Le Relais Gascon

Le Relais Gascon

6, rue des Abbesses

Paris, 75018 (18e)

If CA Scotch Gent's sister's recommendation for pastries was a home run, her suggestion for dinner was a grand slam. Sometimes a dish comes along that is so amazing, one knows one simply must have it again one day, even if it means traveling 5697 miles to do so. And…when that dish happens to be a salad, you know it is really something special.

Le Relais Gascon is a full service restaurant with numerous tempting entrees. However, it is most famous for its over the top amazing Salades Géantes. Le Relais Gascon's Salades Géantes are huge presentations (one blogger described them as arrriving in a baby's bathtub). The best part is that the majority of the salad isn't salad. All of the salads are really nothing more than a platform for Le Relais Gascon's out of this world, garlic infused, perfectly fried potatoes. They start with just enough crisp fresh greens to qualify them as a salad, and then load on those out of this world, garlic infused, perfectly fried potatoes and a satisfying surplus of other evil heart-stopping ingredients. So, despite the size, do not be tempted to split. You will definitely want your own.

"You gonna eat all that?" Definitely!

The specialty of the house is the Salade Gascon, a mouthwatering combination of green salad, tomatoes, smoked duck, foie gras, and, of course, those out of this world, garlic infused, perfectly fried potatoes. Another evil favorite is the Salade Fraîcheur, with salad, tomatoes, fried egg, black olives, smoked ham, bacon, and, of course, those out of this world, garlic infused, perfectly fried potatoes. Oh, and as if the salads themselves aren't enough, for a three Euro surcharge, one can add additional ingredients from the list at the bottom of the menu, such as fried egg, ham, salmon, or goat cheese.

Out of this World, Garlic Infused, Perfectly Fried Potatoes

The two Scotch Gents and CA Scotch Chick were single minded in their ordering - the Salade Gascon was what they had come for! DC Scotch Chick decided to order a different salad with the idea then she and DC Scotch Gent could share and have a little variety. She got the Salade Détente - salad, tomatoes, smoked salmon, cream, olives, and, of course, out of this world, garlic infused, perfectly fried garlic potatoes. However, if DC Scotch Gent had been a pre-schooler, he would have been admonished. That Salade Gascon stayed firmly on his side of the table. As a little buddy of the Scotch Couples would say, "That's not nice." It was CA Scotch Chick who took pity on DC Scotch Chick and shared her foie gras and smoked duck (although pity is a relative term, since DC Scotch Chick's salad was as fantastic as the others). 

Salade Géantes

Looking back, the Scotch Couples cannot remember if there was any dressing on the Salad Gascon. Who cares? It was all about the potatoes. They were packed with flavor, warm, crisp and not in the least greasy. And, they were the perfect counterpoint to the greens and the duck. A forkful of potatoes and greens, a little slice of the foie gras just beginning to melt as it touches the potatoes, and a bit of the duck - absolute heaven. And, having all these evil ingredients on a salad is strangely comforting. Although one can feel the arterial flow slowing as one blissfully works his or her way through the potatoes and foie gras, there is the faint hope that the greens are offsetting the damage one is doing. 

Despite getting the scoop on it from an insider, Le Relais Gascon is not a secret. CA Scotch Chick's research on it uncovered many a blogger extolling its virtues, and it made a Lonely Planet web review. However, the Scotch Couples saw no other tourists there - just happy locals getting their allotment of greens for the day (and cholesterol for the month).  The Scotch Couples will be back!

Maison Landeman

Maison Landemaine

56 Rue de Clichy 75009 Paris

All the research in the world is no substitution for having a foodie insider who can steer one in the proper gastronomical direction. CA Scotch Gent's sister certainly qualifies as a foodie. She is one of the few people whose palate the Scotch Couples trust completely. Lucky for the Scotch Couples, she also qualifies as a Paris insider, since she lives there half of the time. Consequently, when the Scotch Couples were headed to Paris, it was to CA Scotch Gent's sister that they turned for their pastry and restaurant choices. She recommended Maison Landemaine for their flaky pain au chocolate and urged the Scotch Couples to arrive early in order to scoop them up while they were hot.

Alas, since this was the first morning in Paris, the Scotch Couples did not roll out of bed in time to sample the wares while they were warm. The CA Scotch Couple arrived around 8, but that still wasn't early enough. Since there is both an Avenue de Clichy and a Rue de Clichy, DC Scotch Couple ended up with a little unexpected city exploration on the way and showed up a little later, which was fine with the CA Scotch Couple since it gave them two rounds of pastry eating.

The first round consisted of a pain au chocolate, a raisin pastry, and a loaf of chocolate chip bread. The pain au chocolate really was amazing! It was rich and flaky and had two strips of excellent chocolate inside. The other pastries were also quite good. If fact, CA Scotch Gent ended up polishing off the chocolate chip bread they were saving for the DC Scotch Couple while they were waiting.

