John Talbott

I'm not so sure. I've only been to two upscale suit and tie places this month but they're not doing well. As I've recounted, the big places are suffering. But the place I've already mentioned many times that I ate at today was comprised entirely of young local folk, in ties and not, but who knew their food, and it will survive - as our 2nd less bloody national anthem sung by Gloria Gaynor says.

I was reminded of this topic when I was eating solo at the Petit Panisse today and they had one table that could only be occupied by a solo diner, off in a corner but plenty of elbow room. People have commented that esp in the US restaurateurs are reluctant to give up a cover to a solo diner but I'm reminded of all the places which have tables just like this one - Biche au Bois and Chez Catherine's former location on the Rue de Provence spring to mind. We shouldn't anticipate resistance when calling for single reservations: they may have just the right spot for us.

I'm headed for Paris in early December. I don't make restaurant reservations more than a day in advance so your comments are of great interest. I'm staying at a hotel with a three Michelin rosette restaurant. It will be easy to glance in and check the occupancy daily.. ← I think you'll be safe; I make them the same day and only occasionally get caught up short (as with Le Passage last week). Today, though I'm glad I didn't just walk in, because the very reasonable price place (16 E = 3 courses) I went to (Petit Panisse) was chocablock full at 12h30 and spilling out into the street by 1 PM.

Whoops, divide by not multiply: I'll fix so as not to get everyone's hopes up. Also today's throwaway newspper had two more articles on Bistrots closing more than opening and Cafes becoming sports-bars. And also I ate at one of A Nous Paris's top new places, Petit Panisse, today and it ain't Gagnaire but 16 E for three courses and wine at 12 E a demi-litre ain't bad.

A recent article in T&L by Anya von Bremzen entitled "Europe for Less" defined "affordable meals" as "$100 for dinner for two and about $40 for lunch.....[with] interesting $30 bottles" [of wine]. So if my math is correct that means 104 E and 56 E respectively, at yesterday's Euro/$ rate. The restos she names in Paris are: l'Entredgeu, l'Agassin, Itineraires, l'As de Fallafel, Breizh Cafe, Comptoir de Tunesie, Cantine de Quentin and Afaria. She herself breaks her definition at Itineraires as have I, and I'll leave it up to member/readers to judge whether the ethnic ones in the middle really qualify as destinations if one comes alll the way to Paris to eat. A while back Dave Hatfield queried Felice and me about where the bar should be set and we agreed about 30 E pp before liquids, but now that I'm reading about bar/cafe's closing and haute gamme places empty, I'm wondering where the bar should be set. Like the President of Ryanair I think a recession is a great time for the invention of new types of eating establishments or pricing schemes, after all the "bistro's d'a cote" and "menu's" and substitution of "trash fish" for expensive kinds, all came in times of economic distress. Edited by John Talbott at 17h00 11/21 to correct math.

We have indeed discussed this before and I agree that it's perilous to ascribe motivation. But as I believe I've stated before, I do think age and frequency of visits changes one's habits; that is, when I came to France once a year as a much younger person I could tuck away and wanted to tuck away as much goodness as I could in say 10 days. Now, older but not wiser and a semiresident, I find I'm less prone to eat that way. As for the issue about the economy, my theory (expounded elsewhere) that the top and bottom restos were doing fine and only the midranges suffering appears totally wrong; everybody's hurting, some of the big guys are empty twice a week at dinner (unheard of a year ago), the bar/cafe's are, according to the IHT, closing like venus flytraps and yes, for the last month the tables I've been at for lunch in mid-range places has been among the few occupied (places are averaging only 4-7 other customers), again unthinkable a year ago.

