Ciao Baci in Little Rock

Good evening! It's me again. On Monday, I discussed the subject of this blog with my professor. Although, you shouldn't rule out me writing about recipes I try (Julie and Julia) or talking about my French cultural experiences, these will typically not be the topics that I plan to write about.

I will write restaurant review. Eventually (and of course sooner is better than later), I will have my own restaurant critique writing style. I read that the best critiques are negative, and it's the stereotype for food critics. Anton Ego, the food critic in Ratatouille reinforces this. But I'm not sure that it's the best way to do this. So ... we'll see how it goes. So without further ado, I present ...

Ciao Baci de Little Rock!

With the exception of 2011 when my friend and I were both out of the country, we have gone to dinner at Ciao Baci in Hillcrest for Valentine's Day since 2010. We have seen chefs come and go. The current chef, Jeffrey Owen -- and coincidentally a former classmate of mine -- always tries to find ways to be innovative. Needless to say, my friend and I were quite excited when we saw the 2014 Valentine's Day menu.

I had planned to get a main dish and a dessert, but unfortunately when we arrived and saw the menu, it wasn't the same as had been publicised. The dishes were almost the same, but there were a few tweaks here and there - mostly in regards to the price. For example, the rabbit that I had my heart set on was now $34 instead of $28. That's a $6 price difference! I had planned to use that money for dessert. Thus, as a student, I could not order both. Besides, the "soufflé" that they said they were offering was not offered. There was a similar dish with raspberries and oranges, but it wasn't exactly what I was searching for.

The amuse-bouche was a Korean dumpling, called "mandu (만두)." Usually in Korea, mandu and kimchi (김치) are served together like it was here at Ciao Baci. If you don't know what kimchi is, it's the most famous Korean side dish, called "banchan (반찬)," containing peppers and vegetables (usually Chinese cabbage) which has been fermented in a brine. But wait! This blog isn't a Korean cuisine blog ... Yes, it's true. But the Hallyu wave, a cultural wave of all things South Korean, est very popular in France now and does not stop with its music and TV shows. It's also quite popular in the food world. And the chef here gave the mandu a twist. Usually mandu are filled with minced meat, tofu, green onions, garlic and ginger. I'm not sure exactly what ingredients were in this mandu, but I know that it had minced pork and leeks. Leeks are rarely found in Korea, and when I think about leeks, I usually think about French cuisine. So, it was a lot of Korean flavours with a little bit of French fusion. The mandu was really delicious. After I finished eating it, I was sad. In conjunction with my past experiences, I had high expectations for my main dish.

Like I already said, I ordered rabbit. I mean, I ordered rabbit three ways (from left to right in the picture on the original blog): rabbit pot pie; slow cooked leg with mesclun salad; and rabbit loin, wrapped in bacon, with some kind of carrot sauce. The rabbit was very beautiful and I couldn't wait to start eating. I ate from right to left, and unfortunately, the right was best. Sometimes chefs want customers to eat in a certain direction. Maybe I should have started with the left. Maybe he wanted the WOW to be at the end. Because WOW is not what I felt by the end. The loin with the sauce was super delicious and met my expectations. However, the leg was simply mediocre and tasted like a chicken leg. And that pot pie? What WAS that? It was mostly flaky pastry with some ... thing ... that had been waaay over-salted in the middle.

Overall, despite this experience, I will return to Ciao Baci, and I recommend it because I know that Valentine's Day is very busy, and in my mind, three perfect experiences shouldn't outweigh one bad one. Come down to Hillcrest and try it for yourself!

Next time, I hope to have a critique for you on 42, a restaurant in the Clinton Library. Until next time!

"Strengthening Social Ties"

©Vacossin Traiteur (http://www.vacossin-traiteur.fr/)

Hello! My name is Isabelle Guillaume and I am a French student at the University of Central Arkansas. I am taking a French research class. At the beginning of the semester, my professor asked me, "What do you love? What are you passionate about?" I told him, "Food." Because the history of cuisine is quite long, he pointed me in the direction of "nouvelle cuisine" from the 1960s and '70s. I found that the French gastronomic meal is listed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The rest, as they say in English, is history.

So, what exactly is this blog? That's a good question. To be perfectly honest, I am not quite sure yet. We have seen these types of cooking movies like Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts and Julie and Julia with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep where a woman talks about her experiences and relationship with food. I do not want to be these characters, but I'm sure I will mirror them in some ways.

So, let me start with the name of my blog. Like I already said, I found the French gastronomic meal on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list. In the brief summary, it read:

The gastronomic meal gives rhythm to the lives of community members. It draws circles of family and friends closer together and, more generally, strengthens social ties. It constitutes an important reference point for identity and gives rise to feelings of belonging and continuity.

The moment that I read it, I really connected with it - strengthens social ties. In my opinion, this part specifically is not just about the French. It is all of humanity. Sharing a meal with a stranger unites us. We forget about the things that divide us - our origins, our social class/rank/standing, maybe even politics ... my professor insists that the French love to talk about politics. It's possible, but in the three times I went to France, I have only ever had one conversation about politics. I know that my French friends have very strong political views, but we have never discussed them. The people that asked me the questions have fully grown children, so maybe it's a generation gap.

But I digress.

What is this blog? It's my journey through French gastronomy. Welcome.

See you next time!