Doggie bags (taking home leftovers :)

Healthy sum (Euros) doesn't necessarily translate into big portions. While here in the States, quantity is often synonymous with quality, that doesn't necessarily of often apply in France. After a day of walking about, I did not have any problem consuming what was offered at French restaurants.

A discrete way to handle left over is the grandma trick of having a supply of zip-lock type bags and a big bag/purse. (My grandmother lived the "Great Depression" and didn't waste anything).

Thanks to both Ben and Edgar for this advice! We were thinking of the ziploc approach but not sure if we could be discreet enough. We have been to France twice in the past three years and have found that we do not always have the appetite to finish our meals (for whatever reason).

I still have not heard from anyone who has actually asked for their leftovers to be bagged up? And been rebuffed or successful? I will probably err on the side of caution and NOT ask. :)

Thanks again for your help!

Also, Edgar, you probably didn't need to add the bit about "slinking out of the restaurant with a fish head, some haricots, and leftover baguette slices." Sounded a tad judgmental.

I am not interested in violating local customs - as I mentioned in the original post. I just wondered if there had been a change in the way French restaurants handle these requests. If not, fine. If so, I am happy to bring home leftovers (rather than have them thrown away) just as I do at home.

Marie
If you do have leftovers, please do not take out Ziploc bags at the table and proceed to stash the extra food into to them. I can just imagine the grande horror that will befall on the poor waiters face!

Although leftovers are not usually done in France, I have had it done personally (granted I was a small child who wasn't hungry and my mother asked for it for later). If I recall correctly they took the plate to the back and wrapped it in a piece of aluminum. Granted this was 30+ years ago and in a local bistro not a fancy restaurant.

And one more thing; the leftover would be considered the main plate - not any uneaten bread

Marilyn - of course, I wouldn't do that. Hence my comment about being concerned about being discreet.

I'm getting the impression that things have not changed in France in this regard. I'm okay with that! Just wanted to ask the question to see if anyone had a different experience or anecdote to share.

I'm just trying to think and I really can't think of a time when you get more than you can eat . . . i.e. portion-size wise. It just doesn't happen that I can think of.

I would not ask to have any left overs bagged up. This is not something that is done in France. As mentioned previously, portions are much smaller than in the US. Most establishments offer fixed price "menu" options of two or three courses, meaning entree + main, main + dessert, or all three. If you don't think you can handle three courses, order two, or just order a main course a la carte. You won't necessarily "pay a healthy sum" for the fixed price menus as these are often considered to be good value. And, since they often change from day to day based on what is available at the market, may include the freshest ingredients. This also applies to the "plat du jour" which is almost always a good deal and tasty.

Thanks, everyone, for the input and the information. No "doggie bag" requests from me!

I haven't tried to ask for a doggie bag in France, but I remember the subject coming up while visiting some Swedish friends a few years ago. They said it really is "not done" in Scandinavia.
They said the food doesn't go to waste, but instead is collected and used to feed pigs. This was in Stockholm, not out in a rural area. I don't think they were pulling our leg.

I'm old enough to remember when we saved the wet scraps for the "pig man" but I think that we didn't get paid for the food waste.

Is there some value in French resturant meal waste (not speaking about the left over bread) that would preclude a light eater taking their "left overs"?

Scandinavian buffet tables are not the same as a plated service meal. The exception to removing food is when bagged lunches are paid for and made from the breakfast table spread.

Definitely, a buffet is a different situation. Even here in the USA there are many restaurants serving buffet-style that don't allow any food to be taken out.

The Scandinavian conversation I was recalling was about restaurants where you order a certain meal, not a buffet.

Bingo! I have French-Canadian friends who were offered the food at a restaurant near Bastille. It was some well-known place, a huge portion, and the restaurant offered to pack it up. The customers hadn't asked. It was probably put into a beautiful foil swan. And we took home leftovers from a Thai restaurant down the block from the apartment where we stay yearly. However, the Thai had takeout. So it's changing--slowly-- if the place has takeout, it's ok to ask to bag it up. If not, I'd stick with the old rules--unless the restaurant offers, which is not too likely.

