Jules, Julie & Julia

My pilgrimage to La Couronne

Promotional image for the movie: Julie & Julia

“Julia Child wasn’t always Julia Child.”

— From the movie Julie & Julia

When I was a child, the first thing that would come to mind when people were discussing PBS was Sesame Street. I was extremely bewildered to discover there was other programming beyond the “Street”. It was through PBS that I would learn about Julia Child. I was looking to see if there were other shows that I would be interested in watching, and that was the only show that not only featured a woman, but a woman with my namesake. When I asked my mom about her, she informed me that Julia Child was, “a very famous chef”. I asked if there were any other girl chefs, to which my mom replied, “None that I can think of”. Because of what Julia Child had accomplished, I felt like I had a very special first name.

Fast forward some 30 odd years later, I became extremely excited when I discovered there was a film coming out called: Julie & Julia (I mean double the Julie’s should equal double the fun). My mother and I saw the film together, and I became obsessed with the story. We immediately went to the bookstore where I bought the book: Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. I gave my mom an idea for a birthday gift she could give me when I lovingly touched the secondary “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” cover with Meryl Streep as Julia Child, and as I unwrapped my birthday gift, I vowed to make every recipe just like as Julie Powell (to date: I’ve probably made about 15 recipes, but I can make the best roasted chicken thanks to Julia Child, and my family has developed a great love of Beef Bourguignon).

It was the story that Julie Powell brought into focus that resonated with me. The fact that yes, there once was a time when Julia Child was simply Julia, and I found that fact extremely hopeful. When the movie was playing in the theatre was a time where I felt that I was floundering in my personal life. I became encouraged seeing this story of 2 other Julie’s who would pursue their dreams and find success a later in life. Their combined story eventually helped me find the much-needed courage to make much needed changes in my life.

“I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.” — Julia Child

In 2017, I watched the film Julie & Julia for the umpteenth time. During the opening sequence, I wondered if the little restaurant that was featured was still running. A few clicks on the internet later, I found that not only was La Couronne was still open, but that it was located in the oldest inn in France, that it was an hour away from Paris by train, and that there was a special Julia Child tasting menu. I was surprised and disappointed all at once. I had been to Paris numerous times, and never realized that I could easily made a day trip to Rouen and have the same exact meal that made Julia Child fall in love with French Cuisine. I immediately filed it away as a bucket list item, and a year later, when I found myself in a position where I would have 2 days in Paris — I knew exactly how I would spend the time.

After months of careful planning, I was ready for my trip. My mother surprised me with another gift: a $100 USD to pay for my birthday lunch and train fare. I made a lunch reservation the minute my trip plans were finalized and was all set to go.

Julia & Paul Child would arrive to La Couronne by way of their sky-blue Buick station wagon — the “Blue Flash”. Having missed my early train, I would arrive by way of a train followed by a bus. We both would take in the French country side, but from different directions. Paul & Julia would travel east by way of Le Harve Harbor, and I would travel North West by way of Paris. I marveled at the lavender fields, the Rhône river, and the fields of hay that reminded me of Monet’s paintings.

La Couronne today vs in Julie & Julia and a few of its famous guests (who happen to be my favorite actor & actress of all time)

Once I entered Rouen I wandered the city streets taking in the beautiful Gros-Horlage clock tower, Cathedral of Rouen, and the little shops. La Couronne is not difficult to find. It is exactly across the street from where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. The entire town of Rouen is awash with Joan of Arc memorabilia. You couldn’t miss their part in history if you tried. In fact, if I had delayed my trip by 1 day, I could have gone to the Tower of Joan of Arc to participate in a Panic Room located in the same tower she was imprisoned the final 6 months of her life.

After my morning walking tour, I had worked up an appetite and was ready for my déjeuner gastronomique. When Julia entered La Couronne, she was concerned that she didn’t look, “chic enough”. I on the other hand felt overly prepared. I wore a solid pink t-shirt with a black skirt. I swapped out my tennis shoes with a pair of heals that were stashed in my purse in the little café next to La Couronne, and I draped a floral scarf to spruce up my t-shirt. I was bouncing with excitement as I let the Maître D’ seat me to my table. Realizing I was a little too excited, I informed the waiter that I had come all the way from America to marvel at the place where Julia Child fell in love with French Cuisine. My waiter smiled at me appreciatively, excused himself, and when he returned, he presented me with a menu “in tribute to Julia Child”.

