John Talbott

Spring as everybody knows by now, will be moving into larger space next year, but until then we can sample the genius of Daniel Rose at the old stand in the 9th. Since he never serves the same meal twice, it’s cruel and futile to say what one had, but cruel and futile I am. We started off 11 days ago with eggplant two ways: as caviar and as a sliced base for a piece of rouget with zesty herbs atop plus a tiny portion of wonderfully flavored, peeled (by Marie-Aude) shrimp. Then a canette: quickly seared and then poached (sous vide) in its own juice accompanied by its foie gras and a grape and pomegranate seed topping with an almond puree and piece of different eggplant aside. Finally beignets of chocolate and poached pears with thinly sliced chestnuts that were quickly sautéed in oil and a bit of butter – just like ‘chips’. With a bottle of fine wine (of which we took two bottles home), an extra white with the dessert and two coffees = 105 €.

Au Petit Marguery is a place we four in my batiment used to frequent twenty some years ago, and then it fell off the radar screen for reasons unclear to me, and resurfaced in January 2008 when the Cousin brothers retired and new management did pretty well at keeping it rolling. Colette hankered after their floating island, alas no longer on the menu, but we went without knowing that, nor that they had so much game available so early in fall – grouse, lievre, biche, colvert and something else. I started with the really gamy grouse mousse, three portions of which were like peanut butter for adults, on nice briochy toast - addicting. Colette had the biche and I, the lieve a la royale Sénateur Couteaux a la Poiterine – both with sauces so dark our friend Atar would have been envious but Colette’s was appropriately spicier than mine. She had a portion of jerusalem artichoke and parsnips and I had nice noodles to soak up the sauce. Then Colette finished it off with a soufflé of Grand Marnier, an old fave, as well. The nummies with the coffee were fine by me but not Colette and the bread roll was not up to the big ones they served in days gone by. The bill, including a bottle of Haut-Medoc and no bottled water was 114 €, the game having an appropriate 10 € supplement per portion.

The magic at William Ledeuil’s Ze Kitchen Galerie in the 6th goes on. I don’t know how he does it but he is constantly moving, changing, inventing, trying, impressing. One never knows exactly what you’ll get but it’s always good. Along the way we had/shared a gazpacho of green zebra tomato and mussels with marinated cod, raviolis of rabbit with ginger and spicy yellow peppers, girolles in a 10 times better than “Campbell’s-mushroom-soup” base with baby artichokes and lemon grass and a “croquette” of snails with parsley (offered), Challan duck on beet sauce with veggies and a piece of foie gras covered with a “toadstool”, lacquered pork with veggies (it should be mentioned that the vegetables are Thiebault/Passard quality, al dente, perfect and not trumpeted), mostarda and a crème anglaise-like corn, soy and miso sauce, confiture and Torrone ice cream. The bill with all this, 1 bottle of fine Madiran, 2 coffees = 103.10 €; how does he do it?

An update on lunch at Garance on the Canal St Martin where three of us ate on a nice Sunday. I ordered a tempura of calamari on a dusting of piment d’espelette with a homemade tartare sauce for dipping and the three of us declared that while certainly white (a deadly color according to the great food god Atar) it was very good. Then one of the ladies had scallops (sans corals) on top of mixed fall vegetables and the other bass with a side of greens and I the veal liver prepared exactly as I’d asked – blue. The two others shared a moelleux of chocolate with ice cream that were gold standard. With three coffees and a bottle of fine Morgon the bill was 87 Euros. Then another of our favorites – Le Clocher Periere – where the brothers-in-law, Eric Jolibois and Philippe LeBoeuf, always manage to please and surprise us. I started off with a Bell-jar oeuf en cocotte with foie gras entier, simple, eh? – heaven and moved on to a divine colvert with a puree and polenta in tubes as it were, simple, eh? – ah, and finished with a peche de vignes with a verveine ice on a delicious biscuit with drizzled caramel, simple, eh? – uhn, uhn. Meanwhile my almost diamond anniversary companion/partner/life space occupant had microtomed fall veggies (tomatoes, navets and goat cheese), ombre chavalier and chocolate moelleux with icecream that she said she’d come back for that night. The bill, with one bottle of just fine Bordeaux and two Illy (extra points) coffees = 80 €.

