Les Pâtes Vivantes: Hand-Pulled Chinese Noodles in Paris
It was a bit cool, if not downright cold, during the "Paris Fashion Walk" yesterday, so I decided to treat myself to lunch at a Chinese noodle restaurant, Les Pâtes Vivantes, that I've been wanting to try as much for the show as for the food. The noodles are hand-pulled, an art that involves taking a thick rope of dough, pulling it, and then folding and refolding it until the dough miraculously turns into long, thin noodles.
The Chinese woman, who I think was the owner of the restaurant, generously agreed to let me take photos of the chef pulling the noodles and then shared the following story with me:
You've heard about the Silk Road? Well, noodles originated in China and when Marco Polo went there on vacation, he discovered them and brought them back to Europe. (That's it - the story of how noodles made it to the West as told by a Chinese woman to an American woman in French, so the facts may be a bit distorted. I do, however, love the idea of Marco Polo vacationing in China!).
The saying on the back of the menu offers some good advice, just like a Chinese Fortune Cookie:
Noodles, the symbol of longevity,
above all else, do not cut them!
Rather savor them, along their entire length,
like life...
My fried noodles with vegetables were Euros 10. With a complimentary carafe of water, it was an inexpensive, yet interesting, experience.
Les Pâtes Vivantes
46 rue Faubourg Montmartre
75009 Paris
Metro: Le Peletier
22 Blvd St. Germain
75006 Paris
Metro: Maubert-Mutualité
A Chinese friend emailed me the following comment about this post:
ReplyDeleteThe hand-pulled noodles is called’ Lan Zhou La Mian’ in China, it’s originally from west of China, next time you should order in soup, that’s classical one, less greasy and only delicious. Uhmm, I am hungry now. :-)