Julia’s menu from La Couronne

In the book My Life In France Julia described the dining room as “comfortably old-fashioned brown-and-white space, neither humble nor luxurious”. While the same brown/white space was still in place in 2018, I felt that the place did have some nicer elements. The table was set with mauve linens, multiple plates with burgundy or blue with gold decorations (sometimes plated together). There was a wide use of silver cast ware through out the entire restaurant. Tables with silver domes waiting for their moment to shine. There was even a duck press that was rolled to the table at the far corner of the restaurant, just to press the juices out of the duck — table side, in front of its imminent diner.

When Julia sat down with Paul for lunch, he introduced her to the concept of drinking wine with lunch. “In France, Paul explained, good cooking was regarded as a combination of national sport and high art, and wine was always served with lunch and dinner. ‘The trick is moderation’, he said”. I decided to be French (not that it was much of a stretch for me), and I quickly scanned the menu for a petite bottle of wine to go with my meal. I ordered a petite bottle of Pouilly Fumé, similar to what Paul & Julia had Pouilly Fumé with their meal, and my waiter looked at me with great surprise — “for you?”. I politely smiled and simply replied “Oui”. He smiled and brought my wine.

Julia noticed that, “The waiters carried themselves with a quiet joy, as if their entire mission in life was to make their customers feel comfortable and well tended”. I did marvel at the way the waiters did in fact carry themselves. There were 2 impeccably dressed serving the entire room. They danced and weaved around the tables attending to the needs of their diners. Some meals would be served on a silver platter. Some would have a silver dome. The servers. The two servers danced around the tiny room with grace and style and proudly present entrees and remove domes in a synchronized manner. It was a wonderful show to observe in between the courses. Julia would have been very impressed. It was a presentation and a preservation of a different time.

I ordered my meal and savored the wine as I waited. The wine was crisp, perfectly chilled, and tasted as if the grapes had been plucked from the field. I usually abstain from bread in the US due to gluten sensitivities but given the fact that the grain and process in how the bread is made in Europe is different, I decided to enjoy my bread while I could. The butter was light and creamy (a must for Julia fan’s), and the roll had a hard crust but a light airy texture. It was baked fresh.

Unlike Julia’s meal, I received an amuse bouche. I first learned about this concept through Top Chef. The first time I ever received an amuse bouche was when I went to a Michelin restaurant in Prague. I learned that a proper amuse bouche should only require a single bite. Although this took a few bites, I enjoyed each one. The cream cheese was light and airy with a hint of chive and paired very nicely with the salmon. The crumble added a very nice texture and it was effective in getting me excited about the meal that was about to come.

The first course consisted of 6 oysters on the half-shell. Julia noted that the platter of “portugaises had a sensational briny flavor and smooth texture”. Growing up in Northern California, I’m used to fresh oysters that are much smaller and firmer. The ones that were presented to me were much larger and very firm. The briny flavor that Julia observed was still noticeable and overall the oysters tasted as if they had just been harvested from the ocean. The oysters were served with rye bread that had a shallot vinegar sauce next to the bread. I spent a few minutes trying to figure out the role of the bread with the oysters. At first, I ate them separately, then I took a bit of bread followed by an oyster. I even tried a raw oyster sandwich on buttered rye with shallot sauce — and was surprised that even that tasted good. If I had thought to bring my copy of Julia Child’s book, My Life In Paris, I would have learned that, “The French have ‘crus’ of butter, special regions that produce individually flavored butters” and that the bread and butter had been brought out to compliment my meal.

My next course was the main course — the one that brought me all the way to Rouen: Sole Meunière. I still remember Meryl Streep acting her heart out trying to capture Julia Child’s first impression of French cuisine that inspired me to go to La Couronne and experience Julia’s meal. In her memoir, Julia wrote, “Rouen is famous for its duck dishes, but after consulting the waiter Paul had decided to order sole meunière. It arrived whole: a large, flat Dover sole that was perfectly browned in a sputtering butter sauce with a sprinkling of chopped parsley on top. The waiter carefully placed the platter in front of us, stepped back, and said: “Bon appétit!”. Like that, Julia’s future catchphrase was born.