Boy oh boy, was I ready for Colette to try some of my August and September finds. We started at our new local "old haunt," the Table of Eugene which is simply marvellous for a place within a few blocks of home; the 17 euro ardoise special as well as the 25 E "menu" dishes were all terrific and once again our tariff with wine and coffee was very reasonable (71 E). At a friend’s (Laidback) lead, we ate there again 10 days later and found the food still held up, the service superb and things such as the grilled calamari with a spicy sauce, the veal, barely cooked with spicy sausage (Sabrosada) and spinach leafs as well as bass and rougets to be very, very good; our bill, October 3rd for 4 was 151 €. We had dinner with nine of Paris's finest food writers of blogs, books and bouquets - at the Jeu de Quilles, sampling their charcuterie, merlan rillettes and cuttlefish with a tad of oil; starting with a soup of foie gras and truffle oil; then mackerel with zucchini, fennel and tomato chunks; moving on to Desnoyer's incredible veal with incredible potatoes; three quite fine cheese(s); terminating with a trio of desserts (a berry "soup," creme brullee and a "sandwich"). With white as an apero, a Chiroubles as the red, coffee and very friendly but professional service, the bill was 70 E each. The next day, we were still "coming down" and walked in (per necessity) to the Cantine de Troquet and while watching a Basque travelogue and the chef's preview of this week's TV show (with him commenting), ate his best toasty/burned crevettes a la plancha, merlu with a Basque sauce, (again for me) the wonderful poitrine de porc with frites and the apricot tarte with a great crust; with coffee and a liter of vin de Pays (14 E) = 61.50 E - take that Bush-Paulson-Cox-Bernanke et al. Well, I finally came acropper. Our meal at Le Boudoir had significant holes in it. The food: a fine millefeuille of pleurottes with an ineffable Asian sweet-sour spice mix, moules with curry and excellent frites and ½ pigeon with 3 figs poached in wine with some spice and chocolate tart was all good, as was the bread. But there were hitches: we were directed toward a table by the window only to be told it was reserved, then freed for us; the moules were ordered marinieres but came au curry which was OK since I was torn as to which to order; the bread crumbs were never scraped from the table before dessert; and they were out of the two desserts Colette wanted (in this day of printable menus); plus the 6 coffee selection menu is a bit pretentious, there are no curtains on the windows to pull when the sun the really strong and the spotlight is positioned over one’s head in the loo, preventing one from seeing the bowl – the latter three quibbles didn’t count the first time I was here but somehow did this time. Our bill with wine and two coffees = 76 €. All this mind you - with a brilliant blue sky on a wonderful day - clear sailing behind and ahead -

We recently had the opportunity to visit Romania for about a week and while some of our time was spent on cultural/artistic visits, we did some eating as well. Rather than go restaurant by restaurant, I think it’s more useful to give some rules of the (eating) road and highlights since much of the local food seemed fungible. The rules: Local specialties (stuffed cabbage, polenta, fish and meats) tend to come with cream sauce. Vegetables are organic and soups and salads made from them very good. Most bread is terrific. The pre and post dinner drink – Palinca – is a great plum, grappa-like treat. Grilled beef is done to one’s specification and terrific. The highlights: Beef (Argentinian) with Bearnaise, kofta, Spanish jamon with brochette and whole wheat bread at the Novotel in Bucharest Walnut cake at the Stag restaurant in Sighisora Vegetable soup at Hilde’s in Gula Humorlui Minestrone, salad and tomatoes at the Antique Restaurant in Radanti Some additional points: Magnolia is correct But I disagree with Jordyn And since Mistinguett posted, the dogs came back.

Last Monday Charlotte Balme in Le Fooding wrote up as the best brunch in Paris: Miroir, 94 rue des Martyrs in the 18th, 01.46.06.50.73, closed Sunday night and Mondays.

Can someone inform me if Carrefour in France carries them? Elsewhere? Maybe this should be in Kitchen Consumer? Thanks.

You're not the first person to come to that conclusion. Living in Paris probably does jade my palate. Having just spent 6 days eating in Romania, though, my scale is more balanced and I'll try to be kinder. My understanding is that they are related and there may be one or more in DC too.On a different subject; does anyone have an update on the restaurant in the American Visionary Art Museum?; the website says it's still closed for a renovation. Thanks.

For July 4th, we brought an American flag to Spring. Ask/tell Daniel you'd like some reminder of the holiday; he's cool to comply.

For those interested in buying game to cook yourself, check out this topic. Thanks.

