Now on Twitter: My repaired clavicle, with titanium plate, and all things clavicularly and rehabilitationally oriented

For those of you who haven't heard, I broke my collarbone in a bicycling accident last week. Well, Lance got 12 screws, I got seven. They ended up needing to operate, as my fracture is very 'distal,' or distant from the center of the body. Apparently, my best odds for full recovery were not simply a sling, as prescribed as far back as during Egyptian times (and, by the way, still a very reliable way of treating some instances of middle collarbone breaks), but through stabilizing the area with a plate and screws. And then the sling for six weeks.

To update you and all other interested parties on the pain, the drama, the intrigue that my recovery will surely entail, I have set up a twitter feed. My username is collarboneplate, all collarbone all the time! Surgery was on Thursday. Yesterday was at times tolerable, at others miserable. Glad it's over. Fortunately, that should be the worst of it, but follow the twitter feed and find out for yourself....

Le Verre Volé

While I'm still kicking myself for not making a point to dine at Racines, I can at least take solace in the fact that I did eat dinner at Le Verre Volé, near the popular canal St. Martin area in Paris' 10th. The concept at Le Verre Volé (translation: 'the stolen glass') is similar to Racines: sell a focused selection of mainly natural wines (though Racines takes it a step further, sans soufre only), offer access to the same wines during lunch and dinner service (for a very reasonable surcharge of 7.50 euros) and, for people in the know, provide a terrific menu selection of simple cuisine, made from an array of ingredients sourced from top notch purveyors of farm grown food.

Upon walking in to Le Verre Volé, the first thing you might notice is the small size of the place. There are no more than 25 seats throughout, at tables fairly tightly packed together. Then your eyes will likely drift to either wine wall on opposing sides of the room. With prices marked in white chalk on the bottles, there is an excellent spread of mainly natural wines, from the likes of Rimbert's 'Mas au Schiste' St Chinian bottling up to more coveted bottlings such as Philippe Pacalet's '06 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru, and bottles of every conceivable stripe in between, the common thread often being that these are wines produced naturally, in smaller quantities, from grapes grown without herbicides, pesticides or other sprays, and fermented with their natural yeasts and a minimal amount of sulphur (if any) added during the winemaking process. That having been said, there were a few Bordeaux wines, Haut-Medoc bottlings (and definitely not 'natural') as well as a decent single malt selection (Springbank, Signatory) to break up the landscape somewhat, should you be craving something a bit more commercial (bdx) or strong (scotch).

Natalie and I started with an amazing bottle of 2007 Dard & Ribo Crozes Hermitage Blanc. Just the basic bottling, but so delicious. Fresh, a bit floral, with yellow fruits and a hint of a mineral/anise notes adding some structure. The wine improved steadily, especially when accompanied by my first course of pig ear salad with toasted coriander seeds which really brought out the freshness and balance of the wine, the coriander in particular bringing out the floral notes beautifully. I suspect that, like a versatile rhythm guitar player, this wine could have worked great with a number of different styled offerings, adding its own flair all the while.

Then it was on to something a little more readily available in the US, but no less delicious: 2007 Pierre Overnoy Poulsard. Emmanuel Houillon, who worked with Monsieur Overnoy, now runs the estate and is known for delicious, age-worthy sans soufre wines. The '07 Poulsard was bright, energetic and focused, a delicious foil to Natalie's fatty, Touraine saucisson, and to my herbal, savory, slightly sauvage tasting caillerets ardechoise (a very large meatball which, when cut open, unfurled a cloudy pillow of aromatic herbal grey smoke).

We also tasted a tasty St Joseph courtesy of Robert Camuto (who just happened to be in town, dining at Le Verre Volee when we were) - the producer's name escapes me. After our dinner we chatted with another American couple, and were cheerfully urged to share another bottle of wine by one of our kind hosts. We went ahead and followed his rec for a tasty, simple, carbonically macerated cotes du rhones (probably a good pick, as the couple seemed to prefer fruitier, more warm climate type wines). And before leaving, I sprung for that bottle of Pacalet Chambolle, which I drank in Epernay and, while tasty, it's clearly very young and I could not see what all the hubub (and top dollar pricing) is about with dude's wines.

So it was a very satisfying dinner at Le Verre Volé. I'll leave some info here in case you decide to go yourself. Definitely make a reservation for lunch or dinner, even if it's done midday for dinner that evening (which is what Natalie and I did). You won't get a table otherwise.

