admajoremgloriam

The more usual way you find on menus here in France is the way Mark Sommelier suggested and this is considered the official way. It comes from the idea that you list from the general to the particular, the vintage coming last as the most specific information. Think of it this way: the information you put should go in decreasing order as to the number of bottles that probably exist in its category. For example in: There are many Bourgogne rouges, within those, there are less made by Noellat, and within the Noellat even less of the 2000 vintage. Following that idea, I believe: should be listed slightly differently, the "Premier Cru" information coming before the name of the particular "climat" (i.e. "Clos des 60 Ouvrées").

I gave it another shot. Well, two actually, yesterday and today, wild boar and hachis parmentier (minced meat under mashed potatoes). I decided last time might have been the result of a grumpy mood and not going for the plat du jour a mistake I had to repair. Here are my (somewhat) corrected opinions: everything went much faster, there was also a lot more on the plates than last time (though a starter is still pretty much compulsory as far as I'm concerned). As for the really important stuff: good ingredients, simple but subtle cooking. However, I still fail to see what is special at all about this place especially with compared to, say, les Fontaines. Their wild boar is only a few euros more expensive and in a completely different league. Not to mention their pheasant (15 euros) which I tried last week and impressed me like few pheasant ever had (dead ones that is, 'cause live phesants are pretty impressive).

I think this is the right way to understand the notion of "terroir". It needs to be linked to "terre", i. e. earth, ground, soil. What makes the terroir is that a wine will reflect the place the vines have been cultivated in and therefore all wines from this place will have something in common. This something in common that is a reflection of a given soil in a given place, that is the terroir. This is why a vin de cépage, a wine designated by the name of the grape and not the name of the place the vines were cultivated, even if it can be very nice, will never have the emotional dimension that a wine linked to a place can have. It also much more than emotional, as terroir is really to me what makes wine fascinating and creates the most interesting way to go about the wien world. This is also why a very good wine can lose a lot of its appeal if it reflects its terroir poorly. For example, if I buy a Cote Rotie, I do not expect a nice syrah, nor do I expect another finely-crafted, well-balanced wine. I want truffles and violet and game, I want all of the Cotes Roties that I have drunk so far coming back to me through this one evocation of the terroir, I want another variation on this same terroir, this idea that makes a Cote Rotie what it is.

Am just coming out of a very nice diner there, nothing mind blowing but a perfect evening and the restaurant helped making it so. First of all, you should know that this is not the kind of place I would recommend for a romantic dinner (too wide, too bright even) but it is very well-fitted for a dinner with two or three friends as they have many round tables that are quite far apart from each other. We had the 35 euros "menu d'un jour" which is served even at dinner and consisted today of "a green lentils, chiken and quenelles consommé", "a seared red tuna with small chopped vegetables" and "a caramelized pear macaron with cream". Even though there was not plenty to eat, all dishes were very well balanced and executed. Good products (fine tuna especially) and well cooked ones. No dish shattered my conceptions or made me pause at all, but neither did anything make me think it was poorly done or wrongly prepared. The service was really nice and the meal came up to 65 euros each with coffee, water, Gerin's Cote du Rhone (30 euros) and a glass of Manzanilla xeres as apéritif. For this price and at dinner, this is as good as it comes.

Could not notice the swings, sorry about that. The place got a pretty good review in Le Figaroscope last week (two hearts).

After many "no sorry you'll have to wait for 30 minutes" said with many smiles, I managed to eat at Café Constant last night and frankly I don't see what the fuss is all about. Service was nice, the menu varied enough as well and the wine a decently priced 'vigneron indépendant' production. So what went wrong? Nothing really, but nothing went exceptionally right either. It is good food, traditional, fairly subtly executed, but you can find that at dozens of places in Paris. Actually, the "saumon en croute de mie de pain sauce au Noily" was the tiniest piece of salmon served on a bed on pasta, and after having waited for it 45 minutes, it was gone before I could realize this would have been small for a starter. Also, the ice cream they use for the "Vacherin" are clearly not Constant ones and feel very industrial. There is nothing deeply wrong about the place, it's just another café and that came as a disappointment to me. Luckily enough, I live almost in front, which means it was not too hard to go and see night after night whether they had a table for two but I would not take the chance to cross half of Paris to go there without a reservation and I would not consider it worth waiting half an hour to be seated. Two very good brasseries serve the same kind of food, in much more generous servings, one is called "le Dome" and is right around the corner, the other one is "le Bosquet", three minutes away on the eponimous avenue.

