Curry Up King - Tasty German Street Food in Sarasota

Since I love sausages of all kinds, particularly German, I was delighted to learn about Curry Up King, which specializes in German street food.

Yesterday, a friend and I enjoyed a very nice lunch of their Berlin Curry Wurst. The sausage is bratwurst that is steamed, then fried, then sliced, and covered with the sauce,. The sauce is house-made with ketchup. curry powder, and paprika. They offer mild, medium, and spicy versions of the sauce. We chose the medium spiced version.

My friend had a side of fries and I had a side of German potato salad. A crispy roll was supposed to come with each dish. We did not get a roll and did not realize at the time that the roll was supposed to be part of the serving.  

The cost is $7 without a side and $10 with. 

I had a St. Pauli Girl German beer for $5.50.

According to their menu, Curry wurst was created by a Berlin woman in 1949, after she obtained curry powder and ketchup from British soldiers. She began selling it from a street stand, where it became extremely popular.

Among the other dishes they offer are:
- Nürnberger Bratwurst
- Schnitzel Sandwich
- Weisswurst and Bavarian pretzel
- Frankfurter Würstchen
- House-made apple strudel
- Two veggie dishes

You can find more details about these dishes at: https://www.facebook.com/AuthenticGermanStreetfood/menu/ 

Sides include french fries, German potato salad, sauerkraut, red cabbage, raw or spicy onions, and Bavarian pretzel.

They get their wurst from a German butcher in Ft. Myers.

The owner is from Berlin and the gentleman who served us is from Stuttgart.

The restaurant only has a few chairs inside and five or so shaded tables outside.

Food can be ordered to go.

You can find a $5 off $25 coupon at https://www.facebook.com/AuthenticGermanStreetfood/photos/p.278301696145535/278301696145535/?type=1&theater

The restaurant is located in Sarasota Commons mall at 935 N. Beneva Rd. in the upper left corner of the mall. Instead of the name on the outside, look for the word, "FOOD" in very large letters and "German "Street" in smaller letters. (Sarasota Commons is just north of Fruitville, and has a Post Office and a Publix.

My friend and I intend to return.

Great Crêperie in Montmartre - Sur la Route de Plouescat

On a recent trip to Paris, friends and I enjoyed incredible crêpes at Sur la Route de Plouescat (http://surlaroutedeplouescat.fr/en), a small crêperie in Montmartre. While there are lots of eateries near the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, this one is located at 4 Rue Lamarck, in a residential area to the right of the basilica where most tourists don't go.

The crêperie has an extensive crêpe menu with at least seventeen main-course, gluten-free, buckwheat crêpes and thirteen dessert wheat flour crêpes. In French, the buckwheat crêpes are known as galettes de sarrasin and the wheat flour crêpes as crêpes de froment. The galettes are originally from Upper Brittany and the crêpes – from Lower Brittany. (The name of the restaurant means, “On the Route to Plouescat.” Plouescat is a seaside resort town in Brittany.)

I had a crêpe complète (fried egg, ham, and cheese) plus onions for €8.80 ($10.30) and a glass of rosé from Provence for €4 ($4.68). My crêpe was fantastic and filling. 

The service was friendly and efficient.

The crêperie is fairly small. We found seats when we arrived around noon, but it quickly filled up. 

You can find pictures of the crêpes and reviews on TripAdvisor.

Jordan Food Mart - Nice Middle Eastern Grocery Store in Lakewood Ranch

I was quite surprised and delighted when I happened upon Jordan Food Mark, a really nice Middle Eastern grocery store, tucked away in a strip mall a few minutes away. 

They carry a terrific variety of Middle Eastern cookies, candies, pastries, breads, vegetables, cheeses, yoghurts, spices, olives, coffees, teas, etc., etc. They also have prepared dishes like several kinds of frozen kibbeh. Additionally, they have fresh meat pies, spinach pies, and cheese pies.

They don’t just have a single type of a given food, but they have variety. For example, there are different types of Syrian cheese, Armenian string cheese, hummus, and labneh, the Arabic yoghurt that is thicker than Greek yoghurt. In addition to hummus prepared by others, they make their own hummus.

They carry small hot-house type cucumbers, not the giant type found in supermarkets. These work much better for a single person like me to cut up and mix into the labneh with olive oil and lemon juice.

I’ve tried and enjoyed one type of pita bread, their home-made hummus, labneh, fresh meat pies, and Armenian string cheese.

They will grind fresh meats like lamb for making dishes like kibbeh.

