Hey guys! This week we’re going to be talking about French food! And to start off with, we’re going to cover French restaurants. First, we’ll cover French etiquette since this is huge in France! Then I’ll talk about my experience at a French-inspired restaurant here in San Diego. Sorry, for anyone who thought I might talk about the French restaurants I went to in France. I was fifteen at the time, and it was ten years ago so my memory isn’t the greatest.
I’ve mentioned this multiple times but I’ll say it again, the French care about etiquette! They don’t eat a lot of snacks so every meal is a family-style sit down meal. According to French culture, it’s not okay to:
- Order just an appetizer
- Split a meal with someone else (that’s an insult to the chef who proportioned it for one person)
- Ask for a substitution/replacement (unless you have a food allergy, the chef will feel insulted)
- Ask for something that’s not on the table (if there’s no butter/salt/pepper/etc. then it’s because the dish, in the eyes of the chef, is so tasty that it doesn’t need it… you want to tell the chef otherwise?)
- Don’t expect bread to be served as an appetizer (often bread is served to absorb sauces served with your meal)
- Don’t ask the waiter to run separate tabs (French waiters aren’t like American waiters, from the U.S., they don’t have the saying “the customer is always right” and lean more towards the customer is always wrong)
- Don’t leave a tip (the tip is always included in the bill so if you leave more money, you just look like a snob)
- Don’t ask for leftovers (the French look down on “doggie bags”)
- Don’t place hands or elbows on the table
- Don’t Instagram your food
Things to do:
- Feel free to ask for tap water in a carafe (they’ll try to push bottle on you but don’t feel obliged to drink bottled water)
- Have wine with your meal (but don’t feel obliged to)
- To order coffee whenever you want (the French drink it with breakfast, lunch and dinner)
- Use your utensils more than your hands (there’s very few finger food)
- Dress up a bit (in general the French dress up more than us here in the U.S. – especially us here in CA)
- Pay attention to the time you eat (most French people believe lunch should be between 12-2pm and dinner is 8-10pm)
- If you’re a non-French speaker in France: don’t assume your waiter speaks English/Spanish/etc. (always ask)
- Accept the aperitif (pre-dinner drink) even if you want it to be non-alcoholic
- Feel free to make reservations (recommended for small or fancy establishments)
First of all, my husband and I are pescatarians so anything that we buy/eat are going to be vegetarian (or fish). However, if there is anything that I convert from a meat dish to a vegetarian dish, I’ll include both recipes. We went to this place in Mission Valley called Mimi’s Café which is a really cute French-inspired restaurant.
For lunch, I had coffee and split a shrimp pasta dish with my husband. It was AMAZING! And then we each had our own bowl of tomato basil soup. Once again, so good!!! And we got a basket of bread for the table (DELICIOUS!). I loved everything about that meal!
But then we had the birthday crêpe cake… and it was just wrong. Everything about it was wrong. It tasted like sugary toothpaste on sponge cake. And probably was more American (U.S.) than French but the dish we ordered wasn’t available so they brought us that instead. DO GO HERE, but for dessert, stick to the muffins. I didn’t have one cause this month’s is pineapple and I’m allergic to pineapple but they smelled good.
We loved Mimi’s so much that we went back for breakfast! This time my husband had the coffee while I sipped on a mimosa. Yummmmmmmm! And we both had the egg, spinach and cheese crêpes with potatoes. Two thumbs up!
Here are some recipes close to what we ate:
French bread: http://steamykitchen.com/75-baking-the-perfect-loaf-of-french-bread.html
Tomato basil soup: http://mimiscafeathome.blogspot.com/2013/03/tomato-basil-soup.html
Shrimp Pasta (for this recipe: replace the last three ingredients with fresh basil, broccoli and tomatoes): http://damndelicious.net/2015/03/13/garlic-butter-shrimp-pasta/
Birthday crêpe cake (for those of you who think you can do better): http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2017/01/birthday-crepe-cake.html
Egg, Spinach and cheese crêpes: http://mimiscafeathome.blogspot.com/2016/02/crepes-florentine.html
Mango mimosa: http://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/recipes/a3640/mango-mimosa-recipe-clv0511/
Bon appétit!
P.S. This might be weird but I’m really impressed whenever a restaurant has a decent bathroom, and the bathrooms at Mimi’s Café are really cool!
I simply couldn’t go away your web site prior to suggesting that I actually loved the usual information a
person provide for your visitors? Is going to be again incessantly
in order to check up on new posts
Good article! We are linking to this particularly great content on our site.
Keep up the great writing.
Amazing! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a
totally different subject but it has pretty much the same page layout and
design. Excellent choice of colors!
Pretty nice post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wished to
say that I’ve truly loved browsing your weblog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your
rss feed and I’m hoping you write once more very soon!
Appreciate this post. Will try it out.
I blog frequently and I genuinely thank you for your
content. This article has truly peaked my interest.
I’m going to book mark your site and keep checking for new information about once
a week. I opted in for your Feed as well.
Yes! Finally someone writes about website.
It’s going to be end of mine day, however before end I am reading this fantastic piece of writing to increase my experience.
First of all I want to say great blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you don’t mind.
I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your mind prior to writing.
I’ve had a tough time clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out
there. I truly do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes
are generally wasted simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any
recommendations or hints? Appreciate it!
Informative article, totally what I wanted to find.
I truly love your site.. Pleasant colors & theme. Did you create this site yourself?
Please reply back as I’m planning to create my own personal website and would love to know where you got this from or exactly
what the theme is called. Thanks!
Nice blog right here! Additionally your site loads up very fast!
