Hotel Beauchamps is tucked away on a quiet street on the ‘golden triangle’ of the Champs Elysées, avenue Montaigne and avenue George V.  A contemporary boutique townhouse hotel of 83 rooms and 6 suites, Beauchamps is part of the prestigious G.L.A Hotels, under the direction of hotel expert Grace Leo.

From the moment we stepped into the divine lobby at Hotel Beauchamps, we felt welcome and cared for.  The reception staff gave us a warm welcome and went beyond the usual check-in protocol, offering local tips, maps and assistance for anything we might require during our stay.

The public areas of the hotel are a beautiful hint of what’s awaiting you in your guest room.  The opulent lobby has a warm glow and and features gold leaf walls and red lacquered armchairs at the centre of the room on a plush circular carpet.

Most inviting is the elegant Library Lounge with large sofas, a welcoming fireplace, bookshelves filled with design books and interesting objets d’art.  The Library Lounge is filled with intriguing artefacts from around the world, curated by the hotel’s fictional well-travelled art collector, Balthazar Beauchamps.

It offers guests an alternative place to relax and socialise over a pot of tea or a night cap.  The shelves full of art and design books and warm atmosphere could keep you there for hours.

We were then led to the top floor and offered a choice of two rooms with different colour schemes and floor plans.  Our loft-style room was homely and bright with a cosy bedroom leading to a separate dressing room with a large built-in wardrobe and an incredibly spacious bathroom.

It was thoughtfully designed in monochrome and sand with highlights of chartreuse and a patterned saffron and khaki carpet.  I particularly liked the textural touches –  a fuzzy wool blanket and cushions in soft raffia and velvet.  Many of the rooms have attractive abstract paintings behind the bed, but the sloped ceiling of our room meant that this wasn’t possible.

The bed was soft and luxurious, with well-positioned reading lights and a flat screen TV straight ahead, so you can just lie back and relax after a long day of walking in the city.

The petite workspace with a comfy chair is great for getting on with work, or just a different seating space to the bed.  Complimentary high speed WiFi made Beauchamps feel even more like home, as we used it to find a nearby restaurant that was open on a Sunday night (harder than you might imagine in Paris).

The guest service experience goes even further, as Hotel Beauchamps provides an attractive leather file with the hotel’s signature seal, offering local tips, maps and walking itineraries, so you can get the most out of your trip.

When we arrived back in our room after a long walk around le Marais, there was a bottle of Plume Cabernet Sauvignon and a plate of delicious macarons awaiting us. We couldn’t resist devouring the macarons immediately – a delightful treat to keep us going before dinner.

Our spectacular bathroom was a real highlight, the kind of bathroom that you’d spend hours in getting ready and taking a long soak in the bath, which is exactly what I did that evening, after an indulgent 3-course dinner at the hotel restaurant Velvet, par Le Bistro d’Antoine (the sister of a well-known restaurant in Nice).

I loved the amber halo around the mirror and the plastic jewel-like stool, which added warmth to the chocolate brown and white bathroom.  We were also given embroidered bathrobes, slippers and plenty of fluffy towels to use during our stay.

The bathroom amenities are Contemporel – a brand created personally by Grace Leo, which features in all G.L.A hotels and in some independent hotels.

In the morning, we went down to Velvet for a delicious breakfast of waffles, mini pastries, muffins, mini baguettes, hot dishes, cheese, yogurt, fruits, tea and coffee.  Everything tasted fresh, well-made and was of a high standard.

My favourite spot in the hotel was a small nook between the entrance and Velvet – a hidden area away from the lobby where you can gossip away in secret or cosy up after an indulgent dinner.  I loved the gold and electric blue chinoiserie on the walls and could have easily spent hours lounging on the comfy sofa.

Hotel Beauchamps is a real hidden gem with a warm, homely atmosphere in a refined neighbourhood.  The attention to detail and comfortable surroundings make for a wonderful stay, and the location is unbeatable.

