Viewers like you make
this program possible. Support your local PBS station. ROSENTHAL:
Look out, French people. It's romance time. <i> Bonsoir!</i> It's not just
the beauty of Paris that keeps calling me back. I get direct calls
from pastries... - It's a<i> bombe de vanille,</i>
it's a vanilla bomb. ROSENTHAL:
And chickens. To you and to chicken. There are still great chefs
I haven't met yet. Yeah! And lots of food
that hasn't met me. Cheers! So let's go!
It's all next on... It does not disappoint. There were things I never tasted
growing up, like food with any flavor. In our house,
meat was a punishment. When I went into the real world, I was like a man
coming out of the desert. Then I started writing comedy and traveling
to other lands to eat. The world can be a beautiful,
delicious, and friendly place when we travel and eat
great food together. I'm Phil Rosenthal, and I'm here
to see and eat most of it, and to say to you, "Come on,
you can have what I'm having." ♪ ♪ ROSENTHAL: When you get to Paris
for the first time and you start walking
down the streets, you're like in a picture book. You don't even realize
how much of our childhood is tied up in these images. The spirit of Paris and the French food
and all these smells, and you literally hear
accordion music playing as you walk down
the tiny cobblestone streets, and then you turn the corner
and you see Notre Dame. Or you turn the corner
and there's the Eiffel Tower. And all the beautiful
architecture, and it's all
gorgeously designed. And then the food,
the chicken and the croissants, the pastries,
it's just like, "What?" You start thinking,
"Why do I live anywhere else?" It's crazy. Paris was founded in 250 B.C., but what's amazing to me is
not only how beautiful it is, but that it hasn't
been ruined over time. It's certainly evolved, but the romance
has been preserved. My first trip to Paris
was 30 years ago. I'm here this week to see
how it's holding up. I always arrive in Paris
wanting to eat. I wouldn't call it
an obsession, but... it is a little like
an obsession. - Hello.
ROSENTHAL: Hi! Bonjour. - Bonjour, Monsieur. ROSENTHAL:
This is our Parisian production assistant, Marian. This is an electric car. - Yeah, yeah. ROSENTHAL: Wow. - Nice, no? ROSENTHAL:
Do you like hot chocolate? - Yeah, sure, definitely. ROSENTHAL: The best
hot chocolate I've ever had is on the Rue de Rivoli
in Paris. It's called Angelina. It's very famous. If you take one thing away
from this show, it's that Angelina is the best
hot chocolate in the world. In the world! Joan of Arc, hello. - (laughs) ROSENTHAL: "Coming soon,
a renovated Angelina." It's closed? - Yeah. ROSENTHAL:
What happened? It's all torn up inside. See, they're working. They were closed for renovation. You know when you have
a craving for something and you've gotta have it? So now where am I gonna get
my hot chocolate fix? It's closed. - Oh... (thunder rumbling) ROSENTHAL: Look how I saw that
Angelina is closed, and it starts to rain. - Yeah. Uh, so... We should go to another place. I know a place. ROSENTHAL: Yeah?
- Yeah. ROSENTHAL: Good?
- Yeah, good one. It's Les Deux Magots. ROSENTHAL:
I've heard of Deux Magots. - You've heard of it? ROSENTHAL:
I've never had hot chocolate. I'm happy to try a new thing. That's what traveling
is all about. Maybe you don't know
that this being closed, which seems like the worst thing
to ever happen to me... - (laughs) ROSENTHAL:
...could lead to something nice. Your whole reputation
is riding on this. - Okay. ROSENTHAL: This hot chocolate
at Deux Magots. They're famous... You know what they're
famous for, really? Brecht and Hemingway
and Picasso and James Joyce, all these great people,
this is where they hung out. I don't think the writers
and the artists came for hot chocolate, do you? - I don't know, maybe. I think they're still... ROSENTHAL:
You know what they came for? - What? ROSENTHAL:
(whistles) That's all they did. - Well, yeah,
maybe you're right. ROSENTHAL:
Let's pour. This is the first test. How does it look coming out? Oh, that's the right...
