Noshing With the Nagles: It's a World of Comfort at Café de Paris

CafŽ de Paris
8808 Centre Park Drive
Columbia
410-997-3904

We recently found another escape from workaday life, this time when we entered CafŽ de Paris - and entered a world of comfort, atmosphere, sultry live jazz, good wine and good food.
Owner and Chef Erik Rochard had a Swedish mother and French father, was raised in Paris and learned how to cook by "necessity," he said, "because my mother was Swedish and couldn't cook."
Rochard, who attended the Culinary School of Strasburg, said that CafŽ de Paris reflects his philosophy on dining: The bistro is a place where diners come to have good food and have fun. It isn't pretentious, as one does not have to dress elegantly to enjoy a fine meal; nor is the food unpalatable to Americans.
As is the case in Europe, that's part of the attraction of CafŽ de Paris. A meal isn't just a meal here, it's the time to reconnect with your lover, your family, your friends. Its quality time to be savored, and Rochard wanted Americans to see that Parisians are not "snobby" or unfriendly and his establishment demystifies that notion. However, CafŽ de Paris still embraces the romantic atmosphere and panache that is French.
Rochard has two culinary secrets: If you are cooking on low heat, use butter; medium heat, use olive oil and high heat, use vegetable oil. In fact, he warns that one should not heat olive oil above 200 degrees because it develops bad acids and is not digestible. The second tip is to use infused ingredients in salad dressings. For instance, he suggested infusing olive oil with garlic, and vinegar with rosemary; it's healthier and you will not need sugar in your dressing.
As for us, we started off with the soup du jour, collard greens soup with leeks, garnished with truffle oil. Neither of us had ever had collard greens soup, so we were pleased to find that it was as delicious as it was creative. We also had the Turkey Tart, which looked like a slice of pizza, but tasted much better; the tart was a served with melted cheese and flaky crust and was very flavorful and served with a side of salad.
For entrees, Michael had the homemade duck cassoulet with white beans, which was nothing less than French comfort food. Debbie managed to get mostly on the outside of a very generous portion of pan seared salmon with spinach and ratatouille. The dish was perfect in color, texture and presentation. Someone in the kitchen is not only a good cook, but has an artistic flair that makes the food look as good as it tastes.
Then came dessert. We shared a chocolate mousse which was dense and intensely chocolate (more like a flan than the fluffy texture we typically expect). Michael had the cherry soup with vanilla ice cream which was extremely unusual, beautiful and flavorful; Debbie went back for second and third tastes. Also to note is that on the opposite end of the restaurant is a crpe cafŽ with a considerable menu of specialty, entrŽe and dessert crpes.
The CafŽ de Paris wine list is extensive and boasts wines from California, Washington, Oregon and Virginia, as well as such exotic locales as South Africa, Argentina and Chile. Of course, there is also a very nice selection of French wines, with bottles starting at $25. Diners can also choose to enjoy a Tour du France and sample three 3-ounce pours for $10.
CafŽ de Paris is open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch and the staff promises to get customers in and out on a timely basis - for a delicious lunch that is much better than a fast food concoction - with, of course, french fries. And where better to have them than a French bistro?
We were fortunate to meet the musicians who performed for us - Mandy Chris and Otis Stroup. We loved Mandy's voice and Otis's music, and we understand that, on most nights, you can find Rochard playing with them, too.
While live music is just one more reason to come to CafŽ de Paris, most of the attraction is the excellent food and the warm, friendly atmosphere. It offers private dining for up to 35 people, a cooking class once a month, a wine dinner once a month, live jazz on Tuesdays and Fridays, half-price bottle of wine night on Wednesdays and Happy Hour every night in the bar from 5 to 7 p.m.