This week’s Figaroscope’s Colette Monsat et al, did a rating of the best baguettes a la tradition: 1.Bazin, 12th 2. Colin, 2nd 3. Julien, 1st Secco, 7th 5. Duchene, 8th Dupuy, 9th Desgranges, 16th 8. Connan,17th 9. Delmontel, 9th 10. Martin,4th 11. Bon Panneton, 15th Delices de Sevres, 7th 13. Duc de la Chapelle, 18th Bechu, 16th 15. Maeder, 17th Mulot, 6th 17. Artisan du Pain, 8th Manac’h, 9th 19. Vandermeersch, 12th 20. Panetier, 2nd.

Sorry Mitch, I'll get my dinde from my rotisserie guy M. Mathieu and (even without Colette) I'll manage (with a little help from my friends) to do the dressing/stuffing, cranberry, etc. stuff chez moi. But Docsconz roasted some pretty impressive Bresse chickens a few years ago so I'd second OAKGLEN's notion. Thursday will be a normal day here so maybe if you want some flying gamey stuff you'd best try Gérard Besson. 5, rue du Coq-Héron Paris, France 75001. Phone: 01 42 33 14 74. Fax: 01 42 33 85 71

Wednesday-Thursday,Jean Claude Ribaut in Le Monde wrote an article that summarized the revelations of several other guides: Le Champérard highlighting Les Crayères, La Fourchette des ducs, Le Meurice + Sa.Qua.Na but omitting Marc Veyrat, rated 20/20 by GaultMillau. Le Bottin gourmand, featuring Thierry Marx and Jean-Paul Barbier of Lion d'or.

The Week of November 10th, 2008 Last Friday, l’Express posted a review by François-Régis Gaudry of l’Assiette, coordinates given before, which under Lulu hosted such folks as François Mitterrand, Catherine Deneuve, Pierre Bergé and Jim Harrison, now serving the likes of quenelles sauce Nantua, canette Apicius, lièvre à la royale and an impeccable crème caramel borrowed from the chef (David Rathgeber)’s friend - Christophe Michalak, chef pâtissier at the Plaza Athénée. And this Friday, Pierrick Jegu wrote a review of Gustave et Jules, 12, rue Edouard-Lockroy in the 11th, 01-43-55-54-29, closed Sundays but open only at 6:30 PM, costing 25 € for wine bar fare plus dishes such as a venison ragoût and Danish smoked trout. Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger reviewed and gave 3/5 dots to La Cave Edmond, coordinates below, where Thierry Burlot has now opened a wine bar across the street serving hot & cold dishes (sausage, shrimp raviolis, lamb shoulder) and reasonably-priced wines and Philippe Toinard, next column over, gave 3/5 dots to the Thai-chef’d/Eddy Mitchell-owned place Oth Sombath in the 8th. Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Sebastien Demorand also reviewed the Wurlitzer jukebox-like Cave Edmond, where he talks of the Serrano ham, Corsican cheese and wines from 1,80 € a glass and 13,50€ a bottle. Wednesday, Emmanuel Rubin’s “Cest nouveau” in Figaroscope started off with ¾ hearts awarded to the aforementioned Oth Sombath; 2/4 hearts to Les Terrines de Gerard Vie, (exTrianon Palace) 97, rue du Cherche Midi in the 6th, 01.42.22.19.18, closed Sundays and Mondays, serving a formula for 30 €, without wine for fare such as a pigs foot terrine, veal with endives and iced coffee soufflé but (no thank you