that's what you want to see. Like somebody just melted
a dark chocolate bar. All right, here's the big test,
everybody. - Okay. Then you're first. Nice, no? ROSENTHAL:
Nice. This is really good. I thought it was over. I thought it was over
before it began. I thought, "Angelina's closed
and this stinks "and I hate everything "and I hate Paris
and I hate the French and I hate the rain
and I hate Europe." - (laughs) ROSENTHAL:
I have to say, it's a little different
from Angelina. I'm gonna say just as good. Gimme a cheers. - Cheers. ROSENTHAL:
Marian. Way to go, Marian. And now Marian has one more
thing she wants me to try. Wait, wait a minute,
I gotta pull back because this was set
for a little doll. Look out, French people. - (laughs) ROSENTHAL: I just want to hit
the mime on a bike. I would do Paris a favor. And Paris does us a favor by turning getting around town
into an art form. Sure, it has the bike program
where you swipe your card and you take out a bike. -<i> Au revoir!</i> ROSENTHAL:
But Paris does that one better. They have
an electric car program. You put in your card, you take an electric car
around the city. You park it, plug it in,
ready for the next guy. - Perfect. ROSENTHAL:
That's it, wow. This is stuff
we should be doing. Why aren't we doing this? Not so hard. - No, easy. ROSENTHAL:
So far, I'm doing pretty well because there have been
no deaths. But the night is young. - (laughs) ROSENTHAL: Here's the thing
about the open markets in Paris: the French love to shop
every day. They want their produce
to be fresh. They also have small
refrigerators, so it has to be fresh. And it's also
a very social activity. Plus the vibrancy and the colors
are so beautiful, it's like you're in a painting. But today,
I'm at the Marché de Lys to meet French-American chef
Alix Lecloche, who trained with the masters
here in Paris and is a regular
on French television. She brought me here to this 200-year-old stable
turned market to first drink out
of an old horse trough. Tastes like Sancerre. -<i> Oui,</i> exactly. ROSENTHAL: And now the real
reason for this excursion: to find my true love. Is this the best
roast chicken in Paris? Is there a historical importance
to chicken in France? Why is the chicken so good here? Why is it a national dish? It feels like
a national treasure. - A cultural thing of Sunday
to gather together, you know, the woman goes and plucks
the chicken, kills it, and kills it and plucks it
and then, you know, have the whole family
at the table. It's more like a family thing. ROSENTHAL:
A tradition of Sunday, and chicken is usually
the centerpiece. - Completely. ROSENTHAL:
This market, this guy, this is your favorite chicken
to buy. -<i> Oui.</i> ROSENTHAL: They say
the true test of a chef is how's his chicken? - (speaking French) - There's only salt and pepper. ROSENTHAL:
Well, right away, I'm seeing this is the color
of chicken you want to see. Oh yeah, bravo. So this is our first contestant. It's the low-priced model,
about $12. Here's a table. It's used for ping-pong,
but we can use it for chicken. All right, here we go. The big taste test. I'm doing this. - Go. This is like candy to me. ROSENTHAL:
The guy's a master. The little bit
of salt and pepper that he put on it comes through. - And it's not too salty either. ROSENTHAL:
No, perfect. The skin is perfect. That's round one. Round two a little later, but this one's gonna be
tough to beat. To you and to chicken. - And to chicken. ROSENTHAL:
I think if you come to Paris, you have to see everything
during the day and then you have to see
everything at night. Otherwise, you're missing
at least half of it. I came here 30 years ago, and the artist Christo
wrapped that bridge. The entire Pont Neuf was wrapped
in a gold, shimmery fabric, and it was like a party
in Paris. Not that it's not beautiful now. This has been photographed
by everybody. These boat rides,
they're very touristy and very commercial,
but for a very good reason. They're spectacular. It's phenomenal to take a boat that lights up everything
on both sides as you go up and down the Seine. And now they're passing
under this bridge, the Pont des Artes, which is incredibly festooned
with padlocks placed here by couples
from all over the world. This is a lot of guys
hoping for a lot of action. By the way, who decided
that the padlock was gonna be the symbol of love? One of the most influential
chefs in the world is Alain Passard,
who was an early proponent of the whole farm-to-table
movement. And this is his three-star
Michelin restaurant, L'Arpège. In 2001, Chef Passard began creating
vegetable-centric dishes, and he needed so many vegetables
that he opened three gardens outside of Paris
to supply the restaurant. Before eating at L'Arpège,
he insists that I make the trek out to one of his gardens
in the Loire Valley to see where his dishes
are born. The best way to travel
around France, to travel around Europe,
is by train. The trains go everywhere. And this trip,
which is three hours by car, is only an hour
on the TGV high-speed train. (neighing) This is where dinner
at L'Arpège comes from? - Yes, every vegetable, yeah. What is different about this
garden than other gardens? It looks wilder
than other gardens. - (speaking French) - So he's saying that here, they're cultivating
an entire ecosystem. So they're letting the animals
have their homes here, the insects, the microbial life
under the soil that then feeds the hedgehogs
and the muskrats. ROSENTHAL: This enhances
not only the nutritional value, but even the taste of the fruits
and vegetables. Chef Passard's approach
is to work with nature and let nature dictate
what it wants to give us. Chef Passard's garden produces
all the vegetables needed at L'Arpège,
and all of the work is done either by hand or by horse. Well, this looks like
a state-of-the-art machine. -<i> Oui.</i> (speaking French) ROSENTHAL: I got to know
the horse a little bit. I enjoyed the horse
when I wasn't terrified of it. I feel ya, I feel ya. Look, it's two horses' asses. I know you couldn't tell
by looking at me, but I'm not much
of an outdoorsman. Is this good? ROSENTHAL:
I killed mom? - (speaking French) ROSENTHAL:
Do I put it back? Very good, mother potato. Look at that. I just wiped that off
with my thumb, not even water, and look at the color. Oh! It's wonderful. By the way,
five minutes into picking, I organized the workers
and we went on strike. (splashing) What's this? I could eat this? <i> You</i> could! - Delicious. ROSENTHAL: Really?