The Week of September the 22nd, 2008 {I just found out that ANP’s website has blossomed and now gives a list of reader preferences which are in some contrast to the critics, for example, this week they said the top places were the: Readers: ANP critics Palace Elysée 3/5 L'Ardoise Gourmande 2/5 1/4 Le Boudoir 3/5 1/4 Les Banquettes 3/5 2/4 La Table d'Eugène 3/5 2/4 And Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger and Philippe Toinard reviewed and gave the following dots to four new places, all of whose coordinates have been given before: 4/5 L’Assiette 3/5 Le Coin des Artistes Zebra Square 2/5 La Grange Bateliere Monday, in Le Fooding Pierre Siankowski wrote about the "proto-bistro" Aux Petits Oignons, 11, r. Dupont-de-l’Eure in the 20th, 01 43 64 18 86, closed Sundays and Mondays, which serves plates of cheese and bio charcuterie, ray, foie gras, tuna, daurade, rabbit stew with girolles (all according to market availability), chocolate fondant and mango fontainebleau, a la carte about 25-30 €. Wednesday, Emmanuel Rubin in Figaroscope presented the picture (beautiful), lead article (on the history of Benoit Bordier’s move to Ville d’Avray from Jean in the 9th not to be confused with l’Ami Jean in the 7th) and lead review with scathing comments (monkfish with a sauce tasting like toothpaste) along with a broken heart to Le Corot which charges about 80-85 €; a second broken heart went to Les Coteaux du Tannay in the 7th charging 20-45 € for fried camembert, gratin of mushrooms and Bresse chicken. Have gave two hearts to La Laiterie, 64, rue de Bellechasse in the 7th, 01.45.51.74.61, closed Sundays, charging 25-35 € for the likes of oeuf mayo, ray salad, rabbit in cider and plum clafoutis. One heart each went to: the Thai Khaosan Rd in the 7th and Café Rouge, 32, rue de Picardie in the 3rd, 01.44.54.20.60, open 7/7, charging 25-30 € for Caesar salad, crabcake and a Pavlova located in a superb hotel particulier serving 4 bling food for 50-70 €. Wednesday in the “Dossier” Colette Monsat et al covered Places with reasonable prices for the rentrée, that included: Left Bank: Itineraires Jeu de Quilles Nuxis Cantine du Troquet Right Bank: Table d’Eugene Café qui Parle Cul de Poule Pied de Fouet XI Vintage Now: Petit Turin Banquettes Also: Relais de l’Entrecote Le Laurier Hide And, Francois Simon contributed a review in his “Hache Menu” of the Rollin, 92, ave Ledru-Rollin in the 11th, 01.48.06.51.92, closed Sundays and Monday nights, which has a 13 € formula but where he spent 68 € for 1 formula (lamb with thyme sauce and a puree, plus poached pears with chocolate and chantilly), 2-250 gram entrecotes (with many frites and a tumulus of salad with a true vinaigrette), 3 chocolate moelleux, 3 coffees and a liter of water. Go? Ans: “Yep!” Wednesday, Richard Hesse on Paris Update wrote about Bigarrade, coordinates already given, which he called a “magical mystery tour,” Wednesday-Thursday, in Le Monde, Jean Clause Ribaut wrote about the "Cuisine bourgeoise" at L'Assiette, coordinates given before, which he says is a great relief having survived the transition from Lulu, aka Lucette Rousseau, to David Rathgeber, a 35 year old Auvergnat via Ducasse. He's adapted several old recipes and brought in new ones and he (Ribaut) clearly liked the meal. Saturday in Le Figaro Francois Simon talked about three places to go, including La Table d'Eugene (spelled Eugenie), Maceo + la Beaugravière in Mondragon, 17 klicks from Avignon. In addition Alexandra Michot mentions the top 10 places for Fashion week : l’Hotel Costes, Le Flore, Mathis, Thiou, Kaspia, Ferdi, Kai, Dave, Anahi + La Paiva, that got a broken heart from her colleagues; plus Vingt et un + Stresa and the palace hotels and their bars and fashion show sites. Saturday/Sunday, in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp wrote an article on Perigord & Arthur and John Talbott wrote one whose title was “Lunch not Brunch on Sundays?” Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Not recently but Yannick Alleno was just elected "chef of the year" reported Francois Simon the 30th.

KerriHK (on the France Cooking Forum) has asked:

#6

6.0 Not Kyoto, but pretty good for the 18th. Guilo Guilo, 8 rue Garreau, in the 18th, 01 42 54 23 92 opened a few months ago to admirable reviews. Because of my rigid rule about only eating French food in France, broken only when I'm leaving for a period of exotic cuisine, in this case Romanian such, I didn't get around to eating here until today despite the recommendations of the big boys as well of at least two members and one co-host at the Society. Colette and I tried reserving by delegation, telephone and finally had to walk over to this place in the midst of Amélie Poulainland to secure a table, only available at 7 PM, "in the back room," apologetically said the star chef. (As if it were Siberia - Folks, ask for the backroom if you wish to talk to your loved one, ask for the front bar if you wish to watch Eiichi Edakuni at work.) There are 8 courses in the degustation menu, which from Clotilde's blog's pix, are clearly different each night/week/or whatever. Our amuse bouches consisted of figs in a sauce and jambon cru with a mango puree. 2nd was a panoply of veggies and fruits: a Japanese (cherry) tomato, eggplant, taro and sashimi strips and 3rd - shrimp sushi with marinated vegetables. 4th - a soup with a folded over egg block with andouille in a sauce; 5th salmon pieces with a zippy sauce and cucumber. 6th for us were corn fritters/tempura with two sauces - one soy, the other dots of foie gras in another sauce. 7th was a spread of red tuna which one dipped in egg yolk and then a light soy sauce with pickled cabbage and rice with seaweed strips and sesame seeds. And we thought finally, was a pumpkin puree/ jelly with morsels of coffee jelly and an almond jelly block. I was humming "This is the end, Beautiful friend, This is the end, My only friend, the end" but the Doors did not appear. Instead, the chef proposed a topper - ennobled with his name (and presumably reputation) of dessert saki, fruit juice(s) and sparkling water - a nice end, but it was not part of them menu so an extra 17E was added to our bill! The bill with 4 draft Asahi beers was 127E. Go again? Despite the "show," I think in the 18th I'd choose Enishi

