August 2025 – mmm-yoso

Cochito Tatemado Tacos from El Pariente

August 25, 2025 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

Recently, I had to make a drive down to Chula Vista. I don't get down there often these days, so I thought I'd grab a bite on the way home. Of course, my usual favorite stop, De Cabeza came to mind, but the weather just seemed too hot. I had thoughts of trying out the new and super hyped location of Tacos el Franc that has opened in Plaza Bonita, but I really didn't want to deal with lines and crowds…I'll wait a bit until things settle down a bit.

Instead, I made a detour to Imperial Avenue….man, I hadn't been around here in a while. There was a taco shop that I'd heard about who served a specialty from Mazatlan in Sinaloa, that's not seafood, rather it's Cochito (piglet) Tatemado (roasted), named El Pariente that opened back in May.

El Pariente 01

The place resides next to the newish location of Antojitos Colombianos. The parking lot is tiny, so I had an interesting time finding parking. I finally found a spot on L Street. I walked the couple of blocks over; it was a Sunday, just a few ticks past 830. Other than a young man, who smiled and greeted me as I entered who was waiting for a takeout order, I was the only customer.

El Pariente 04

I walked to the counter and placed my order with the very sweet woman working.

El Pariente 02

El Pariente 03

There's a nice range of breakfast items and asada, cochito, and adobada tacos. I got two Tacos de Cochito ($3.99 each) and mentioned I'd be dining in.

I took a seat at one of the tables and soon the woman arrived with some crunchy, glistening tortilla chips….they were still rather warm and the three salsas and lime. She told me that this would be a "nice way of tasting our salsas for your tacos!"

El Pariente 05

I really liked the Salsa Serrano (middle) and the Salsa Roja which had some nice smoky heat.

So, when my tacos arrived, the scent of porky goodness wafting up to my snout, I was ready to go!

El Pariente 06 El Pariente 07 These were lovely specimens indeed. The tortillas had been nicely heated on the comal and were glistening with…well, something mighty tasty.

There was shredded/chopped cabbage and chicharrons for textural contrast…and those chicharrons…well, one cannot get enough pork, right?

El Pariente 09

The pork was so moist and tender, not overly seasoned, but quite swiney! Very porky! And quite rich and filling. In fact, that lime was a required item.

As for the salsas; the roja seemed spicier and smokier; while the salsa serrano had a nice acidity. They both had their place!And totally worth the $3.99 each to me! I'll be back once my arteries recover!

El Pariente
2150 Imperial Ave.
San Diego, CA 92102
Current Hours:
Daily 8am – 7pm

Postscript: In case you're wondering, I took more photos than these. However, as I was working on this post on Saturday, the capability to upload photos in Typepad suddenly failed. And as of 430pm today it will be 48 hours without a solution. So, I thought I'd just get this post done and hopefully; once the insert images is fixed, I'll go ahead and upload those. Until then….well, hopefully this won't be the last post for a while!

Paris – Les Enfants Rouge Revisited and L’Escargot Montorgueil

August 23, 2025 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

After our wonderful walking tour of the Marais we headed off to lunch. After "striking out" on our previous two meals in the city….something that had never happened to us before, I didn't want to take any chances. So, knowing that one of our favorites, is usually not very crowded on a weekday for lunch we headed on over to…..

Les Enfants Rouge:

A Le Efants Rouge 01

And yes, I was correct as the place was quite mellow during the lunch hour.

The restaurant, helmed by a Japanese Chef, who does a comingling of French dishes with Japanese touches, has become a favorite of ours. We think there's more of a Japanese influence to the menu items. As with both of our previous visits, I was actually greeted first in Japanese…then in English by the Hostess!

For lunch, a 50 Euro three course tasting menu is presented and we were glad that some of our favorite dishes were on the menu!

Because I've already done two previous posts on Les Enfants Rouge; I'm just going to mostly do photos.

We love the Lamb Terrine; it's mildly gamey-winey, quite tender.

It goes so well with the bread. And yes, that is Kyuri Asazuke that is on the plate.

Of course we had to get our favorite dish at Les Enfants Rouge; the White Fish Tempura, served with a super umami nori "dashi".

The maigre (croaker) was so moist and tender, the tempura batter light and crisp.

As you can see that dish above really skews to the Japanese side in terms of preparation. While the Blanquette de veau – veal stewed in a white sauce takes it toward the French side of the scale.

