*UPDATE: PINK FLAMINGO JUST OPENED A NEW PIZZA JOINT. IT IS LOCATED ON RUE D’ALIGRE IN THE 12TH ARRONDISSEMENT.

If you want a regular (as in classic flavor) pizza, you might want to try a different place. Aside from La Dante (tomato-mozzarella-basil) or La Cantona (8 cheeses), Pink Flamingo likes to offer flavors that will make you travel, which can be very useful if, for example, you can’t decide between pizza and Indian food (try La Gandhi: sag paneer, baba ganoush and mozzarella), or pizza and Spanish food (try L’Almodovar: pizza paëlla), or pizza and North African food (try La Macias: chicken cooked tajine style with cured lemon and olives)… Among the less unusual ones there’s also La Björk (smoked salmon, lumpfish roe and crème fraîche), La Basquiat (cured ham over gorgonzola and figs) or La Marcello (roquette with olive oil and balsamic vineger and parmesan.) As you might have noticed the pizzas are named after inspirational people who have made a difference in this world. While the pizzas are made in a traditional way—they use organic flour and all of the toppings are made with quality ingredients and fresh produce bought daily from the farmers market—Pink Flamingo likes to think of its product as something that stands out by its quality and novelty. And for dessert you can order some cheesecake.

Here are Pink Flamingo’s delivery maps in Paris’ 3rd and 10th arrondissements. Deliveries are made by foot or bike, hence the limited delivery area. Pink Flamingo cares more about the environment than getting the pizza to you super fast (that said, it’ll still get to you in a timely manner.) Last but not least, if you want to eat your pizza somewhere along the canal, you can order it at their restaurant in the 10th, leave with a Pink Flamingo balloon and when it’s ready they’ll come look for the balloon!
For food to go and to eat along the canal there’s also Le Cambodge restaurant.

Pink Flamingo 3rd arrondissement
105 Rue Vieille du Temple
75003 Paris
tel: 01.42.71.28.20
Metro: Filles du Calvaire

open 7/7
M-F: 12pm-3pm / 7pm-11.30pm
Sat, Sun: 12pm-4pm / 7pm-11.30pm

Pink Flamingo 10th arrondissement
67 Rue Bichat
75010 Paris
tel: 01.42.02.31.70
Metro: Goncourt, Jacques Bonsergent

Tu-Sat: 12pm-3pm / 7pm-11.30pm (last order and delivery at 11pm)
Sun: 1pm-11pm
Closed on Monday

Pink Flamingo 12th arrondissement
23 Rue d’Aligre
75012 Paris
tel: 01.43.43.47.07
Metro: Ledru-Rollin, Faidherbe-Chaligny

Tu-Sun: 12pm-3pm / 7pm-11.30pm (last order and delivery at 11pm)
Closed on Monday

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Sur Les Quais is located in the covered market Marché Beauvau in Paris’ 12th arrondissement (it is adjacent to the marché d’Aligre farmers’ market.) It sells quality regional products such as Spanish chorizo, lomo, jamón serrano, salchichon or the gourmet Ortiz canned tuna; Mediterranean first cold press olive oils (you can fill up your own bottle); mustards, spices, pain d’épices, artisan ice-creams… But what keeps me going to Sur Les Quais are the excellent tapenades, especially the green ones (€2,75/100g): lemon tapenade, basil tapenade, cilantro tapenade…

When shopping at Sur Les Quais do not miss the Graineterie du Marché, the great chocolate store Goût, Thé et Chocolat or my favorite wine shop in the Aligre neighborhood: Les Crus du Soleil.

Sur Les Quais
Marché Couvert Beauvau
Place d’Aligre
75012 Paris
tel: 01.43.43.03.16
Metro: Ledru-Rollin, Faidherbe-Chaligny

Tu-F: 9.30am-1pm / 4.30pm-7.30pm (only from 9.30am-1pm on Thursday)
Sat: 9.30am-1.30pm / 4pm-7.30pm
Sun: 9.30am-2pm
Closed on Monday and Thursday afternoon.

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At Goût, Thé et… Chocolat on rue d’Aligre you’ll find a careful selection of chocolates, dark and milk pralinés or ganache made by France’s finest artisans. The chocolates that are for sale in this tiny shop are by a select few such as Rémi Henry, Hubert Masse or Fabrice Gillotte who won the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) title, which is the highest title given to an artisan for the quality of his work in his trade. Do not leave Goût, Thé et… Chocolat without a box of Fabrice Gillotte’s new creation (Fall 2009): Aquacao—a selection of dark ganache squares each made with cacao from four different origins (Venezuela, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador) and filled with a cocoa-bean-infused jelly. And while you are at it, grab one of Fabrice Gillotte’s Christmas creations: a dark or milk chocolate praliné Christmas tree. It doesn’t look like anything, aesthetically speaking, but I guess the energy that didn’t go into making it look pretty went into making it taste divine.
There are also other sweet things such as artisanal ice-creams and sorbets by Mr Phoenix who only sells to reputable restaurants, macarons, tuiles au chocolat, dragées, cheesecake… If they are selling the dark chocolate-covered hazelnuts with cocoa powder on top when you stop by, try them!
If you are looking for high end chocolates in the 12th arrondissement, this is the place to go to.