I have walked by the newly refurbished Atelier today and found it very sleek and very unimpressive. It looks like any other London café with more wines on the walls. A quick look on the menu was not too exciting either, same old same old, grapefruit terrine with tea-based sauce, how many time are we going to have to eat this dessert?

From what I have read, it seems that La Table d'Anvers now has a new chef. You can find a review of the place under new management here Zurban (in French though). To sum up, they say that the prices have been divided by half, that the place now has a more lively atmosphere and, last but first in our minds, they enjoyed the food (which seems a bit more 'terroir' and 'bistro' than it was previously). As for the prices, they quote a 33 euros set menu, which is not at all half of what paulbrussel suggested.

Yes "Bellota-Bellota" is the name of the place. They have a lot of fine Spanish products (chorizo, manchego cheese, wine and tuna) but their pride and glory is the (extraordinarily) expensive bellota ham. It is however one of the finest foodstuff I have ever tasted, really to the level of foie gras, caviar or truffles. There is a small resturant section where you can taste different types of this ham (i.e. from different regions) in the best conditions (on top of some warm potato purée for example). The people in charge of the shop/restaurant are really nice and enthusiastic.

As a note to help you gathering the stuff, Cantin is in rue du Champ de Mars, Poujeauran is in rue Jean Nicot (and you should not go there without trying the Bellota ham next door) and the oyster place is probably "Paris-Brest", rue St Dominique (it is very nice).

If you're staying in this hotel (which I think is also the one where they have the one-star 'Cantine des Gourmets' - I have not been there since the chef has changed but I have heard a lot of good things about it so you could ask them if they have something special planned), you may consider, in line with the advice given above, buying a few nice things (Poujeauran for the bread, cheese at Marie Anne Cantin, a nice bottle of Champagne, perhaps some Petrossian smoked salmon - all of these being only a few minutes walk away from your hotel) and enjoying them in your room then going out for a feel of the atmosphere in the city. The day after will the right time for a fancy dinner or lunch.

I just posted my second very happy report on le Violon d'Ingres (see my 'semaine du goût- week of taste' thread) and then read your experience and wondered just how incredibly different two experiences at the same place can be. I guess that is why reviews are helpful but only so much. As for lunch at the Grand Véfour I have been tempted to try it for a while but also put off by the fact that almost all the ingredients used are cheap ones (which is not the case at Lucas Carton for example). Any imput on that? Does any one has an opinion on what is the best three-star for lunch in Paris?

This thread is becoming a "Violon d'Ingres" special but I thought I should let you know about my lunch there today, be it only as an example of how great the service is over there. I went there expecting to try the lunch menu but it turned out they were still doing the special menu from last week. As I told them I had enjoyed it so much but thought it a pity to try the same dishes, the offered to change some of them and I decided to keep the starters but trade the duck for a ringdove, which was havenly cooked and served with wild mushrooms. They also changed the dessert and made it a very subtle and incredibly light-textured chocolate and coffee pie. The sommelier offered to have me try some other wines and matched them with the dishes, and all of them were great, better than the ones from the regular menu (especially the Meursault 1er cru matched with the scallops). I was not charged a single supplement for all the effort they went through! As a final note I would like to point oiut that their normal lunch menu seems very nice as well, is 3 course for 39 euros and, above all, includes many game dishes (such as hare and pheasant, if I remember correctly).

My advice is never to look for a particular brand, there are just to many and the odds you'll encounter the specific brand you're looking for are to thin. Try to find a specific grade. In general, the more polished the rice, the better the sake, as such try looking for "Junmai Daiginjo".

Agreed, Zyviec is really top quality beer and I believe one can say it's mass produced. Check their bottles, they have a cool logo that appears only when the beer is cool enough to be drunk.

If you ever encounter "Mortimer", try it. It's a very nice, amber, malt-whiky based French beer.

Two very satisfying meals during "la semaine du gout" * La Poste, a brasserie rue d eLongchamp (75016), thursday evening Feuilleté d'escargots aux girolles Sanglier (with the required purées, chesnuts and cranberry jelly) Figues roties au miel d'acacia, glace à la vanille bourbon All of this for 25 euros, including three glasses of wines, matching the dishes (nothing too exciting but nice choices, including a 1999 chateau Carbonnieux for the boar) * Le Violon d'Ingres, saturday lunch Incredibly nice people, we got full service even though we were only paying the semaine du gout price and they did not charge us for mineral water (Chateldon)! Amuse bouche - nems de légumes with a 1997 Veuve Cliquot Rosé - this was not part of the set menu, which begins with: Amuse bouche 2 - pumpkin and cheese crème Pithivier de gibier, asuce grand veneur (glass of cote du rhone) Coquilles St Jacques, endives au suc d'agrumes (glass of Saint Véran) Canard aux figues et dragées (glass of languedoc) Crème de marrons, mascarpone et gelée de café Café, mignardises We paid about 48 euros for the menu and 16 for the champagne, which amounted to a grand total of 130 euros for two for the whole experience, needless to say, I'd do it again in a second.