What web host are you the usage of? Can I am getting your associate link on your
host? I desire my site loaded up as fast as yours lol
An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a coworker who has been doing a little research on this.
And he in fact bought me breakfast due to the fact that I discovered it for him…
lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!!
But yeah, thanx for spending the time to
talk about this issue here on your web page.
You’ve made some good points there. I looked on the internet to learn more about the issue and found most individuals will go along with your
views on this web site.
My coder is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses.
But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on numerous websites for about
a year and am anxious about switching to another platform.
I have heard very good things about blogengine.net.
Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it?
Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you
knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates.
I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was
hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this.
Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog
and I look forward to your new updates.
This design is incredible! You obviously know how to keep a
reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to
start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Excellent job.
I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
Too cool!
Hello, I check your new stuff on a regular basis. Your humoristic
style is awesome, keep up the good work!
Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon everyday.
It’s always interesting to read content from other authors and practice something from other websites.
Helpful info. Fortunate me I discovered your website accidentally, and I am shocked why this accident did not happened earlier!
I bookmarked it.
Because the admin of this website is working, no hesitation very soon it will be renowned, due to its quality contents.
Fantastic beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your
site, how can i subscribe for a blog site? The account helped me a applicable deal.
I had been tiny bit familiar of this your broadcast provided vivid transparent concept
If some one desires to be updated with hottest technologies therefore he must be visit this web page and
be up to date everyday.
Hi, I do think this is an excellent web site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I may return yet again since i have saved as a favorite
it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to guide others.
When I originally commented I appear to have clicked
the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a
comment is added I get four emails with the same comment.
There has to be a means you are able to remove me from that service?
Thanks a lot!
I’m not sure why but this website is loading incredibly slow for me.
Is anyone else having this problem or is it a problem on my end?
I’ll check back later on and see if the problem
still exists.
If some one desires to be updated with most recent technologies after that he must be pay a visit this website
and be up to date everyday.
I visited several web sites except the audio quality
for audio songs present at this web site is genuinely superb.
Great beat ! I wish to apprentice at the same time as you amend
your site, how could i subscribe for a weblog site?
The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of
this your broadcast provided brilliant transparent concept
Great weblog here! Additionally your website a lot up
very fast! What host are you the use of? Can I am getting your associate hyperlink on your host?
I desire my website loaded up as quickly as yours lol
It’s not my first time to visit this site, i am visiting this web
page dailly and obtain pleasant facts from here everyday.
Generally I don’t read article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me
to check out and do so! Your writing taste has been amazed me.
Thank you, very nice post.
My partner and I stumbled over here by a different web address and thought I might check things out.
I like what I see so now i am following you. Look forward to
looking at your web page yet again.
hello!,I really like your writing very much!
proportion we be in contact extra about your post on AOL?
I require a specialist on this house to solve my problem.
Maybe that is you! Having a look ahead to look you.
Your assessment is very interesting. If you need which can be played out slot,
I would recommend playing in trusted slot pulsa online websites internet.
As possible attain big income and get promised pay-out possibilities.
If you want to master, you might instantly take a look through the following.
The link is often a slot machine game video game web site that is definitely frequently used amongst Indonesia member.
I constantly spent my half an hour to read this weblog’s
articles every day along with a mug of coffee.
Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
The words in your article seem to be running
off the screen in Internet explorer. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know.
The style and design look great though! Hope you get the problem fixed soon. Thanks
If some one wants expert view on the topic of blogging and
site-building then i recommend him/her to visit this
web site, Keep up the pleasant work.
I am sure this article has touched all the internet users, its
really really nice article on building up new website.
Heya i’m for the primary time here. I came across this board and I to find It truly helpful & it helped me out a lot.
I hope to give something back and help others like you aided me.
This is a very good tip especially to those new to the blogosphere.
Brief but very precise information… Thanks for sharing this
one. A must read post!
Hello, after reading this amazing paragraph i am as well happy to share my familiarity here with mates.
It’s awesome designed for me to have a web page, which is helpful in favor of my knowledge.
thanks admin
I don’t even know how I finished up here, however I assumed this submit was
once great. I don’t know who you might be but certainly
you are going to a well-known blogger in case you aren’t already.
Cheers!
Attractive element of content. I just stumbled
upon your web site and in accession capital to assert that I acquire in fact loved account your weblog posts.
Anyway I will be subscribing to your feeds or
even I fulfillment you get right of entry to consistently
quickly.
The assessment is really interesting. If you would like
which can be played out slot pulsa online, I like to recommend
engaged in in reliable judi slot online websites on the web.
As possible gain big gains all the perks and get hold of particular internet marketer affiliate marketer payouts.
If you need to experience, you can upright have a look through in this post.
The hyperlink is actually a slot machine game web-site that may be frequently used
amongst Indonesian member.
Wow, that’s what I was seeking for, what a
material! present here at this web site, thanks
admin of this web site.
I really love your site.. Excellent colors
& theme. Did you develop this web site yourself? Please
reply back as I’m planning to create my own site and would love to know where you got this from or what the theme is called.
Kudos!
The appraisal can be very interesting. If you want to
learn agen slot, I love to advise playing after trustworthy
slot deposit pulsa websites internet. Because you can attain big gets all of the perks and receive certain confederate winnings.
If you want to realize, it is possible to immediately stick
to the hyperlink right here. The hyperlink might be a slot
machine video game web site that may be frequently employed amongst Indonesian online
players.
Hi there! Someone in my Myspace group shared this site with us so I came to
look it over. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m bookmarking and will
be tweeting this to my followers! Superb blog and wonderful design and style.