Though the Eryngii Mushrooms were sauteed with a bit of soy and perhaps mirin.

The Missus went with the restaurant's version of a Paris-Brest which has to be ordered at the beginning of the meal.

While I, the one who really doesn't have a sweet tooth was happy to have the Cheese Plate…..which the Missus enjoyed as well.

You can see why we enjoy Les Enfants Rouge, right? I wish we had something like this in San Diego….it would be a regular stop for us!

Previous posts on Les Enfants Rouge here and here.

Les Enfants Rouges
9 Rue de Beauce
75003 Paris, France

After which we headed back to the hotel and relaxed. We'd put in a good amount of mileage!

It had drizzled while we were napping and upon awakening we were blessed with a rainbow….something that I miss about living in Hawaii. And of course, rainbows always makes us remember Frankie!

We had done quite a bit already on this day, so we basically just hung around the 2nd.

IMG_3514a

Then the question arose….."what's for dinner?" I hadn't made any plans for this stay in Paris. The Missus really wanted some escargot; She was so disappointed at what we'd had for lunch at Aux Crus de Bourgogne. Then it came to me……on Rue Montorgueil, before you cross Rue Étienne Marcel was a place we passed perhaps 40 times during our stays in Paris.

It was named L'Escargot. But, much like Aux Crus de Bourgogne, we've always thought of the place as being a "tourist" restaurant. Though the sign says that it was established in 1832, when Louis Philippe I ruled France!

Well, looking online, it seems that perhaps I might have been mistaken, as the reviews were pretty good. So, we decided to head on in.

The dark, ornate interior, screamed stereotypical neo-classic/second empire decor.

Our Server was a very serious, "humphing", almost a caricature of a French waiter; Olivier. We would later find out that he was a long time Server at L'Escargot and actually has a sense of humor.

The menu itself seemed like a cliche of what one would think at stereotypical French gastronomy would be.

And of course I ordered a Kir Royale, which got a nod of approval from Olivier. And upon m first sip, my opinion of L'Escargot started changing; the ice thawing as it was perfect.

Perfectly bubbly, with balanced tart and sweet tones!

Of course we had to have the Escargot. Of which we found that there were several preparations. Versions with Black Truffle or Foie Gras!

Of course we had to get the traditional preparation. We got a dozen; which the Missus absolutely loved.

So meaty, the snails had the perfect slightly toothsome, yet tender texture. The menu says the snails are precooked in a court boullion with herbs…it is indeed delicious! Nice herbacious-savory tones; so delici-yoso with the provided baguette!

And of course I had to get the Pan Seared Foie Gras. So this was 24 € but there were two pieces of perfectly cooked, "firmly-creamy" foie gras.

The sauce added a perfect touch of fruity sweetness and the brioche even held up. Which went well with the rich-slightly offally, savory Foie Gras. Be still my heart…literally.

The only clunker of the evening were the Frog Legs.

These bow-legged stanced hind legs of said amphibian were dry and on the chewy side. The herbal topping was fine; but we just didn't care for the heading toward sourness of the flesh.

Still, the escargot and foie gras more than made up for the frog legs.

We enjoyed this meal so much that we'd return the following night for more!

Sheesh…..hidden from us in plain sight all these years!

L'Escargot Montorgueil
38 rue Montorgueil
75001 Paris, France

We headed back to our room taking a roundabout route…a nice after dinner walk…"la balade".

After having two not so good meals the previous day, the two wonderful meals on this day was a perfect correction. And for at least this evening; all seemed right in the world.

Paris – Jeffrey Cagnes (again) and the Earful Tower Walking Tour of the Marais

August 22, 2025 mmm-yoso Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Croissants, France, Paris, France, Travel

**** Not much food in this one, just a morning croissant

Ah yes, so another day in Paris! Which of course we started with our morning Cafe Allonge from our favorite viewing spot on Rue Montorgueil.

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

We just love sitting here.

To people watch (“observer les passants”)…..

Or sometimes “puppy-watch”……

After a good hour, I decided I needed a croissant. Since the Missus had enjoyed the pistachio – orange tarte from Jeffrey Cagnes the previous day, we took the short stroll up the street to get me a croissant aux buerre.

This was an ok version.

