John Talbott

Since so much has been written already, I'll only add that I went to OT, Alkimia & hisop a week ago and each was better than the last.

Loufood - You're absolutely correct; it is Fables - I wanted to aleret people it was misprinted Tables in at least one review but managed to reverse the intent.

Since February a number of new restaurants have either opened or been written up, almost all by well-known chefs. I have eaten at each mentioned below only once so my assessment is subject to the "first visit bias." For each I will cite where they have been written up, not only because I'm a pedant but because you may want to check out the buzz that they've put out. Mon Vieil Ami, 69 St Louis en l'Ile, 01.40.46.01.35 telephone, 01.40.46.01.36 fax, opened a while back and was quickly reviewed in Figaroscope Jan 14th, (3 hearts), by Patricia Wells January 30th, by Francois Simon in Figaroscope's Hache Menu February 4th and more recently by Gault Millau (13/20) in Feb-March and in Paris Bites in Paris Notes in March. It's Antoine Westerman's (Buerehiesel in Strasbourg) newest venture. Located on the Ile St Louis amid jewelry and art shops, it's modern and jammed with closely-packed tables. They offer a "welcome" drink and a menu at 38E, the same price as taking a 1st (10E), plat (20E) and dessert (8E) separately. The weekday lunch I went (it's also open weekends), it was packed mostly with anglophones, thus no smoking. I had a 1st of very nice poireaux and mackerel poele, a main of a cocotte of Barbery duck with carrots and potatoes and couscous, which was not mind-blowing and a generous dessert of exotic fruits. The wines ranged from 4.20E a glass to the 30's. My bill eating solo was 51E. It's closed Monday and Tuesday lunch. Metro Pont Marie Angl'Opera, 39 ave de l'Opera, 2nd, 01.42.61.86.25, was reviewed in Figaroscope Feb 18th, (3 hearts) by Francois Simon in Figaroscope's Hache Menu of March 17th and TimeOut March 24th. It's smack on the Ave de l'Opera, next to Brentano's, in the Edouard VIIth Hotel. It too is very modern and Gilles Choukoun pushes the envelope much farther than he did at the Café des Delices. It's a bit precious for me with waitresses in goofy jump suits, a goofy menu (veggies first, protein last) and goofy names for drinks (eg O'Bordeaux). As with the Café des Delices, it features Oriental influenced, nice fusion cooking but personally I think William Ledeuil does it better with less pretentiousness at Ze Kitchen Galerie, I know, another goofy name. I had a 1st of a ceviche of dorade with a side dish of a rhubarb sauce and another of a tempura of petits-pois, for the plat Saint Jacques a la vapeur with lovely veggies, Granny Smiths & a quirky catsup sauce a part and one of those little glasses of tomato juice that Jean Chauvely made routine at Les Magnolias in Le Perreux sur Marne. For dessert I had a dish of assorted agrumes with a very tasty ice cream. Wines were reasonably priced. My bill (solo) was 54E. Closed weekends. Metro Pyramide or Opera Le Grenadin Gourmand, 44 rue de Naples, 8th, 01. 45.63.28.92 (watch the telephone number, Figaro got it wrong once). It got 2 hearts in Figaroscope January 28th. It has menus at 29 and 38 E (1st, plat, dessert) and a room for 14 non-smokers. It changed hands recently and was taken over by Alain Stephan from the Savoy. It's another place that is not so bad except for the Jazz music. The amuse bouche was a nice concasse of tomato with a grilled langoustine, I had as1st a salad of asperges with a mimosa sauce, plat I had a confit of canette with mashed potatoes with a nice rich sauce, dessert moelleux chocolat done correctly, frou-frou cafes. The wine was 8 E glass - the cheapest bottle 23E. My bill for 1 was 57E. Closed Sat lunch, Sunday and Mondays. Metro Villiers or St Augustine. Closed Sat lunch, Sunday and Mondays. Metro Villiers Les Fables de la Fontaine (sometimes misprinted as the Tables of Fontaine), 131 St-Dominque, 7th, 01.44.18.37.55 is the fourth of Christian Constant's places. Figaroscope gave it 2 hearts on March 10th and Timeout reviewed it March 17th. Closed Sundays & Mondays. A real winner. 1sts 7E, mains 16E, desserts 8E. I had the special, rougets a la plancha with tartar sauce, v v tasty and St Jacques in the shell for the main, was terrific and no dessert because a friend warned me they were only on the level of any patisserie, plus a terrific Beaujolis Village (15E the half - but they had carafes of white I noted afterwards) For me, this will probably now replace Bistrot Cote Mer which replaced Les Marines which replaced Bar Au Sel which replaced Bistro du Dome, etc, etc. Just in time too. People without reservations were turned away at 1 PM; Metro Ecole Militaire but I think the bus is easier. Tight seating; 21 covers, no smoking, no English except Madame when addressed in her native tongue. L'Ourcine, 92 Broca, 13th, 01.47.07.13.65, recently opened (3 weeks) by Sylvain Daniere, ex from the team of Yves Camdeborde (Le Regalade), received 3 hearts from Figaroscope March 24th. It is located off the normal tourist paths and thus seems more Parisien. Menu is 28E. I had a very good soupe of poisson with fish eggs, a very tasty St Pierre with veggies, and a nice chocolate tartelette, accompanied by a 12E Gamay for a total of 42.50E. It was terrific and a definite repeat. It's open every day except Sunday. Metro Gobelins For those interested in how each of these stack up number-wise against each other; Figaroscope March 24th rated Mon Vieil Ami 7, and the Tables of Fontaine, Grenadin Gourmand + Angl'Opera 6.5 out of 10. Since L'Oursine's review appeared in that issue it has no number. For comparison, the top rank (9) goes to Les Ambassadeurs (menu 70E, av 150E) and the next (8) to the Table du Lancaster (av 70E, menu's supposed to be 40E but it's not happened as of last week) and the other one in the 6.5-7 range is L'Absinthe (6.5) the place newly taken over by Caroline Rostang of Bistro Cote Mer fame, which has a lot of oysters and a nice-looking menu at 34E; on the place du Marche St Honore. NB: Edited by host per John's instructions to correct errors regarding names and phone numbers and by John to add highlights.

