Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Back from Paris

More on Tintagel soon.
But first, Just back from Paris....a business meeting in an enchanting place, le Chateau de Romainville.  This place has everything for business decked out conference rooms with smart boards and printers and wi fi etc....of course  but also, amazing traditional food updated with the latest modern trends (like seasonal eating, heirloom breeds of vegetables, new grains and seeds etc...)

An example of the 10 am coffee break (sweet board): Yes, these are coconut frangipane pain au chocolat.  And yes these are home-made slabs of chocolate with toasted hazelnut)

The savoury board of the 10 am break.  Yes upper right is a large chunk of home-cooked paté.



The concept was grand-ma's house with all the modern foodie trends, in a luxury castle.  Everything was open, no one to ask permission.  Like the bow and arrows waiting for us in the park to practice archery.  Or the little boats on the pond.  Or the baskets of home-made slabs of chocolate everywhere. Or the open bar!

 Butter Pastry of escargot and parsley: One of the lunch entree.
 
 
Apple tarts, cherry clafouti and far breton...some of the lunch dessert options:



Crepes made with farm eggs:  One of the breakfast options if you can resist the huge choice of warm crusty breads or cereal bar (for the carbs bit ...).


The non-carb breakfast bit...: Yes it is a vat of creamy fromage frais from the next door farm.  And yes, these are little glass jars of soft yogurts on a bed of rhubarb compote.


Don't like that...no problemo, breakfast can also be slabs of fresh paté:
 
Need some honey or speculoos paste, nutella with that?
 

The fruit came from the garden and a lot of the food from the neigboring farms.
The ice cream bar was there all day, artisan of course.  With little "Bonne Maman" pots full of crushed pink pralines, grilled hazelnuts, M&Ms, toasted coconuts and so on...2 shelves of it..!

And, to complete winning me over, it was full of juicy watercolours on the wall from the artist René Oghia!  A book of their reproduction graciously given to all guests in their room.


The hosts were fabulous.  Not only could I not fault the place, but everytime I thought of something, it was right there.
Like this:


Highly recommend it for business meetings.  Especially since the dog "Dartagnan" can wander in the meeting rooms if we leave the door cracked open.


 

PS: We did a bit of this by the pond. 
 
 

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