3 New/Changed Paris Restaurants

[John Talbott]

Rouge Tomate, 34 Pl due Marché St Honoré, 1st 01.42.61.16.09. A warm spring/summer day, lunch inside without ashtrays or on the terrasse without exhaust fumes, fresh products that are Atkins/Zone compatible, tomatoes of 8 varieties, some rather exotic, prepared in traditional (e.g. pasta with tomato sauce) and inventive ways (crevettes with a green tomato salsa verde), wines from at least 3 continents priced from 18-30E, salads that looked ample and wonderful (covered with everything from microtomed chicken to Parma ham), wait-folks who hustle in chic red Rouge Tomate tee-shirts; what’s not to like? I had the antipasti: a plate of marinated baby veggies with goat cheese and Parma ham that was fabulous, then the fricasée of volaille a l’indienne, not as tasty, with a flan of courgettes and new potatoes and topped this off with a correctly-made fondant au chocolat with a tomato sauce à part; my wife had the crevettes with the Zebra green tomatoes, which was very, very tasty, and a tarte fine aux figues with another tomato sauce. The bill was about 70E but I cannot tell you exactly how much because we bought so much sauce, balsamic and confiture to take back to the apartment that the total was much more. Definitely popular with French women: the gender ratio was 14-3 in our area.

L’Absinthe, 24, Place du Marché St Honoré, 1st 01.49.26.90.04 “Un déception.” You want to love it; it has absinthe from France & elsewhere, it’s in the Place du Marché St. Honoré, the décor is charming old Paris, eGulleteers love it and it’s now run by Caroline Rostang, whose hand was firmly and well placed daily on the Bistrot Coté Mer for several years. But from the start you realize something’s wrong; the bread is by Banette, the serveurs are over-stretched, the ventilation is non-existent or malfunctioning and the rich French lady next to you salts her entrée not once, not twice, but three times, liberally. You await the food. The raviolis romans with langoustines are served with a more-or-less tasteless pink sauce all fluffed up à la Philippe Detourbe, but the one langoustine (2E extra) is unappealingly mushy; the rabbit is dry and if there was any anchovy in its stuffing, my taste buds missed it. My wife’s shredded lamb, wrapped in a burned cabbage leaf was equally unexceptional. But the worst part came at dessert when my chocolat moelleux and fondant, Caroline Rostang’s classic, indeed, her gold standard at the Bistrot Coté Mer, was overcooked and ran not at all. The last straw: my grappa was served over crushed ice, without asking! Our bill was 95E. Maybe it was a bad day, maybe we ordered incorrectly, maybe our expectations were too high, maybe Rostang was still on her Paques vacation, maybe, maybe, maybe………..

Casual Café, 29, rue Surcouf 7th. 01. 45.50.36.20. We went the day after it got three hearts in Figaroscope in large part because of where the person mentioned in the review, Antoine Butez, had been before (Maxence, Pré Verre, Chamarré). The day we were there, the chef who greeted us after the meal was not Butez and in answer to my query said he didn’t have those credentials either. The menu says clearly that it was designed by Butez but to be fair maybe he’s now only the idea-guy. I started with a not terribly exciting “curry” of calamars with pine nuts and a sweet-piquante sauce; then a very ordinary, indeed tasteless “grosse cochon” with al dente vegetables, while my wife had a sebaste fish, not unlike rascasse, supposedly served with ginger which she could not detect. For dessert I had an unripe and thus bland, ever so thinly sliced mango with a granité; Colette had a pear crumble, which she says was “a disgrace.” We both agreed that the madeleine and the coffee were terrible. They brought the bill before we asked for it (the first time in 50 years of eating in France). The wines were 20-60E. There was a menu with a panaché of poisson and nice-looking confit de cuisse de canard for 13E. The entire experience was disorganized; between the kitchen and the servers there was chaos; clearly they’ve not got their act together yet or were overwhelmed by the review. Our bill was 97E.

In every review I’ve seen of La Table du Lancaster in the Hotel Lancaster, they mention a 40E lunch menu. The reviews this and last month in Figaroscope and Pariscope’s TimeOut section are quite glowing. A friend and I have gone twice and asked to see the menu and first were told it hadn’t been designed yet and this week that it would not happen, it was misinformation. I looked at the regular lunch carte and quickly surmised that you’d run up 40E with the least expensive entrée and plat before adding in dessert, wine, coffee and water. The average bill is instead 70E. Tant pis.

[Bux]

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but I remember a Paris where it was almost impossible to get a bad meal. I still believe one can do better in Paris at a moderate price range than one can in NY, but one has to really know where to go these days. Even appearances are deceiving. Worse yet, it appears that a good track record is no assurance of a good meal. Sometimes I think we should require chefs to post a notice much like the ones used by money market funds, under any rave review used in advertising--past performance is no guarantee of future results. Tant pis indeed.

[pierre45]

I dined at casual cafe a few months ago.I was disapointed with the food and the service . For instance,after repeated requests for my check i had to go to the counter to ask for l'addition,cash on hand to expedite the process.When i inquired from one of the partners about the restaurant he said they have been around for 2 years and were in ecctasy with the figaroscope rating.FRom my experience often i wonder about figaroscope's reviews and i have learned to take them with a grain of salt.

[MMerrill]

I still believe one can do better in Paris at a moderate price range than one can in NY, but one has to really know where to go these days.

Do you have a list? We'll be there for a few days in October. We travel regularly to Italy and love the Gambero Rosso "red" restaurants - the ones that earn their "Oscar for quality and price." Are there Paris/French equivalents?

[John Talbott]

The Michelin equivalent of the Gambero Rosso "red" good value is the Bibendum "smiley face" found most easily on the agglomeration maps of big cities in France preceding the city info itself.

