An American Breakfast in Paris

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Places To Eat

Published on Thursday, 13 July 2017 16:42

Written by Ellis Nassour

Paris, France --  Yes, you’ve been sightseeing and sightseeing and you just want to find a McDonald’s and plop down with your quarter-pounder. Don’t you dare!  No need to, because in three excellent locations across Paris are the Breakfast in America (B.I.A.) diners.

If, as is often stated, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, wouldn’t it be nice if you could have it all day? Well, a Connecticut Yank figured a way to do just that – in Paris, where he’s not only brought authentic American breakfasts available into the wee hours in three locations, but also the diner experience. And, to top that, there’s lunch and supper!

On Saturday, January 4th, 2003, after two years in the making and seeking backing, Craig Carlson fulfilled his long-time dream. He opened his Breakfast in America diner in the heart of the Latin Quarter. There had been months of trials, tribulations, and delays dealing with labyrinth of rules, regulations, inspectors, and the French work ethic. This led to curiosity and anticipation about what this American was up to. He could hardly believe the day had finally come. It arrived with one of the heaviest snowfalls Paris had seen. He stood at the door to welcome customers, afraid that there’d be none.  

The aroma of strong American coffee tempted a few passersby. They came in, warmed up with bottomless mugs, and to what was coming hot off the grill.  And they keep coming. B.I.A. has become so popular with locals and tourists, there are now three locations in easy to reach neighborhoods.

The French are as mad about food and wine as they are about amour. So, there was always apprehension about how they would react to hearty portions of diner fare. In place of croissants, crepes, and petit déjeuners, there’d be stacks of pancakes with maple syrup and choice of blueberries or strawberries, along with eggs, Western omelets, bacon, hash browns, and toast. 

The menu has grown to include wraps, chili con carne, club sandwiches, fresh-baked bagels, cheesecakes, root beer, and milkshakes. Needless to say, along with pancakes, the real American hamburger has proven to be a smash – along with the introduction of toasters at each table and Sunday brunch.

Carlson came to France as a student and didn’t take long to fall in love with the country. Thanks to Paris’ thriving art house cinemas, he developed a love for film and decided to pursue it as a career. After studying at University of Southern California film school, he worked at Disney, wrote scripts, made a short film, and was able to return to Paris to work on a TV show. 

“I really missed the good old-fashioned American breakfast,” he says. “The only thing the French knew about American cuisine was fast food and French fries. I became obsessed with opening an authentic diner and serving traditional American breakfasts.”
July is always a doubly hot month: Quite a traditional celebration of the Fourth -- with a menu boasting tangy BBQ ribs, corn on the cob, potato salad, chili dogs, along with B.I.A.’s all-day breakfast all day and famous burgers; and, on the 14th, France’s special celebration, Bastille Day.  If you happen to visit later in the year, don’t miss B.I.A.’s Thanksgiving Dinner extravanganza, the one time they take reservations for three seatings of their candlelit three-course feast.

Locations: 17, rue des Ecoles, 75005 Paris (near the Sorbonne, Panthéon, Notre Dame, art houses, and cabaret extraordinaire Paradis Latin); 4, rue Malher, 75004 Paris (Marais, near rue des Rosiers, the famous Jewish quarter); and 41, rue des Jeûneurs, 75002 Paris (adjacent to Grands Boulevards, near Opéra Garnier, Le Grand Rex cineplex). Full bar. No reservations. For more information, operating hours, nearest Metro stations, and phone numbers, visit www.breakfast-in-america.com.

Where Carlson found time to write quite a successful book, Pancakes in Paris: Living the American Dream in France (Source Books; includes recipes; www.pancakesinparis.com) is unknown. But he did it, and it’s filled with the warmth of his dreams and the naked truth of how difficult it was to fulfill it.

