Blend is a burger joint serving up fluffy brioche buns, beef by artisan butcher Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec and frites maison.

Paris is full of hamburgers. It’s become just as much a national dish as steak tartare, seemingly on every bistro menu in the city. But it has only been recently that folks have worked out that the humble hamburger can be elevated with a little attention to detail.

Think caramelised onions, AOC cheeses, housemade ketchup or some killer coleslaw. The beer list is also impressive – Samuel Adams, Sierra Nevada, Roquette Blanche – an inexpensive mix of specialist French and American brews.

The only bad thing about Blend is its popularity. If you’re hungover on a Saturday afternoon, be prepared to wait.

Impress fellow hipsters: American pastry chef Camille Malmquist is making the buns and desserts. Order the sweet potato fries, a rare anglophone treat inside the périphérique.

Blend, 44 rue d’Argout 75002

IN THE AREA:

Pasta at La Bocca
Japanese at Rice & Fish
Coffee at Télescope

I’m no huge lover of red meat, but I’ve got to admit that the recipe and video for araignées in Le Monde this weekend made my mouth water. The araignée (air-ran yeah), or spider steak, is a cut of beef that’s much more common in France than in the US, but even there you’ll need to go to a real butcher who works on whole carcasses. The araignée or gobet is the muscle that forms a hump at the top of the backbone.  There’s only about 10 or 12 ounces of this cut in an entire cow. Here, it’s thrown on the heap of meat that becomes hamburger; there, it’s turned into a gastronomic delight.

Here’s a translation of the recipe from Le Monde.

Ask your butcher for spider steak. Count on 5 ounces per person, 7 ounces  for bigger appetites. Take the meat out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking it so that it’s at room temperature. Heat a drop of oil in a pan and sear the meat on all sides until it’s well browned. You may lightly salt the meat at this moment (not before, or the juices of the meat will escape during cooking). Remove the steaks from the pan, and add a knob of butter to the pan. When the butter is foaming, return the meat to the pan and turn it frequently to “nourish” it for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the meat rest for 3 to 4 minutes. Garnish the meat with a knob of salted butter and enjoy it accompanied by a salad of rocket or mâche (tender salad greens).

My only question is, is it incredibly yummy because of the cut of beef or all that butter? The butcher who shared the recipe in Le Monde, Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec, did acknowledge that he doesn’t eat it as often these days due to high cholesterol.

The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food that French Women Cook Every Day

Related articles

• How to Pan Sear Steak: A Primer (latinobynameonly.wordpress.com)
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Longhorn cattle at the Ginger Pig farm in North Yorkshire

Tim Wilson, a Yorkshire farmer who raises rare breeds on the edge of the North York Moors, has made a name for himself with his superb meat, sold in the Ginger Pig butcher’s shops in London. Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec is Paris’s celebrity butcher who has made himself famous (if not exactly popular) in France by claiming loudly and often that les rosbifs (aka the British) are far better than the French at beef.

It was somehow inevitable that one day the two would meet. When Wilson’s beef was honoured in 2010 with a Coq d’Or, a French award reserved for top-quality food products, Le Bourdonnec contacted him to propose a meeting. Together with a delegation of French butchers, he set off for Yorkshire on the trail of the formidable beef.

They visited the farm, observed the Longhorn cattle grazing the lush North Yorkshire meadows, stayed overnight at the local pub and feasted on Wilson’s prime beef, richly marbled with fat and bursting with flavour. “In my opinion, the British raise the best beef in the world”, remarks Le Bourdonnec, adding: “en France on est plutôt mauvais” (in France we’re rather bad at it).

Late last year, when Le Bourdonnec was invited to join forces with the group behind the Experimental Cocktail Club to open Paris’s first US-style steakhouse, he readily agreed – on condition that all the meat would be sourced from Wilson’s farm. The Beef Club opened in February in Les Halles, Paris’s former central market district, with Ginger Pig beef on the menu.

Every Monday, Wilson loads up his van with around 500kg of meat and drives over to Paris to deliver them. Early Tuesday morning he’s at Rungis, where he stocks up on veal for the London stores (”the French do veal better than we do”) and then drives back home again. Appetite for the famous Yorkshire beef shows little sign of slowing. Paris now has its own Ginger Pig Beef Clubs, and Wilson has also received requests from chefs and butchers in Belgium. “There’s a market out there for people looking for quality – and they’re prepared to pay the price.”

• www.thegingerpig.co.uk
• Beef Club, 58 rue Jean-Jacques-Rousseau, Paris 1er, Tel. +33 9 54 37 13 65

Photo credit: The Ginger Pig

Et puis….est arrivé Blend.

