A L'Etoile d'Or -- discovering Denise Acabo's food finds
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02/25/2003 Entry: "Meeting a True French Gourmande"
Seems like my weekend keeps moving forward. I decided to work Sundays, so now I get Mondays and Tuesdays off. There’s nothing much to do in Paris on Sundays anyway (for a non-museum lover like me), except go to church and do laundry. Saturday was a very busy day chez Pierre Hermé – the sun came out, it was 56°F (this is warm considering we’ve been at 30-32°F the whole week) – everyone was outside, eating, drinking coffee, shopping – buying pastries at Pierre Hermé! I was working like crazy, making Ispahans nonstop. We anticipated the Saturday crowd and so I made 4 trays of Ispahans (120) in addition to 12 bigger cakes the day before. I made 120 more on Saturday, and when we checked the fridge Sunday morning – we sold out!!! Can you believe that? How I wish my patisserie would do this well… We were all très très très fatigués. I needed the weekend badly.
As always, Monday was my bistro day. I went all the way to the 9th arrondisement to sample Casa Olympe, a very popular bistro with a woman chef! I came just in time, before the place filled up with businessmen in suits. I heard the two suits next to me thanking the waitress for seating a charming girl next to them. They said they have a very good view for lunch. Heh. Feels nice to be complimented for once, after feeling ugly and dumb in the kitchen for 2 months now. I still felt quite uneasy being all alone in my table, but when my food came I forgot all about it. I took the 35 euro menu (you really have no choice but to take the prix fixe) and started with a Chestnut Pancake with Poached Egg and Lardons, followed by Tuna with Pearl Onions over Eggplant, and Poached Pear in Red Wine. Very satisfying.
After lunch I decided to visit A L’Etoile D’Or, a food specialty shop selling rare finds from all over France. The patronne, Denise Acabo, is a charming lady dressed up in a preppy high school uniform, with her red hair in tresses. Apparently she’s quite famous – mentioned in dozens of books and magazines, from Patricia Well’s Food Lover’s Guide to Japanese pastry books, and even Marie Claire! I decided to make conversation and mentioned that I was working as a stagiare at Pierre Hermé – I ended up staying in her shop for over an hour – she showed me her collection of magazine articles dating back to 1984 – with stories of famous chefs and their restaurants and patisseries. She told me about her favorite patisseries and what I should get there, which restaurants she loved and which ones disappointed her. She was really chatty, and I didn’t even have to say anything except “Ah, oui?”. I ended up getting a few things, like Bernachon chocolate (you can only find this in Bernachon’s shop in Lyon, but Mme. Acabo managed to become the exclusive distributor in Paris), a small bottle of Banyuls wine (she said I should drink some with chocolate), and Sucre de Pomme from Rouen.
Since Mme. Acabo was raving about Gerard Mulot’s patisserie, I decided to stop by his shop and get a few things on my way home. I got a Tarte aux Fraises des Bois (Wild Strawberry Tart), Mabillon (caramel entremets with apricots), and Paris Brest (Choux Pastry ring with Praliné Buttercream). Tasting all these pastries comes with a price – I gained 2 lbs. already. I have to find some other passion that’s calorie free.
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| Gerard Mulot’s Patisserie in the 6th | Mulot’s Window Display |
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| Mabillon, Tarte aux Fraises des Bois, Paris Brest | Casa Olympe |
