Brunch in Paris

Last February I ate broccoli and aubergine quiche at Rose Bakery in the 3rd arrondissement. This past week  I bought the restaurant's cookbook on Amazon, spent $35 on a ridiculous square pan at Sur la Table, and passed the better part of my Monday night crumbling unsalted butter and flour with my hands in a Walmart bowl.  

Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery is a fun little book full of pictures of the farmers and butchers who lovingly provide food for Rose Bakery's three Paris Locations. It also contains a recipe or two I would suggest: to-die-for carrot cake, and well, the quiche.

Rose Bakery is to Paris cafe as Shakespeare & Co. is to French bookshop. So, basically a must for Anglo-Francophiles. The cafe was started by a he's from France she's from England couple after a stint of curating a fine food shop in London.

Lesley at Rose after sipping some ultra ethically sourced hot cocoa

Were I to jump on a plane in Salt Lake this Saturday to make it in time for Sunday brunch I would stop by Rose on my way to Le Crayon Hotel, the soon to be open "funky boutique" hotel near the Lourve.

Designer Julie Gauthron has created colorful little abode for travelers with just 27 rooms, all with unique designs. The only way to book her rooms is via facebook, where you can also browse concept room drawings juxtaposed with photos of the finished product. Singles start at 135 Euro a night.

Crayon's frustratingly-sparse website describes the philosophy behind the space:

Le Crayon is a poetic, bucolic and artistic hotel that dares to play a game of audacious combinations: antique furniture is twisted into works of everyday art, styles are mixed, genres are mixed... Le Crayon is a patchwork of ideas illustrated through the rich and continuous dialogue between materials and colours within the 27 rooms, all of them different, all of them unique. 

Gauthron's daughter coloring the walls

One can only support so much Louvring & quiche.  If you find yourself in this situation on your next trip to Paris, rejoice. The head chef of Rose Bakery's rue Debelleyme branch has opened Nanashi, a Parisian style bento restaurant.