26 April: Punishment
My wife is a vegetarian, so we knew our trip to Paris was going to be challenging. She recently decided to give fish another try, so it hasn't been as tough as it could have been. And we did some research into vegetarian and veg-friendly restaurants before arriving. The first from the list that we visited was Le Grenier de Notre Dame, just a few blocks away from our Latin Quarter apartment. While not as showy (or devine) as Seattle's two haute cuisine vegetarian restaurants (Carmelita and Cafe Flora), our meals were well prepared and very tasty (mine, a vegetarian cassoulet; veg lasagna for Mrs. F) and we finished with a flourish with a very nice (and surprisingly vegan) lemon tart.

We were not so enamored with our second attempt at a veg restaurant, this time with the macrobiotic-advertised Les Quatre et Une Saveurs (which should have been our tip-off). We'd read good things about it from our Internet resources as well as one of our guide books. Unfortunately, it was the prototypical vegetarian restaurant that every food-loving French man and woman fears: gastronomic punishment. We ordered the assiette (variety) plate that came with a main course (tempeh with ginger for me; tofu for Mrs. F) surrounded by a garden of shredded raw vegetables (cabbage, beets, carrots under a wan vinegrette), unflavored blanched vegetables (carrots, courgette, green beans), and two small lumps of starch (brown rice and bulgur). Luckily, as our waitress pointed out, we had a small dispenser of shoyu (soy) sauce on the table, which we both used liberally.

This is the type of meal that used to be served in health food restaurants back in the 70s in the United States (and occasionally today, such as at Seattle's recently defunct Gravity Bar). Now, this type of restaurant certainly serves its purpose as there seemed to be many satisfied regular customers in the establishment. But I'm here to tell you it doesn't have to be that way (even if you're going for the vegan lifestyle). I guess it's all macrobiotically balanced and all, but it was far less than satisfying. So we headed to one of our favorite cafes--the St. Severin--and proceeded to finish the evening with a Kir and a creme brulee. Ahhhh... magnifique! Now that we've put in our penance for our binge-cheesing at the raclette/fondue restaurant, we can get back to a better balance of French cuisine.