Decently “laminated” with the ridges not falling off; crisp and fairly flaky. The interior light and with a nice “moisture” balance, and decently honeycombed. Where this failed the test was in the flavor; not enough butter, thus throwing off the flavor.

Jeffrey Cagnes
73 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

After which we headed off….you see we had scheduled a private tour to start at 10am. Strangely, it would be our first ever tour in Paris!

I’ve been an avid listener to the Earful Tower Podcast since I first heard about it in 2017. It’s a great mix of sights, personalities, history, activities, you name it hosted by Australian expat Oliver Gee, a former journalist stationed in Paris who decided that career wasn’t for him and started the podcast. It delves beyond the usual and obvious, which makes it quite entertaining for me. A few years back, the “Gee kingdom” started offering walking tours. And after all these years and 8 visits to Paris, I just thought it would be great to see a bit more. And so, I booked a private tour with “the man” himself, of our favorite neighborhood, the Marais. And we met Oliver at Peloton Cafe.

I don’t want to give away too much, and there was so much, that I’ll just scratch the surface. The tour is quite customizable and when Oliver had found that we’d already visited somewhere, we’d find another place! I’ve mentioned being called a “cesspool of useless information” several times in the past so I was in heaven. It’s definitely a tour more suited for folks who have been to Paris a couple of times and who enjoy exploring more than just the 7th Arrondissment.

That’s the one and only Maison Faust, which dates back to 15th Century.

It’s a half timbered structure that was restored in 1967.

For something a bit grander, how about Hôtel de Beauvais, which is now the court of appeals. We’d always passed the huge wooden doors; but Olive just walked over and opened them to reveal the courtyard.

We’d head on down a passage to a red door…..

And suddenly, we’d be in a church.

Walking out the main entrance we cracked up. This was the Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, which we’ve walked past many times.

And that’s how it went……charming courtyards.

A stop at the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris (Historical Library of the City of Paris).

Another place that we’ve walked past many times. This time we entered…..

And Oliver picked out a book….a really old book and showed us a map of Paris and went over places where remnants of those places could still be seen.

And speaking of remnants; having listened to the Earful Tower for so long, I knew that Oliver had an obsession with the the Philippe Auguste Wall, so of course that was a part of our tour as well.

Do you see the remnants of the wall in the photo below?

He’s even been able to get into the tower that we had passed the previous day.

Even those places we were familiar with, like Place Vosges were seen in a new light.

As we were taken into a “hidden” courtyard……it was a private residence, so I did not take photos.

And this is how things went; we walked into an auction, did several churches, talked about life in Paris. It was a great time!

We highly recommend this tour for folks who have been to Paris a couple of times or those really interested in the Marais. I’m thinking we’ll do Oliver’s Montmatre tour next time!

Fish With You Revisited

August 21, 2025 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

Yep, the Missus wanted to get one more visit in before the weather got too hot for Suan Cai Soup….so here's a quick post, cause it's kinda too hot for me to be sitting in front of the PC right now!

Fish With You has become a favorite of the Missus since they opened back in April. Over time, we've settled on the Signature Suancai & Fish…..

Fish With Circle 01

And just split a large order ($26.95).

Fish With Circle 02

Sour-puckery suan cai, tender snakehead, the peppers aren't overwhelming….but as I noted before, if you've got leftovers to take home; remove those chilies before packing it unless you want a nice "spice bomb" when you heat it up, you'll come across a peppercorn once in a while. It's a fairly hearty dish with that suan-tian-ku-la-xian thing pairs well with rice.

And on this day, they nice young folks that work here gave us some Bingfen ("Ice Jelly") for dessert.

Fish With Circle 03

So refreshing!

With the upcoming hot weather, we'll put Fish With You on the sidelines for a bit….but will make sure to return once things cool off!

Fish With You
3904 Convoy St. #101
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 1130am – 10pm

I'm wondering if you've been able to check this place out and if so; what your thoughts were?

Midweek Meanderings – Greenhaus Vegetarian Eatery becoming Modern Kabob, Cafe 88 Coming to Linda Vista, and Guess Who’s Opening Indya Restaurant?

August 20, 2025 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Desserts, Indian Restaurants

Just a few things….and an interesting coincidence for hump day……

Greenhaus Vegetarian Eatery:

Driving North on Morena Boulevard trying to avoid all the crazy road construction, I noticed a sign on Greenhaus Vegetarian Eatery.

