we got panaché

France is the source of a coveted culture that continues to elude my grasp... the ultra-chic garments and footwear, the slightly haughty yet relaxed attitude, the language that sounds nothing close to the way it's written (one of my favorite memories of Paris has little to do with the cityscape: Sisterfriend kindly requested that I trying to shout French words because I kept on saying that my name was hunger.) But no matter how different things can be, there is always a common theme I can appreciate: food!

Tater and I decided to make use of one of those $50 for $25 coupons I had purchased last December, heading over to Le Zinc in Noe Valley for what sounded like authentic and unpretentious French fare. Now I already have a favorite French joint in the city - easier parking, lovely host and hostess couple, fantastic food - but I figured I bought the voucher, might as well use it... and I really liked the backstory of the zinc bar, something I completely missed while I spent a week in Paris. Oops!

We were seated in the patio out back and while it was cute and romantic with all the trees strung with lights, it got a tad chilly.

Food time!

crab millefeuille. Can't pronounce it to save my life
but Tater and I loved the combination of crab and avocado sandwiched between
chilled puff pastry

stack it high!

Provençal-style mussels. Very wine-y.

Panaché, AKA French shandy.
Beer and lemonade... love it!

cassoulet: duck leg, a nice smoky sausage, and beans
in a happy sauce. Emeril would call it happy.

coq au vin!

The food was pretty good (though they could go easy on the salt with the cassoulet, poor Tater didn't finish.) My coq au vin was very tender and savory and it didn't taste overly salty until I started scooping up the remnants of the plate. I know we thoroughly enjoyed the crab millefeuille - favorite of the night - and will probably find a way to try and recreate it during another silly kitchen experiment... sandwiching cold crab and avocado between little squares of pastry can't be too hard, right? Thankfully the hot French waiter was really patient and not offended by my "French" when we were ordering, not even when Tater nearly blurted out "por favor." And if that guy wasn't really from France, he did a great job acting the part.

Being pleasantly full, we decided to split a dessert instead of getting two:

profiteroles aux chocolate

Wow, he even said "profiteroles" prettily. Very tasty, nice warm chocolate sauce contrasted well with the vanilla ice cream. Essentially, a child's dessert dressed up for serving but it was good. Overall, a happy experience but I don't think the owner didn't have to completely ignore us as we were leaving. If you don't want people coming in with $50 vouchers, don't offer them on opentable.com!