to the prune sushi); ¼ hearts to Au P’tit Panisse coordinates given before, serving chestnut soup, pork chop and chocolate tart as well as Anthracite, 20, rue de La Reynie in the 4th, 01.42.77.89.21, closed Sundays, which will set you back 40-50 € for what sounds like very Italian food (brochette, ham, gorgonzola and risotto of mushrooms.) Finally, a busted heart went to l’Horloge, 72, rue du Cherche Midi in the 6th, 01.42.22.46 where for 35 € one gets cuttlefish, duck with mashed potatoes or an entrecote. This week’s Figaroscope’s Colette Monsat et al, briefly reviewed a number of wine places: Wine shops with eats La Cave Edmond, 10, rue Nicolas-Charlet in the 15th, 01 47 34 10 62, closed Sundays and Mondays, 15-25 €. Au Fil du Vin, 145, quai de Valmy in the 10th, 01 46 07 28 36, closed Sundays at 6 PM, tapas/apero Thursdays, 15-20 €. Mets & vins, coordinates given before. 5e Cru, 7, rue du Cardinal-Lemoine in the 5th, 01 40 46 86 34, closed Saturday lunch, Sundays, Mondays and Tuesday evenings ; cold food at night.. Bistros Contrecarrer, 113, rue du Faubourg-Poissonnière in the 9th, 01 45 26 55 03, closed Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, 25-30 €. Bistrot Vin sobre, coordinates given before Le Refuge des Moines, 85, rue des Moines in the 17th, 01 42 28 92 52, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, 35-45 € before wines. Wine bars Wine 133, 133, av. des Champs-Élysées in the 8th, (PublicisDrugstore basement), 01 44 43 77 64, closed Saturdays and Sundays 12-3 PM, dishes about 20 €. Gustave & Jules, 12, rue Édouard-Locroy in the 11th, 01 43 55 54 29, closed Sundays at 6 PM. Porte Pot, 14, rue Boutebrie in the 5th, 01 43 25 24 24, closed Saturday lunch, Sundays and Mondays, around 30 €. Wine tastings Grand tasting at the Carrousel of rthe Louvre Nov 21-22 Salon des vins de vignerons independants, Porte de Versailles, Nov 27-Dec 1 Grains Nobles School’s wine bar, 8, rue Boutebrie in the 5th, 01 75 57 89 07 opens at the end of November. In this spirit (no pun intended), Francois Simon in his Hache Menu reviewed Juveniles, coordinates in the guidebooks, which he’s been visiting since it appeared in one of the first Figaroscope’s; lunch 13 euros for dishes, wine and dessert, 63 euros total. Wednesday as well, Richard Hesse of Paris Update, ate very well with pate, sausages, lievre a la royale and ‘70’s desserts at La Marlotte as well as repeat meals at Ze Kitchen Galerie + Monjul. Wednesday-Thursday, Jean Claude Ribaut in Le Monde wrote one article on the food guides appearing this fall including Le Champerard, Gault-Millau, Pudlo Paris + Bottin and another on Olivier Roellinger’s closure. Saturday, Francois Simon in his Figaro Croque Notes discussed what three stars are worth referring to Olivier Roellinger and Eric Frechon. Saturday/Sunday, in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp wrote about l’Aventure – 6 Odeon and Roellinger and John Talbott wrote an essay on “Watching a Chef think (about the future).” Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

