Bringing Down the White Picket Fence
A Couple's Quest to Live Globally
We have a dear friend who has a spectacular vegetable garden in his backyard. A visit to his house in the summer guarantees that we’ll leave with a bag of the most beautiful, crisp, and green collard greens we’ve ever had the pleasure of bringing into our kitchen. When we asked him recently if he ever grew kale, his response was, “I was eating kale before you healthy people discovered kale was cool.” I have to admit, he’s probably right. These days, kale takes the spotlight as the new, cool green. We put it in our shakes, massage it for our salads, and chop it up for our soups. And while this antioxidant rich, cancer fighting “super food” may have been around for quite a while, in our minds, it didn’t become “cool” until Porta moved into town.
Porta is just one of the genius creations of the Smith group in Asbury Park, NJ. Their Cavolo Nero salad puts Tuscan kale center stage in a tangy lemon garlic dressing topped with sunchokes and watermelon radish, a touch of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and homemade chile-garlic crostini croutons. The Cavolo Nero salad is seasonal and sensational. We only cry a little bit when it temporarily disappears from their menu.
However, Porta is much more than kale. It’s an authentic Neapolitan pizza restaurant at the Jersey Shore. When we say authentic, we mean those pizza ovens came straight from Italy to Asbury Park. But who says the magic is completely in the oven? Porta’s pizzas are superb because the ingredients are locally sourced and deliciously arranged atop a homemade crust that will make you sing. We adore the Arugula pizza, topped with homemade mozzarella cheese, crisp, peppery green arugula, garlic, and truffle oil. We’ve fallen in love with the Autumn Betty, a seasonal pizza with San Marzano tomatoes, homemade mozzarella, goat cheese, garlic, thyme, and fresh mushrooms. And when we feel its time to cheat from our mostly vegetarian diet, we turn to the 14 1/2, a pizza of homemade mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, hot soppressata, and Calabrian chiles. Ultimately, the 14 1/2 is our favorite Porta creation to date.
It is important to note that while Porta’s food is magnificent, it is the people who complete Porta. The staff is always thoughtful and attentive, and most importantly, consistent. We love the culture Porta has created, and we love the amount of energy and devotion the Smith group has put into our little city by the sea. They have revitalized and refreshed Asbury Park and they see its potential. We love them for that. We also love them for Brickwall, our go-to spot for what we consider the world-famous black bean burger, and Pascal & Sabine, the French restaurant that introduced Paris to Asbury Park. We consider that French connection to be a match made in heaven.
Whether it be at Porta, Brickwall, or Pascal & Sabine, there are always two things that you’ll always be sure of: the food will be incredible and the staff will be warm and welcoming.
Thank you Smith for making kale “cool” and for making Asbury Park even cooler. Cheers!
Oh Robert Wiedmaier, you’ve done it again. First, we fell in love with Brasserie Beck in D.C., and then, just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we’re now head over heels for the Brabo Tasting Room in Old Town. In our past two weekend getaways to Alexandria, Virginia, we’ve dined at Brabo Tasting Room four times! This cozy little restaurant is phenomenal, from the incredibly delicious food to the delightful and hardworking staff, you’ll never leave hungry and you’ll always leave happy. Most importantly, you’ll want to return again and again.
Be prepared to have a difficult time trying to make decisions here as everything on the menu is absolutely divine. The French onion soup rivals the crocks of soup we’ve had in Paris, the cheese board presents the best selection of cheeses we’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting, and the mussels, steaming hot in a pot of white wine and garlic broth, are exceptionally flavorful. Of course, you can’t feast on all of this without bread and you’ll be more than pleased with the baguettes served fresh and warm from the wood fired oven. Soaked in the leftover mussel broth, you’ll find these slices of heaven to be outrageously addicting. Luckily, the servers are more than willing to refill your bread basket on a regular basis.
We can’t imagine it can get any better than the Brabo Tasting Room, but apparently it does since there is a larger and more formal Brabo just next door. We haven’t had the opportunity to eat at Brabo Restaurant yet, but we hope to make it there someday soon. We expect it to be fantastic. Of course, we’ll tell you all about it as soon as we get the chance!
Until then, go, run, sprint to Brabo Tasting Room or any restaurant with Chef Wiedmaier attached to it. If you haven’t seen our review of Brasserie Beck, you can find it here at Westin Finds from AFAR. It’s just one of those places you must go when visiting D.C.!
© Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence, 2007-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
“If you’re going to travel the world, make it a delicious journey.”
Golden West Cafe
One of the things I love the most about the American Southwest is the breakfast burrito. I especially adore the tortillas as they are often homemade, their taste and texture superbly better than any tortilla you’ll find at your local grocery store (unless, of course, you live near a Whole Foods in Santa Fe). Breakfast just tastes better when all of your favorite fillings are wrapped up tightly into one big, chile sauce covered bundle of burrito joy. It’s a deliciously spicy way to start the day.