Sole Meunière — the dish that started Julia Child on her cooking journey

My experience in 2018 was close to what Julia encountered. My waiter came up with the platter (as presented on the top image). It wasn’t sputtering but it browned beautifully, and it still smelled amazing. Once I approved my meal, the waiter took it away, deboned the fish out of sight, and plated it with a vegetable melody including fennel, red bell pepper, eggplant, zucchini in a remoulade sauce. As my waiter was setting my compiled dish before me, he noticed there was a single bone left in the fish. He looked at me, warned me, and said, “Naughty, naughty”. I smiled, heeded his warning, and dove right into the fish. I was delightfully overcome by the combined butter flavor with a hint of fresh lemon. I almost squealed in its absolute favor perfection. There were 2 fresh potato chips that were perfectly fried and offered a perfect balance with the brown sauce. I traveled 5,492 miles to see what the fuss was about, and it was completely worth it.

I ate every bite presented to me without any regard of the remaining dishes that were coming my way. I came to Rouen to eat, and I was leaving nothing behind. Next up: the salad course. Julia stated in her memoir that the, “salade verte” was, “laced with a lightly acidic vinaigrette”. Like Julia, I really enjoyed the acidic vinaigrette. The mixture of lettuces was pleasing to all the senses and the salad was perfectly dressed. It made me think of my grandma who said, “a salad isn’t properly made unless it is completely dressed”. Grandma not only would have approved of the salad, but she would have very much enjoyed sharing this meal with me.

At this point, we move away from Julia’s menu due to the fact they did not have any cheese plate that day. My waiter offered me an orange soufflé in its place which he assured me with a wink and a smile, “was a much better option”. Once I took a look at that bad boy, I couldn’t agree more.

The orange soufflé was bigger than my hand.

A little fact about me: I’m not a fan of eggs. I typically only eat them when someone makes me breakfast without realizing I don’t like eggs. It’s something about the smell/taste/texture about them that turn me off. Now — if they’re mixed in a cake or cookies, I’m fine. I’ll eat them in an omelete, but I’m usually stressing the whole time if I’m going to get a huge egg taste in my mouth. The last time I had a soufflé was in 2010 in Vegas when my sister, cousin and I decided to meet up at the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, and I couldn’t get past the egg taste in my chocolate soufflé (my cousin and sister did me a solid and finished off my soufflé for me). I figured I would give this another shot — and I was glad that I did.

Although there was the mildest of egg flavor, I quickly realized if I dug my spoon in a little deeper, I could pick up more of the orange flavor. There was an orange-lemon mixture at the bottom with some kind of alcohol lining at the bottom. When I moved the spoon, the soufflé danced like a wave on the ocean. When I picked up the spoon, the soufflé clung in the most delicate of manners. If eggs tasted like this all the time, I would devour them 24x7.

Finally, we reached the end of the meal where they served me coffee with petits fours. Even though I had my fill of sugar from the last dessert, who was I to stray away from Julia’s menu (which was the point of the pilgrimage). Although now that I’m reviewing Julia’s memoir, I see she has made no mention of the petits fours. Oops. I guess I didn’t need to eat that after all. But I did, so let’s discuss.

The coffee came with a tower of sugar. The plate of 5 delicious morsels proved to be the perfect cap to a perfect meal. There was a tiny sponge cake that melted in my mouth. A cocoa covered almond that had a nice bitter flavor. Raspberry sponge cake to balance and provide an option. Fresh fudge which was divine. I saved my strawberry for last, which burst in my mouth at the peak of ripeness. All in all, it was the perfect last bite to an exquisite meal.

At the end of the day, you might be asking me, “Was it worth it?” If you happen to be in Rouen, La Couronne is a lovely place to enjoy a meal. If you are looking to do a day trip from Paris, it is an easy 1-hour train ride (if you time it right) to get to the charming town. There is so much from a historic and artistic perspective to take in while going through the town. Even if you do not want to see tower where Joan of Arc was imprisoned, or where she was burned at the stake, there are many other things you can do in the town of Rouen. It’s a great walking city.

Ultimately, the meal at La Couronne would stay with Julia. It was her first meal in France and would serve as the standard for any meal she ate afterwards. She constantly compared all other meals to the one she received at La Couronne. When she settled into living in Paris, and attempting to learn how to cook, the perfection she experienced at La Couronne would ignite a passion in her that would drive her to not only learning how to prepare French cuisine at a professional level, but to change cooking for millions of Americans for many generations. I would definitely say that if you wanted to experience a different kind of history, it is worth the pilgrimage. Bon Appétite!