Rooms at Hotel Beauchamps start from 196 Euros.  For more info and booking, visit: www.hotelbeauchamps.com

Chérie City was a guest of Hotel Beauchamps

Known for his rugged good looks as much as his baking, Gontran is a familiar celebrity chef in France and has written a number of cookbooks.  His hip eponymous boulangerie on the cusp of Montmartre, 18th arrondissement, attracts a regular bobo crowd and visiting Gontran groupies (guilty as charged).

Born into a family of bakers, Gontran continued the trade and studied pastry-making at L’Ecole Ferrandi followed by L’Ecole de Boulangerie et de Pâtisserie de Paris.  But it was working with Alain Passard at L’Arpège and Lucas Carton at Alain Senderens that he discovered a more creative approach to food.

After travelling the world over, seeking inspiration from the everyday baked goods in various countries, Gontan came back to Paris to set up his debut boulangerie.

The bakery selection includes French classics and the more unusual gourmet sandwiches with brightly coloured buns made with natural colourants – green rocket, red paprika and black squid ink.

Other delectable choices include savoury tartes fines, bagels, buttery croissants, red berry tarts and slightly healthier natural yogurt with fruit compote.

The bakery is petite but you can sit on a stool at the window bar and read the newspapers or flick through one of Gontran’s cookbooks, over coffee and a pastry (they even provide carafes of fresh mint water).

We stopped by for a quick snack and both ordered a gruyere and lardons cheese bread for just €1.  The bread was springy, moist, fresh and full of flavour.  It was surprisingly substantial and makes for a cheap lunch on the go, or a late-afternoon casse-croûte.

For more info and opening hours, visit: www.gontrancherrierboulanger.com

Gontran Cherrier – 22 rue Caulaincourt 75018 Paris

Thank you for reading and supporting and for the countless new friendships through blogging.  I hope some of the stories on Chérie City in 2011 have inspired travels or led you to some good dinners!

Here are some favourite moments from the 2011…

Fireworks over the harbour from the balcony at Four Seasons Beirut, Lebanon

Toronto’s most eccentric neighbourhood, Kensington Market

Skiing with Papa Chéri in the Swiss urban ski resort of LAAX

An emotional reminder of former troubled times – Places de Martyrs, Beirut

Ganda ham tasting in Ghent, Belgium

Amsterdam’s beautiful, historical Jordaan district

The holy temple for cake-lovers, La Pâtisserie des Rêves, Left Bank, Paris

The spectacular Museum of Islamic Arts – Doha, Qatar

Here’s to a prosperous and joyful 2012!!

]]> http://cheriecity.co.uk/2011/12/30/cherie-city-2011-in-pictures/feed/ 2 http://cheriecity.co.uk/2011/11/06/grazie-pizzeria-northern-marais-paris/ http://cheriecity.co.uk/2011/11/06/grazie-pizzeria-northern-marais-paris/#comments Sun, 06 Nov 2011 20:34:32 +0000 cheriecity http://cheriecity.co.uk/?p=11693 Continue reading →]]> When the Northern Marais charitable concept store merci opened Grazie, a New York-style pizzeria and cocktail bar, we just had to give it a try.

Grazie takes its industrial loft-style design from merci with stripped walls and floor, refectory wooden chairs, a corrugated steel bar and dimmed lighting (and randomly a taxidermy peacock behind the bar).

Grazie is the latest outpost of Julien Cohen, the son of Marie France Cohen and the owner of established Saint-Germain restaurants L’Altro and Pizza Chic.

Londoners will recognise it as being similar to Pizza East, but more intimate and without the Soho House flourishes.  As you might expect, Grazie attracts the Northern Marais bobo and art crowd, who come for the delicious wood-fire oven pizzas and Italian-inspired cocktails.

We went to Grazie for a pizza lunch and all ordered the Diva (16€), a tomato and mozzarella pizza topped with cured ham, mushrooms and Taggiasche olives.

The pizzas are absolutely huge and have a generous amount of toppings.  The dough was thin, crispy and a little bit chewy – authentically Italian and obviously made using 00 flour.