- Yeah. Wild plum. Really tart. Not sweet. Good, right? (imitates explosions) Fireworks going off. They were so delicious,
I must've eaten 25 plums. Really? This is like a Disney movie. Now watch. Chef Passard comes out,
"What have you done? "You idiot! Every plum is worth
3,000 francs!" Have this tree sent to my house. In just a few hours, the
vegetables arrive at L'Arpège. They never see the inside
of a refrigerator. Chef Passard inspects
every delivery the way a jeweler looks
at a diamond. I'm surprised he doesn't have
them shipped in armored trucks. And now
the exciting part for me: we get to see the other side
of his influence-- the creative side. He has an eye. He's also a jazz musician. And to see him improvise a dish right in front of you
is spectacular. A great musician playing a song
just for you. - (speaking French) - Chef says that
what he likes most is, you know, put some poetry in his cooking,
you know? ROSENTHAL: Yes. - (speaking French) - Play with the colors,
the look. ROSENTHAL:
It's a painting already. It's so beautiful. ROSENTHAL: A lot of people
don't talk about this. A lot of chefs
don't speak about this. They talk about the ideas, but they leave out
the technical part of your dexterity
with your fingers. The way you plate something or cook something
or cut something makes a big difference
not just in the presentation, but in the flavor of the food. - He found in the vegetables
the way to express himself and his passion for colors. ROSENTHAL: But then if you find
if the colors go together that the flavors
necessarily go together? - (speaking French) - Those are families, and if it's the same color,
then it goes together. - You would never
cross the season in a garden or in the place. ROSENTHAL:
Really? - Never, we never do this. ROSENTHAL: So you'll never do it
in this kitchen. You'll never have something... You'll never have a tomato
from the summer... - No, never, never. ROSENTHAL:
...with a beet from the winter? - No. ROSENTHAL:
This dish is so beautiful. I asked Chef Passard,
"What do you call this?" And he says, "Potato salad." Everything looks so good, I don't know
what to taste first. I gotta try this purple potato. Mm! What's this? - You know, it's like a pumpkin,
you know? ROSENTHAL: Pumpkin seed oil,
that's what he put on it. Karima, do you want some? - No, thank you. ROSENTHAL: You probably eat this
all day, right? - It's all for you. ROSENTHAL:
All for me? - Yes, it's all for you. ROSENTHAL:
All for me. Maybe the nicest three words
I've heard in Paris. "All for you." So as if all this isn't enough, Chef Passard has offered me
a special treat today. So I escape
the heat of the kitchen for the cool of the dining room. Wow. "Just for you." That's almost as good as
"All for you." These are the plums! These are the plums. Turned magically into sorbet, And then a very nice young man
just came over, and he said, "You can't have that
without this." 1968 port. No, of course I can't have this
without this. I'm not an animal. Come on! Purple basil. Wow! I was missing
the whole thing there. You can go now. Look at that. The moon over the Eiffel Tower,
all lit up. I don't think it gets
more romantic than this. Balmy night in Paris
on a Ferris wheel, alone with a camera guy
named Marshall. - (laughs) ROSENTHAL:
The only thing I love in life as much as lunch or dinner
is breakfast. Now, Paris makes it
a little confusing because sometimes it's hard
to tell the difference between breakfast and dessert,
which I also like. So how do the locals here
start their day? Lucky for me, I meet up with
American expat David Lebovitz, maybe the world's leading
authority on French pastry. - Look at this, we're
in a gorgeous neighborhood, but wait a minute. Look at this, there's
Pizza Hut flyers on the cars. ROSENTHAL:
Pizza Hut? - Yeah. ROSENTHAL:
You're okay with that? - I'm not,
but I don't go there. ROSENTHAL:
I don't like it. I don't like it. It's Paris. - I think they're filming this. ROSENTHAL:
I know. It's not my idea of Paris. I don't like it. I don't want Pizza Huts here. - The great pastry shop
Blé Sucré, you can have
a wonderful lunch here, you don't have to get
takeout pizza. ROSENTHAL:
Look at this building. What should we do? - Uh, well, there are
the beautiful croissants. These are the best croissants
in Paris. ROSENTHAL:
That's quite a statement. Wow, best croissants in Paris. I think if David Lebovitz, who's written several books
on the subject, including<i> The Pastry Guide
to Paris,</i> if he says this is the best
croissant, maybe you listen. By the way, it is
a football-sized croissant. - Now, that's a croissant. ROSENTHAL:
They're not fooling around. - And you can also tell
the real croissants with butter are straight,
they're not curved. So when you come to Paris, always get the ones
that are straight. ROSENTHAL:
Why? Butter doesn't curve? - No, the curved ones are called
croissants<i> ordinaires,</i> which are often made
with other fats, and the croissant<i> au beurre,</i> the butter croissant,
is always straight. ROSENTHAL: I learned something
today, that's fantastic. All right, here we go. - Mm. Like, that's a croissant. Isn't that a great way
to start the day? It is the best
croissant I've ever had. Can I tell you for sure
it's the best one in Paris? Yes. There's layers of flavor, layers of flaky goodness
and buttery niceness. - I mean, it's just amazing. You look at all that,
it's like... It's beautiful. ROSENTHAL:
You're here how many years now? - Eleven. ROSENTHAL:
Wow. And you're gonna stay, you said,
as long as they let you? - Yeah. ROSENTHAL:
I just love that people of all ages
are flocking to this neighborhood place. - Oh, yeah. Kids come out of the bakery
with baguettes, and baguettes are interesting. They're sort of a new invention
from this century. The word means "wand"
or "magic wand," and they're sort of something
that's pretty Parisian. ROSENTHAL: I had no idea
it was so recent an invention. - Well, because bread, the word "boulangerie" comes
from the word "ball," "boule." So a bread maker
was always someone who made the ball of bread. ROSENTHAL:
So when that appeared, it was the new, cool thing. - Well, it's good, it's
something you eat with food, it has lots of crust, right? And they're cheap. The government regulates
the price of baguettes and what's in them. ROSENTHAL: Look, there she is,
she's happy with hers. - Kids don't get treated... They don't have kids' menus
often at restaurants or cafes because kids just eat
what the parents eat. ROSENTHAL: And drink
what the parents drink. - It's interesting
because French parents will often water down wine. ROSENTHAL: Yeah. - We in America think of wine as sort of this aloof, lofty...
something you swirl and savor. But in France, it's a drink. You go to the south of France
and they fill a glass with ice and pour rosé over it,
and that's... ROSENTHAL:
Goes with dinner or lunch. - It's funny, I had
a really big dinner last night, and I woke up saying,
"I'm not eating anything today." ROSENTHAL:
And here we go. - Yeah, people say, "Why'd you move to France,
why'd you move to France?" Uh... ROSENTHAL: "Taste it." That's a good reason. We've only just begun. I know when I travel, I just want to know
where the best stuff is. Why would I have
the second best? I'd like the best. So I go with David Lebovitz, and what is Paris famous for? Pastries. And so David takes me
to a real temple of the high-end stuff. This is the work of modern
pastry genius Pierre Hermé, and we get the place
all to ourselves. Look at... the colors alone
are mind-boggling. For me,
this is not a sneeze guard, this is a drool guard. - Yes. ROSENTHAL:
Look at this. It's literally a museum
of chocolate and pastry. You wrote the books
on this stuff, so what sets Pierre Hermé
above some of the other places? - Pierre was probably
the first pastry chef in France of our generation
to get a lot of notoriety. He sort of broke the mold. He started using unusual flavors
in pastries. You know, everybody was doing the same classic French
pastries, and he said, "Well, I'm gonna add salt
to this." He loves foreign countries,
so you'll find things with, like, passion fruit,
tropical flavors, lychees. He's really a genius. ROSENTHAL:
But also an artist. Look at the eye. - He wants us to be surprised and delighted and excited
when we eat something. ROSENTHAL: Yeah, I'm all
those things before eating. - Uh-huh, I know,
you're so excited. ROSENTHAL: But now we have
to eat something. - Okay. ROSENTHAL:
Pierre Hermé has an incredible selection
of macarons-- awesome flavor combination
like grapefruit yogurt. There's their traditional
salted caramel, but there's also
an Asian-soup-inspired one, a tom kha gai macaron, featuring coconut, ginger,
lime, and cilantro. - Mm. ROSENTHAL:
It's fantastic. That's the most unusual,
and yet completely satisfying. Really great. - Now onto dessert. We're leaving a trail of crumbs
behind us. ROSENTHAL: Yes, good. You'll know us
by our trail of crumbs. Look, you can see
the vanilla beans. - Yeah, so this is three
different kinds of vanilla. There's Mexican,
there's Tahitian, and there's Madagascar vanilla, and each one lends
a different flavor. Tahitian vanilla is very floral. Madagascar vanilla
is very forceful. And Mexican vanilla
is just delicious. Cheers. Wow. <i> Bombe de vanille,</i>
it's a vanilla bomb. Wow. (laughs) ROSENTHAL:
I'm a chocolate guy. That's phenomenal. - Well, we're getting
to the chocolate. ROSENTHAL:
That's phenomenal. That's phenomenal. I ran out of words. - So this is Ispahan, which
is flavored with lychees, raspberry, and rosewater. It's like a little sandwich. ROSENTHAL:
Like, this is better than being a kid
in a candy store. This is a kid being in one of the world's great
friggin' pastry shops. - Yeah, this is probably
not the way to eat this. ROSENTHAL:
Oh, not like an animal? - No. Mm. Mm. ROSENTHAL:
It's like a beautiful perfume. The rose, the lychee. - It all comes together
as just one flavor. ROSENTHAL:
All right, that's awesome. - That's great. ROSENTHAL: And what I've
been saving for last: the chocolate puzzle
architectural beauty. Come to me. It does not disappoint. And now I have to go
to the hospital. God, I love this place. So much to see, so much to eat. But this indulgence
comes at a price, and it's time to pay the piper. I call this sequence a little
something for the ladies. ♪ ♪ ROSENTHAL: A direct
descendant of Alain Passard is Yves Camdeborde,
who about ten years ago revolutionized Paris cooking
by opening Le Comptoir, and he introduced this idea
of bistronomie, which advances Alain Passard's
farm-to-table idea and makes it more accessible,
not just by price, but by putting it
in a more casual setting. We like to eat great food
with very good ingredients and we don't like
to put on a suit and tie. I meet Yves
and his daughter Quitrie in front of the restaurant,
and I come bearing sweets. - Oh, what is it? ROSENTHAL: This might be...