Living on the East Coast, my tortillas come packaged and my morning restaurant options are usually limited to the traditional breakfast fare. Of course, in New Jersey we like to shake up the boring breakfast routine with pork roll, egg, and cheese on freshly baked bagels and hard rolls. It is what some might call the breakfast sandwich of champions at the Jersey Shore. While it is quite possible that every state has put their own twist on our “most important meal of the day”, my favorite place to eat breakfast is at a little cafe in Baltimore, Maryland-The Golden West.
I’m a born and raised Jersey Girl who spent the first nine years of my young adult life living in Maryland. Four years of college on the Eastern Shore and five years of teaching in Baltimore County equals a pretty good understanding of how to feast on crabs and cheer for Raven’s football. Most importantly, I learned there is only one place you go for breakfast and that’s down on the “The Avenue” in Hampden, hon’ at the Golden West Cafe.
Say hello to my American Southwest in Baltimore. Take it from me, this is your place for breakfast burritos done right. Smothered in green or red chile sauce, I adore the vegan burrito with house made faux -rizo. Complete with potatoes, beans, and salsa fresca, these burritos are packed with flavor and wrapped with love. They are simply delicious.
Beyond the food, the space is cozy, the staff is super friendly, and the coffee is robust. Pull up a seat by the window or grab a booth and enjoy what I like to call Baltimore’s best breakfast.
Notre Dame at Night
Make sure to capture Notre Dame at night. Some of the best views are from the river and the nearby bridges. Sit by the Seine and watch this beautiful building light up the Paris sky.
© Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence, 2007-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Feel the Rush of the Tour de France!
If you are traveling to Paris in July, make sure to keep tabs on the Tour de France as it makes its arrival into the city. Don’t be tempted to follow the crowds as they push towards the Champs Elysee. Instead, head for the Left Bank and land a spot along the Quai Voltaire, anywhere between the Pont des Arts and the Pont Royal. Here you can get an unobstructed view of the cyclists and feel the rush as they zoom past. For a different perspective, head to the Jardin des Tuileries and catch the victory lap from above by standing on the Voie des Georges Pompidou, looking down towards the Quai des Tuileries. At this angle, you may have to maneuver through a few more spectators, but this also gives you the opportunity to meet fellow travelers from all over the world.
© Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence, 2007-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Lounge in the Parks
Watch the colors of Paris illuminate in any one of the city’s immaculate and meticulously landscaped parks. Pull up a green chair, sit back, and watch the puffy white clouds float across the bright blue sky. Listen to the children’s laughter as they steer their wooden boats through the fountains, admire the perfectly aligned trees, read a good book, take a long nap.
These are our favorite places to escape: Jardin du Luxembourg
Jardin du Palais Royal
Jardin des Tuileries
This is Paris…a perfect place to lounge.
© Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence, 2007-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Admire the Louvre
While tourists flock to the Louvre to sneak a glimpse at the Mona Lisa, we prefer to stay outside the museum and bask in the beauty of the Louvre Palace. Set below the blue skies of Paris, this building is a stunning work of art.
At night, the lights transform it into a majestic masterpiece.
© Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence, 2007-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Stroll the Bridges
You don’t have to stand in line at all the tourist attractions to get the best views of Paris. Skip the lines and head for the bridges! Take an evening stroll, breathe in the delicious Paris air, and watch the sun work its magic on this beautiful city.
When the sun goes down, the city and its bridges light up. Stay up late and share in the nightlife. This is when the locals come out to dance and sing along the Seine. Bring a picnic, sit beside the river, and listen to the hum of the city. This is the best time to watch Paris sparkle.
© Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence, 2007-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
If you haven’t had a chance to read Our Guide to Paris-Where We Eat (Part 1), please be sure you do! As promised, we have some additional favorites described below!
Les Deux Magots (http://www.lesdeuxmagots.fr/en/ambiances.php#/ambiances.php)
6 place Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 75006 Paris, France
Unfortunately, these days, Les Deux Magots gets a bad rap for being touristy and overpriced. Being one of Hemingway’s old haunts, this beautiful cafe gets a lot of traffic. We recommend coming here on a warm summer evening and grabbing a table outside on the sidewalk. It is the perfect place to grab a beverage and watch the people stroll down the Boulevard Saint Germain. You may even want to bring a journal and something to write with. While the well-dressed waiters hustle around you, it is difficult not to get swept up in the nostalgia of it all. This is where the great literary geniuses came to meet, and perhaps, creativity still lingers in the air here. Aspiring writers, this is your place. You never know just how magically inspirational a place like this can be.
Le Champ de Mars (http://www.bistrotlechampdemars.com/web/)
45 Avenue de la Bourdonnais, 75007 Paris, France
There is a story behind our fondness for Le Champ de Mars. While most might consider this place your typical Parisian cafe, we like to call it the “engagement cafe” which, for us, makes it way less typical and significantly more important. No, we didn’t get engaged here, but we did eat here just prior to Paul getting down on one knee beneath the Eiffel Tower. It wasn’t exactly Paul’s idea of a romantic dinner nor was it part of his plan.
