From the Antilles to the Eiffel Tower
364
I would have never thought that I could get accras, boudin, crabe farcie, and poisson à la créole after taking a stroll around the Eiffel Tower. If you are familiar with these special dishes, then you might know that there is a 44-year old Antillean restaurant named Chez Lucie in the very posh 7th arrondissement. I’m not saying Caribbean hrestaurants don’t belong in such a location. However, this tiny colorful restaurant stands out among the manicured parks, expensive cars, and gourmet shops in a way that a location in the18th arrondissement wouldn’t allow. Its Antillean food and Eiffel tower location offer tourists and longtime residents the opportunity to visit Paris’ landmark attraction and to experience a taste of its multiculturalism.
After a failed attempt to eat there without a reservation on Friday evening, I visited Chez Lucie on a Monday evening with a friend. Paris has its fair share of storefront restaurants but Chez Lucie takes it to another level. Remember when you tried to fit 25 friends in your 300-square-foot Paris studio? Space was precious and it was impossible to avoid speaking to the person next to you. That is exactly what will happen to you at Chez Lucie. You’ll feel like you were invited to a friend’s dinner party and Chef Didier will be your host, popping in and out of the kitchen, adding his comedic commentary to the conversation. His wife Ghislaine serves the food and caters to your every need, a feat not too difficult in such a small space. But she does it so gracefully! Incidentally, it was her grandmother who started the restaurant in 1960.
And now the best part—the food! A limited choice of entrée, plat, and dessert came with my 15-euro menu. To begin, Ghislaine sat a plateful of accras de morue in front me. They were so light and crunchy that my health-conscious self had to ignore that they had been deep fried in oil. I subsequently ate the whole plate! Additional entrées include boudin (tasty, but frightful blood sausage), crabe farci (stuffed crab), gombos (cooked okra served with a vinaigrette). For the plat, I had colombo d’agneau, which is lamb sautéed in a brown sauce of olives and carrots and served with rice. I hate to use the clichéd term “it melted in my mouth”—but dang it, it did! Their plats also include curry pork and chicken, and different meat dishes served with spices, onions and tomatoes. Typically, they will offer the choice of four plats each day.
To conclude my dinner, I mistakenly ordered the papaya sorbet instead of the gateau de coco that looked so good with its coconut and cream sauce on the plate of my next seat neighbor. Chef Didier and his wife topped off the wonderful meal with a rum digestif steeped with oranges and spices called Schrubb. If you want to choose, they also offer a 30-euro menu that allows you to order any entrée, plat, dessert, and digestif.
Luckily, my dinner experience did not end when I paid the bill. As I exited the restaurant, I could see something sparkling in the window of a nearby building. I immediately realized that the Eiffel Tower was sparkling in the dark. I grabbed my friend and ran in the direction of the sparkle so I could get that coveted picture in front of the glow-in-the-dark Eiffel Tower. One minute later, we were snapping picture after picture, anticipating the twinkle to end in any minute. When it did, we knew that we had experienced a memorable night in Paris that began in the Antilles and ended in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Chez Lucie15 Rue Augureau75007 ParisTelephone: 01 45 55 08 74Métro: Ecole MilitaireMon-Sat 7:30pm-11pmClosed Saturday midday, Sunday
From the Ecole Militaire métro station, cross Avenue Bosquet to get to Avenue de la Bourdonnais. Walk up Avenue de la Bourdonnais until you reach Rue de Grenelle. Make a right at Rue de Grenelle. Rue Augureau immediately runs into Rue de Grenelle on the left.
—Kiratiana Freelon graduated cum laude with a degree in Economics from Harvard University in 2002. While at Harvard, she was the co-executive editor of the Black Guide to Life at Harvard. At the end of her senior year, she was awarded the John H. Finley fellowship for travel around the world. In the past year she has traveled to West Africa (Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea-Conakry, Burkina Faso, and Ghana), Brazil, and Paris. During her year-long trip she compiled information that will consititute a travel guide to West Africa, Afro-Brazil and Black Paris.