this might be red pepper. Try it. (laughs) I like that. Taste it, taste it. - Oh, I don't like red pepper. ROSENTHAL: It doesn't...
I mean, it's sweet. - (speaking French) If I didn't tell you it was
red pepper, you wouldn't know. - Tastes fantastic. ROSENTHAL: (laughs) I'm sorry. - I'm a very picky eater. ROSENTHAL: You seem tough. You like his food? - Yeah, I love his food. ROSENTHAL:
Do you have to say that? - No, I really love his food,
I eat here all the time. ROSENTHAL: Yves's wildly popular
20-seat restaurant is in the heart of the Left Bank
along the St. Germain, and he's promised
to whip something up for me, but only after we first
go around the corner to his favorite fromagerie. Oh, here we go. Wow. This is France. All of France is in the case. - (speaking French) ROSENTHAL: Look at this. This is the kind of relationship
I want with my cheese lady. You know everybody. - Hello. ROSENTHAL: Hello, I'm Phil,
nice to meet you. This cheese lady's name
is Twiggy. How many different cheeses
am I looking at? - Right now, she has about 120 or 130 different types
of cheese, but in the winter,
it can go up to 150. - Let's taste. ROSENTHAL:
Do whatever you want. Oh, look at that. I even like... That's a great presentation. Oh, we can't get this at home. This is pure
unpasteurized goodness. Yves orders a hunk
of Perail de Brebis, and we head back to Le Comptoir. - Let's go in the kitchen! ROSENTHAL:
It could be a dungeon. The building is
from the 17th century. - The recipe he's gonna make
with the cheese, he wants to give the cheese
a more modern image, but keeping its original taste. It's a recipe
kind of like a pastry. You have to follow the rule. ROSENTHAL:
Precise. - Very precise. ROSENTHAL: Yves throws
this beautiful piece of cheese into a pot and melts it down
with milk and cream. Those of you who might be
lactose intolerant should stop watching now. ROSENTHAL: He then puts it
in a whipped cream dispenser and refrigerates it. Now look. Oh, wow. Quince. Pignoli. Pine nuts. - That's celery. ROSENTHAL: Celery! - So that's<i> cerises.</i> - Black cherry. ROSENTHAL:
So you have a salad, a cheese, and a dessert all in one. He adds some herbs and olive oil to build a bridge
between savory and sweet. - Like it? - Like it or love it? ROSENTHAL: Ah! It's so light,
but so much flavor. - It's only the third time
they've been doing it, so it's new, and they want
to see how people react. Does he want to see
how people will react? That's how they'll react. Now, before we go,
chef wants me to try some more cheese,
St. Marcellin, at his wine shop next door. Good?
- Amazing. ROSENTHAL: Oh, it's hot.
- Yeah. ROSENTHAL: (laughs) (groaning) - (speaking French) - Did he put too much? ROSENTHAL: No. - It's never too much, right? ROSENTHAL: Never too much. Bless you. - (laughing) ROSENTHAL:
It's not just me. You think this is
really good too, yeah? - Oh, I think this is amazing. - (speaking French) - In France, we say that--
it's an expression-- we say that this is baby Jesus
in a tiny underwear. ROSENTHAL: (laughs) The highest compliment. Baby Jesus
in his tiny underwear. And he's still not done with me. The man packs the most beautiful
picnic basket you ever saw and takes me outside to play
a French game called pétanque. You never heard of it? Imagine bocce with an attitude. We're joined by Yves' friend, fellow bistronomie chef
Stephane Jego, and my American friend
and translator, Adrian, who happily is just as clueless
about this game as I am. Stephane Jego worked
for Yves Camdeborde at the Hotel de Crayon, so there's this
very nice synergy between all the chefs there,
and they're pals. - He said it's France
against America ROSENTHAL: This will be
the one time we let you win. - (speaking French) ROSENTHAL: Keep in mind,
I'm not an athlete. In school, I was voted "Boy most likely to be punched
by the boys who were athletes." - (speaking French) - He said yeah, he prefers
to be the one punching. ROSENTHAL:
Yeah, I'm sure you will. (laughter) The objective is pretty simple. You try to toss the larger balls as close to the tiny little
yellow ball as possible. Simple for people
with hand-eye coordination. - Phil, all you. - (laughter) - (speaking French) ROSENTHAL: I go again?