Discrète depuis son ouverture, cette nouvelle adresse s’est retrouvée en haut de l’affiche sous l’effet d’une Newsletter dont la notoriété rendrait jaloux les professionnels du marketing.

Hamburger + Paris. Le résultat était sans appel. Il fallait tester. Même le cri de désespoir du jean ne pouvait rien y faire. La recherche demande des sacrifices.

Les appétits ont d’abord pris possession d’une des tables en bois massif et étudié la carte avec intérêt. Steak de boeuf, compotée d’oignon bacon pomme roquefort, emmental de Savoie, pousses d’épinard pour le Signature ; Steak de boeuf, cheddard anglais, bacon, sauce barbecue maison, oignon, pickles, iceberg pour le Cheesy… Les papilles étaient en éveil.

La commande est arrivée. French Fries faites maison dans une version miniature des paniers à fritures, hamburger présenté dans ses deux moitiés. A la première bouchée, le résultat est satisfaisant. Le Cheesy remplit ses promesses, la viande d’Yves Marie Le Bourdonnec est goûteuse, le bacon et le cheddar anglais relèvent l’ensemble pour une sensation de confort dont seul un burget a le secret.

En revanche, le Signature déçoit. Le roquefort et l’emmental de Savoie sont quasi-absent, emportés par la compotée trop présente.

Pour ne pas rester sur cette note un peu fausse, le ‘Green Veggie’ est venu à la rescousse d’un dîner qui avait bien commencé. Et là, la surprise fut inattendue. Né d’un travail de longue haleine de quelques mois, le Green Veggie surprend par son intensité, ses saveurs et sa texture proche du steak de boeuf. Voilà une adresse que les végétariens parisiens vont adorer.

L’expérience s’est terminée par une bouchée de cheesecake, assez frustrante pour créer l’envie de revenir tout en offrant la note de satisfaction qui termine un bon moment.

Il faut encore donner quelques semaines à cette nouvelle adresse pour bien se roder et savoir gérer une notoriété venue un peu trop rapidement. Et d’ici là, mon jean aura retrouvé le sourire.

Blend
44 rue d’Argout
75002 Paris

Notre : ce repas a été payé dans son intégralité par l’auteur de ces mots

I loved this article in the New York Times by Glenn Collins.. (http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/battle-of-the-butchers/?scp=1&sq=meat%20cutting&st=cse.) It might seem trivial to many but I always thought it was a major cultural difference: The Americans and The French do not cut the meat the same way! As a result,  transatlantic recipes never work and the food does not look the same in your plate. Never seen a carré d’agneau this side of the Atlantic or a real “escalope de veau”. Well, now I know why: the French cut the meat along the nerves and muscles while the Americans cut pieces.“In America, we cut across everything, then cut the pieces off and sell them, whereas the French seam them  out,” explains Tom Mylan, The Butcher of Brooklyn . On the other side is “The Meat Magician of Asnières” — Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec, a 42-year-old French butcher from Asnières. The moderator of this cutting edge contest called the The Meat hook was  Ariane Daguin,  daughter of famous French chef André Daguin and founder  of Dartagnan, a place to buy your foie gras for Christmas in America. Ariane who will be honored next month at the gala of a franco-american philanthropic association, French Heritage. “In France, we have the best butchers in the world,” Mr. Le Bourdonnec said. “And Americans are the best breeders of pasture-raised beef. If we get together, it should be a paradise.” Yes this is the long story of the Franco-American love-hate relationship! A couteaux tirés!

http://www.dartagnan.com

Last time we were talking about the importance of the raw material in the cuisine. This time we are presenting you the addresses where the top chef Alain Ducasse buys his ingredients. So next time you go to France you know where to search for the best:

VEGETABLES AND TRUFFLES:

Asparagus

Jean-Pierre et Susanne Blanc
Les Asperges De Robert Blanc
La Bastide des Piboulettes
84530 Villelaure
T: +33 (0)4 90 09 82 54

Other vegetable:

Didier et Sandrine Pil
Le Potager Petit Moulin
SCEA Le Petit Moulin
49650 Allonnes – Maine et Loire
T: +33 (0)2 41 38 86 77
lepotagerpetitmoulin[at]wanadoo.fr

Vegetables and truffles:

Jérôme et Nathalie Galis
Etablissements Galis
10 bis Chemin Bouqueyran
84420 Piolenc
T: +33 (0)4 90 29 76 63
tarifgalis[at]free.fr