What do French restaurants typically do with leftover bread that patrons may or may not have touched but not consumed?

If bread has not been consumed( still on basket) I see no problem with it being toasted/ baked and made into bread crumbs, I once worked in a four diamond resort here that did just that!

Marie, many restaurants do not have any take out packaging, so asking at them would be very awkward and I would not do it, however I was once in an Italian place in Paris that did do take out also( there is usually a sign in window (emporter) , so when my 13 yr old could not finish his pizza I did ask to take it and they happily brought me a box.

Thanks for all of your tips! They were very helpful and resolved this issue for us. :)

Thought I'd chime in......

We spent a wonderful 3 1/2 weeks in Paris last Christmas, staying in an apartment in Montmartre. One evening we had a lovely dinner at Relaise Gascon (sp?) near our apartment.

I ordered the cassoulet. it was hearty, delicious and VERY filling. It was a huge serving, I could only manage to finish about 1/4 of it. The nice waitress asked me if I'd like to take the rest "home" with me--I didn't have to ask her (I probably wouldn't have asked) I was very happy, as it was so delicious I hated to waste it. We shared it for breakfast the next morning!

I would definitely agree that portions are smaller in Europe, and in previous trips to Paris we seldom had leftovers. BUT--this was our first visit in the winter, and we tried several hearty winter dishes as opposed to lighter salads, fish, etc.

So you might not have to ask--you might just be pleasantly surprised!
TVQ

Bread baskets are recycled in France and Italy. In Italy I have observed antipasto bowls with chewed pitts having the pitts cleared and being reused and have observed prosciutto being stripped from returned plates and being used on new food. I think that is probably a bit rare -- but recycling bread is pretty standard.

I have also personally observed the people from a restaurant I dined at in Lucignano in Italy refilling the 'bottled water' at the town pump the next day -- they had a cart with cases of bottles. I laughed because I had told my husband the bottles were recycled and he claimed having seen them open the bottle, that couldn't be true. We always order sparkling water in restaurants if we order bottled water (of course in France, you can just get a carafe of the local tap water which is what locals usually do.)

Bread is recycled here in US too. No one wants to admit it.

I was told that there are a couple of cultural reasons to not having the custom of doggie bags: refrigerators too small for a lot of stuff; an expectation that you know enough not to order more food than you can eat.

I do carry ziplocks in my purse and have taken some of my meal home when visiting France. Last fall, visiting Paris, I Had huge salads with lots of thinly sliced ham and cheese. This happened more than once. Ham and cheese on bread is a great breakfast. I was able to discretely do this when the waiter was not in my field of vision.

During another trip, a member of our group on a non-RS tour, who spoke French well, did ask the waiter to make up a paquet of her leftovers. She was given a foil wrapped package to take home. Her command of the language and age, about 70, probably contributed to the success.

Enjoy your trip.

The first year we went to Paris my husband and I went to Restaurant Polidor with a young friend we had made in our apartment building (she gave us a tour of the neighborhood & we finished it by treating her to dinner). She ordered for us and ordered an appetizer, main & dessert. We could not eat the dessert we were so full so we asked to take it home. They didn't seem to mind & packaged it up in aluminum foil. A couple of nights later we ate at another restaurant and again had too much food to eat so we asked to have it to take home. Our waiter seemed confused and finally he said 'aluminum?', we said 'Oui' and took it home. This year when we went to Paris the only night we had more food than we could eat was when we ate pizza on Rue de Rivoli near our apartment and my husband noticed an older man who had been sitting there the whole time not eating anything so he asked our waiter to ask him if he wanted a couple of pieces of pizza. He seemed happy to have a free meal.

One thing else to consider when asking to take home left-overs (even if they are offered to you) is where you are staying. If you are in an apartment and the restaurant offers to package them up for you, then by all means take advantage, but if you are staying in a hotel you may want to decline. Many hotels have strict rules about guests bringing any sort of food into the establishment and many hotels often do not have refrigerators or microwaves.

We've just complimented the waiter on the excellent food, smiled, and mentioned that we were just too full to eat it all. We never had to ask. The waiters have always taken the hint and offered to wrap it up for us. A smile and a compliment go a long way.