La Petite France
Just hearing the word "France" conjures up images of snotty people determined to stay monolingual for all eternity. Less educated people would also associate them with either losing wars or generally being against bombing the snot out of third world countries. (Lately they seem to have gotten with the program in regards to the latter[a], and I certainly hope they will win that one.)
John Ericssonsgatan 6
11222 Stockholm
Sweden
www.petitefrance.se
La Petite France is a place one must visit, definitely for the macarons, certainly for the other pastries, and perhaps for the food, too. (5/5)
In short, it ain't easy being France. Fortunately, it is mostly a matter of not having that many media channels into the world outside of France - in retrospect, that monolingualism wasn't really a contender for the Nobel PR Prize.
With La Petite France[b], that is about to be taken care of. At least among the café-going elements of Kungsholmen, Stockholm.
The café opened because the founder, Sébastien Boudet[c], couldn't find a proper macaron[d] in Stockholm, and therefore set out in the spirit of "if you want something done well, you must do it yourself". Since it's opening it has done more to spread a positive image of France and French culture than any other entity operating in Sweden.
The macarons are, as one would expect, perfect. They come in a number of flavors - both classic, such as vanilla and chocolate - but also passion fruit and wild berries. You owe yourself a sampler of them.
The food is easy to dismiss as "general café food", if all you do is browse the menu - but it is really very French-influenced, with duck taking the place of chicken, and scallops instead of the usual shrimp. It's all very good, as one would expect from a country with such a famous kitchen.
There is little here for vegetarians to eat. There's the omelet, but if you don't eat egg, then that one goes, too. The bread that was served with the food was filled with tomatoes and ham. I'm an omnivore so I don't care, but if you or someone you bring isn't, you might find that there's really nothing on the menu that is edible.
Despite that minor flaw - we're talking about a café and not a restaurant here - La Petite France is a place one must visit, definitely for the macarons, certainly for the other pastries, and perhaps for the food, too.