- Yeah, yeah. ROSENTHAL: I stink. Can we play
the American version? The American version is
who is the furthest away. - (laughter) ROSENTHAL: Where does the name
pétanque come from? Because it sounds like
you hit a goose with a car. (honking noise) Pétanque! - Ah, it's good. ROSENTHAL: Look at that. Even a blind squirrel
can find a nut. And then gets that nut
ripped out of his mouth. - Okay. ROSENTHAL:
Wow, I'm exhausted. We played for ten minutes,
and now it's time to have lunch. All right, write this down. If you're gonna have
to play pétanque, make sure one of the best chefs
in France packs the picnic basket. Yves bought a bottle of Morgon,
andouille sausage, boudin, chorizo, saucisson,
all made by his brother, a hunk of cheese from Twiggy, sardines packed in butter,
which is delicious, a can of paté, cornichons,
and, of course, the bread. This is the part of sports
I'm good at. - (speaking French) - Okay, if you drink a lot,
you'll play better. ROSENTHAL: Okay,
I better start drinking. The best part of pétanque
was the lunch. - (speaking French) ROSENTHAL:
Perfect. - (speaking French) - He said this is
a real bistronomie. We have good food,
good table, good people, and even pétanque. ROSENTHAL:
We were in the middle of one of the more beautiful
parks I've ever been to, and this picnic created
by these two master chefs. The price for this
was me being humiliated at this game of pétanque. Jesus. He's like an assassin. Round after round after round, Stephane is just
kicking our butts. And then, finally,
he misses his target and gives me
a golden opportunity to restore the name
of Rosenthal. If we win now,
we get the Eiffel Tower, and if I miss this, we have to give you
the Statue of Liberty back. ♪ ♪ We'll have that shipped
right away. - (laughter) ROSENTHAL: The great
Stephane Jego invites me to his fantastic restaurant,
L'Ami Jean, only if I promise to never touch
a pétanque ball again. I've eaten at L'Ami Jean
a couple of times, and that was before I even knew
Stephane Jego. It's still one of my
favorite meals in Paris. This is what you get when you
first enter the restaurant. This basket comes
to the table, right? With a knife. And they can cut for themselves
as much as they want, right? - Exactly. - Hey. - This is such
a great way to start. Right away, we're involved,
making... yes, yes, yes. Right away, you make friends. Right away, yes. Whoa. He blowtorches some thyme
and some rosemary, and then throws on
a steamed mackerel. That's the coolest thing
I ever saw. Beautiful. Then he serves it on a bed
of crushed pistachios. Wow. And tops it with sea salt,
almonds, and a vinaigrette. Whoa. - Atmosphere, barbecue. ROSENTHAL: Yes, it has
the atmosphere of barbecue. Fantastic. - (imitates fire blazing) ROSENTHAL:
And like a Paris fashion show, this mackerel has another look, this time decked out
in fresh green peas and lobster broth. <i> Merci beaucoup.</i> Nothing he makes takes longer
than five minutes, and there are
infinite variations on everything he does. It's a lesson. It's a lesson in how slight
changes make a huge difference. ROSENTHAL:
That's well said, yes. He cooks like he plays sports. He's an athlete. If you look at someone
like Passard, look how artfully he's doing,
and the gesture is so important, and his gestures are delicate
and beautiful and subtle. Now you go two generations later
to Stephane Jego, and he's punching stuff
and he's mixing fast and he's got a blowtorch out,
you better look out! Two different paths
to delicious. That was fast. - (speaking French) ROSENTHAL: Next, he serves up
some scallops sautéed in butter, with a hint of bacon and onion. So when you eat it
with your hands... Yeah! Yeah! Absolutely perfect. I'll eat with you any time. This is amazing. Oh my God. - (speaking French) ROSENTHAL:<i>
Partage</i> means "to share." It's a word Stephane uses a lot. And now we get to--
and I am not kidding-- one of the best desserts
in the world. This is Stephan Jego's version
of rice pudding. This nougatine is almonds,
pistachios... - (speaking French) ROSENTHAL: Salted caramel. Yes, rice pudding. Who cares? You taste this, it's so... Uh.... Feels like the soul of Paris, the soul of France,
