K, do you like Moroccon food? If so, this is a MUST, MUST, MUST: (I don't go to Paris without going there for dinner!)
Restaurant 404
I found the following description of it on a website about Paris restaurants for you:
Describe your dining experience:
Why, oh why, can’t I find a place like 404 back home? I feel like I’m giving away a state secret just by writing about it. Why?
1. Because it’s gorgeous.
404 will transport you to Morocco. The lighting is lovely and subtle. Wooden carvings cover the windows, and rich fabrics and colors adorn every surface. Request a reservation in the loft for the full effect – like dining on an elephant’s back! You’ll climb a tiny, ancient staircase with candlelight flickering from an iron lantern perched on each step. The loft holds just two low tables, with piles of cushions to sit on and enormous etched silver plates to eat off. On the bar below, Taittinger chilled in a bucket with floating multicolored rose petals. Even the bathroom is charming, with the “TP” hanging rustically from a rope.
2. Because it’s chic.
404 was easier to find back when its namesake, a Peugeot 404 Familiale (an extended station wagon built in the ‘60s and ‘70s) was parked outside. Nowadays you’ll have to look harder to find the unobtrusive entrance to this former hotel particulier. Celebrities from Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Paul Gaulthier to Steven Spielberg have been spotted enjoying the spicy aromas and cozy ambiance. But the great thing about Restaurant 404 is that they will treat you just as well as they did David Bowie.
3. Because it’s delicious.
There are two specialties here: couscous and tagines. You can get couscous anywhere, so go with the complex, intricately spiced Moroccan tagines (stews) cooked on an open flame in earthenware pots and served scaldingly hot. Look down from the balcony and see what’s on the stove. We particularly enjoyed the poulet citron with olives and the tagine sept legumes (guess who ordered that one!) If you’re ordering appetizers for the table, try the potato pastries, or the cucumber in yogurt sauce. Fruit salad in rose water was a light, refreshing dessert after the enormous servings of tagine.
4. Because it’s fun.
The house drink, a “404 cocktail”, is not unlike a Mojito. It’s crammed full of fresh mint, and packs a powerful wallop. This may explain why we became close friends with a succession of couples who occupied the table next to us. The first let us use their condiments and share their breadbasket when ours ran out. The next set insisted we sample their wine, as both tables had ordered different but excellent Algerian reds. Ours, the ’98 Chateau Mansourah Coteaux de Tlemcen, had a faint brandy taste and a smoky bite. Theirs, a ’98 Chateau Tellagh, was spicier and lighter.
The spunky young staff makes your meal as fun as it is delicious. Our waitress sat and chatted with us while we scrutinized the menu, and made a delightful spectacle of the “unveiling” of our tagines, removing their pointed covers with a flourish. Our meal concluded with another waitress serving us strong mint tea with panache, pouring it into our glasses from a height of three feet!
...If I can make reservations there for us, I'll join you for sure!
"Two drifters off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. . ."
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