This year's awards (according to Web Radio du Gout) went to (in France): Jean-Paul Hévin Pascal Caffet Pierre Hermé Dalloyau Monsieur Chocolat Le Cacaotier in Enghien-les-Bains Saunion Chocolaterie in Bordeaux Paries in Saint-Jean de Luz Fabrice Gillotte in Dijon Pâtisserie Du Lac in Nice La Maison du Chocolat in Nanterre

Word is slowly trickling out about its contents. Web Radio du Gout notes that it has the "top 30 des restaurants" that cost less than 30 euros, among which are La Cantine du Troquet + Lao Lane Xang 1 et 2 in Paris.

The Week of November 3rd, 2008 Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinard reviewed and gave 2/5 dots each to: the Point Bar, now without Alice Bardet, which he says is like a fall without game serving a pumpkin soup, hachis parmentier of chicken and linguini with curry for 26.50-46.50 €, closed Sundays and Mondays; and the “jet-set-people-bling-bling” Toi, 27, rue du Colisée in the 8th, 01 42 56 56 58, menus 19 + 29 €, closed Sundays, serving veal chops and a dessert list as long as one’s arm. Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Marie-Odile Briet wrote up the tapas Bar des Roses rear the Place de Clichy. Tuesday as well, in l’Express, Pierrick Jégu wrote up as his resto under 30 €, Firmin le Barbier, coordinates already given and Andrea Petrini wrote up Eskis in Lyon. And Friday, their website had Pierrick Jégu’s review of La Laiterie Sainte Clotilde, coordinates already given, as another Restaurant (of the week) under 30 €, where he liked the simple salad, lamb and apple compote; as well as a review by Marie-Amal Bizalion of La Grand Puech in Mimet. Emmanuel Rubin’s “Cest nouveau” in Figaroscope featured two 2-heart restaurants: one oldie with a new team Bistro 121, coordinates in the guidebooks with 2 courses for 26 and 3 for 32 € for foie gras, snail fricassee, bourride and its noted mandarine sorbet and the second most British bio-cantine, the Rose Bakery II, 30 rue Debelleyme in the 3rd, 01.49.96.54.01, closed Mondays where for 20 € one enjoys an omelette, chicken and lemon tart. He also reviewed and gave 1 heart to the restau-bar Bar des Roses, 1, rue de Vintimille in the 9th, 01.49.70.09.22, closed Sundays costing 30 € for three small plates of chorizo, confited squid and rice pudding as well as two Italian places Terrazza St-Germain + Al Taglia in the 6th and 11th, respectively. In conjunction with the Salon Marjolaine, Figaroscope’s Colette Monsat et al, noted most of the bio places in Paris, that included: Supernature Le Phyto Bar Rose Bakery Bioart Soya Biobio Nessens Judicious Chandelle Verte Veggie for food and Lavinia Caves du Pantheon Verre Vole + Vin en Tete for wines. In this spirit, for his Hache Menu, Francois Simon went to Crudus, 21, rue Saint-Roch in the 1st, 01 42 60 90 29, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, serving a few dishes, largely salads, and tiramisu or sabayon for dessert at district prices. Wednesday as well, Richard Hesse of Paris Update, ate again at Le Dome. This week, in Le Monde, Jean Claude Ribaut wrote three pieces – about the Chocolate Salon, buying refrigerated wine stage units and preparing stuffed cabbage Auvergne-style with four spices. Saturday, as has been reported elsewhere, Figaro had one article on and an interview with Olivier Roellinger's giving up his stars and one on what Francois Simon has learned on his Japanese trip (he mentions Stella Maris back home, favorably.) Saturday/Sunday, in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp wrote about Caius + Blaise Mautin and John Talbott wrote an essay on “What does two hearts in Figaroscope mean?” Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

For those interested in prior discussions of Roellinger, please see here; eventually this topic too shall be merged so we have all info in one place.

Most of the comment in the press appeared when the 08 Michelin came out in March. Here from the Digest are two such:March 1st Saturday’s Figaro contained a full page orchestrated by Francois Simon. The biggest space was allocated to an article, summarized here that started on its first page about “who merits three Michelin stars.” Then oddly enough, in his “Croque Notes,” he discussed one of these places which eventually will be promoted - Le Petit Nice in Marseille, maybe in the next Michelin, to appear in ten days. It’s not entirely complementary; he comments on the appearance of too many amuse bouches, a piling on of plates that three stars feel are necessary, thus taking an hour to reach the entrée. Simon thought that while the rougets were fresh, they were too fussily prepared and there was no flash of lightning. He says that the chef, Passedat, does better with simple dishes rather than try fancy stuff that dulls the effect. He doesn’t give prices except for the main course’s bass costing 77 €. Also, of note, in the accompanying article he implies that Le Petit Nice was chosen so that the Michelin could have a place between Eugenie Les Bains and Monte Carlo, now that the Pourcel’s have flopped. March 5th Wednesday-Thursday, Jean Claude Ribaut in Le Monde talked of the inequalities of the just-released Michelin, mentioning the first (expected) elevation to three stars of a resto in Marseille (Le Petit Nice), the demotion of Guy Martin’s Grand Véfour, the restoration of Marc Meneau’s stars at L'Espérance and the unjust omission of la Grande Cascade + Laurent, two delicate and remarkable places in Paris. His second article talks of the Petit Nice and chef Gérald Passédat (47 years old), grandson of the founder of the same name, trained with/at Troisgros, Michel Guérard, le Bristol, + Ferran Adria, and his concept(s) of cooking.