As some of you may have noticed, today is the first day of "la semaine du goût", i.e. "the week of taste". Many restaurants all over France offer their contribution to the event by offering a set menu designed to match their specialties with wine. Either a bottle will be served or a few glasses matching the dishes. Most of the menus have a very interesting price, all the more as they are often offered for dinner as well as lunch and almost always include four or five different dishes. (Also, if any of you are students, as I am, no matter the subject you're studying, you often get a 50 per cent discount, and pretty much always at least 20 per cent off). Last year, I tried "Le Divellec" and "Le Violon d'Ingres": both offered an amazing menu, at an incredibly great value, even at non-student prices. For a complete list of participating restaurants see: www.legout.com (they include Jacques Cagna, Gérard Besson, l'Espadon, le Bristol, Les Crayères, Georges Blanc, le Buerehiesel, etc.)

The great boulangerie you're talking about has to be Poujauran, rue Jean Nicot, a few minutes away from Cantin. On good days, you can go from Poujauran to Cantin and then walk to the Champ de Mars and eat them in front of the Eiffel tower: it's worth many restaurants!

For amazing comté (and cheese in general) try Marie Anne Cantin, rue du champ de mars, 7th arrondissement, (www.cantin.fr) and ask for the older one, which is generally hidden behind.

Last week was spent in Honfleur, where I had the opportunity to try many quite a few restaurants. Here is a brief account, enough to make sure you have a few good meals if you ever decide to go there (which wouldn’t be a bad idea since it is such a charming town, where at 5 o’clock you still see the boats coming back in the harbour, full of shrimps, and you can buy the still-wriggling shrimps from the fishermen’s wives just a few minutes later). Entre Terre et Mer One Michelin « bib gourmand » A very nice restaurant, one of those who strike the right balance between elegance and a more relaxed atmosphere. Two set menus and à la carte are possible. We went there twice and tried both menus. Here are the dishes I can recall. In the 22 euros menu: bouillabaisse à l’émulsion d’hile d’olive, filets de maquereaux marinés et lasagnes de légumes ; Filets de lieu au fenouil et vapeur de citronnelle, soupe de melon aux fruits rouges. In the 27 euros menu : Foie gras poêlé, Pressé de thon rouge aux légumes confits, Pièce de bœuf au chorizo, Dorade Grise braisée, Tiramisu de fraises. A cheese course with salad is included in both menus. Nice staff and satisfying cuisine. La Tortue This one is not in the michelin, but it is the best value in town. Their 15,50 euros menuu is a very nicely crafted succession of courses such as Crème de tomates et poivrons, émulsion de homard for amuse bouche, terrine de lotte et colin, served warm for starters, Trou Normand (or rather a variation of it, apple, calvados and cinnamon soup served in a shot glass), Filet Mignon sauce au cidre du Pays d’Auge, Grilled Camembert with three peppers, Crispy apple cake with toffee sauce. Would go there any day if it were in Paris. La Grenouille Very disappointing brasserie, probably only good for Sea Food. Anything that needs cooking is poorly done. It belongs to the Hotel Absithe, which is where were staying and which is very nice. They also have another restaurant, l’Absinthe’ that seems nice enough and is probably trying to get a star but we have not tried it. La Terrasse et l’Assiette The starred restaurant in town. Not a complete disappointment but one nonetheless. We had the 25 euros menu (Carpaccio de tranches de boeuf au pistou, caviar d'aubergines, Suprême de volaille à l'andouille de Vire, blanquette de pommes de terre au citron, Croustillant de camembert rôti au caramel poivré, Mousse citron-basilic, coulis de mangues et curaçao bleu) as well as the 45 euros one (Tartare de daurade grise au gingembre, sorbet ratatouille, pomme de terre grillée, Poisson noble du jour selon la levée du chalut – it was a filet de St Pierre- Croustillant de camembert rôti au caramel poivré, Mini-gaufres aux framboises, crème glacée au poivre de Séchuan). The 45 euros menu was not at all plenty. The grilled potato announced with the Starter (I should have been warned buy the singular) was actually one slice of grilled potato. They also gave the tiniest scoops of sorbet and creme glacée I have ever seen. Whet is strange is that what they gave way too little of were usually not at all the more expensive ingredients. It was clearly a star level as far as pure taste is concerned (Szechuan pepper is great with raspberries) but having to eat so carefully in order not to clean the plate in three bites ruined it. La Cidrerie A great place, hidden in an alley roughly in front of ‘Entre Terre et Mer’, that specializes in Crepes, sweet or salty. They also have oe of the more impressive selection of Calvados by the glass in town. Try the 1957 Bouvachon Cidre Rouge and write me thank you! A very nice place to chill away from the more refined restaurants, and one I enjoyed a great deal.