A Taste of Traditional Japan in NYC

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Places To Eat

Published on Friday, 27 September 2013 19:42

Written by Renzo Adler

The MTC Kitchen, located only a stone's throw from Grand Central Terminal at 711 3rd Ave, will be featuring some unique Japanese delicacies, sweets, and traditional crafts from Ishikawa Prefecture.
A Taste of Ishikawa Prefecture in New York runs from October 14 through November 1st, 2013, highlights unique goods from the scenic region which overlooks the Sea of Japan, such as lacquerware bento boxes (bring you lunch to work in style), Warosoku candles, Kutani sake glasses and glassware, sake carafes, and soup bowls, all perfect for giving your drab kitchen a touch of traditional Japanese beauty. Not to mention that during the fair, all products from Ishikawa will have discounts up to 20% off.

For those of you that are a little hungry, after 2PM each day of the fair, specialty dishes from Ishikawa will be presented for tasting, like broiled mackerel, eel, ishiri-shoyu (a regionally exclusive fish-sauce with a strong umami flavor), Kaga Miso (a miso paste rich in color which has a rustic flavor that's great for soups), fried tofu, traditional sweets, and more.

Come to MTC Kitchen to get a taste of Ishikawa's traditional wares and flavors!

A Taste of Ishikawa Prefecture in New York
October 14 - November 1, 2013

MTC Kitchen
711 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10017

Miya's Sushi: Chi Chi Sushi, Guilt-Free

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Places To Eat

Published on Tuesday, 25 September 2012 23:53

Written by Laura Blum

Raw fish, the former cat food staple, is conquering the world. China, India, Latin America -- consumers across exploding markets want their bluefin tuna, and they want it now. With dire implications for our oceans.

If Japan doesn't have a solution, Connecticut does. Two-and-a-half hours from Manhattan as the toro swims, a New Haven restaurant is serving up variations on the traditional Japanese cuisine in a tasty fix dubbed "sustainable sushi." Miya's Sushi (68 Howe Street, 203-777-9760) is not only green, it's affairs seem quite rosy.

Just ask the customers awaiting a free table. In April 2010, Fish2Fork ranked Miya's one of the ten most sustainable seafood establishments in the country. Open the novella-length menu and see why.

There's Bad Tempered Geisha Boy Roll, "specifically invented for men who love big muscles. plump New Zealand green mussels with Thai pepper & scallions." Kosher- and halal-keepers will appreciate "Kiss the Smiling Piggie Roll," which comes with the qualification, "this roll contains no meat or pork. sweet potato, mango chutney & pine nuts."

And patrons minding their ph levels can chase it all down with Ultraviolet Kisses, described as, "ocean-salty, homegrown red aged shiso and sour plum sake."

Just don´t expect to find typical sushi basics like big eye tuna, yellowfin, red snapper or octopus. Chef and co-owner Bun Lai prefers the likes of catfish grown in confined ponds that don't "cross-contaminate other species or destroy the aquatic ecosystem around it, as salmon and eel farming does."

The prize-winning eco-activist came to the restaurant roughly a decade ago. It took some doing for the eco flavor to catch on. In
2004, when Lai first fileted the menu of seafood farmed or caught unsustainably, peeved clients allegedly took their business elsewhere. Luckily he had an in with the owner, Yoshiko Lai, a Japanese nutritionist who established Miya's Sushi in 1982 -- and who happens to be his mother.

Now he's optimistic about the emerging cadres of consumers who "care enough about our planet to change the way they eat." Even
the diehards are beginning to develop a taste for Miya's upscale sushi that "quenches people's thirst for exotic ingredients without depleting the oceans," as Lai recently explained during a rare lull in his demanding schedule.

Q: How does Miya's Sushi differ from your average sushi joint?

BL: The seafood at 99 percent of restaurants is farmed with a whole lot of pesticides and antibiotics. If you're talking about shrimp or salmon, chances are it's farmed, cause it's cheap. Tuna is usually preserved with carbon monoxide, so you don´t know how old it is.

Q: So you get what you pay for...

BL: Most of the seafood that we consume cheaply comes from foreign sources and we don't bother regulating it. The FDA checks less than 1 percent of foreign seafood. Of that, almost 90 percent fails inspection for chemicals that are banned in this country, and
 we're loose on what chemicals we allow.