Round two commenced with the DC Scotch Couple arrived. They went for the almond croissant, chocolate bread, and a choice from the non-breakfast pastry section. CA Scotch Chick ordered a bag of little sugar encrusted pastries for their travels during the day. Everything was excellent. In fact, the almond croissant was so good DC Scotch Chick, who doesn't have a sweet tooth, threatened to go back to get another one.

Interestingly enough, when CA Scotch Chick did a little research on Maison Landemain, the only web sites she found mentioning it were in Japanese. Scroll down on this one www.yoshimi-boulangere.com/rodoshop.html to see some really good pictures of their wares. In her original research, CA Scotch Chick found that there are several French pastry shops run by Japanese individuals. Since she didn't know there might be a Japanese connection for Maison Landemain when she was there, she did not have an opportunity to ask if the owners are from Japan.

Whatever the origin of this amazing French pastry shop, it is well worth a visit while in Paris. The Scotch Couples sincerely thank CA Scotch Gent's sister for this fantastic find.

le Saint Amour

The light and airy le Saint Amour Garden Room

Restaurant	le Saint Amour
Address	48, rue Sainte-Ursule Québec, QC G1R 4E2 1 418 694-0667 www.saint-amour.com
Hours	Mon-Friday, 11:30 am - 2:15 pm, 6 pm - 10:30 pm Sat-Sun 5:30pm - 10:30pm
Cuisine	French Canadian
Scotch	Glen Breton Rare

For their final evening in Québec City, the CA Scotch Couple were joined by one of CA Scotch Gent's colleagues for a lovely evening at a restaurant long known for its cuisine, le Saint Amour. Now, CA Scotch Chick had waffled a bit over whether or not to include le Saint Amour on the itinerary. It had recently received mixed reviews on Chowhound, with a couple of individuals posting reports of understaffed service and disappointing food, and others vehemently defending both the food and the service. Once again the decision was made for the CA Scotch Couple when CA Scotch Gent's colleague suggested le Saint Amour for dinner.

Let's just dispense with the question of the service and food right up front. Both were excellent! The CA Scotch Couple and their guest were seated in the light and airy garden room, really one of the most pleasant rooms they have been privileged to dine in. It was staffed in a tag team style, with a concierge and head waiter attending to the patrons' needs but numerous other servers circulating with water, bread, food, and drinks. The staff was attentive without being overbearing or patronizing.

The CA Scotch Couple were back on their foie gras hunt, so CA Scotch Gent ordered seared foie gras, while CA Scotch Chick went with the parfait de foie gras with smoked duck. CA Scotch Gent chose the lamb for his entrée, and CA Scotch Chick opted for the red deer. The seared foie gras was fantastic, perfectly done, rich and tasty. The parfait de foie gras wasn't anything special, and the duck was just a tad tough. However, the red deer was definitely something special. It was a tender, full flavored piece of meat, with a taste unlike anything CA Scotch Chick had experienced before. The lamb was also exceedingly tender and quite excellent.

The highlight of the evening, however, was not the food or the normal aspects of service, but rather an interesting series of exchanges CA Scotch Chick had with one of the waiters. When CA Scotch Chick asked for the whisky menu, the concierge brought it and explained that not all of the whiskys available were on it. The restaurant had a new waiter who was a whisky enthusiast, so there were several interesting whiskys not listed.

Of course, CA Scotch Chick had to meet this whisky enthusiast and check out these interesting whiskys. The concierge called a young looking red headed waiter over. He took CA Scotch Chick to the bar area and showed her some of his finds, among them a blended malt bottled in France, a Canadian Club in a cognac cask, and a whisky produced by the first single malt whisky distillery in North America, the Glenora Inn and Distillery in Nova Scotia. She ordered the Glenora Inn and Distillery's Glen Breton Rare for herself and a more mainstream Glenfiddich 30 for CA Scotch Gent.

Turns out the Glen Breton Rare was pretty raw tasting stuff. CA Scotch Gent described it as alcohol and burnt cork. However, CA Scotch Chick's time with the waiter led to numerous discussions with this interesting individual whenever he made his way to their table. Seems that he had spent a couple of years training in England and had taken the opportunity to learn everything he could about whisky. They discussed their favorite whiskys, the wonder of the Japanese whiskys, the difficulty and fun of living abroad, and the problems of obtaining whisky in Québec, even for a restaurant with a liquor license. It was great fun to share in this young man's enthusiasm for the finest of liquids.

The evening at le Saint Amour was simply delightful. The service was excellent, the setting was lovely, and the food was quite good. It was a fantastic cap to a wonderful week.