The ham was lean and strongly-flavoured, mozzarella was fresh and creamy and the tomato sauce had a rich yet clean taste.  It seemed strange to me that the sliced mushrooms were added raw after cooking, but they softened with the heat of the pizza and avoided being overly watery or soft.  The drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling of fresh basil finished it off perfectly.

We didn’t order starters or desserts, as we planned to stop at Popelini for some choux buns, but the desserts seemed a little steep at 10€

This leads on to my one gripe with Grazie, paying 6€ for a bottle of Fentiman’s Curiosity Cola.  At 6€ for a drink that is rarely over £2 in the UK, we might as well have had the complimentary water and ordered wine or splashed out on a cocktail (around 12€).

Apparently the cocktails are exceptionally good and includes Italian classics and Grazie’s own concoctions – Pimms Italiano, Aperol Spritz, Breakfast Martini or a Bloody Mary served in a jar.

Grazie’s location, just a few steps from merci and the boutiques of the Northern Marais, makes it the ideal place for a post-shopping pizza fix.  It does get busy at lunch, so you will probably need to make reservations or drop in and be prepared for a wait at the bar.

Grazie may be pricey, but it’s worth it for a giant authentic pizza on one of the coolest blocks in Paris.

Grazie, 91 boulevard Beaumarchais, 75003 Paris.

This former corner tabac-bar has been renovated and reopened by the team behind Chez Justine on nearby rue Oberkampf and the slightly cooler Chez Jeannette in the 10th.

Le Floréal is in the suitably hip location of Goncourt, in between the Canal St Martin and Belleville and close to Inaki Aizpitarte restaurants Le Chateaubriand and Le Dauphin.

The retro interior is a mix of Mondrian and Mad Men via Tom Cruise’s Cocktail at the kitsch, neon-covered bar.  The large dining area has an intimate clubhouse feel with lots of wood panelling and leather banquettes while the raised terrace is perfect for an evening apéro, daytime people watching or drinking and smoking the evening away with friends.

We went to Le Floréal for dinner on a slightly chilly evening when most people were still holding court on the terrace, so luckily we got a table.

We had to try the Cheeseburger (12€) and although we tried and liked the burgers at Chez Justine a few years back, we had to see if the Floréal burgers were really were worth the new hype.

The cheeseburger came wrapped in white paper with some crispy, golden hand-cut fries.  The medium-cooked meat was juicy and excellent quality, nicely charred on the outside and tender at the centre.  The burgers are apparently made using 30% fat, as opposed to the usual 5% in France, and the steak is ground in-house, ensuring a burger with just the right amount of grease.

The burger is simple and typically French, relying on the quality and flavour of the meat rather than adding onion and herbs.  The highlight is the delicious toppings and accompaniments – a brioche bun, burger sauce, lashings of melted cheese, an extra bottom layer of garlic and herb cream cheese and fresh burger staples of fresh tomato, lettuce, onion.

The menu at Le Floréal is influenced by American diners – pancakes and Eggs Benedict for the weekend brunch, all-day coffee and cheesecake and lobster on the evening menu.

Le Floréal is an all-rounder bar – good for an intimate dinner or spending all night drinking beer with friends on the terrace.  Whether their burgers are the best in Paris remains open to speculation, but they are definitely one of my favourites.

Le Floréal, 73 rue du Faubourg du Temple, 75010 Paris.

True to its name, Philippe Conticini’s La Pâtisserie des Rêves really is the pastry shop of dreams, offering over-sized pastries in a stylish boutique that feels like a cross between an art gallery and a pastry laboratory.

The interiors are sleek, futuristic and minimal, making it as far from a traditional French pâtisserie as you can imagine.  Cakes are presented like works of art, placed under temperature-controlled glass domes for observation.

Many of the cakes come in single or giant sizes (€10 for a giant brioche) and the staple viennoiseries are stacked on shelves across one wall, ready to be snapped up.