I may be the only person on eGullet who finds L'Astrance overhyped and disappointing, like Helen Darroze, La Famille and Lucullus, but I wouldn't grieve on not going. Of the places you've not been, I'd rank them as follows: Chez Michel, Cafe Constant (recall it's not Le Violin, just a small cafe turned bistrot), Au C'Amelot, L'Os a Moelle, L'Epi Dupin and L'Avant Gout (again, L'Avant Gout is small, crowded and not for everyone). The others, such as Benoit, Allard, Chardenoux, Chez Georges, La Fontaine de Mars, and Sousceyrac have seen their day in my opinion and Aux Lyonnaise, which everyone but me seems to love, is terribly inconsistant. Of the places you liked before, Eric Frechon's old spot, now called a cave, has gotten mixed reviews (I was disappointed) and his new one at the Bristol, is very dear. La Regalade (Yves Camdeborde is there another month or so) and Au Bon Accueil hold up but you might also consider: La Maison du Jardin, Ze Kitchen Galerie (you just have to get past the name), Le Beurre Noisette, La Dinee (in its new incarnation), Le Pre Verre and Le Petit Pontoise.

A French friend suggested a good gift for young folks (eg for weddings), which has worked for me; those big, banal, chips and salsa-cup serving trays from Williams-Sonoma or the like. My thought was that it was too American, but I guess like maple sugar, that's the point.

Thank you Bux and bcnchef. I thought Bux's reference to the revolution would involve ElBullian influences. Like you, I've found good food a bit outside the city, necessitating a car; there's a wonderful renovated grand casa, La Placa or La Plaza, depending on language, in Madremanya (nr Girona/Gerona) for staying (3 rooms) and eating run by a young couple, the chef having been at or influenced by ElBulli. Also 22 Km. to the northwest of Barcelona in San Quirico des Valles/Sant Quirze del Valles is Lluernari, also innovative. They're both easily locatable in the Michelin Red agglomerations of Girona/Gerona and Barcelona, respectively, and both are smiley-faced Bib Gourmands. I usually get to Barcelona once a year so I'll look for Jordi's restaurant next year; what's its name?