You see, Paul had this wonderful idea to take me to an amazing little French restaurant called Chez Agnes for our pre-engagement dinner. Paul, his mom, and his nephew had met the talented Agnes on a prior visit to Paris, a chance encounter they’ve always considered to be one of their best memories of Paris. At the time, they were staying at the Londres Eiffel Hotel next door, and in an effort to find something to eat one evening, they randomly gave Chez Agnes a try. To this day, I still hear the stories of how incredible the food was, and most importantly, how good Agnes treated them.
Chez Agnes was a one-woman operation, with Agnes in complete control of everything, from greeting customers at the door, to cooking and serving, to taking care of all of the numerous responsibilities that come with running a restaurant. It is unfathomable to think she could do it all, but with just a few tables, she fluttered from dining room to kitchen with ease, making you feel like you were comfortably eating inside her home.
It was all part of Paul’s plan: woo me with good French cooking and then ask the ultimate question. However, when we arrived to Chez Agnes on that particular evening, the restaurant was closed, and Paul had to resort to Plan B. The only problem was, there wasn’t a Plan B. So we strolled around the corner and walked right into Le Champ de Mars.
Paul insisted we eat at this particular cafe because it was only a few feet from the Eiffel Tower. After all, he was on a schedule that I wasn’t aware of. He convinced me that a girl can’t come to Paris without having steak frites, and since that happened to be on the menu of Le Champ de Mars, it was a perfect choice for dinner. We ordered up two plates of steak and fries and this became Plan B for our pre-engagement dinner. It wasn’t anything fancy and Paul only got up to go to the bathroom and check on the ring in his pocket about 10 times. Of course, I thought he was sick. I mean, anyone who has to go to the bathroom that many times must have something wrong with them.
We often stop at Le Champ de Mars when we are in the area of the Eiffel Tower. It is a good place to grab a cup of espresso and watch the people go by. The food is your average cafe food, but the salads are good and the fries are crispy.
Eventually I did get to eat at Chez Agnes. It was phenomenal. Luckily, I had the chance to eat there twice because after we left, her restaurant closed its doors. I’m sorry to say that we’ll probably never find a food experience quite as unique as that one ever again.
Sorza (http://www.sorza.fr)
51 Rue Saint-Louis en l’Île, 75004 Paris, France
Sorza is a small Italian restaurant located on the beautiful Ile Saint Louis. If you’ve never been to Paris, Ile Saint Louis is an adorable little island just steps away from Notre Dame Cathedral. It used to be a great place to go to escape from the tourist frenzy, but on some of our most recent visits, we’ve noticed more and more people crowding the streets.
We discovered Sorza on my first trip to Paris when we were both craving some pasta and needed a break from the traditional French food we were constantly consuming. It is a cozy and modern place with tables available near the windows. The menu is simple with small salads, pasta, risotto, ravioli, and some meat and fish dishes. The salad with poached egg (there’s that poached egg again) is delicious, and the parmesan risotto is packed with flavor. Trust us, you can always count on a solid meal at Sorza and we make it a point to go there at least once every time we are in Paris. Don’t forget to get some Berthillon sorbet on your way out! Apricot is my favorite!
The Bombardier (http://www.bombardierpub.fr)
2 Place du Panthéon, 75005 Paris 5e arrondissement, France
The Bombardier is a traditional Engish pub located on a rather famous curve in the road just steps away from the Pantheon. That curve in the road is where Owen Wilson gets picked up by the old car in the movie Midnight in Paris. Watch the movie and Owen is always facing towards The Bombardier. However, in the film, The Bombardier does not exist. Hollywood magic removed it. I guess they didn’t have English pubs in Paris in the 1920’s?
While most people are drawn to this area to see the Pantheon, we come here for The Bombardier. I just love the curry here! It is beyond delicious served on a bed of fluffy white rice with a basket of fresh French bread. You can also get other pub food like fish and chips, bangers and mash, and the traditional Sunday roast.
It is also a great place to take a rest from speaking French considering everyone working here speaks English. My French is awful. I often put a Spanish accent on everything I say, or mix it with Spanish completely. I try to speak French, but I get easily frustrated and I often depend on Paul to communicate in restaurants. That’s okay though, I can get him around Spain without a problem. Paul gets us by in France, I get us by in Spain, and we both know just enough Italian to survive in Italy. Paul and I are a good team.
Strangely, we discovered The Bombardier while traveling south of Paris in Lyon. We just happened to walk into an English pub one day because, basically, Paul thought it looked like a neat place to walk into. I gave Paul quite a hard time about this considering we were in a French city visiting an English pub. It was a good choice though since the bartender was interesting to talk to and he, fortunately, told us about The Bombardier in Paris. When we came back to Paris a few days later, we went on a Hemingway walking tour, and as the tour guide walked us around the Midnight in Paris bend in the road and explained the significance, our eyes landed on The Bombardier. There it was! It was meant to be! We walked right into it!
Next up: Our Guide to Paris-What We Do
© Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence, 2007-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
There are just too many fantastic places to eat in the city of Paris, and we’ve got more of our favorites coming your way. Stay tuned. Check out some of our recommendations here in Part 1 of Our Guide to Paris-Where We Eat and Our Guide to Paris-Where to Stay.
© Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence, 2007-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White Picket Fence with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Bringing Down the White Picket Fence 