We were tempted by the giant madeleines – a steal at just €2.50.  They were dense, golden and buttery with a slightly crispy crust and a hint of orange blossom.  They also had a delightful crunchiness from the vanilla pod seeds.

Patisserie des Rêves also has a sister boutique on rue de Longchamp with a salon de thé.  If you’re after something to prolong the Patisserie des Rêves experience at home, there is a selection of beautifully packaged and surprisingly well-priced teas, hot chocolate, confectionery and biscuits.

For more info and addresses, visit: www.lapatisseriedesreves.com

Popelini: note the name down.  It may be the tiniest pastry shop in Paris, but lovers of haute-pâtisserie make a detour for it.

What is it about? Chou à la crème – the most exquisite ones you can imagine.  This sweet boutique is named after the inventor of the treat and offers them in nine flavours: dark chocolate, coffee, vanilla, salted caramel, lemon, pistachio-griotte, hazelnut, rose-raspberry and milk chocolate-passionfruit.

The cream is ever so fragrant, sometimes hiding a fruitier heart, mixing whipped cream and a top quality custard for a perfect melt-in-the-mouth effect.  We loved that the filling is not too sugary but more focused on flavour.  Even better, these little jewels are the perfect bitesize.

And then there is the flavour of the day, always a surprise, depending on the chef’s mood.  We tried the pear-caramel with pieces of nougatine – this was worth featuring on the desert list of a trendy restaurant.  Who knows what you will find on your visit: Grand-Marnier, jasmine, chestnut-blackcurrant, strawberry-litchee?

Soon, the French will have to replace the expression ‘in a nutshell’ with ‘in a chou à la crème’.  Think of them as a gourmet version of a poem. Do not hesitate to take a few back home: nicely packed in narrow rectangular boxes, ours arrived back home in a perfect state.  Well, minus a few we could not resist eating on the spot…

Popelini, 29 rue Debelleyme 75003 Paris

All photos by Coralie Grassin

Coralie writes the blog Tea Time In Wonderland.

There are a thousand sweet secrets in Paris, from the simple tarte au pomme to macarons.  The French know their cakes and would cross a whole city to get the very best éclair.

For waffles, they now rush to Le Marais where Meert, a very traditional pâtisserie and tea room founded in Lille, opened its doors a few months back.

Now, these waffles are not the ones you are used too and are more specific to the north of the country.  Close your eyes and imagine a sandwich made of two very thin yet very tender oval waffles with a melting Madagascar vanilla filling in between.  A childhood treats you do not want to let go of.

They are still handmade with hundreds being sold every day, wrapped in golden paper.  People of all age step in – some pick up one as an emergency fix, others a whole box.

One of the pleasures is carefully opening the precious wrapping, enjoying the aroma.  There also is the temptation of the limited edition flavour, the summer special offering a sweet strawberry cream with a hint of mint.  The trick (if you made it home with them) is to keep them in the fridge – the consistency gets even more velvety.

Even the boutique is an experience in itself, bringing back the nostalgia of candy stores of the 19th century – glass jars filled with delicacies, wooden shelves with adorable boxes.

Here you can indulge in exotic marshmallows (lime, apricot, passionfruit), amazing chocolate slabs that will be cut on demand, flavoured caramel and cakes to make your heart melt.

Around Christmas, try their amazing spiced gingerbread and speculoos. Be warned: a look at the shop window and you will be hypnotised…

For more info and locations, visit: www.meert.fr

Meert, 16 rue Elzévir 75003 Paris

All photos by Coralie Grassin

Coralie writes the blog Tea Time In Wonderland

Paris combines two passions: fashion and gourmet food.  So much that pastry chefs have designed what could be called Haute Pâtisserie.  Each season brings a catwalk of tastes, colours and creativity.  A Parisienne would be as enthusiastic for Pierre Hermé’s lastest sweet collection as an elegant dress by Givenchy.

There is a new buzz in town – Café Pouchkine, a legend in Moscow, has opened a pop-up in Le Printemps, presenting exquisite ‘gâteaux à la mode‘.

