fandomhigh | International Cuisine | Monday, first period

Current Location: Paris

Entry tags:

foodie

International Cuisine | Monday, first period

Class met at Portalocity today, and Hannibal waited until they were gathered. "Good morning. A good bit of what we now think of as Western gourmet cooking is based in French recipes. So, I thought that we would start in France." He nodded to Lottie ~~if she were there~~. "Please stay close once we arrive; Paris is a large and busy city."

The portal dropped them off outside a restaurant; it was late afternoon. Hannibal ushered them all to the end of the colonnade. "These are the gardens of the Palais Royal, the royal palace. Those of you who aren't familiar with France, it hasn't been a monarchy for some time; it now houses some government offices and a library. But as you can see, it is still a lovely view." He smiled. "Today we will be dining at Le Grand Véfour." He read it to them, since the French pronunciation might be strange to some of them. "This restaurant has been here in one form or another for centuries, and is currently helmed by chef Guy Martin. The food is a mixture of traditional and modern French. I expect you to have questions about it; please ask. We're here to understand what we're eating as well as to enjoy it."

And with that, he led them into the restaurant.

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Ogle the really gaudy decor you can see ~~on Google street view~~ through the window!

Excuse Cosette while she stared (yes, she knew it wasn't polite but she couldn't really help herself) at oh, basically everything. She might never be over the fact that modern-day Paris was such a different place from the one she remembered, for one thing. Honestly, what were all these relatively wide, straight streets? For another, this place had been one of the most prestigious and high-profile locations in the city in her time, too. Even the convent girls had known about it; there had been more than a few younger daughters of the nobility among them, and no power in heaven or on earth could completely shut down dormitory gossip at bedtime.

So in more than one way being here -- in the modern parlance -- blew her mind, especially since even by 19th century standards the decor here looked old.

Hannibal smiled and took a moment to let Cosette get her modern bearings. "It's changed quite a bit, I imagine."

"It has," answered Cosette, "and yet in this place it almost seems like it hasn't at all. The island is much closer to the Paris I remember than where we are now, to tell the truth. It's all very peculiar."

She paused, and laughed.

"Peculiar, yes, but I think it's fascinating as well."

"Have you ever considered bringing one of your friends here, or your father, for a visit?" Hannibal asked. "You could play tourist."

"I suggested it to my father, but he didn't seem interested," Cosette said, a touch of disappointment evident in her face. "Friends, though -- that might be interesting. I wouldn't mind exploring, since I never got to do too much of that even when I lived there."

The drawbacks of being parented by an escaped convict.

"We won't have much time today, I'm afraid," Hannibal said, "but you should have a lovely view of the gardens at least."

"Oh, that's all right. I'm sure I can manage it some other time," Cosette said lightly, "and for now I'll be happy to enjoy the view of the gardens."

Kaylin ordered randomly off the menu and settled in to eat with a lack of table manners that probably horrified the waiter.

Okay, she wasn't terrible, but she wasn't exactly cultured either.

Never fear; Hannibal had told the restaurant they were all American students. While not strictly true, it had prepared them for things like this.

"I don't suppose you'd be interested in learning formal table etiquette?" Hannibal asked. He wasn't holding out any hope, but he felt obliged to offer. He wasn't judging her, either; she wasn't being intentionally crude, just herself.

Kaylin paused in her eating to look at him curiously. "What's that?"

"Eating a formal meal has its own rather specialized manners," Hannibal explained. "Rules for which utensils to use, how to hold them, how to eat and sit. Different places have different rules." He leaned toward her. "None of it will help you to be a Hawk, I'm afraid, but if you learn how to figure out the rules of a place, that can be very useful."

But it might help when dealing with the Barrani. Not that she wanted to, but sometimes she had to.

"Maybe that wouldn't be too bad," she allowed cautiously.

Well, that was a better response than Hannibal had thought to get. He gestured at the table. "Where would you like to start?"

Kaylin swallowed the last of the food in her mouth and just looked blankly at the table. "Uh... well... there are an awful lot more forks and stuff than anyone needs..."

"Quite right," Hannibal answered, smiling. "One for every course, and occasionally different ones for different foods. Now, here, the general rule is - start from the outside and work your way in. Whether that's the case in Elantra, I couldn't say. But there's a very easy way for you to find out, should you ever need to eat with them."

He gave her an expectant look, waiting for her to figure it out.

"Watch what other people are doing?"

That's what she'd done when she'd first come to the Hawks. If you think she's bad now, you should have seen her then, Hannibal. Less than zero social graces.

"Precisely." Hannibal smiled. "How good are you at watching people without them knowing?"

Kaylin gave him a look. "Usually when I'm watching someone it's because I want them to know they're being watched. Subtlety isn't exactly one of my strengths."

She sighed. "But I can watch someone without, you know, staring."

Hannibal nodded. "In that case, don't bother trying. Watch someone who's talking; they'll assume you're paying attention to what they're saying. You can see which utensils they use, and how they use them." He gestured at the other tables around them. "Or glance at everybody; don't look at any one person too long. It's more natural and generally ignored. Look at everybody here. See what they're doing."

Kaylin nodded, but sighed. "You know it's easier to just eat what you want, however you want. What good do all these fancy manners do? I know that the Barrani and the Dragon Emperor and all the rich people have all these crazy rules about stuff, but really, does it make them any happier?"

Not that Kaylin was a particularly happy person, but she could enjoy a good fight, a job well done, a meal shared with friends. Without all sorts of rules even.

Still, she was watching the room and taking everything in. She'd been taught how to do that by the Hawks.

"Probably not," Hannibal answered. He chuckled "But I very much doubt you'll convince them to change. Easiest to learn how they do it. You can always ignore the rules if you know them, but you can't follow them if you don't," he pointed out.

Kaylin rolled her eyes. "You sound like Caitlin. That's what she always says."

And she complained about it to her, too, but not much because Caitlin was, well, she was Caitlin. She cared. She'd taken Kaylin in and helped her find her own apartment and... she was Caitlin.

"She sounds like a very smart lady," Hannibal said, grinning.

"Well, obviously," Kaylin said, missing Hannibal's meaning entirely. "She's Caitlin."

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International Cuisine | Monday, first period

Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!

Re: Listen to Hannibal's intro, ogle Paris!