Street Food You’ll Find in French
Baguette sandwich at Chez Aline
The classic and, until recently, pretty much only acceptable French street food, the baguette sandwich is the go-to casse-croûte of busy office-types and starving students. With a boulangerie on every corner, you’d think finding a decent sandwich would be easy, but la pause déj’ is full of sub-par pitfalls. To taste France’s favorite sandwich, the jambon-beurre, done right, head to Chez Aline where the bread is from the impeccable Landemaine, the butter from a farm in Normandy and the ham straight from the last true producer of jambon de Paris, Yves Le Guel (yes, it’s made in Paris from Breton pork delivered daily).
Arepasat Bululu Arepa
This tiny takeaway counter on the north slope of Montmartre serves up insanely delicious pita-like corn pockets stuffed with chicken, beef, or vegetables and a choice of sweet starchy plantains, ripe avocado, or black beans. The 9€ lunch menu is one of the city’s best deals: a silky black bean soup and choice of tummy-busting arepa. Start with a serving of crunchy plantain chips and guacamole, and wash it all down with a cold pucker-inducing cane-sugar limeade.
Pastrami sandwich at Frenchie to Go
The problem with great restaurants in Paris is that they fill up fast. But some chefs display their food mastery at more casual offshoots. Gregory Marchand of Frenchie fame opened Frenchie To Go, where hot pastrami sandwiches, pulled pork, homemade fries, and chilly craft beers can be devoured on the spot or taken away. Perfectly crumbly cookies and homemade cheesecake complete the feast.