I didn't even know they closed. Though while checking out their Instagram, I came across an interesting coincidence…..scroll down a bit further and you'll see.

1118 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110

Cafe 88 Coming to Linda Vista:

And up on Linda Vista Road; there was even a bigger sign…..

In what used to be Babe Kombucha. I'm wondering if this has the same ownership of a business with an identical name in El Cajon?

5401 Linda Vista Rd #409
San Diego, CA 92110

and finally….

Guess Who's Opening Indya Restaurant?:

Talk about coincidences….I was driving past the building that used to house Boomerang's Gourmet Burger off Clairemont Drive and noticed some new signage so I took a turn into the parking lot.

I took a photo to do a post.

Yes, an Indian restaurant on Clairemont Drive.

But like those Infomercials go; "but wait, there's more"!

While looking thru Greenhaus's Instagram account, guess what I found?

Greenhaus becomes Indya

Interesting, yeah?

4577 Clairemont Dr.
San Diego, CA 92117

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

What’s My Craving? Kuljem Chicken & Beer and Sue’s Korean Kitchen

August 19, 2025 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

It's strange. In spite of the rather warm weather, I was craving some Kimchi Fried Rice. So, I decided to head to a fairly regular stop for me:

Sue’s Korean Kitchen:

Hard to believe that I've been coming here since 2021. Though it's been over a year since I last visited.

Sues Rev 01

Located in the food court of Plaza Sorrento, its a rather convenient stop for me since I can go to the bank and they open at 1030am, thus I can avoid the "lunch rush".

Sues Rev 02

The simple counter is in place. I guess I haven't visited in a while and I didn't recognize the women working. I wondered if they've gone thru a change of ownership since my last visit?

I was a bit shocked when I looked at the posted menu. There's only one item I get here; the Kimchi Fried Rice and it's actually gone down in price. It was $12.99 on my last visit and is not just a straight $12. I know, it's just ninety-nine cents, but where else have seen prices go down over the last year?

Sues Rev 03

So, of course I wondered if the dish had been changed? Anyway, I placed my order which was ready fairly quickly.

Opening things up, my suspicions were confirmed. Remember when I received the kimchi fried rice from here suffering from shrinkage? Well, even though they tried to hide it by spreading the rice out; I could tell that the portion size was indeed smaller.

Sues Rev 04 Sues Rev 05 The texture of the rice was so mushy.

Also, a lot less kimchi than before. I'm thinking they added some Korean red pepper powder because this was spicier than I recalled, while lacking in the nice fermented tones.

A decent amount of Spam though.

In what I thought was kind of comedic, there were even less strips of egg!

Sues Rev 06

Kind of sad overall as Sue's had been a fairly regular stop for me. I would have preferred that they raise their prices, rather than sell, in my opinion a diminished product. But of course, times are hard and perhaps their customer base prefers not paying a bit more?

Sue’s Korean Kitchen
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd.
Suite 109
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 1030am – 8pm
Closed on Sundays

This was quite disappointing and really didn't scratch that kimchi fried rice itch. So, a few days later I decided to return to a place that I hadn't been to in a year:

Kuljem Chicken & Beer:

I know, it's chicken and beer……but I was actually after the fried rice, which I thought was pretty good on one of my visits. I got there right at the opening time of 1130 and was blessed with a parking space as the lot has many 30 minute parking slots, making it somewhat bad at meals times when folks are eating in.

KulJem Rev 01

One of the co-owners; Jin who was half of the original name of the place; remember when it was supposed to be JJ's Chicken?

KulJem Rev 02

And while the name infers to the place being a beer and "KFC" shop….well, I just wanted the Kimchi Fried Rice which is now $17; up a buck from last year. I placed my order and after a short wait my fried rice arrived.

KulJem Rev 03 KulJem Rev 05 Now, this was more like it!

Liked the egg with a decently runny yolk and crisp edges….kind of on the smaller side, but good enough.

The rice was cooked decently and well coated, large pieces of kimchi, I even enjoyed the slices of green bell pepper. Nice fermented-sour tones with a hint of spice.

KulJem Rev 06 KulJem Rev 04 The only thing that I wished for in this version of kimchi fried rice is Spam. There's a good amount of chicken, yes I know it's a chicken restaurant; but I really don't think it adds much to the dish.