Thanks, I was very happy to find out about this forum, I had despaired to find people as enthousiastic about these things as I am. Apparently, the new chef at la Cantine is Dominique Grel, a disciple of Michel Guerard whos used to be at the "Relais de Margaux". They will be trying to maintain the star, it is probably a good time to go there again.

Today's issue of the Figaroscope (weekly supplement to the Figaro including, amongst other things, most of the restaurant reviews) has a special review of l'Entredgeu (83, rue Laugier) and says it is both one of the best value restaurants in paris at this time as well as star-level quality. I have hardly ever red such a perfect review in le Figaroscope (they always dislike at least one thing)- one more reason to go and check it out pretty fast.

I had heard that it was the team from the "Clos de Gourmets" (avenue Rapp, not far from " La Cantine" and nice but not as nice) that was taking over at the "Muses" but it must have been a mistake.

Had lunch in this one-star restaurant in the 7th arrondissement about a week ago. It is located avenue de la Bourdonnais, a few meters from the Ecole Militaire, in the hotel 'Le Bourdonnais'. To tell you about the general setting of the lunch, I went there with a friend on a Sunday, half expecting that their 'set lunch menu' would not be available on the weekends. Had it not been, we would have gone for the 80 euros tasting menu but it turned out they had a 'menu de jour' available (priced at 40 euros). The room is very quiet, with enough space between most tables, though some, particularly in corners, tend to be a little too close to each other. The team is young, smiling and discrete. Now onto the serious stuff. The first amuse bouche was a paste of langoustine spread on some thin oily bread. Nice if a bit unsurprising. The second amuse bouche was a served in an espresso cup with a little vermeil spoon and consisted of a cream of new potato flavoured with herbs and caviar de maquereau. Much better, showing a measured desire to surprise while intriguing the palate, left you wanting more, which I have always believed to be one of the main purposes of an amuse bouche. Then came the starters: capuccino of wild mushrooms for me and velouté of artichokes with ravioles de foie gras for my friend. I was glad I chose the capuccino, which consisted of a layer of thick foie gras mousse, a large layer of mushroom cream (very subtle), a layer of white foam (pretty much tasteless but very interesting visually and added a great mouthfeel). A very successful starter, served in a quite large portion. The other starter however was very uninspired in comparison, nothing bad but nothing nice enough. Main dish were 'la cannette' for me: pieces of duck roasted with dried fruits and nuts, along with figs stuffed with foie gras. Very well done, perfectly cooked and again came in a large serving. My friend was hapy with her dish though I would not have been. It was 'lotte, served on top of a little mount of spinach. The serving was very small, and the flavour of saffron took over the whole dish. Deserts were the low point of the meal, a pretty flavourless pear cake for me and a nice, but overly simple desert for her (raspberries, pieces of tuiles and cream). The mignardises however more than made up for this as there were a lot and all were very well executed. As for the wine, we were offered a half bottle of some Languedoc wine that I do not recall and declined. We were then offered to sample a 'carafe' (50cl) of the house red wine, which I decided to go for, since house wine is usually such a good indication of the standing of a 'house'. It was a very nice, I believe a bordeaux, probably a cru bourgeois though I forgot to ask afterwards. The point is that it was priced at 14 euros for the carafe (when I saw that on the bill, I thought there was a mistake)! All in all, it was I would recommend having lunch at this restaurant, considering you can eat at two with wine and on a Sunday for less than 100 euros. However, the satisfaction left by the meal may very well depend on making the right choices on the menu du jour (given orally) as there seems to be quite a few discrepancies in quality. If anyone has tried it à la carte or has sampled the tasting menu, I would be happy to hear their ideas.