Emily in France 🇫🇷 Across the Pond
Two weeks of dining (and freezing) in the UK
While I’m typically an aoûtien through and through, this year, I transformed into a juilletiste: after two weeks in America followed by five days in Paris – enough to get my bearings and do some laundry – I embarked on a two-week traipse through the UK.
Friends, it was cold.
The adventure began in London, with a day spent in the new-to-me neighborhood of Shoreditch. A bit of pub-hopping led us to dinner at Dishoom, where we feasted on the obligatory black lentil dal and the Shoreditch special prawn bathia, with a sticky ginger-garlic tomato masala.
Next, we hopped a train for Surrey, where we took advantage of a few sunny days and visited Denbies Wine Estate, one of the biggest single-estate vineyards in England. I’d had the opportunity to try some English wine – specifically an excellent sparkling from Kent – on my visit to Pavyllon in London earlier this year, so it was interesting to gain a bit more knowledge about the unique terroir paving the way for wines this side of the Channel.
Next stop, the beautiful Cotswolds. Fun fact: My first solo trip abroad was when I was 14 years old and got the chance to attend Cambridge University’s Trinity College for the month of July. Ever the nerd, I spent most of the month attending as many outdoor Shakespeare productions as I could.
Motivated, perhaps, by the fact that they thought me too young to be on the other side of the Atlantic alone – or maybe just FOMO – my parents and siblings spent the month at a cottage in the Cotswolds known as “The Butts.” Which means that while my family knows this area well, this was one of my first brushes with its incredible beauty.
We started our visit with a pub lunch. Baked Camembert to start…
…followed by a roast with all the trimmings. My herb-roasted chicken was heavenly (though don't be fooled by that golden yorkie. It tasted like styrofoam. I have yet to find one that rivals my mother’s, except maybe the one Ed Delling-Williams serves at the Presbytère in Normandy.)
The Painswick Rococo Garden was a beautiful spot to wander one cloudy afternoon, with the water lilies in full bloom.
And when we did get a glimmer of sunshine, we took full advantage with a traipse through the countryside – and a stop at The Fresh Standard, a tap room hidden away in the woods, ripe for discovery. Their Soft is bomb.
It was difficult to leave this idyll, but luckily, the next destination was just as enticing. Bristol is a funky, vibey city I love for its markets, vintage shops, five-euro bookstores, and food.
Favorites this time around included this incredible Little Gem, anchovy, and sun-dried tomato salad at The Grace, where we also tried some of the most delicious arancini ever (and that’s saying something, given the frequency with which they appear on contemporary menus). The Spotted Cow also served up a tasty cheese plate, including a slice of Perl Las that was even more flavorful than the truckle-style format of this blue I’m more accustomed to. The Tobacco Factory's roasted cabbage, meanwhile, was super simple and yet is now a contender for best bite of the year.
Oh, and there was more beer.
From Bristol, it was time to head to picturesque Tenby, on the Pembrokshire coast.
There were a few obligatory old favorites, like fish and chips with mushy peas and malt vinegar…
... and a stop at the Harbwr Brewery for pints in the sunshine.
But it was also a great opportunity for a day trip out to Caldey Island, home to a Cistercian monastery.
Before leaving the seaside, I also took the chance to try a Welsh specialty: cockles with vinegar and black pepper. I eschewed what seemed to be everyone else’s 4pm beach day go-to – a cup of steaming builders’ tea – but I respect it nonetheless.
It was nearly time to head back to Paris, but first, I had to make one last stop: London. My priorities here were simple: see some of my favorite people in the world, and eat spicy food. So I enjoyed my two last British meals at the Bombay in Orpington…
…and Mestizio in London.
Now, I’m back in sunny Paris, ready to enjoy the last few days of summer in the 10th, far, far away from the Olympics.
Cheese of the Week
I always love discovering new-to-me cheeses on my travels, and this creamy Bix was no exception. A triple-cream soft cheese from the folks at Nettlebed Creamery in Oxfordshire, this cheese is rich and buttery with soft, lactic notes. It's no surprise to me it took top prize for Best Soft White at the British Cheese Awards in 2018.
To discover more of my favorite cheeses, be sure to follow me on Instagram @emily_in_france, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and tune into the Terroir Podcast, where Caroline Conner and I delve into France's cheese, wine, and more one region at a time.
What I’m Eating
L’Orillon takes no reservations, and when I arrived on a Tuesday evening just before 7:30pm, it was already packed to the brim. But in a move that would come to define the restaurant’s exquisite combo of chill vibes and stalwart professionalism, the barman showed me a stool at the old-school zinc bar and assured me the next two-top was mine. More on the blog.