For a list of personal favorites providing good price/quality in Paris see this thread.

[lalala]

I really liked the casual cafe on my one visit there in Dec. 2002. We were on our way to Thomieux and they wouldn't seat us, however, we had a pretty decent of timbales, curry and a most excellent chocolate molten cake. I have the notes somewhere.

I will say, I was a bit taken by the use of curry at a french restaurant, but notice its quite usual these days.

lalala

[Bux]

Three of Escoffier's recipes appear in what is an English translation of a bood first published as the Guide Culinaire in France. They are for curry butter, curry sauce and curried lamb (or mutton). While not overwhelmingly represented in French cooking, curry powder, which Escoffier uses in his recipes, has been a standard seasoning for a long time and it's not unusual to see it appear in dishes at restaurants of all levels. One of my favorite dishes has been a langoustine dish with spinach and curry sauce at l'Ambroisie. It's been the subject of some discussion here in a couple of threads.

[Hansje]

Rouge Tomate, 34 Pl due Marché St Honoré, 1st 01.42.61.16.09. A warm spring/summer day, lunch inside without ashtrays or on the terrasse without exhaust fumes, fresh products that are Atkins/Zone compatible, tomatoes of 8 varieties, some rather exotic, prepared in traditional (e.g. pasta with tomato sauce) and inventive ways (crevettes with a green tomato salsa verde), wines from at least 3 continents priced from 18-30E, salads that looked ample and wonderful (covered with everything from microtomed chicken to Parma ham), wait-folks who hustle in chic red Rouge Tomate tee-shirts; what’s not to like? I had the antipasti: a plate of marinated baby veggies with goat cheese and Parma ham that was fabulous, then the fricasée of volaille a l’indienne, not as tasty, with a flan of courgettes and new potatoes and topped this off with a correctly-made fondant au chocolat with a tomato sauce à part; my wife had the crevettes with the Zebra green tomatoes, which was very, very tasty, and a tarte fine aux figues with another tomato sauce. The bill was about 70E but I cannot tell you exactly how much because we bought so much sauce, balsamic and confiture to take back to the apartment that the total was much more. Definitely popular with French women: the gender ratio was 14-3 in our area.

L’Absinthe, 24, Place du Marché St Honoré, 1st 01.49.26.90.04 “Un déception.” You want to love it; it has absinthe from France & elsewhere, it’s in the Place du Marché St. Honoré, the décor is charming old Paris, eGulleteers love it and it’s now run by Caroline Rostang, whose hand was firmly and well placed daily on the Bistrot Coté Mer for several years. But from the start you realize something’s wrong; the bread is by Banette, the serveurs are over-stretched, the ventilation is non-existent or malfunctioning and the rich French lady next to you salts her entrée not once, not twice, but three times, liberally. You await the food. The raviolis romans with langoustines are served with a more-or-less tasteless pink sauce all fluffed up à la Philippe Detourbe, but the one langoustine (2E extra) is unappealingly mushy; the rabbit is dry and if there was any anchovy in its stuffing, my taste buds missed it. My wife’s shredded lamb, wrapped in a burned cabbage leaf was equally unexceptional. But the worst part came at dessert when my chocolat moelleux and fondant, Caroline Rostang’s classic, indeed, her gold standard at the Bistrot Coté Mer, was overcooked and ran not at all. The last straw: my grappa was served over crushed ice, without asking! Our bill was 95E. Maybe it was a bad day, maybe we ordered incorrectly, maybe our expectations were too high, maybe Rostang was still on her Paques vacation, maybe, maybe, maybe………..

Casual Café, 29, rue Surcouf 7th. 01. 45.50.36.20. We went the day after it got three hearts in Figaroscope in large part because of where the person mentioned in the review, Antoine Butez, had been before (Maxence, Pré Verre, Chamarré). The day we were there, the chef who greeted us after the meal was not Butez and in answer to my query said he didn’t have those credentials either. The menu says clearly that it was designed by Butez but to be fair maybe he’s now only the idea-guy. I started with a not terribly exciting “curry” of calamars with pine nuts and a sweet-piquante sauce; then a very ordinary, indeed tasteless “grosse cochon” with al dente vegetables, while my wife had a sebaste fish, not unlike rascasse, supposedly served with ginger which she could not detect. For dessert I had an unripe and thus bland, ever so thinly sliced mango with a granité; Colette had a pear crumble, which she says was “a disgrace.” We both agreed that the madeleine and the coffee were terrible. They brought the bill before we asked for it (the first time in 50 years of eating in France). The wines were 20-60E. There was a menu with a panaché of poisson and nice-looking confit de cuisse de canard for 13E. The entire experience was disorganized; between the kitchen and the servers there was chaos; clearly they’ve not got their act together yet or were overwhelmed by the review. Our bill was 97E.

In every review I’ve seen of La Table du Lancaster in the Hotel Lancaster, they mention a 40E lunch menu. The reviews this and last month in Figaroscope and Pariscope’s TimeOut section are quite glowing. A friend and I have gone twice and asked to see the menu and first were told it hadn’t been designed yet and this week that it would not happen, it was misinformation. I looked at the regular lunch carte and quickly surmised that you’d run up 40E with the least expensive entrée and plat before adding in dessert, wine, coffee and water. The average bill is instead 70E. Tant pis.

I have read your posts with interest. I was in Paris just 2 weeks ago and had an excellent meal, with nice ambiance in Bistrot de Berteuil - Place de Berteuil. Not over expensive either. About 35 euro per person including wine.

[MMerrill]

The Michelin equivalent of the Gambero Rosso "red" good value is the Bibendum "smiley face" found most easily on the agglomeration maps of big cities in France preceding the city info itself.

For a list of personal favorites providing good price/quality in Paris see this thread.

Thanks John Talbott for the helpful suggestions!