The address is 6265 Lake Osprey Dr., Lakewood Ranch, FL. The phone nr. is 941-359-5999. Their Facebook page is at (https://www.facebook.com/pg/Jordan-Food-Mart-2059368204295795/posts/?ref=page_internal)

Using Paris Public Transportation - Tickets and a One-Week Pass

The terrific Paris public transportation system, which includes the Metro (subways), trains, and buses, has a number of ticket and pass options. I have used two and am familiar with a third. Purchases can be made with cash or credit cards. I used my U.S. credit card.

The first is an individual ticket, which costs €1.90. These can easily be purchased from a machine. I did not use this option. A single ticket can be used on a trip that involves a combination of Metro, train, and bus.

The second is a “carnet” of 10 individual Metro tickets for €14.90. That is cheaper than purchasing individual tickets at €1.90 per ticket. So it saves €4.10 on 10 tickets. I purchased the carnet from a ticket machine. I used the English menu option and I paid with my credit card. The tickets in a carnet can be shared with other travelers.

When using an individual ticket, you have to put it into a slot at an entry gate. It is validated and you retrieve it from another slot. You keep it with you. At some stations, you have to use it at the exit gate. At other stations, you simply push the gate open.

If a transportation system employee asks you to show a validated ticket, and you do not have one, you may be fined.

The third is a Navigó Decouverte pass. This is a one-week pass that only covers a specific 7-day period. It only starts at midnight on a Sunday night and continues through midnight the next Sunday night. This is an easy-to-use RFID card that you easily wave over a Metro entry gate. It opens the gate. It also opens exit gates. 

These cards are rechargeable.  The one-week charge is €22.80 and covers all five zones of the Paris transportation system, including the Metro, trains, and buses. It includes travel to Versailles, Charles de Gaulle Airport, and Disneyland Paris. The card itself costs a one-time fee of €5.

Since we arrived on a Friday, we used carnet tickets on Saturday and Sunday, and used our Navigó Decouverte pass starting on Monday morning

The card is made by the Metro employee at the ticket window. The Metro employee who helped me and my traveling companions spoke English and was very pleasant and helpful. To get the card requires a passport-like photo size 3 cm tall and 2.5 cm tall. The Metro station has a photo machine one can use to take the necessary photo. I created my photo with my smart phone at home and printed it on photo paper on my home printer. If the photo is a bit too large, the Metro employee will cut it to the right size.

My traveling companions used the photo machine at the Metro station to take their photos. It is much easier to do this at home rather than to waste time figuring out the machine.

I paid for the Navigó Decouverte pass with my credit card. We used our passes for a week, and never had a problem.

There are two different methods of entering a subway car. It depends on the car. Some have a green button on the door. You press that button. Others have a lever on the door. You simply lift the lever.

The employees at the ticket counter typically have nice, free maps of the Metro system. Simply ask for one.

The Google maps app on smart phones is great for using the Paris public transportation system. It provides all the info you need – which line to use, how many stops to go, where to transfer, etc., etc. It even indicates when a given station may be closed due to construction or some other problem.

There are great web sites that provide more detail than I have in this posting.

Dinner with Alexis - A Wonderful Parisian Chef

Two friends and I recently had a great experience dining at the home of a terrific Parisian chef – Alexis. We arranged a dinner through EatWith (https://www.eatwith.com/ ), which facilitates local dining experiences in over 130 countries.

We chose Alexis for several reasons – the menu he offered, his reviews, and his location in Paris. We could not have made a better choice. He prepared a menu of French-style dishes with his own special touches. The food was terrific and Alexis was a marvelous host, with a great sense of humor. His residence was very spacious. My friends and I were joined by a delightful British couple.

Alexis served an incredible dinner of:

- Gougères – cheese puff pastries with Comté and Emmental cheeses

- Quenelles – a soup-like dish of goat cheese whipped with cream, with fresh tarragon and parsley, shallots, a hint of white burgundy, crispy chestnuts, and parsnips

- Roasted pork from Brittany, over potato galette (a savory potato pancake with garlic, nutmeg, and dried Provençal herbs), with roasted mushrooms, gravy infused with tarragon, and red wine sauce.

- Chocolate Ganache dessert with Jivara milk chocolate, infused with  coffee beans, with fresh pears, purée of pear with cardamom, meringue, and almond streusel.

The wines Alexis served were a 2017 Château de la Presle Sauvignon Blanc from the Touraine area and a 2015 Château Colbert Côtes de Bourg  Merlot – Cabernet Sauvignon – Cabernet Franc.

The cost of the meal was about $71 per person. I first set up an EatWith account, After that, I requested a specific evening. When that was confirmed, I paid in advance by credit card. One could cancel up to two days in advance and receive a refund.

The EatWith web site shows the locations of the chefs, the types of food they offer, the reviews, and the prices.

I highly recommend Alexis and the EatWith experience.