Where I’m Going
1. To Accents Bourse, to discover the Michelin-starred cuisine of Chef Romain Mahi and Pastry Chef Ayumi Sugiyama-Shinjo.
2. To Culture Rapide for Paris Lit Up’s weekly Open Mic, which I've sorely missed after a month of travel.
3. To an undisclosed location to record a podcast episode for Milk Street. But more on that soon!
What I'm Writing
1. Paris’ Olympic Games have ushered in a host of firsts, from the début of breaking to the first Games to boast as many women competing as men. And given that the Games are being held in France, it's perhaps no surprise that the Olympic Village has also become home to the world's biggest restaurant. For the BBC.
2. A steakhouse may seem like the last place you'd want to go if you're trying to eat healthy, but it turns out that there are loads of options that are low in fat and calories and high in nutrients — especially if you order smart. For Mashed.
3. From the archives: I first encountered “savory cake” as most French people do: at an apéro dînatoire, a boozy buffet-style dinner of room-temperature offerings. These days, cake salé is omnipresent, as welcome at apéros as at picnics. For Saveur.
Friends of Emily in France
I’m surrounded by some pretty exceptional entrepreneurs, writers, and tastemakers, and I think you should know about them too! From now on, each week, I’ll be profiling one person I think you should be aware of.
Long-time readers of this newsletter will be familiar with the Red Wheelbarrow, aka my favorite Anglophone bookstore in Paris. For years, Penelope Fletcher has operated next door to a Far Right bookstore that sells anti-Semitic, homophobic, and racist literature. Or I should say… sold. The shop finally shuttered in June, and Penelope took control of the space, which sits between her shop and the Red Balloon, a bilingual children's bookstore she opened in 2021.
The new space will mean more events, more books, and even writing workshops for the Anglophone literary community in Paris. But it will also mean more upfront costs for Penelope and her team. That’s why they're currently raising funds – and they can use all the help they can get! Consider donating to this worthy literary cause today.
FAQs
With the goal of bringing you the content you crave, I've solicited your help. What questions can I answer for you? Drop them into the newsletter chat, and I’ll answer as many as I can!
Jenna is a first-time visitor to Paris who reached out through a friend for some help planning her trip. “Mostly are just wondering how to figure out where to stay. We’ll mostly be doing the touristy things. We just don’t want to end up staying in a sketchy area. The Internet is only so helpful! Any must-dos or things to avoid would be good too.”
This is always the most difficult question to field, mainly because there are so many potential answers. But without any additional info or criteria, this is what I’d say.
Must-dos for any first-timer should include at least one museum. The Louvre is the obvious one, but I’m a bigger fan of the Orsay or the Orangerie, which focus on the 19th and 20th centuries and thus feature a lot of Impressionists. (And you can get a coupled ticket for the two latter ones).
Also, sit in a café. Any old café. The food might be meh but the people-watching is the best.
And… walk everywhere. It’s the best way to see the city! (I’m happy to be your guide if you need one, though getting lost is part of the fun.)
As for where to stay, it’s all a question of whether you want to be close to the action or not – and what you consider “the action” to be. The arrondissement of your chosen hotel or AirBnb will dictate the character of the neighborhood, and generally speaking, the lower the number of the arrondissement (the last two digits of the postal code) the closer you are to the center.
The 5th, which encompasses the Latin Quarter, and the 3rd and 4th – the Marais – are perhaps my favorites if money is no object, with a lovely neighborhood ambiance and loads of historic buildings and cobbled streets to discover. That said, my favorite hotel in Paris is the Grand Hotel Pigalle, in the 9th, not far from Montmartre.
If you’d rather be off the beaten path, I like the 10th and 11th, both of which are trendy and foodie-focused, with the latter being a bit more hipstery than the former. Staying near République, which straddles the 10th, 11th, and 3rd, is a cheap option that’s well-connected with the métro to get you to the sights pretty quickly.
What I'm Reading
1. I absolutely adored Kitchens of the Great Midwest, with its intriguing, multi-POV structure and keen love of food at the core. A book that dances on the surface of a more traditional plot, it nevertheless manages to create a whole picture of a place, a people, and a person. I rarely reread books, but this is one I'll be going back to again and again.
2. This exquisite analysis of the bacchanalia that was the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. From Hannah Meltzer.
3. This gorgeous ode to gas station pie. From Cake Zine.
A bientôt !