Q: Like?

BL: You'll find fungicide so seafood like salmon can keep growing in incredibly dirty water. They're completely sick. Pesticides are used to lessen the impact of sea lice that are eating away at farmed salmon. The sea lice are attacking them because these are fish that are not supposed to be pent up; otherwise they're in the open sea.

Q: Farmed seafood sounds like the new tobacco. Which fish should get the surgeon general's warning?

BL: Tilapia is as bad as it gets. But the salmon that's generally available is hardly the health wonder you might think. It's high in Omega-6 fatty acids and implicated in heart disease. The American Heart Association tells people to eat salmon, but farmed salmon is high in saturated fats, which is actually bad for your heart. The salmon isn't eating its natural diet of wild fish, so you´re essentially eating bacon.

Q: How challenging is it to serve only sustainably produced and fished seafood?

BL: Very. Our seafood selection isn't that big. We run out all the time since (the Bridgeport Agriculture School) can't provide that much. Customers ask us, "How come you keep running out? You can find it anywhere!"

Q: Miya's is among a rising tide of farm-to-table restaurants that supply their own ingredients. How and what on your menu is homegrown?

BL: We have fishing ponds and boats on the Thimble Islands not from the restaurant. Half of the staff is scuba certified -- and I'm a "free diver" -- I hold my breath and go down as far as 25 feet. [We collect] all sorts of sea life that wouldn't normally be eaten: spider crabs, sea robins (which are considered "trash fish"), snapper and bluefish, which are incredibly abundant, atypical and absolutely delicious. We also dive for clams and oysters. And the seaweed we put in our miso soup, we dive for.

Q: What are today's specials?

BL: We have cow nose ray from the Chesapeake Bay. It's a fish that's causing a tremendous amount of damage in the Bay because of overfishing of sharks. And it´s totally delicious.

Q: So eating it is actually a needed service. What else should customers order to be good environmentalists?

BL: Silver carp is an invasive species in 18 states and it's threatening to make its way into the Great Lakes. No one eats it in the States, but it has more Omega-3 fatty acids than salmon and much lower PCB levels because it's an herbivore. Tiny dogfish is another good choice. The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has put it on a list of species that we absolutely should be eating because they could potentially decimate other species of native fish.

Q: Seafood aside, what gives Miya's a nutritional edge over stock sushi?

BL: The misconception about sushi is that it's healthy. Traditional sushi is made with white rice, so the nutrients are taken away from it. It´s like eating Wonder bread. It´s also sweetened with white sugar; a year ago I looked at the ingredients that Whole Foods is using for sushi, and its was corn syrup. So you're basically eating soda. Our rice is unsweetened. We also use locally grown ginger that's pickled in local maple syrup. You won´t find any sugar-sweetened, pink-dyed ginger here.

Q: Half of your sushi menu is vegetarian. Why?

BL: We have a billion people starving in the world today, and the way we're going to feed a hungry planet is not by feeding them animals. Animal farming is not the most efficient way of providing nutrients that humans need; plant-based food is. There's a direct link between the over-consumption of animals and cancer and heart disease. When we choose animals, we should be eating smaller animals and higher-quality flesh that have been raised or hunted in an ethical way.

We're not supposed to be consuming all-you-can-eat shrimp. Most of us today will die of lifestyle-related diseases that have to do with our diet. The irony is that there are so many people who are hungry in this world and we in the U.S. are dying from too much food.

Q: What's the outlook for sustainable seafood?

BL: The biggest change is that Walmart has stopped carrying red-listed seafood -- Monterey Bay Aquarium has coded seafood red, yellow and green. Blue Ocean also has a great list. Target got rid of farmed salmon. When the biggest retailers get involved, it helps the oceans because it educates the average person in a way that Miya's can never do.

Q: Do you still get flak from traditional sushi eaters?

BL: People will still walk out every day. The flip side is that we have lines out the door practically every night.

Q: What's it like working with your mother?

BL: Mom is still boss and as always I don't listen to her.