MORE: http://www.scattidigusto.it/2010/06/14/i-fornitori-e-la-spesa-di-alain-ducasse-1-ortaggi-e-tartufi/

FISH:

Patrice Lorillon et Anne Kervagoret
SDAB Mareyage 
”De la Mer à l’Assiette”
Bretagne
ZA de la Gare – 29670 Taulé
T:  +33 (0)2 98 79 06 20
sdab.scop@wanadoo.fr

Gautier Brunet-Moret
Produits Noirmoutrins & Vendeens
33 Allée des Soupirs
85330 Noirmoutier
T: +33 (0)2 51 35 97 64
produits.noirmoutrins@wanadoo.fr

MORE: http://www.scattidigusto.it/2010/06/16/alain-ducasse-speciale-spesa-2-il-pesce/

MEAT:

Jean-Claude Huguenin
Société Huguenin
75 rue de Strasbourg Bat E5
94617 Rungis
T: +33 (0)1 56 70 60 60
jc-huguenin@orange.fr

Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec
Le Couteau D’Argent
4 rue Maurice Bokanowski
92600 Asnières
T: +33 (0)1 47 93 86 37
yves-marie.le-bourdonnec@wanadoo.fr

MORE: http://www.scattidigusto.it/2010/06/19/alain-ducasse-speciale-spesa-3-la-carne/

CHEESE AND BUTTER:

René Pellegrini
Les Comptoirs d’Epicure
Les Eygaux
84400 Apt
Tel: +33 (0)6 79 44 25 91
renepellegrini@free.fr

La Fromagerie Beillevaire
BP 75
44270 Machecoul
Tel: +33 (0)2 40 02 33 98
p.beillevaire@wanadoo.fr
www.pascalbeillevaire.net

MORE: http://www.scattidigusto.it/2010/07/01/alain-ducasse-speciale-spesa-4-burro-e-formaggio/

FRUIT:

Excellent citrus fruits

Agrumes Bachès

Mas Bachès – FR 66500 – EUS
Tél. : +33 (0)4 68 96 42 91

Forrest Strawberries

Rolande Most
Société La Finca
26 Avenue Caffin
94210 La Varenne Saint Hilaire
Tel: +33 (0)1 55 97 01 26
rolandejc.most@wanadoo.fr

More: http://www.scattidigusto.it/2010/07/06/alain-ducasse-speciale-spesa-5-frutta/

WINE and OLIVE OIL

Olive oil

Cedric Casanova, son of the french mother and sicilian father, was first artist at Cirque du Soleil and changed his activity later. He is producing excellent olive oil and other products with olives. It’s also possible to reserve a lunch or dinner at his place at a table for 5 persons. Reservations only by email.

Cédric Casanova
La Tête Dans Les Olives
2 Rue Sainte Marthe – 75010 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)9 51 31 33 34
casanova@latetedanslesolives.com

Wine

Eric e Christine Buatois
La Cave des Cordeliers
59 Grande Rue
71500 Louhans
Tel: +33 (0)6 85 05 45 42
cbuatois@club-internet.fr

Eric and Christine create a bridge between the chefs, sommeliers, restaurateurs on one side and winemakers on the other side. They are always in touch with the winemakers so they can always offer the best available wines.

More: http://www.scattidigusto.it/2010/07/14/alain-ducasse-speciale-spesa-6-vino-e-olio/

To be continued….

Drawing by Philippe Neumager

M.I.A.M, a free urban magazine, is organising a series of “Street Food” soirées all throughout the summer with some of Paris’s most renowned chefs serving their renditions of “la cuisine de la rue”.  The first will be held on June 1^st and will be dedicated to that all-American classic—the Burger.

Three-star chef Yannick Alléno, will be serving up his world famous burger, which is made with two cuts of beef—chuck and rib—and supplied by Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec of Le Couteau d’Argent, a butchershop in Asnières, a suburb just outside Paris.

Celebrity baker Gontran Cherrier has thought up a vegetarian burger for the evening—the Greenwich—made with guacamole and radish sprouts, paired with Zubrowka bison grass vodka.

Christophe Adam, the Executive Pastry Chef at Fauchon who has been touted as the next Pierre Hermé, will be making a “sweet” burger while Romuald Sanfourch, the young chef from the Batofar, will be serving his creation, a duck burger.

As an American, I’m not sure what to think of the “sweet burger” or the duck burger, but given the quality of the chefs, I wouldn’t miss it.

When: June 1^st 18h-2h
Where: Batofar, Quai Francois Mauriac, 13th
Price: starting at 6 €