Julie & Julia + Lunch @ Aquitaine


This past Wednesday, I had lunch with my friend T who writes the blog Notes of an Anesthesioboist. We had a great time! You can read her take on our day here.

We decided to take advantage of Boston's Restaurant Week and had lunch at Aquitaine, which is a French bistro on Tremont Street in the South End. I've been to this restaurant once and have visted the Chestnut Hill location as well. I've enjoyed it every time. Look at Aquitaine's Restaurant Week lunch menu here.

For my lunch, I had the Chilled Corn Soup and Tagliatelle a l’a Sicilianne. For dessert, we both shared. I had the Pink Grapefruit Sorbet with Champagne Sabayon and T had the Lemon Ice Box Cake with Muscat Poached Peaches and Vanilla Crème Chantilly.


Everything was wonderful. There was an extreme, but pleasant tartness with the soup though. I tasted balsamic vinegar in the center, and when I stirred it, the tartness made me have a slight coughing fit. So embarrassing. The capers in the Tagliatelle did the same thing to me.

Once we had our fill of good French food, it was off to see Julie & Julia at the Loews Boston Common. We both loved it!

I had read Julie Powell's book, so I was interested to see how the movie adapted her story. If I remember correctly, in her real life, she had a pet snake and I think a pit bull or some similar type dog. The snake references in the book kind of grossed me out and I was wondering how they would handle it. In the movie, she had a cat. I did think it was odd that she had never eaten an egg before. To go a whole lifetime without eating an egg? Oh and Amanda Hesser plays herself in the movie.

And of course the food blogging parts I loved especially. I read a strange article saying that bloggers have turned against her. I can't say that I agree with that, but whatever.

There's one part that could be a spoiler, so I won't write it. But LA Times writer Russ Parsons gives the scoop about Julia Child's reaction to her blog.

It was great to learn more about Julia Child's life. I love her story and really want to read her biography now. You can read Julie Powell's reaction to the movie in her new blog- What Could Happen.

The last entry on her original blog is quite moving. It was written on August 13, 2004. Below is a portion of the entry.
“ I don’t know what to say.

Julia Child was ninety-one years old when she died, late yesterday, in her sleep. It’s the death that all of us want, after a life so full it would seem she was one of history’s true lucky souls, if only luck had had anything to do with it. She enriched the lives of thousands – my life she quite literally turned around. She died well-loved, and I hope she died well-fed. There is no tragedy here. It’s a day for remembrance, and celebration.”

Well the movie, Julie & Julia does just that. It celebrates Julia’s life, which included a whole lot of love and food.

*Updated 8/22/09* You know that I cannot resist updating a blog post. I was just reading this blog post with one of Julia Child's recipes. The recipe is for Cantuccini and they look like little biscotti. The recipe looks very simple, so I'll be trying these cuties soon!

*Updated 6/2/2014* It looks like her original blog was taken down, so I removed the link to the final post.


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Comments

Liz Dwyer said…
Sounds like a lovely time. I am really looking forward to seeing this movie. I think it might inspire me to cook more.
PixieDust said…
I truly enjoy the ease of your writing style - and that lunch sounds and looks amazing. Tonight I will finally have the chance to see this movie with my hubby who was inspired by Julia Childs very early on and is now a wonderful cook.

well-wishes,
me
christina said…
The movie is on list to see. I loved the autobiography of julia Child. She was such an interesting woman.
: )
S said…
This book has been on my to-read list for a long time, but thanks to you, I now know better! I am terrified of the s things, so thank goodness someone tipped me off before I discovered it the hard way. Guess I'll just stick to the s-free movie!
Brandi Reynolds said…
I can't wait to see the movie!

but I have to admit, it was hard to keep reading after seeing the food pics...LOL. Your lunch looked DIVINE!
Lisa Johnson said…
los angelista - It's funny when I think about the movie. It's so inspiring that I'm sure it will move some people to action. If I wasn't into cooking, I don't know if it would inspire me to cook or to blog or maybe both. I wonder...

pixiedust - Welcome and thank you so much for the sweet words! I hope you enjoyed the movie!

christina - So good to see you here again! I'm sure you'll enjoy the movie. Julia's autobiography is on my MUST read list.

s - Oh I feel bad about the book now! Didn't mean to scare you away with the s word. But you will love the movie.

brandi - My food pictures distract me too! ; )
Tess Kincaid said…
Oh, dear, you should have warned me not to visit your blog on an empty stomach! YUM!!

I, too, thought it was strange that Julie Powell had never eaten an egg. Never?!
K. said…
I am so disappointed I had to miss this!!! It sounds like you had so much fun and that lunch looks incredible! Please let me know when you go out next time...
Esme said…
I have a present for you on my blog.

lol. E
Suldog said…
They were re-running quite a few of Julia Child's programs during the past week or so on PBS stations. Hope you had a chance to catch a few!
SYD said…
I've been planning on going to Boston for a long time, but never had a chance to. This entry definitely looked very enticing.

First time visitor to your blog and I really enjoy your writing.
SE'LAH... said…
Now I'm hungry. Thanks for sharing great info all the time about what's going on in and around beantown.
Lisa Johnson said…
willow - Maybe I should post a warning about that! It would actually be kind of cute. Many people have said the same thing.

k - We missed you too! I'm looking forward to when we can all get together.

esme - Thank you! It's taking me forever to post it, but I will.

suldog - Yes! I was so excited to see that! I did catch a few, but I would have liked to have seen a few more.
Lisa Johnson said…
brentwood kitchen shopper - Welcome! Thanks for stopping by! I know that I'm biased, but Boston is a great city to visit. Summer and fall are definitely good seasons to take a trip here. I do hope you visit! And thank you so much for the sweet words. ; )

se'lah - You're welcome! And thank you! I have to keep my blog peeps fully informed! :D
Can-Can said…
I so enjoyed the movie. I will check out the posts you mention so I can get the rest of the story.
Lisa Johnson said…
can-can - I hope you enjoyed them!

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