Le Verre Volé
67, rue de Lancry
tel: 01 48 03 17 34
Métro: Jacques Bonsergent

Me and my fractured clavicle

Here I was all ready to begin posting more about Paris and Champagne this week, when mid-bike commute Wednesday morning I got doored! While it's pretty self explanatory, for those of you not familiar with the term, getting doored is when a driver in their parked car opens their door towards an open lane of traffic at the exact moment a bicycle passes by, hitting the bicyclist and in my case sending him over the handle bars, ricocheting against a stationary vehicle in the right hand lane (smashing their right tail ight in the process) and slamming to the ground. So my left collar bone (also known as the clavicle) is broken. Fortunately, the bike frame and fork are in good shape; only the front wheel and a few other parts need replacing.

So a reminder to anyone who drives, especially in areas populated by many bicyclists (like Mission St btw Valencia and Cesar Chavez where my accident happened): LOOK! in your rearview mirror and behind you before you open your door. Just make it a habit and do it.

And to bicyclists: for me this was further proof that you can never be too careful, especially on busy city streets. Always take your time, know your surroundings and constantly assume the worst of drivers. Expect that they don't see you and ride accordingly. If it means you can't ride as hard on a busy street, then so be it.

PSA over. Back to baguettes, brioche and natural wines in Paris soon. Maybe even later this afternoon.

Brief Piedmontese interlude in the midst of a French focused posting spree

Italian staff tasting at work today. While there were some other wines I thought well-made, one stood head and shoulders above the other 20 or so in the crowd. It is from a producer many of you probably know and respect, though I see a lot about his Lessona DOC wine on the blogosphere and less about this wine below from the Bramaterra DOC.

2005 Tenuta di Sella Bramaterra

The fact that this is still such a pretty, finesse driven and highly nuanced wine in this warmer vintage is clearly attributed to lots of experience (both handed down and lived) as well as a commitment to producing authentic, terroir driven expressions in this cooler climate, northerly zone of the Piemonte. A blend of 70% Nebbiolo, 20% Croatina and 10% Vespolina, this wine's pretty aromatics tend towards raspberries and small red fruits growing on bushes, as well as floral notes. Some shades of earthiness come into play as well. Fresh on the palate, with a light touch and again the small red berries. This is my favorite young Piedmontese wine I've tasted in a long time.

Click here for some more in-depth notes on the DOC and the winery from none other than Luca Furlotti, manager of the Sella estate (courtesy of the Bay Area's 'Mr. Piemonte' himself, Oliver McCrum, thanks Oliver).

Bread and Chocolate in Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Bread (Poilane)



Chocolate (Jean-Charles Rochoux)

An American Meal, with Americans, in Paris

Researching places to eat prior to traveling to Paris, I thought it might be interesting to book a reservation at the Hidden Kitchen, the 'secret' dining club owned by a young couple from Seattle with experience cooking in that city's better restaurants. 'Secret' implies that a supper club which has had gushing praise from food blogs such as this one, as well as a feature in The New York Times, is in fact hardly known to folks who enjoy travel and food enough to research where they will eat while in Paris. In other words, as it relates to HK, the word is out.

Perhaps that is why our dozen or so fellow diners were all Americans. While I had read to the contrary in the Times, apparently Braden and Laura now book evenings based on nationality. One night might be Parisian night, another one booked for travelers from Singapore, and of course there have been, and will continue to be, many more all American dinners.

Here is how it works. You email HK the date you would like to dine (dinners on weekends only), they let you know if it works, and confirm the date with you the week of your dinner. For 80 euros you get a 7 course meal with wine pairings.

The menu, though it varies somewhat, will probably resemble something like this one (not exactly the same as our dinner, but a few courses match and others are very similar). While I really enjoyed a few courses, particularly the toasted peanut soup with roasted eggplant and red onion salad and the seared salmon with toasted spinach, parsnip puree and watercress chimichurri, the others were not as memorable. There was a poached egg, fava bean and frisee salad with green goddess dressing, a somewhat dry pulled pork dish, pan fried mackerel (a strongly flavored fish best enjoyed as sushi, imo). Wines selected for each course were merely ok, no standouts. The one exception would be a wine which stood out for all the wrong reasons, an Argentinean Malbec paired with dessert (yikes!) which on its own was no good, let alone served with a fruit based dessert.

I was on the fence about writing a critical review of what was ultimately an enjoyable evening spent in the apartment of an adventurous, gracious, young American couple in Paris. However, given the merely decent quality of the meal and not inexpensive price tag, I felt as though some constructive criticism was in order.

Don't get me wrong, Hidden Kitchen is a great concept, and for about $110 is not overpriced considering that seven courses - as well as wine - are included. However, if you want better than average French wine, and food that is a bit more exciting, there are many, many other options to explore in Paris.

Group Home - Supa Star

A classic mix show staple, not to mention a great instrumental track to freestyle over. Thanks to David D for reminding me about this one earlier today.