I just could not resist having a look… well, being a cake-hunter, it was only professional to try them too!

Master pâtissier, Emmanuel Ryon, is quite a star already, having won the international pastry competition as well as been titled France’s best sugar worker.

He loved the challenge of working with two cultures, marrying the very best of each. He looked for inspiration in art books among other sources – you can see how they have been carefully structured, each detail balancing another, the colours chosen to attract the light.

They even achieve the jewel status with a chocolate powdery note or a touch of edible gold. Even macarons have dressed festively, each of them combining two flavours like lemon with a heart of caramel…

The textures are sumptuous. Each cake plays on complex layers – moist, melting, smooth, finger-licking good. We fell in love with:

The Rose Pouchkine – those elegant petals hide a pistachio biscuit with an orchard fruit compote, a cloud like yogurt cream and melting pistachio…

The Moskito – velvety and very cheerful in taste with its variations around pistachios with a vanilla cream and a touch of marzipan.

Simply called red fruit and poppy seed spongecake, this one is an irresistible poem which speaks of spring – biscuit flavoured with Bourbon vanilla, poppyseeds, gorgeous red fruit jelly, unctuous cream made with Russian cream cheese.

And our favourite, the Rose du Tsar – you will spend as much time admiring its perfection as savouring each spoonful…Chocolate mousse on a light brownie base, fragrant blackberry and jasmine jelly, and golden chocolate gems… How precious!

Why not try them with an aromatic tea or a traditional hot chocolate, served in an old-fashioned silver pot?  Alternatively, you can buy a selection to take away and mind you, they survive the Eurostar quite well…

In celebration of Paris Fashion Week, Fashion Café Pouchkine has also created a range of delectable cakes inspired by the collections of designers including Chloé, Marni and Dries Van Noten.

But hurry, as Café Pouchkine is only to be enjoyed until March 26.

Café Pouchkine, Printemps Haussmann Mode Floor -1 64, Boulevard Haussmann 75009 Paris.

Open until 20.00 Mondays to Saturdays, 22.00 on Thursdays.

Photos by Coralie Aude Grassin.

Coralie writes the blog Tea Time in Wonderland.

A few things to do in the neighbourhood – a splendid place to stroll around with buildings made of golden stone, sculptures above the doors, shops, cafés and restaurants aplenty:

- Walk through the historical Jewish quarters – the main street is the rue des Rosiers. Stop at the traditional pâtisseries for a cake, bagel, or beautiful bread…

- Alternatively, enjoy a brunch or afternoon tea at Mariage Frères. I love their colonial decoration, beautiful wooden cases sheltering hundreds of different creations…

Pictures are not permitted but look closely at the reflection in the teapot to have a glimpse of the tea room with its glass roof!

We chose the classical brunch (32€). There is enough to be shared by two: a pot of tea of your choice, a freshly squeezed fruit juice, toasted brioche with their refined tea jellies, scrambled eggs with matcha tea, pink prawns brochette, spring rolls of smoked salmon, and a home made pastry (we chose the chocolate mousse cake with a filling of wild strawberries – unforgettable).

- Are you a museum fan? Try the Musée Carnavalet for a glimpse of the history of Paris – fascinating.

- Go street art hunting! You will find lots of surprises on the walls. If you do not know where to start, try with these Space Invader mosaics very popular in that neighbourhood.

- Let yourself be seduced by the perfumes of the Artisan Parfumeur on rue des Francs Bourgeois. Each of them are like a poem. Try those based on tea and blackberry!

- You will feel like knocking at all the doors – many have those gorgeous knobs…

- Look out for the 1900s pastry shops and bakeries.  Though most have been transformed into shops, their handpainted illustrations are grade II listed – worth stopping!

Stay at Hotel du Petit Moulin, a luxurious city hideaway in the heart of Le Marais, designed by Christian Lacroix.

Where are your favourite places in Le Marais?  Have you stayed at Hotel du Petit Moulin?  Share your experiences below…

Coralie Aude Grassin writes the blog, Tea Time in Wonderland.