Bux, could you amplify on the revolution in restaurants in Barcelona; I'll be there next week and have reserved at Alkimia only.

I hate to be a spoilsport but Baltimore has the least demanding citizens, in terms of food, of any city I've eaten in and our restaurant critic(s) is no better, so do not get your hopes up. I'd be very curious to see your post (and hopefully those of other chefs) after the Convention. When desperate, I go to the Helmand or Tapas Teatro (both mentioned above and run by Hamid Karzai's brother, who famously noted that if he's thrown out of Afghanistan he can always go to work in his borther's restaurant(s)) and then hunker down until I can get to New York, SF, Philadelphia, Washington or Paris.

I was going to compose a longer answer to your earlier enquiry based on my two month experience taking a 4 year old to lunch everyday in Paris (which was no problem, indeed as someone else commented, I often got a very warm receptive welcome due to her presence; and I took her to everything from Vietnamese dives to L'Huitrier to real white table-cloth dazzlers). The only thing you should be prepared for is the fact that you may be the only table with a child; unless grandma takes a grandkid to lunch during a a vacation or there's a family visiting from elsewhere in Europe, almost no restaurant is a family place. As to Bon Accueil and Cap Vernet, I think both would be fine with kids; I have not eaten with or without kids at L'Affriole for too long a time to comment.

In Saturday's "Croque Notes" in Le Figaro, Francois Simon announced that Yves Camdeborde would be leaving La Régalade, replaced by Bruno Doucet, age 30, who trained with Charles Barrier in Tours, was the #2 at Apicius under Jean-Pierre Vigato and worked in Pierre Gagnaire's kitchen. Simon notes that he'll follow "l'esprit bistrotier de La Régalade" starting the first days of May. Camdeborde, one of several culinary "offspring" of Christian Constant, now at Le Violin D'Ingres and next-door's Cafe Constant, when he was at Les Ambassadeurs at the Crillon, will rest a bit and be back after la rentrée somewhere. Simon says he's looking for a little calm brasserie with a plat du jour. My last meal there in November was glorious and full of game as usual. By the way, I find Francois Simon's "Croque Notes," usually in Saturday's or rarely in Friday's Figaros, to be good in forecasting changes and openings far in advance of formal reviews, for example, he raved about La Famille, 18th, there, well before he and others wrote it up in the Figaroscope.

Coming back to the original point: "I have many friends who have probably never visited a restaurant more than once. Or a restaurant that’s been open more than a millisecond. They play “the first to know first to go” game in restaurant land. But no matter how much they praise the place, they never go back. Who has time if one is obsessed with only the new?" I know that I am guilty. Many of us are. As often as we visit Paris, there is little time to return to more than a handful of favorites that demand our loyalty." I suspect there are (at least) three patterns, none of which I can fault. There is the person who visits France and Paris infrequently and he/she/whatever wants to go back to 3 macaroon restaurants, no problem; some of the highlights of my life took place Chez Boyer or Bise or Giradet. Then there are the folks who are lucky enough to live here (or there as the case may be) and even going to every restaurant that opens with good reviews in Figaroscope or Croque Notes or the Timeout section in Pariscope, one still has time to try new and strange places, sometimes ethnic, you never would when just visiting. (By the way, in reply to folks above who say "hot" restaurants are crowded, I've never not gotten a reservation the Wednesday that a new restaurant has been favorably rated in Figaroscope). Finally, there are the folks in between, and for them, I think trying new places becomes normal. If the chef does not change the carte with the seasons, if you are always faced with the same choices on the "menu", if someone goes upscale (like Chez Catherine or Eric Frechon) but with out of sight prices for the same food, why not go to the young offspring of the "greats" who are tucked out in the 19th or 15th or Le Perreux sur Marne which "tourists" see as too far. Besides - it's more fun ven though you strike out a lot.

