FARM-TO-ROOM SERVICE
YOLO Journal Issue 2
It’s autumn, a sunny Sunday morning, and you are in Paris. You love your hotel, and you’re tired of eating out. Once you have wheeled in two soft-boiled eggs with soldiers for breakfast, watched a child gleefully devour a club sandwich, and revisited disappointing 2am French fries—the novelty of room service wears thin. You yearn for the flavors, textures, comfort, and nourishment of your own larder.
The solution is cheerful. Head for Boulevard Raspail. The organic farmers’ market is open from 8am until 2pm. There is no finer produce to be found in the City of Light. Get there early to avoid the crowds.
The first autumn chill has an effect on appetite. The appeal of the nightshades recedes, and a desire for texture and the protein rush of freshly caught fruits de mer returns. So hit the poissonier stand: It is an art instillation of scales and shells upon crushed ice. September marks the return of oyster season. Oysters are invariably better when preceded by crevettes grises and followed by raw Saint Jacques, all washed down with an iced bottle of demonstratively mineral dry white wine. Try Les Pentes Douces from the biodynamic vineyard Château La Coste, or if you are not quite yet ready to relinquish summer, perhaps a bottle of Bandol rosé from Domaine Tempier.
Buy the crevettes-grises as they are and eat them like potato chips—in one bite. The brave eat the heads as well. Have the oysters shucked. The poissonier may feign a little Parisian grumbling, but he or she will do a beautiful job. Have the scallops shucked too. All that will remain to be done once back in your hotel room is to slice them to the desired gauge and season them with extra virgin olive oil and fleur de sel—and caviar, if you've got it!
If you’re feeling particularly gluttonous, buy half of a cooked crab. A loaf of sourdough from the boulanger and a slice of Bordier butter from the fromager. Buy some crème fraiche, too; this will complement your red currants, raspberries, and blackberries for dessert. From one of the many maraîchers buy lemons, parsley, tarragon, basil, sorrel, rocket, chervil, and borage to concoct yourself a dainty salade-de-fine-herbes. Dress it with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of fleur de sel.
Improvise a tablecloth with a dishcloth or two, open a bottle of wine, and have yourself a picnic!