Market based daily specials

Last night, while walking home, I came across a table filled with amazing artichokes in the evening farmers market of Bercy. There were bunches of frost-kissed baby artichokes as well as some of the most beautiful full sized artichokes I’ve ever seen. This is saying something as I’ve been to the world famous Artichoke festival and the artichokes from the Santa Cruz area rival any in the world.

I purchased a bunch and made artichoke/white asparagus withe eggs for dinner. The artichokes tasted as good as they looked.

Today’s lunch special at Parisian Sweet Bar – Artichoke pasta

The Parisian Sweet Bar sits about 50 yards from that table of artichokes. I was pleasantly surprised to see today’s special of artichoke pasta. This pasta was great and at 6 euros a bargain to boot. These were not the marinated artichokes of cheaper pasta dishes. These were fresh baby artichokes from the market.

That’s the beauty of food in France. You don’t have to be a fancy restaurant to offer fresh, seasonal food and the prices are not inflated. Parisian Sweet Bar boasts regular specials based on the farmers market. Soups, pastas, and salads are based on what’s available for the season.