I would be interested in knowing if anyone has eaten at Caroline Rostang's new restaurant, L'Absinthe, 24 pl Marché St Honoré in the 1st. I read some time back that she had sold Le Bistro Cote Mer (which is no longer open weekends) and renovated the space in the market but have seen no information since and have not been by there to check the carte either.

I would strike La Braisiere where I had a very disquieting experience on Feb 23rd. They over-charged me (1 E, but it's the principle [of course it's the money]) for a glass of wine; and this happened after a friend warned me they had over-charged him for a bottle earlier that month so I was forewarned and found out how much. Les Bookinistes is full of tourists but Ledeuil's second restaurant, Ze Kitchen Galerie, next door is not, at least at lunch time. As for Sunday night, I think I'd rather go to Le Petit Pontoise (written up in the same NYT's article as La Braiserie). Regarding your 40th, oh boy. I think you have to better define what your ideal would be in terms of ambiance, setting, food, price, etc.

I had a most disappointing meal there after the Figaroscope rave. Last March 10th, anyway, while well-priced (74 Euros for 2) and while the firsts and desserts were good, e.g. a fine soupe of etrilles and a good tarte tatin, the fish was only so-so and I haven't returned.

Yes. I last ate at Le Reminet on January 4th and considering the choices for Sunday lunch, I find it holds up (I had a very nice entre of moules, coques and homard and a well-prepared pave de biche). Among my group of seasoned eaters, 4 of us in Paris, I remain the most impressed with it, the others hold your position, that it's been variable over the years. FYI: L'Equitable has gone back and forth about weekend openings, but is once again open for Sunday lunch with only one "menu" at 30E (Yves Mutin says the carte is much the same as on other days, i.e., not a "brunch.") I was there Feb 21st and had a wonderful creme of lentils with fine big langoustines followed by a grand chunk of magret de canard, topped of with a spectacular dessert, a creme of citron with fruits on top and 3 mini crepes suzettes for 43E I still think it's great and put it above Le Pre Verre. Have you tried La Maison de Jardin, 27 Rue d Vaugirard, 6th, 01.45.48.22.31 Very good and good price. Lots of choices. A sample lunch is a veloute of green asparagus with morilles terrific, foie de voie done just right with wild mushrooms, an unusual Paris-Brest and a pot of wine 25 cl for 43E. Also last summer I rediscovered Au Bon Accueil, 14 rue de Monttessuy, 7th, 01.47.05.46.11, and it's consistantly good, on 2/26 it was just terrific, terrine of beef with mango sauce, foie de veau with interesting topping, choc moelleux. 37E

To those above, I'd add Le Pre Verre, 01.43.54.59.47 - 8 Thenard, 5th (Maubert/St. Michel). It's pretty new and inexpensive, there's a fast business-lunch type "menu" at 12E. It's very bright and newish looking, tightly-placed tables, a good wine list on a huge ardoise, a regular menu at 24E; I've been a half dozen times and liked things like scallops on pured petit pois with a caramel sauce, gigot parmentiere, banana & pineapple dessert. I think it's the Best Cheap Eat this year.

I ate there on Feb 24th, largely because of the Petit Lebey cite. My notes say "No razzle, no dazzle, no smoking." I had a wonderful fricassee of escargots wrapped in chou, then only an OK fricassee of jeune coq in red wine, a chocolat moelleux (tiede) which by now everyone in France should have down pat, only so-so. There was a lot of fish on the carte and it looked good so maybe that's where they shine. It cost 42E. This trip my biggest pleasant surprise was Le Petit Pontoise which is open 7/7 and altho' written up in the New York Times, not always a good sign, was like Chez Catherine was 10 years ago before she went upscale and outasight. It's in the 5th at 9 rue de Pontoise, near Le Reminet, if you remember restaurants that way. Tel 01.43.29.25.20

No contest. Au Bon Accueil in the 7th. I know, I know, it's not a traditional bistro but Lebey lists it, so it's fair game.

You missed a good food opportunity in a great setting. And 7:50 is way too early for a full house.