Pairfection France: Thanksgiving & Costco

by Paige Donner

Every year American expats in Paris brace for another Thanksgiving with or without all the fixin's. The lucky few get to go home for turkey, gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce, and the other lucky few get to have family come over to enjoy the holiday weekend à la French Touch style.  That usually means a requisite stop at Thanksgiving, the iconic Maris food shop, and a fly-through around La Grande Epicerie, where you can find just about anything foodwise your heart desires (TIP: new La Grande Epicerie just opened in Passy, where the old Franck & Fils stood for eons...).

But THIS THANKSGIVING 2017 here in Paris is different.

Why?

Because this year we have COSTCO! 

YEP! Believe it or not the American megalithic warehouse superstore has made inroads in France. (Incroyable!) And we can now proudly say that our cultural ambassadors to France are the hamburger (ubiquitous these days) and CostCo!

I personally know about a dozen American expat spouses, both trailing spouses of kindred citizenfolk and expat spouses of French husbands, who have flocked to CostCo -and on opening day, to boot.

(Photo below - Future Plans)

But what has all this got to do with Thanksgiving? Well... what day of the year do we stock up on All The Fixin's most? If not for Thanksgiving!

Indeed, it is a great excuse to head on out towards the Paris suburb of posh Versailles and make that shopping pilgrimage matter.

It's such a celebratory date that I pirated this screenshot (above) from CostCo's own pages about wine and cheese Pairfections.  That's cheese and wine pairings Made In Heaven to you and me.  So, what do you think readers? We can all weigh in on our favorite wine and cheese pairings and coax CostCo to sponsor a wine and cheese day à la Française for the holidays with a French Touch?!

CostCo

Adresse : 3 avenue de Bréhat, 91140 Villebon-sur-Yvette
Repère GPS : 2 Avenue des 2 Lacs, 91140 Villejust

Horaires : Lundi au Vendredi : 10h00 - 21h00
Samedi : 09h00 - 21h00

*Note: To participate in Paige's Perfect Pairings food+wine workshops and dinners that take place several times weekly here in Paris, just sign up/ book/ reserve on Paris Food And Wine.  Groups up to 10 people welcomed!

To contact Paige Donner for speaking/hosting/producing paigedonner.info
For more info about Paris GOODfood+wine and a complete show lineup go to http://www.soundcloud.com/paigedonner
And our website parisfoodandwine.net
Instagram @paigefoodwine Twitter @parisfoodwine

Listen to Paris GOOD food + wine on :

All photos (where noted) copyright 2017 Paige Donner

iTunes – Paris GOODfood+wine / 

Prints available by contacting FoodWine.Photography &  http://PaigeDonner.info  

 

Episode 31: Fat.Paris And People of Its Small Plates & Wine Bars - Paris Podcast

by Paige Donner

The leaves are falling, the clocks have been turned back...Autumn is here in all its colorful beauty with Winter just on the horizon... A poem I saw recently by Toulouse-Lautrec goes something like this:

Autumn est le printemps d'hiver, or Autumn is the springtime of winter...

For this episode of Paris GOOD food+wine, we bring you a glimpse into some of the wine bar and small plates culture of Paris. This season, so full of harvests, and the enjoyment of those harvests, easily gets us thinking about glasses of good French red wines shared over plates of savory morsels of meats, sausages and slow-stewed vegetables.

Two young men, both firmly entrenched in the city's fabric of restaurants, bars and wine, speak to us candidly about their businesses and their newest endeavors.

First up we hear from Max Paton Williams, an Englishman who's grown up his whole life here in Paris, making him a thorough Franco-Anglo hybrid. He found his passion for wine and food early on in life and is already making his mark on the local culinary scene. He's currently the manager at Wim à Table which is the celebrated Belgian chef, Wim van Gorp's, newest small-plates and wine bar in the Batignolles district of Paris.

Then we hear from Terence Schweitzer, who's a Franco-American mix. He also spent his entire life in Paris, save for a few years when he lived in Brooklyn. With a couple of buddies he's recently opened a bar/event space/ art gallery in the upper Marais district. It's called Fat. Paris.

[caption id="attachment_7281" align="alignnone" width="2272"] photo by Paige Donner copyright 2017

Both of these guys are under 30 and offer that fresh perspective on where they may be taking the city's culinary landscape in the coming years, starting now.

So, sit back and relax with me, Paige Donner, your host and producer, as you enjoy yet another delicious episode of Paris GOODfood+wine.

All music free of rights courtesy FreeSoundtrackMusic.com 'Daily Dosage' byRob Belfiore and Groovy Paris Jazz by BensoundMusic.com for show Intro and Outro.
To contact Paige Donner for speaking/hosting/producing paigedonner.info
For more info about Paris GOODfood+wine and a complete show lineup go to localfoodandwine.wordpress.com
And our website parisfoodandwine.net
Instagram @paigefoodwine Twitter @parisfoodwine

Listen to Paris GOOD food + wine on :

All photos (where noted) copyright 2017 Paige Donner

iTunes – Paris GOODfood+wine / 

Prints available by contacting http://PaigeDonner.info