Eating in Paris: Florence Kahn
Wed 12 Nov 2014
photo via Florence Kahn’s website
24, rue des Ecouffes, 75004 Paris
Metro : Saint-Paul.
Tel : 01 48 87 92 85.
Open every Monday and Tuesday 10-7, Thursday 9-7, Friday 9-7:30, Saturday 10-7:30, Sunday 9-7:30. Closed on Wednesdays.
Delivery orders can be made at: www.citycake.fr and consult link below for on-line store.
Positive: They have a terrace.
Making the sandwiches, photo via the FK website
Heyyyyyyyy, I would like some Borscht, Zakouski, Shmaltzherring, Lokshen, Krepl’e, Gefilte fish and Tchoulent. No, I didn’t just run my fingers up and down my keyboard – these funny looking Yiddish words are none other than Jewish specialties from Central Europe and Russia. Despite their strange titles they are miraculously similar to what my grandparents would make. Eating in Paris can be a real adventure.
Red Pepper spread, one of the many mezes, or side dishes available.
Welcome to Florence Kahn, nicknamed « la petite boulangerie bleue » (the little blue bakery) by the regulars of the neighborhood, where you can find the most spot-on Ashkenazi (Jewish from Central Europe) food on the rue des Rosiers. A mix of both a classic and modern Yiddishland, it is true paradise for someone searching for Ashkenazi cuisine – that being said, we wanted to just gobble up just about everything in the shop from the selection of meats, fromage frais, taramasalta, sausages, golden breads and other dreamy desserts.
photo via Florence Kahn’s website
Here, we found the best cornichons (small pickles) in all of Paris, sold in bulk at 19 euros a kilo, pastrami you would die for at 45 euros a kilo, horseradish that just rocked at 3.70 a kilo, enchanting strudels and all different types of Polish cheesecake (blueberry, raspberry, raisin, pistachio…) at 3.70-4.50 euros a slice. Not to mention the « Big Pretzel Sandwich » at 7.90 euros: a killer sandwich consisting of 12 layers of pastrami, pickle relish, cornichon, and pepper caviar then stuffed into homemade poppy seed bread that was just sublime. The idea was to munch on our sandwiches with our hands while enjoying the terrace, which proved to be a much more difficult task than originally planned seeing as the sandwich was so big, believe me.
photo via Gilles Pudlowski
Florence’s smile and his tip-top service brightened what was the greyest of days, and with the bill being affordable to boot. In comparison to those starving people who try to patiently wait out the line at the famous L’As du fallafel, Florence Kahn is much less complicated and welcomes those searching for nostalgia in its well-crafted dishes. Proust had his madeleine, I had my gefilte fish.
Links:
L’as du Fallafel
We are pleased to have a partnership with Margaux Grosman who wrote this review, she is a well-known French food blogger, TV & Youtube host, life style journalist, food consultant, copywriter and founder of www.amasauce.com.
For a gourmet walking trip, check out our DIY downloadable Paris trips, also available as apps for Android and iPhone users.