It was more than enough to fill me up. Yes, I know $17 for fried rice….but this is UTC and remember, I just paid twenty bucks for a mediocre eggs, black beans, and soyrizo on toast! The place was completely empty during my visit and I asked Jin how business is. He told me that happy hours and dinner are when they do a good amount of business. I'm glad. Hopefully, they'll be open for a while.

So yes…this did indeed "scratch that itch"!

KulJem Rev 00

Kuljem Chicken & Beer
8895 Towne Centre Dr. Suite 101
San Diego, CA 92122
Current Hours:
Daily 1130am – 2pm, 5pm – 11pm

Lunch with JJ – Nómade Tapas and Records

August 18, 2025 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Dog Friendly, European Restaurants

Recently, the Missus had an appointment in North Park and we decided to take JJ along…he really enjoys the area and then grab an early lunch. Of course Bica immediately came to mind, but the place was packed. As we headed west on Adams, I recalled a place named Nómade had opened close to An's and Et Voila replacing what I believe was once as sushi bar?

Nomade 01

The place was listed as dog friendly so we headed on in. It was empty at 1030 on this morning.

Nomade 02

The two women working were very nice and one of them even took photos of JJ! We were seated and handed menus. They brought JJ some water.

IMG_0832a

Nómade calls itself a Tapas Bar, which I believe it becomes during the evening. It seems more of a coffee – cafe kind of place with a small menu for lunch.

Nomade 03

I thought the Missus would go with the Tortilla Espanola, but She decided on the Huevos Rotos ($16) instead. I got the Mollete Toast ($14) and added eggs which was an additional $6….well, twenty bucks for and open faced sandwich.

Nomade 04 Nomade 05 The food did take a while with the Huevos Rotos arriving first.

The sunny side up eggs were nicely done with crisp edges. The Jamon Serrano was sliced too thick making the fatty edges really tough to eat.

The tallow fries were limp, dry, and in need of salt.

The Mollete Toast was better.

Nomade 00 Nomade 07 Though the eggs were overcooked; the yolks dry.

"FOY" Peter might appreciate this open faced toast as it used soyrizo, which had a mild smoky-paprika-ish flavor, along with a smear of black beans. I think a more flavor forward cheese would have done better than the very mild Monterey Jack Cheese used.

The slice of sourdough was nice and crusty; though it was mild in terms of yeasty-sourdough tones I enjoy.

Not a bad open face toast….but not sure it's worth twenty bucks. The Missus was on point when She told me "you can make this at home for less than five bucks". Which kind of sums things up Nomade 08

An nice neighborhood place with friendly staff; though it doesn't seem to be worth going out of your way for. They did treat JJ nice and he even got his photo taken.

Nómade Tapas and Records
3027 Adams Ave.
San Diego, CA 92116

And it seems like they're going to have new hours starting today.

Nomade New Hours

Paris – Jeffrey Cagnes (Rue Montorgueil) and Dinner at Le Colimacon

August 16, 2025 mmm-yoso Bakery, Desserts, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

After lunch, we took a nice siesta. Upon awakening, the Missus decided it was the correct hour for le goûter (tea time).

So, we headed on over to Rue Montorgueil (of course) and the Missus picked up some tea from Mariage Freres.

Mariage Frères Montorgueil
90 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

And then of course she needed to find some dessert. Our usual stop on the street would be Fou de Pâtisserie, but the Missus wanted to try somethin different. Right up the street is a location of Jeffrey Cagnes, which had opened at the end of 2022. The place had always been pretty packed on our previous trip to Paris, but now it looked like things had settled down a bit.

The Missus liked the look of the pistachio tarte.

So that's what we got.

It was actually a pistachio – orange tarte.

Which the Missus enjoyed with Her tea. Edging on overly sweet, hints of orange, hints of earthy-nutty-vanilla.

Jeffrey Cagnes
73 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

We enjoyed just relaxing before heading out to dinner.

While in Milan the Missus requested that I cancel our reservations at Septime and make reservations at a place named Le Colimacon instead. I'd never heard of the place, but went ahead and cancelled Septime and made requested reservations for dinner. The "modern bistro" is located in the Marais on a street we're fairly familiar with Rue Vieille du Temple, where Breizh Café, Edwart Chocolatier, and other places we'd been to are located. We arrived at opening which was at a very "un-Paris like" 630pm. Most Parisians dine after 8pm.

