plates arrived. In one case it was a fish dish, which featured the whole fish, head and all. In the other it was something translated accurately as prawns, but which were large scary-looking insect-like things! In both cases the food was fine, but the initial impression made it tough.<BR><BR>You can probably find books on French food with pictures that would prepare you. But, as the others have said, don't stay away from good restaurants, and don't miss out on wonderful eating!

We had a 7 or so course meal for dinner at Le Violon d'Ingres last fall and my not eating red meat did not stop me...didn't even slow me down~<BR>Because the French love to cook and respect their ingredients, I ate better and more interesting vegetables than I do at home..and the fall is the best for the cepes and chestnuts cooked in every possible way..And their chickens are so different from ours, they have Taste!

It's no problem, I am not a big meat eater, preferring fish, there's always a varied menu and when I encountered one menu that did not please me, I chose two appetisers. But I will eat meat, local to the area, like the chickens of Bresse, so superior to our<BR>sad tasteless feathered creatures.