For those wanting Francois Simon's take on it in today's Figaro it is here, courtesy of Le Zouave.

Interesting point; several articles call it III for the arrondissement while Figaroscope called it II for the 2nd one of which (I assume).

The 2009 Bottin has appeared with its supreme distinction (4 stars) going to Le Cinq + Régis Marcon-Clos des Cimes as well as promoting L’Oasis to three stars. It rates 800 places, of which 200 are new. 30 euros.

Web Radio Du Gout has announced that the Lebey 2009 elevated Michel Rostang to one of the best in Paris with three black Tour Eiffels; Guy Savoy lost one; three went from one to two – L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, L'Angle du Faubourg, + Le Passiflore; with L'Arpège, Le Cinq + Pierre Gagnaire staying in the lead with three red towers. The Lebey 2009 has rated 638 places, 54 of them new. Albin Michel éd - 470 pages - 15,90 euros. They also summarized Pudlo Paris’s results; awarding chef of the year to Flora Mikula of Les Saveurs de Flora; l'Ami Jean, resto of the year; Afaria, bistrot of the year; best price-quality Koba's Bistro; come back kid Ghislaine Arabian of the Petites Sorcières; best foreign table – Guilo Guilo. 18,50 euros. Éditions Michel Lafon.

I just wanted to bump this up to see if anyone had any brilliant new ideas for Thanksgiving 2008 that haven't appeared in prior posts. I'm reconsidering turkey d/t Pti's comment and am torn between a gamey bird and capon-type.

Because of a crazy schedule and a long day of travel getting there, my food opportunities were shaped more by the hotel concierges than eG or PM advice. Having been delayed for 8 hours by a balky fuel filter on United, I arrived hungry and ready to eat the first taco put in front of me, which turned out to be at Rio Rio, which was not bad but not much good either (it and my run/jog/walk/limp the next morning,) proved my intolerance for Mexican cooking and country music. A passable chimichanga with un-passable guacamole and a bottle of Texas Bock ran me $16.18 with tip. The next AM, I had a hankering for huevos rancheros, and ignoring or contravening Therese's advice, I ate real food (rather than just pastries as advised) at Mi Tierra – mistake, but hey, I scratched the itch to the tune of $10 with tip. But the next AM, I limped over and took back to my hotel back Therese’s faves – a Leche Quemada and Dulce de Naranja – unfortunately only in pumpkin and squash, and the leche was incredible. $3.24 plus a Starbucks doppio at $2.16. Then for lunch I couldn’t pass up sitting with the other tourists on the Riverwalk at Luciano’s having oversized portions of Caesar salad (awful) and a supposed child’s portion of pizza Margarita (soggy crust, poor ingredients) with a decent house Chianti and an ristretto espresso for $44.95. It was a most bizarre experience; a pan pipe band doing Christmas songs as a hired crew put up a Christmas tree (November 2nd?) jarring me as had those of Gheorghe Zamfir, waking me up every morning on a Galapagos tour boat; a charming waitress named Nuvia (which means rain cloud) who accommodated to my every need (no, get your mind outa the gutter); and sunny warm weather and the setting way over-rode the miserable food. My next meal was a forced/command performance at Las Canarias which I looked forward to with dread; 16 people; few choices; far way. Well, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. The food, esp. my steak (cooked black-blue) was perfection, I mean, really good, the coq au vin, pas mal de tout and the tarte tatin and crème caramel pretty fine. Plus others reported that the pea soup, salmon and chocolate desserts were good. But, but, but…….the courses took forever to appear, the boss’s wife never got her 1st and they didn’t seem to give a damn about that or anything else (in addition, the amuse-bouche and escargots salad were pathetic). The bill, I dunno, the Boss picked it up. Go? I’d say yes, but kinda remind them to get you “to the Church on time.” For lunch the next day, heeding Therese’s and other eG members’ advice – I went to the oddly-named, oddly, because I thought Shilo(h) was where we beat these Southern folks into the ground in 1862, not vice-versa. Anyway, Shilo’s, specializing in “German meat” was OK. Therese had advised me to order the tongue, but the Reuben sandwich was speaking to me, so I had it. The black bread was very good, the melted cheese terrific, the sauerkraut for the USA - perfect, the spicy mustard - spicy and the pickle second only to my gold standard at Zabar’s. My bill = $22.26 after the tip. Ah, John, aren’t you leaving something out? Yes, well, the corned beef was the most pathetic I’ve ever had, it tasted like recently-defrosted deli meat at a Safeway. I later learned why, upon ordering some deli meat for the zillion hour airplane trip back to the East Coast tmrw, during which even First Class upgrading (using miles) would get me dreadful food. This paragon of deli’s, serving up (I thought - foolish me) home/store cured meats, actually just peddled the crap from Hormel. Their demon barber/butcher of Fleet Street looked half-stoned as he cut my meat, however, the hard salami was quite nice (and certainly better than the airplane steak) but the beef tongue impressed less. OK. Now altho’ Colette calls me a searcher-out of blame, I’m really very cool, calme, zen, like my idol, Nicolas S., but my last night I went to a place decried not described by my friend and advisor Therese, as the best Mex place near my hotel downtown. And it probably is/was. The Casa Rio is smack on the river, has hundreds of tables and mariachis (whom I hate) all over, plus a Mexican bag piper (as Dave Barry says, I’m not making this up,) upstairs. What I really wanted was some mole on some birdy thing but I couldn’t find it anywhere I looked. So I settled for pollo asada/asado with lotsa hot sauce. The good news: the chips, like they have been here all week, taste of real corn, or at least real corn spray; the guacamole was good but underspiced; the salad was fine; but the red beans, not refried but in a bouillon, were sublime. So with a larme of Merlot the bill was $30.18 with tip.