In the same neighborhood, check out Les Crus du Soleil for great wines at an unbeatable price, Sur Les Quais for some delectable tapenades or La Graineterie du Marché for a one-of-a-kind picturesque dry goods store.

Goût, Thé et… Chocolat
13 Rue d’Aligre
75012 Paris
tel: 01.43.40.34.45
Metro: Ledru-Rollin, Faidherbe-Chaligny

Tu-F: 9.30am-1.30pm / 3pm-8pm (4pm-7.30pm in August)
Sat: 9am-8pm
Sun: 9am-2pm
Closed on Monday

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L’Ebauchoir in Paris is a classic bistro, right off the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, that has never ceased to live up to its reputation. It is a popular restaurant among the neighborhood’s artisans and artists who fill it up at lunchtime, while other regulars and first-timers crowd the room for dinner. Their fish or meat dishes are always cooked to perfection and the wines that accompany them are always good. The desserts at l’Ebauchoir are delicious and you might find yourself ordering seconds. The 13,50€ lunch menu is for an appetizer+main dish+dessert with a set main dish, or 25€ for an appetizer+main dish+dessert with a main dish to choose from the regular menu. Count about 20€ for a main dish at dinner.
Check out their blog for pictures of their dishes. It offers some recipes too.

L’Ebauchoir
43 Rue de Cîteaux
75012 Paris
tel: 01.43.42.49.31
Metro: Faidherbe-Chaligny

M: 8pm-11pm
Tu-Sat: 12pm-2.30pm / 8pm-11pm (Opens at 7.30pm on Friday and Saturday)
Closed on Sunday

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*UPDATE: SAD NEWS, LES CRUS DU SOLEIL IN THE 12TH ARRONDISSEMENT IS NOW CLOSED.

Les Crus du Soleil, in Paris’ 12th arrondissement, is a little wine shop located on the busy rue d’Aligre. The owner, Benoît, will warmly greet you and help you choose a very nice wine for an unbeatable price (for the same bottle of wine you’ll pay twice its price at Lavinia.) The wines for sale are all from the Languedoc-Roussillon, a region stretching from Nîmes to Colliour, in the south of France. They are produced by a new wave of wine makers who are interested in natural methods such as biodynamics, organic farming and hand-picking grapes. Along with the wines there are a few treats such as the charcuterie from the montagne noire (Cathar region) that will make a person who’s been a vegetarian for over a decade revert to being a meat eater! (I know so, I’ve seen it.) There is also a small selection of great Champagne (Billecart-Salmon, Raoul Collet, Larmandier-Bernier…) as well as some very unusual and high end single malts from France (Michel Couvreur), Japan and Scotland (Auchentoshan).
Les Crus du Soleil is a great place to stop at for a glass and a plate of southern goodies that you may only find here, except for David Pelegris’ foie gras and smoked duck breasts that are also served in some of Paris’ Michelin-star restaurants.
For excellent chocolates a few doors down the street, check out Goût, Thé et Chocolat.

Les Crus du Soleil
21 Rue d’Aligre
75012 Paris
tel: 01.43.43.52.20
Metro: Faidherbe-Chaligny

Tu-Sat: 10.30am-1.30pm / 4pm-8.30pm
Sun: 10.30am-1.30pm
Closed on Monday,

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Address and opening hours of Amapola flower shop in Paris, 11th arrondissement.

Amapola
32 Rue Faidherbe
75011 Paris
tel: 01.43.56.72.47
Metro: Faidherbe-Chaligny, Charonne

7/7
M: 12pm-8pm
T-Sat: 9.30am-8pm
Sun: 10am-1.30pm (until 6pm around Christmas time.)

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Located on the famous Place d’Aligre, famous for its 6-day/week farmers’ market, La Graineterie du Marché in Paris is a specialty store that opened in 1895. It’s one of my favorite boutiques in the city because it makes me feel like I’m in the countryside, and reminds me of summer vacations at my grandparents’ in a small village in the west of France. When you walk in La Graineterie du Marché it seems as if you were entering a different time—it has the look and feel of a postwar shop with an Almodovar movie color scheme. Today the shop still sells a small selection of seeds (they can be found in the back room along with terracotta pots, glass jars and metal scoops) and some aromatic plants but mainly what you’ll find there are grains, specialty flours, spices, pasta, dried fruits, teas, a great selection of artisan jams and some old school candies such as the Pierrot Gourmand lollipop and the Carambar.

La Graineterie du Marché
8 Place d’Aligre
75012 Paris
tel: 01.43.43.22.64
Metro: Faidherbe-Chaligny, Ledru-Rollin

Tu-Sun: 9am-1pm / 4pm-7pm
Closed on Monday

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La Cocotte is a lovely bookstore nested in the very lively Faidherbe-Chaligny neighborhood in the 11th. Cookbooks, history books, books about foods that make you fart (and their fart-antidote recipes), design books, photography books, novels, essays… whatever their type the books are all selected for their common theme: food. There is a large wooden table and two benches nestled in front of the window, open for tea and homemade pastries, or used for their cooking workshops (for little ones or grown ups.)

La Cocotte
5 Rue Paul Bert
75011 Paris
tel: 01.42.73.04.02
Metro: Faidherbe-Chaligny

Tu-Sat: 10.30am-8pm (open until 7pm only on Wednesday)
Closed on Monday and Sunday

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