Savvy Destinations

Paris (for Foodies)
Eating Your Way Through Paris..On a Road Less Travelled

Photo: Olivia Michaels

Well- known chefs like Julia Child and Disney Pixar star Ratatouille got their culinary training in Paris at some of the best restaurants and schools. But you don’t have to head to the most well known establishments in the city of lights to get the crème de la crème.

Here are a couple of ideas to taste your way through one of the most renowned culinary cities in the world, that will satisfy taste buds, help you blend in with the locals, and take you down the road less traveled.

1. A picnic in a park, or your living room

Besides dressing the part and practicing your “bonjour” and “au revoir,” your look is not complete with out a baguette in hand, which also happens to be the basis for a delicious lunch. Any local bakery sells a fresh baked baguette for about 2 euros. Look for a darker loaf if you like a good crunch, and a lighter one if you like a softer bite. With your baguette in hand head to a local grocery store for staple items like tomatoes and wine. For meats scout out a local butcher like Sapori di Parma near the Eiffel Tower. Load up on turkey, prosciutto, and cheese. Enough for four people will run you about $8 euro. Assemble your sandwich according to your liking for a perfect indoor or outdoor picnic. The image of the indoor picnic (above) shows a baguette, cheese, cherry tomatoes, pear, and croissant. Magnifique!
Sapori di Parma
58 Avenue de la Bourdonnais
01 45 56 19 38

2. Le Comptoir des Archives

Photo: Vanessa Yurkevich

Located in the trendy area, le Marais, this is a delightful corner bistro. This quaint spot has everything from their take on a club sandwich to a market salad with delicious foie gras and prosciutto for $11 euro. For the same price, the baked chicken and pouched salmon dishes with steamed vegetables are fresh and generous in size. All the food on the menu is made fresh to order and the staff is eclectic and friendly. Be sure to say hello to the restaurant’s resident pooch, who like the staff monitors your table (and any food that happens to drop from it.)
Le Comptoir des Archives
41 Rue Des Archives
01 42 731356

3. Sapori di Parma

Meat ravioli in a red sauce at Sapori di Parma.
Photo: V. Yurkevich

Even though the best kind of food to eat in France is French food, in my opinion Italian comes in a close second. Italian immigrants who settled in the city of lights have set up numerous Italian butcher shops and restaurants with some of the best Italian food I have ever had (including in Italy.) Back at Sapori di Parma, this deli is also a restaurant with just five tables. Once seated, the waitress will rattle off the night’s appetizers, main courses, and desserts. On the night I dined the appetizers included a caprese salad and a selection of fresh cut meats. For the main dish, it’s your choice of fresh pasta: tortellini, linguini, spaghetti, and ravioli, with pesto, spicy red sauce, or a classic marinara. Be sure to pick up some of the 3$ euro spice packets on your way out, so you can re-create one of the best meals I had in Paris.
Sapori di Parma
58 Avenue de la Bourdonnais
01 45 56 19 38

4. Le Quinzième

Norwegian Lobster Ravioli with steamed cabbage
and loster sauce at Le Quinzième. Photo: Olivia Michaels

There is always one restaurant in a major city that reins supreme. You may have heard about it in a guidebook, through a friend, or a local. For me that place is the culinary achievement of chef Cyril Lignac called Le Quinzième. Lignac has created art and decadence on a plate. The pre-fix lunch is 49 euro per person, and it’s worth every cent. The appetizer of Norwegian lobster ravioli with a creamy sauce or the panned saffron flavored foie gras with strawberries and raspberries is a tantalizing explosion of flavor leaving your tongue and mind wondering what you’ve just experienced. The simply styled codfish or lamb is small but satisfying. Everything from the plate color, shape of the food, to the flavor was created and constructed to perfection. The dessert is so good it even had this lactose intolerant gal taking bite after bite. The chocolates are imported from around the world and smartly paired with delectable sides like rum ice cream, churros, and mouse. Its easily one of the most unique desserts you’ll have in Paris.
Le Quinzième
14, Rue Cauchy
01 45 54 43 43

5. Le Cuisine Paris

The Marché Maubert market. Photo: V. Yurkevich

If you’re staying in a hotel, don’t have a kitchen, and feel the need to flex your culinary muscles, you can do it at La Cuisine Paris. At 9:30am you will meet your chef along with the other participants at The Marché Maubert, one of the cities oldest outdoor markets. The fresh meats, cheese, and vegetables you pick up for your meal are included in the price. 150 euros will get you a day of shopping, instruction back at the kitchen and wine. Once your are outfitted in your apron the chef will assign you tasks for the meal. The menu is created on the spot using what you’ve purchased at the market. At the end of almost two hours of cooking you will have a four-course meal made by you and your new friends. If you like what you made, take notes—so you can re-create your menu back at home.
La Cuisine Paris
80 Quaide l’hotel de ville
33 01 4051 7818

Vanessa Yurkevich is a journalist based in New York City. When she is not working she is traveling to new places, and loves to share what she has learned with others. Vanessa speaks fluent Spanish and a hint of Polish.

Sardegna, Italy

Little known, little explored and with no tourist crowds. Just over an hour by air from Milano and Roma, Sardegna is a destination that offers spectacular uncrowded beaches, friendly locals, low costs, and great food and wine. The average cost for accommodation and dining are far lower than major destinations on the mainland. However be prepared to have some basic knowledge of Italian if visiting smaller towns. Some of the best eateries and lodging options appear in no tourist books.

If the high-end Costa Smerelda in the north or Cagliari in the south are too congested, try basing yourself in the centrally-located and very quaint town of Guspini.

Within 20-50 minutes you of Guspini you can reach ancient ruins of the Phonecians, Romans, castles, nuraghi, tombs of the gigantic, and tombs of the fairies; there are wonderful hiking and trekking in the mountains with beautiful terrain and waterfalls, Add to that streams, rock formations and magnificent views. The close proximity to Costa Verde and wonderful unspoiled and not crowded beaches are very much some of the best kept secrets in Sardegna. And along the beaches – Torre del Corsari has a lovely long beach area and small sand dunes for hiking and views from the top. Beautiful beaches are found in and around Capo Pecora, Buggerru, Marina di Arbus, Porto Palma, and the famous beach and sand dunes of Picinias – one of the largest, if not the largest, in Europe !

Historical buffs will find pleasure in exploring the some 7,000 Nuraghi - hilltop fortresses built from the middle of the Bronze Age (18th-15th centuries BC) to the Late Bronze Age. Some historians claim the Nuragic civilization produced the most advanced and monumental architecture of the period in the western Mediterranean. Some are in good condition, but many are decayed almost beyond recognition. The nuraghi lend the landscape an aura of archaic melancholy, in which all attempts at progress seem out of place.

One of the largest uncovered sites is Il Nuraghi “Su Nuraxi” – located in Barumini, about 35 minutes from Guspini and about 45 minutes from Cagliari. This site is centered around a three-story tower built around 1500s BC. This site was recently made a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Nuraghi Losa stands in peaceful timelessness on a small rocky eminence just a few dozen yards from the noise and frenzy of the traffic on the Carlo Felice superstrata below.

Near Torre Grande (Oristano) the ruins of Tharros draw many tourists. The complex is open after lunch in and late into the day in summer. A snack bar is available for drinks and also has clean lavatories. A stroll to the top of the nearby hill at sunset is a must! Rumour has it that more ruins are buried under the sea - an invitation to snorkeling buffs in summer.

See Savvy Traveller's top pick of Sardegna wine in the wine section and dining picks in Savvy Diving.