The restaurant is warm and cozy and there's also an upstairs area as well. Service was very attentive and we were spoken to totally in English….which are "red flags" for me with regards to dining in Paris.

The prices weren't too bad and there seemed to be some interesting items on the menu.

Though there was an item on the iPad menu that I wasn't going to order……

I think there was something "lost in translation" here? Hmmm……

Of course I started with a nice Kir Royale!

Which sadly would be the highlight of the meal.

Though the baguette was yeasty and quite good.

First up was the Frisée with poached egg and "lard croustillant"…that would be crispy bacon.

The frisée was crisp with nice, bitter tones, and the vinaigrette complemented it well. The poached egg was ice cold and the yolk overcooked and hard. It also had that fishy flavor. The bacon was on the burnt and bitter side and was chewy instead of being crisp.

The Croustilles de Escargot was up next.

The pastry that the escargot rested in lacked crispness. The escargot was fine; nice and meaty, but the persillade needed more "umph" and was weak in the garlic and flavorful olive oil department.

Seeing Huitres…..oysters from Normandy with a truffle gratinee on the menu…well, you know I had to order that, right?

The oysters were nice and plump with an almost sweet-briney finish.

But the sauce overpowered the bivalves and we really couldn't make out any truffle flavor either.

The last dish up was the Cassolette de Champignons.

This usually creamy mushroom dish was served at room temp, which made it really gluey and pasty. The overall flavor was quite bland.

Overall, nice service though a fairly mediocre meal. All the customers were tourists, which is quite telling.

Le Colimacon
44 Rue Vieille du Temple
75004 Paris, France

As we were leaving the restaurant I asked the Missus how She heard about this place. She then told me that the daughter of the owner has a very popular Instagram account! Say what???

The place was packed with folks waiting outside when we left……ah yes, the "influencer effect".

As we walked back to our room; I tried to recall when we had two mediocre meals in a row in Paris?

Well, I was determined not to make it three in a row!

Paris – La Samaritaine, Nèulo, and a Return to Aux Crus de Bourgogne

August 15, 2025 mmm-yoso Bakery, Croissants, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

As I continue to try to get all our travel posts done…….

Having arrived in Paris, we just wanted to relax. We'd been to the city so many times that it almost feels like our….or at least my second home. We decided to stay at the Citadines Les Halles in the 2nd Arrondissement as it was right on the RER Blue Line from CDG and of course my favorite street, Rue Montorgueil is close by.

Looking out from our room in the morning, it seemed like it was going to be a nice day.

We did our usual morning "thing" and had our morning "caffe allonge" at Café du Centre, which I'd already mentioned in my previous Paris post. We then had a nice stroll before trying to determine what we wanted to do this morning. On one of our previous trips, I noticed that La Samaritaine had reopened after being closed for 16 years!

We decided to take a look. Man, talk about a fancy place!

Established in 1869, it had become an iconic building right off the Seine. The department store closed its doors in 2005 due to safety concerns. The luxury goods company LVMH purchased the property and after 16 years the property reopened under the auspices of DFS Group. Even after all of the renovations and such, not everyone was happy about that.

We decided to take a peek…..

We walked up the stairs to the top floor……the art work is quite over-the-top.

There a restaurant which was closed. Not that we'd eat there.

There's also a area with a hologram show going.

This all seemed a bit over-the-top, though somewhat entertaining. We also noticed only a couple of customers shopping…..and really wondered if Parisians would really take to a place like this. La Samaritaine has been touted as revolutionizing the department store concept.

La Samaritaine
9 Rue de la Monnaie
75001 Paris, France

As we headed down Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie to do some necessary shopping, we stopped in at this patisserie.

They seemed to specialize in flan as there were at least eight different versions available, but the Missus wasn't interested. Of course, I just wanted a croissant aux beurre.

It was fairly light though the interior was on the moist side. Nicely laminated and crisp, but sorely lacking in butteriness. Just a mediocre version overall….I should just give in and gotten a flan….

Nèulo
46 Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie
75004 Paris, France

We managed to get some shopping done…..I've posted on these places before.

And then of course we did the lèche-vitrine – window shopping (literally translated as "window licking" in French) thing. And of course the people (and pooch) watching.

Along with a dose of history along the way…..

And doing that Flâneur thing ("to wander with no purpose") we came across this…..