Thanks Laidback. Now that the embargo has been broken, I'm sure everyone is pleased to know that Spring, plus a non-traditional bar, sit down area for a plat du jour and wine cellar will accomodate more folk, but one correction is in order to the blognote; if only "100 000 euros" were to be spent on the work, it would be a pretty shabby renovation. Like Sec'y Paulson's estimate, it may be many times that. Otherwise we'll watch the Rue Balleuil with eagerness.

Today's IHT had an article, actually reprinted from yesterday's NYT on the effort by "a half-dozen" French chefs to have French food declared a "world treasure." While this idea has been bandied about for months here, including by President Sarkosy at the Ag Fair this year, this article in English and in the Times is new. It gives as examples of French treasures that should put it up with Machu Pichu and the Great Wall of China: andouille sausage from Vire, smoked garlic from Arleux calisson from Aix brioche from St-Genis + "betise" from Cambrai. A companion article on the "mediterranian" diet, mentions how Greece, Italy, Spain and Morocco have sought similar status and Italy claims that its food is superior due to 166 food specialties vs 156 in France.

After my first game of the year - a colvert at Clocher Pereire and lievre a la royale at Petit Marguery, I was reminded again of how great fall/game season is. And there are still great veggies.

I've had it at Petit Marguery... ← As did I today and quite good it was: the good Sénateur Couteaux a la Poiterine came through. (Not as great as that at Pti's referenced Ecaille & Plume but not half bad either.)

Perhaps. Recall though that 5 places open a week, really new, or under a new chef or management, or undergo a rehab job, for 10 months of the year. Also, historians correct me, but weren't the second bistrots (ie d'a cote as it were) of great chefs (Robuchon, Rostang, Cagna, Savoy) born because the economy wasn't so great in the mid and late 1980's and their primary places (even Jamin) were undergoing a drop in clients and perhaps dishes ordered. Well, I'd say there are several factors at work here. First, as I mentioned in that topic, there are superb restos in the big companies. Second, who's going to open a top place in the midst of a night/weekend desert? Third, there are lots of fast food opportunities for those who have to get back to their desks at mid-day. And fourth, a few tramway or Metro stops away are fine places where people do live and which can support restos for the evening meal.

Today's Figaro's business section had a full page with the lead-off article by Francois Simon and Mathilde Visseyrias, devoted to the Crisis in Restaurants. Today at lunch, I was complimenting Eric Jolibois at Clocher Periere for holding down his prices (menu at 30 E, reasonable wines) while serving first rate food such a a full lobe of foie gras, colvert, ombre chevalier, etc. He said it's tough, but with customers (and his are all business folk with suits and ties and he was turning away folks who hadn't reserved) feeling the pinch of buying power, he had to provide good food at a decent value. Well, Simon and Visseyrias confirm this. The last 6 months, compared to last year, 25% more of restos, 19% of fast food places, 56% of cafes and 45% of traiteurs have gone belly up. Folks are coming in for one dish and skipping coffee for one made from the machine back at the office. The topper, the famed Bobose at the Quincy near the Gare de Lyon says how can he manage if folks don't order a first course. Addendum the next day: John Whiting sent me a story from the Guardian essentially repeating the above but whose title links France to the "global recession." Addendum the second day: the TV stations are picking up the story.

Three pieces of information from A Nous Paris: Cristal de Sel in the 15th, (ANP's coup de coeur last year,) is offering a new market lunch for 20E. Ozu in the acquarium of the Trocadero in the 16th, will host Thierry Marx at the same time he continues at le Chateau Cordeillian Bages. Le Prince de Galles hotel will offer tapas each evening 6:30-11 PM ranging from 7-9 Euros.

There's much info on this compendium - please report any busted links to me by PM and I'll fix/merge/etc.

These two topics are helpful - here and here.