this kind of cooking. This whole bistronomie idea,
of sharing great food with your friends
in a casual way, you're looking at one
of the great leaders of the whole movement. I can't wait
for what comes next. - It's a very good rice pudding. ROSENTHAL:
Well, it's all the world needs. You should serve it
at the United Nations. - (laughs) ROSENTHAL:
Bonsoir. You ever been on vacation and you're just
walking down the street and you come upon something
that's just crazy and magical? What is happening? I didn't get this email. Superman! That's the thing about... If you take the chance
and you travel, these random things
can happen to you that you didn't expect, and it's the kind of thing
that's not gonna happen at home. So you gotta get out. One of the great
institutions in Paris is not Parisian,
it's not French food. It's in the Marais
in the Jewish Quarter. It's L'As du Fallafel,
which means Falafel Ace. Can I do a falafel
shawarma combination? - Yes. ROSENTHAL:
I like everything. These are just fried balls
of seasoned chickpeas, and this is perfectly
spit-roasted lamb stuffed into a pita with all kinds of vegetables
and hot sauce. The fact that a sandwich
like this is so popular in Paris is actually a byproduct of
France's long colonial history in the Middle East
and North Africa, and this is what we get. <i> Merci beaucoup.</i> - Thank you very much. ROSENTHAL:
If you go on Yelp and you put in
"restaurant Paris," the number one restaurant
that comes up is this. The most popular
in all of Paris is this Israeli falafel stand. This fellow with
the walkie-talkie, that's Yomi. He's the boss. This is your place? ROSENTHAL: Family business.
- You like? ROSENTHAL:
I like. - 'Cause if you don't like,
I give you money back. ROSENTHAL: Really?
- Yeah. ROSENTHAL:
How about I finish it and then tell you
I don't like it, then I get my money back. - No, if it's finished,
it's finished. ROSENTHAL:
Okay, that's fair. This is the best I ever had. <i> Parlez-vous anglais?</i> <i> Oui?</i> The battle to get a falafel
at the window is nothing compared to the action
going on behind the counter. Look at this guy go. We didn't speed up the film. My people need me. I'm going in. How long you work here? - Ten years. ROSENTHAL: Ten years. You know what you're doing. Look, electric! (imitates motor sound) They're not gonna
trust me with that. I can barely shave myself. ROSENTHAL: Spicy? Yes. ROSENTHAL: Oh! ROSENTHAL: Enjoy. Who's next? Come on! - Come on! ROSENTHAL: You want spicy? Spicy, yeah. That's my department. I'm your spice man. Okay. You're getting spicy. - Thank you! -<i> Merci.</i> ROSENTHAL:<i>
Merci beaucoup.</i> Who's next? Falafel, with everything. <i> Toutes, toutes?</i> No? All right, talk to him. - Falafel. ROSENTHAL: Falafel, spicy? - No spicy. ROSENTHAL: No spicy. I got nothing to do. Hi, Ma. - Hi, Philip. - Can you see? - Yes. ROSENTHAL:
I can see, there you are. Oh, you're dressed up. - (laughing) You mean we're not
in our pajamas. ROSENTHAL: For a change. I'm in Paris. <i> Bonjour, bonjour.</i> -<i> Bonjour, comment ca va?</i> ROSENTHAL:
That's enough. Before we say anything,
what happened with your phone? - Oh. (laughs) - The phone? - Yes, the phone
we thought I lost. - Oh, she found it. - On the night table. ROSENTHAL:
Right there, right there, right behind you, it was there. - So that's another half-hour. First of all... - First, I canceled it. That took 20 minutes. And then I called and took another 20 minutes
to reinstate it. - Anyway, what's doing? ROSENTHAL:
Uh, everything is good. I've been having a great time. On Monday when I got here, I went to a famous chef's farm
about two hours away. I was picking onions and... - Oy. ROSENTHAL:
Why "oy"? I did it, I can do things. - You did it,
and how was your back? ROSENTHAL:
My back is okay. But I also walked
with the workhorse, who was tilling. - Get on top of the horse. ROSENTHAL:
No, no, no, I'm Jewish. - (laughing) - Have you gone
to any movies at all? ROSENTHAL:
No, I'm making a show. I don't have time to go
to the movies. - From when to when do you work? ROSENTHAL: All day we do it. - From what time in the morning
to what time? ROSENTHAL:
From 11:00 to 2:00. - This is all day? ROSENTHAL: No, I work...