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I would have never thought that I could get accras, boudin, crabe farcie, and poisson à la créole after taking a stroll around the Eiffel Tower. If you are familiar with these special dishes, then you might know that there is a 44-year old Antillean restaurant named Chez Lucie in the very posh 7th arrondissement. I’m not saying Caribbean hrestaurants don’t belong in such a location. However, this tiny colorful restaurant stands out among the manicured parks, expensive cars, and gourmet shops in a way that a location in the18th arrondissement wouldn’t allow. Its Antillean food and Eiffel tower location offer tourists and longtime residents the opportunity to visit Paris’ landmark attraction and to experience a taste of its multiculturalism.After a failed attempt to eat there without a reservation on Friday evening, I visited Chez Lucie on a Monday evening with a friend. Paris has its fair share of storefront restaurants but Chez Lucie takes it to another level. Remember when you tried to fit 25 friends in your 300-square-foot Paris studio? Space was precious and it was impossible to avoid speaking to the person next to you. That is exactly what will happen to you at Chez Lucie. You’ll feel like you were invited to a friend’s dinner party and Chef Didier will be your host, popping in and out of the kitchen, adding his comedic commentary to the conversation. His wife Ghislaine serves the food and caters to your every need, a feat not too difficult in such a small space. But she does it so gracefully! Incidentally, it was her grandmother who started the restaurant in 1960.
And now the best part—the food! A limited choice of entrée, plat, and dessert came with my 15-euro menu. To begin, Ghislaine sat a plateful of accras de morue in front me. They were so light and crunchy that my health-conscious self had to ignore that they had been deep fried in oil. I subsequently ate the whole plate! Additional entrées include boudin (tasty, but frightful blood sausage), crabe farci (stuffed crab), gombos (cooked okra served with a vinaigrette). For the plat, I had colombo d’agneau, which is lamb sautéed in a brown sauce of olives and carrots and served with rice. I hate to use the clichéd term “it melted in my mouth”—but dang it, it did! Their plats also include curry pork and chicken, and different meat dishes served with spices, onions and tomatoes. Typically, they will offer the choice of four plats each day.
To conclude my dinner, I mistakenly ordered the papaya sorbet instead of the gateau de coco that looked so good with its coconut and cream sauce on the plate of my next seat neighbor. Chef Didier and his wife topped off the wonderful meal with a rum digestif steeped with oranges and spices called Schrubb. If you want to choose, they also offer a 30-euro menu that allows you to order any entrée, plat, dessert, and digestif.
Luckily, my dinner experience did not end when I paid the bill. As I exited the restaurant, I could see something sparkling in the window of a nearby building. I immediately realized that the Eiffel Tower was sparkling in the dark. I grabbed my friend and ran in the direction of the sparkle so I could get that coveted picture in front of the glow-in-the-dark Eiffel Tower. One minute later, we were snapping picture after picture, anticipating the twinkle to end in any minute. When it did, we knew that we had experienced a memorable night in Paris that began in the Antilles and ended in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Chez Lucie
15 Rue Augureau
75007 Paris
Telephone: 01 45 55 08 74
Métro: Ecole Militaire
Mon-Sat 7:30pm-11pm
Closed Saturday midday, Sunday
15 Rue Augureau
75007 Paris
Telephone: 01 45 55 08 74
Métro: Ecole Militaire
Mon-Sat 7:30pm-11pm
Closed Saturday midday, Sunday
From the Ecole Militaire métro station, cross Avenue Bosquet to get to Avenue de la Bourdonnais. Walk up Avenue de la Bourdonnais until you reach Rue de Grenelle. Make a right at Rue de Grenelle. Rue Augureau immediately runs into Rue de Grenelle on the left.
—
Kiratiana Freelon graduated cum laude with a degree in Economics from Harvard University in 2002. While at Harvard, she was the co-executive editor of the Black Guide to Life at Harvard. At the end of her senior year, she was awarded the John H. Finley fellowship for travel around the world. In the past year she has traveled to West Africa (Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea-Conakry, Burkina Faso, and Ghana), Brazil, and Paris. During her year-long trip she compiled information that will consititute a travel guide to West Africa, Afro-Brazil and Black Paris.
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