It's one of the last 8 remaining towers of the Philippe Auguste Wall, which was completed in 1215 to encircle and protect the city. We would take a tour with the one and only Oliver Gee, who is obsessed with the wall and learn a lot more about it. It's amazing what you run into just walking down the street in Paris!

For dinner, we just headed on over to Rue Montorgueil and Rue Bachaumont to a place that we'd dined at twice before, Aux Crus de Bourgogne. We'd had a surprisingly good meal there, back in winter of 2022…we had passed the place so many times and thought it to be tourist restaurant. We did a follow-up visit and did not enjoy our dinner as much. This would be the "tie-breaker" of sorts. And we picked visiting during lunch.

The service was prompt and professional as always.

The Missus loves tearing into the baguette here. She also loves the rillette that accompanies the baguette!

We had really enjoyed the Vol-au-Vent with mushrooms on our first visit and were happy to see it on the menu on this day.

The puff pastry was on the doughy side and not crisp and light as we enjoy. Good amount of mushroom, but the sauce was a lot thinner than what we'd had here before and lacking in the rich-earthiness.

The Missus had always enjoyed the Escargot here, so we ordered that as well.

This had a lot less olive oil and garlic than before and the snails were on the tough side! Bummer.

This ended up being like our second, not so great visit. Well, I guess we're done with Aux Crus de Bourgogne for now.

Aux Crus de Bourgogne
3 Rue Bachaumont
75002 Paris, France

Oh well…..can't win 'em all! And we are so blessed to be able to return to Paris so often that we're able to try a place on three separate trips, right?

Valle de Guadalupe – La Cocina de Doña Esthela

August 13, 2025 mmm-yoso Baja California, Mexico, Breakfast/Brunch, Mexican Restaurants, Mexico, Travel

After having such a wonderful time in Valle de Guadalupe we were headed home. Ivan, who was our driver from San Diego to Puerto Nuevo, then our first day in Valle, was of course exactly on time to pick us up for the trip "home".

But there was one last stop. Aimee had instructed us not to have breakfast at Contemplación Hotel Boutique as she had a "must stop" for breakfast planned for us. It would be La Cocina de Doña Esthela. Which I had heard of since the one and only Anthony Bourdain raved about the Borrego Tatemada. And heck, I didn't know the place is a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant. And a month after our visit, I saw that Gorden Ramsey had visited to learn how to make tortillas as well.

Ivan parked and we walked over. I expected a super long line, but since this was early in the week we actually had no wait!

Though the interior was packed.

And yes, that's a smoked filled dining room……oh, the fragrances filling the air…..and if you thought "Korean BBQ shirt" was potent…..

There were really only two items we were targeting here…..

Of course we started with some Cafe de Olla…..not overly sweet.

And I got a small order of the Borrego Tatemada, which came with consomme, beans, and those huge tortillas.

Was not a fan of the runny, mushy beans; but that consomme…so full of rich, "lamb-y" goodness, nicely spiced, smoky, hints of spices like oregano…perfectly salted; probably my favorite consomme to date!

The meat; which really looked like machaca was surprisingly tender and like the consomme so full of flavor! A dip in the soup, some onions for pungency, a squeeze of lime to add acidity and cut the richness, and man; it was such a wonderful morning!

And as good as the borrego was; the Elote Pancakes were "a-maiz-ing"! Sorry, I couldn't help it!

I'm not a fan of hotcakes; but this is an exception. Forget the butter, we didn't need that. These were fluffy and moist, with a slight grittiness of corn. But the flavor; my goodness, the natural sweetness of the corn, a mild butteriness, we really enjoyed this.

I would say that Doña Esthela did live up to the hype.

La Cocina de Doña Esthela
Ranchos San Marcos, El Porvenir
San Marcos, B.C., Mexico

The Missus even bought some chocolate from this stand outside Doña Esthela

FullSizeRender

We truly enjoyed our time in Valle. Much of the credit goes to Ivan, Isaac, and Aimee Cruz. I highly recommend using the services of Valle Guadalupe Baja Tours. It ain't cheap for two people, but with both Ivan and Isaac being so punctual, knowledgeable, and flexible, plus being able to customize things, we had a great time. And no, Aimee has no idea I have a blog. I'm not sure she's remember who I am. Because I'm just a regular guy who makes really bad dad jokes and likes to eat and explore.

I'm not sure why we took so long to visit Valle…….