Despite my not finding this fare up to Rob Kasper’s level of praise, I returned to Vino Volo at Dulles a few days ago when abandoned by United and found the olives, plate of fennel salami, Virginia ham and prosciutto with mozzarella in a base of peppery olive oil, braised shredded pork soft tacos with cabbage and an indiscernible mole sauce with some Sicilian wine ($12 corkage) to be a fine way to wile away 3 hours after the cancelled flight.

Recently, Colette et moi were at the Wine Market for our traditional rendez-vous meal with two old friends from Manhattan, which went very well indeed, after which we dropped by Baba’s Middle Eastern, eat there/take out place on E Fort and ordered one order of hummus, one tabouli, a chicken kebab, a falafel, with their accompanying salads and pita bread plus a dessert box of the usual. The good news: the guy who runs it and his mom are the nicest folks on the planet and the pita was very nicely flavored; the bad news, not much else was remarkable.

I've just posted news in the Digest from an article in Figaroscope about various places and people that are “hot news” in the restaurant-opening category: Oth Sombath, Beauvilliers, Le Jadis, Rose Bakery II, Le Palace, l’Arbuci, Le Barbezingue, Ralph Lauren, Daniel Rose, Gilles Choukroun, Bus Palladium + Nicolas le Bec.

The Week of October 27th, 2008 Monday, Pierrick Jegu in l’Express reviewed as his place under 30 E, Lilane, coordinates already given, where he criticizes the exJules Verne chef only for the spare wine list. Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Julia Sammut wrote about the wine bar/bistro Les Buvards in Marseille. Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger reviewed and gave 3/5 dots to Firmin le Barbier, coordinates given before, where he commented on the marinated herring filet and beef cheeks and Philippe Toinard reviewed and gave 3/5 dots as well to Benoit Bordier (ex-Jean)’s new place, Le Corot, 53, rue de Versailles in the Ville d’Avray, 01.41.15.37.00 which has menus at 37 and 85, a la carte 54-71 € for langoustines and ham, foie gras raviolis, pork belly, overcooked potatoes and chocolate ganache with rice pudding. Wednesday, Emmanuel Rubin in Figaroscope gave two hearts to four places: the Italian Sapido + Divinamente Italiano, the Indian Sumali and the Lebanese Branche d’Olivier but just a single heart to the only French place – Sur un petit velo, 62 ave Parmentier in the 11th, 01.43.57.26.11, open 7/7, costinmg 20-35 € for goat cheese with mint, marinated tuna and a “Tchiz Burger” (sic, cheese burger.) Wednesday, Emmanuel Rubin ranked the new restos in various categories from gastronomic to bar – {which I’ve listed by rank only}: 9.0 Le Cinq 7.0 Jeu de Quille La