Thursday, February 20, 2014

Art and Food Pairing™: La Galerie Africaine and La Kaz

La Galerie Africaine, the itinerant art gallery owned by Aude Minart, has returned to the Cloître des Billettes in the 4th arrondissement for yet another marvelous show!


Ubuntu features the works of painter Patrick Nupert (Guadeloupe) and sculptor Niko (France-Benin). The name of the show is inspired by the word that South African Archbisihop Desmond Tutu is credited with making known to the West. President Barack Obama referenced ubuntu in his tribute to Nelson Mandela at Mandela's memorial service:

There is a word in South Africa -- Ubuntu -- a word that captures Mandela’s greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.

Patrick Nupert's paintings have been displayed at numerous group and private shows throughout France and in Belgium since 2006. Minart chose his work entitled "L'Ebouriffée" for the flier that promotes the exposition.

She has selected fourteen of the artist's paintings to display on the walls of the cloister.

Cloister corridor
© Discover Paris!

Black Code from the Ground
Patrick Nupert
2013 Mixed media on wood
© Discover Paris!

Niko is one of Minart's favored sculptors. His towering carvings fill the courtyard of the cloister and punctuate two of the corridors as well. His work will be presented at the prestigious Dakar Biennial show in May 2014.

Sculptures by Niko
© Discover Paris!

Le Dormeur
Niko
2011 Walnut wood
© Discover Paris!

Ubuntu runs through Wednesday, 5 March 2014. Visit the show on Saturdays from 12 noon to 2 PM and have a glass of wine and snacks as you view the works! For more information, contact Aude Minart by e-mail at audeminart[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Just a 15-minute walk from the cloister is a wonderful little Caribbean fast-food establishment called La Kaz. Tom and I went there to have lunch after visiting the Ubuntu exposition.

La Kaz
© Discover Paris!

As we had no experience with the cuisine, we needed explanations for just about everything! A friendly server showed us the three types of bread that we could choose for our sandwiches and happily explained the menu in its entirety. We learned that the sandwiches take their names from the type of bread selected.

Tom ordered an agoulou complèt, which consisted of a ground beef patty, a fried egg, bacon, ham, and cheese on a huge round of agoulou - a brioche-like bread that is grilled on top. You can think of this rendition as a large Caribbean hamburger - even bigger than a Burger King Whopper!

Agoulou, coconut water, and coconut cake
© Discover Paris!

He selected a can of green coconut water as a beverage and a serving of coconut layer cake for dessert.

I went for a bokit légumes grillées - chopped, grilled eggplant, red and green bell pepper, onion, and zucchini - served in a pita-like bread called bokit. For my beverage, I selected fresh jus de prune de Cythère (ambarellas juice). I had never heard of ambarellas before and decided to try this juice as opposed to the guava and passion fruit juices that were also available. I was happy that I did!

Bokit, prune de Cythère juice, banana turnover
© Discover Paris!

I chose a banana turnover for my dessert. The pastry was flaky and tender and the filling (surprisingly red in color) was tasty, though there was not enough of it in my opinion.

Everything was fresh and flavorful and Tom and I definitely plan to return. One of the things that we'll try next time is the side order of sweet potato fries!

Cloître des Billettes
24, rue des Archives
75004 Paris
Metro: Hôtel de Ville (Lines 1, 11)
Weekdays and Saturdays: 12 PM to 7 PM
Sunday: 2 PM to 6 PM

La Kaz
20, rue des Halles
75001 Paris
Tel.: 09.50.04.98.14
Mon to Thurs noon - 10:00 p.m. Fri to Sat noon - midnight
Métro: Châtelet (Lines 1, 4, 7, 11, 14), Châtelet Les Halles (RER A, B, D)

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