Photograph from roboppy on Flickr Even Parisians need to eat five-minute meals sometimes. And when they do, they head to Picard Surgelés, the French chain store specializing in gourmet frozen foods. The History of Picard Founded in 1906 as a refrigerating company called Les Glacières de Fontainebleau, Picard opened its first food store in Paris in 1974 and now owns 730 frosty supermarkets all over France. It even operates a home delivery service for customers in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Barcelona. In fact, the brand is so ubiquitous that I didn't have to go further than a five-minute walk from my apartment to find my local branch—perhaps a strange choice for my last lunch in Paris, but after a friend...
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Some squeamish people may think eating snails is gross, but it seems beside the point to me—I would probably eat a slug if it were served with enough butter and garlic. The escargot from L'Escargot Montorgueil, a classic snail joint in the center of Paris, is a little pricey—six of their cheapest snails cost €9, or about $15, for exactly six mouthfuls of food (blame it on the snail shortage). But it was entirely worth the damage to my student budget for the experience of eating with one of those dainty gold forks and sopping up the delicious sauce with hot, crusty bread. Oh, I guess there were also snails. L'Escargot Montorgueil 38 Rue Montorgueil, 76001, 1st Arrondissement, Paris,...
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It was the cheapest thing on the menu and also something I meant to eat in Israel last summer but forgot, so the shakshouka was my obvious lunch choice at the Paris Mosque café. With one egg perfectly poached in a liquidy sauce of spiced tomatoes, peppers and onions, the dish was everything I could have hoped for in a light lunch. It also came with a basket of white bread with nigella seeds - my favorite seeds ever - for dipping and mopping. On top of all this, the waiter, who kept calling me "princess," didn't charge me for the hazelnut cookie I had for dessert because I was "so charming." The one downside to the meal was...
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This classic French sandwich with a tiny, maybe-almost-healthy twist is another strong contender for the best lunch I ate last month in Paris.
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