Table d'Eugène Pizza Chic 6.5 L'Assiette Cul de Poule Miroir where Francois Simon also went for his 119 € Hache Menu (Go? Not across the city for this). Firmin le Barbier Chardenoux Lilane Le Bar Ladurée Le Zebra 6.0 Agapes La Cantine du Troquet L'Ober-Salé Arthur Khao San Road Barocco Le Bar à pizza du Bellagio Chacha Club Mama Shelter Dos de la Baleine Rosa Bonheur Miyou La Laiterie 5.5 Le Relais de l'Entrecôte 5.0 Le Boudoir Gars dans la cuisine Family Affair Jour de Fête 4.0 La Païva Café Rouge Le Corot 3.0 Valseuses M. Rubin also had a box about various places that are “hot news”: Oth Sombath, chef’d by the “most famous Thai chef” in France, Beauvilliers, reopening soon under the hands of Antoine Heerah (Moulin de la Galette), Le Jadis, on the Rue de la Croix-Nivert in the 15th by Guillaume Delage, exGaya under Pierre Gagnaire, Rose Bakery II on rue Debelleyme in the 3rd, Le Palace, 8, rue du Faubourg-Montmartre in the 9th by an exPlaza chef, l’Arbuci, three stories,on the Rue de Buci in the 6th, reopened by the Costes, Le Barbezingue, a table d’hote in Chatillon by Thierry Faucher (Os empire), Ralph Lauren’s resto in the future boutique on the blvd St-Garmain in the 6th, Daniel Rose, doubles up on the rue Bailleul in the 1st, Gilles Choukroun, another with the pastry chef Sebastien Gaudard, Bus Palladium renovated beside Blanche, {metro I assume,} in the 9th, and Lyon’s Nicolas le Bec opening at the Opera Garnier. Wednesday as well, Richard Hesse of Paris Update, ate at Amici Meiei supposedly the best pizza place in Paris, which serves “good ingredients” but to which he will not return. Wednesday-Thursday, in Le Monde, Jean Claude Ribaut wrote about where to get game in and around Paris that included: La Marlotte, Drouant, Les Chevaux de Marly, Taillevent, Gérard Besson, La Grande Cascade, Paul Chêne + Michel Rostang and also how Thomas Cagna (Relais Sainte- Jeanne) cooks Vexin pigeon. Thursday, Le Point noted that Le Cinq +Armani were in good shape, l’Assiette should be followed and Pizza Chic was in trouble. Saturday/Sunday, in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp wrote about Mori, Lignac + Chardenoux and John Talbott wrote an essay on “Won’t you be my neighbor – the Saga of the 18th Jules Joffrin District Restos.” Saturday-Sunday, in the FT, I spied the headline of an article by Jancis Robinson on “Bordeaux’s brilliant 2005 gets better” and thought – oh no, not another one of those pieces on wines with prices that are out of (my) sight, but no, she recommends them from 6.74 ₤ on up. Sunday in the NYT, Elaine Sciolino {I thought she’d left France} wrote up Compiegne and recommended Le Palais Gourmand + l’Auberge du Daguet. Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.