we're doing everybody's... and when I'm not,
you have to rest because it takes a lot
of energy to talk to you people. Any other news before I go? - I think you've told us
everything, and we... ROSENTHAL:
(laughs) Mom, I want you
to tie the phone to the chain and chain it to to your pocket, and then you could have
a thing where you know where dad is all the time. - Do I need to do that? ROSENTHAL:
(laughs) - I don't want that. (laughs) ROSENTHAL:
All right, goodbye, everybody. - All right, bye. ROSENTHAL:
Love to you from everybody. Okay, one more thing to do. Down the street is a pretty
wonderful place for me. It's a little controversial
because it's expensive. I would say
this is the big splurge if you're coming to Paris. But it doesn't feel like
a big splurge. It feels like
a very homey place. I first heard about it
when I read about R.W. Apple, the great food writer
from the<i> New York Times,</i> having his 70th birthday here. He said it was his favorite
restaurant in the world, and that every single thing
he had here was magical and phenomenal, including the best roast chicken
he ever had. So I became a little obsessed
with coming here, and I did. I brought my family, and I thought every single thing
that I had here was the best of that I ever had, and then I had
a birthday here too. Not just a birthday,
but an anniversary. And now I wanted to show you it,
and this is it. And yes, this is
the defending titleholder of best chicken in Paris,
maybe the world, and here comes Alix
to help with the judging. But first, we're actually
invited back into the kitchen for an exclusive look
as to how they do it. - They keep everything. ROSENTHAL:
They keep everything, okay. All back in,
it gives it flavor, yes? The neck, the wings go inside. Yeah, all for flavor. - You're gonna go back home and you'll be able to do this
for your whole family. ROSENTHAL:
No, I won't. I will just come here
whenever I want chicken. This is the secret,
this is the secret. Goose fat, I knew it. - And duck fat,
a mix of both. ROSENTHAL:
This is what I'm learning today. - No butter. ROSENTHAL:
No butter. No butter. So just salt, goose fat,
duck fat. - Yes. ROSENTHAL:
That's it. 40 minutes. - It's a wood oven fire. ROSENTHAL:
Wood oven, very rare. - It's really rare in Paris. I don't think that you can open
a restaurant today... ROSENTHAL:
You have to be grandfathered in, as we would say, right? - It's very hot. ROSENTHAL: Okay. And this is the galette. - Yes. ROSENTHAL: My favorite potatoes. - They cook it in the fat,
more fat, more goose fat. And then they squish it
in the little pan with more fat,
with more goose fat. ROSENTHAL: This restaurant
is all goose fat all the time. Ah! (applauds) They cook it breast side down,
so the white meat stays juicy. Bravo. (sizzling) - Add a little bit of water
to rehydrate it. Deglaze,
deglaze all the good flavors. Look at that, look at that
bubbling right there. ROSENTHAL: This is literally
making the sauce just by adding that
little bit of water. And now it's judgment day. - That sound. I can hear
the goose fat singing. ROSENTHAL: Wow. - Super shiny and juicy,
look at that. ROSENTHAL:
Oh, that's... And the juice. - And the juices. They became all caramelized
with the fat from the chicken, the goose fat, the duck fat,
and all that. <i> Merci, monsieur, merci.</i> ROSENTHAL:
I'm ready for you, my friend. <i> Merci beaucoup.</i> This is the white meat,
this is the test. - This is the test. <i> Alors?</i> <i> C'est</i> juicy? ROSENTHAL: So the skin
is perfectly crispy and golden, and the white meat
is very juicy. - Super juicy. ROSENTHAL:
We were just gonna taste it, but I think we're eating
the whole thing, right? Wow. - Should I serve you? ROSENTHAL:
Yeah, thank you. Okay, so this is
a potato galette. I've had it in other
restaurants. It's never been... Right? Because it's decadent. - Oh, la la la. Oh, la la. ROSENTHAL: Oh! I love you. That's what my potatoes needed--
more potatoes. All right, my dear. Do you feel we've had enough
of a taste to declare a winner? I mean, it's not...
it's not a fair fight. - No, it's not. ROSENTHAL: But it's
a fixed fight that we win. It's fun to take the thing
that you know very well, the roast chicken,
to a new level. To find the best, yeah, yeah. - The perfect chicken. ROSENTHAL: Yeah, people want
to find the best. So I'm here to say, "Come to Paris and have
the best chicken you ever had." - I'm gonna have a little bit
more of this, so... ROSENTHAL:
Yeah, I think you should. That fact that this city
is still like this, that doesn't just happen
by accident. It's been designed,
and it's been preserved. Where beauty is a priority. And when you come here, and
especially when you come back, these genuine feelings
start to accumulate, creating these layers of Paris
that become part of you. This street connects you to all the other streets
you walk down. The meals and the sights connect
you to feelings of pure emotion, which remain as memories
for the rest of your life. And the romance! It takes me back
to the very first dinner I had here
with a girl long ago, just three months
after we started dating. We had, you know,
the steak frites, and she ate the whole thing, and escargot
and the whole thing, and then we just went
for a walk. And because I'd been there
the year before, I said, "Here's something
you might recognize," and we turn the corner... And there was Notre Dame,
all lit up, and she burst into tears. Now, I'd like to think
that Monica married me because I'm ruggedly handsome
and charming and a wonderful person, but I'm gonna give you boys
out there some advice. If you like the girl, Paris. Couldn't hurt.
