John Talbott

I think this arbitrary number is open for discussion; I picked 30 or so Euros because most of the articles in ANP or Figaroscope on inexpensive meals I "digest" use 30 E without liquids; I dunno.Today, however, I ate at Christian Etchebest's 3rd venture La Cantine du Troquet and for a superb meal (with the maestro in attendance eating mind you not cooking) three courses a la carte were 27 E which I think in terms of price-quality, is about as good as it gets. With a half-liter of wine and coffee the bill went to 37 E, which I still think is great.

I'm not totally sure what "country" food is versus bistro or traditional food (both of which the place I'm about to mention has been characterized as serving) but I'd consider La Cantine du Troquet, Etchebest's #3 to have provided it. I had pig's ears, a poitrine de porc and then an apricot tart. To me I think it was traditional, honest, bistronomic and quite country. It's much more "country", along the lines of say Grand Pan, his second venture, Afaria or Le Repaire de Cartouche than such recent favorites as Clocher Pereire, La Table d'Adrien + Ze Kitchen Galerie.

I'd ask our French members what they think about what I've only read about in books (principly the pseudonyimous Olivier Morteau); that two of the guiding spirits (I suppose mentors) have been Ducasse and Robuchon and that the Freemasonry connections come into play in their promotion of "their" chefs.

I like Phil's approach. As a total ignoramus when it comes to cooking, if I were 18 and starting out in Paris, I'd go to Constant or Camdeborde (who have arguably spun off more chefs), Savoy (less so but not bad) and Ledeuil (who has stagieres from all over all the time). These are not the starred guys mentioned above but, hey....as Phil says....

Here's the topic for buying Cheese in Paris.

Aside from Gallopin endorsed by both Julian and Phyllis, does anyone have any good experiences at brasseries this past year (I've stopped going, for reasons unclear to even me, and I received an enquiry from a member.)

The ones I've seen or been served consist of a glass of espresso and several shot-glass-or-equivalent-sized glasses with desserts, chopped fruit, etc., all served on an elongated platter or piece of slate.

Well, having just gotten back from a month in the US, where the Farmer's Market tomatoes were pretty fine, I was seduced by the sight of what appeared all the world to be heirloom tomatoes in my plain ole street market (on the Poteau side of the Duhesme spread) two days ago. Tonight I had one sliced with (1) squeezed industrial mayonaise and (2) with some balsamic bought by the Missus and me in Modena and plain ole extra virgin Puget olive oil. The oil and vinegar won out but the tomatoes were clearly first rate and as good as anything stateside.

An old hand and I, both interested in gastro-history, were eating today at a new place in the 18th, La Table d'Eugene, that you'll hear much more about as the rentree reviews start to appear next week. As dessert time approached, the couple next to us had two cafe gourmand's, prompting us to look at each other and ask the 3 w's questions: who, where and when was it introduced. I recall seeing it for the first time on a carte this spring but my archives and a search come up empty. Anybody got better memories than we?

There is reason to pop up this topic since dfunghi has asked elsewhere

Elsewhere, dfunghi said he was in Paris and I thought we could help out here.

Elsewhere, dfunghi said that he had and I thought we could add our answers best here.

A treasure no longer to be had there? ← Oh they still have it (in game season) and it's still reasonable but the sauce (the last time I went) was watery and the biche not top of the line.

I must disagree Pti, a rare occasion. Since its ownership has changed the BAuB is a shadow of its old self, despite keeping the waitstaff "on." Their 120 FF game lunch with the vrai BAuB and chestnut puree was a treasure.

Monsieur Lapin, where my blood filled with fat globules and my head went all goofy.

A little footnote; apparently two areas are still untouched by the OsHV-1, so it's a strange disease. Forecasters say it'll be a bleak Christmas-New Year's for us.

My only comments on our dinner recently at Captain Simeon’s in Kittery Point are that the lobstah there is sure getting pricey and the clams over-battered. I always insist that wine is just an alcohol delivery vehicle; well with the Cap’n, clams are simply a fat-delivery vehicle. Our bill with one bottle of rather nice Sauv Blanc was $111.12 before tip.

We had lunch recently in Brattleboro (en route from Baltimore to Boothbay) and I have a very warm spot in my heart for the town ever since I summered there during "the War." Boy has it changed since then (1945)! It was a pickup affair in all senses of the word. We found an organic, largely vegetarian eatery in the Brattleboro Food Coop and I learned an important life lesson: I’m not a crunchy granola guy. I had herbed chicken and steamed greens and while there is nothing on earth that can’t be improved by a healthy spritz of Tabasco, this preparation took a bit too much to make it interesting. However, Colette loved her tofu salad and I loved the bill ($9.12). As my Dad used to say “Yah gets what yah pays for.”

The Gramercy Bistro in North Adams has been open for six years, chef’d by a local guy who’s committed to good local products, etc and serves up a good meal. Colette and I ate with two dear friends who live here and who steered us exactly in the direction we would have gone unsupervised towards a portabello mushroom soup, paella with chorizo-infused rice and sweetbreads with artichoke and capers. With two bottles of wine and no desserts or bottled water, the bill was $96.08 for two. (Two little complaints; not having a red wine for less than $35 in this depressed mill town, despite its artsy pretensions, does seem a bit excessive and for a place that thinks its special, the bread was pretty bad). Another place worth a mention is Tunnel City Coffee in “Downtown” Williamstown which is the unStarbuck’s, serving superb espresso/lattes/etc with artistically swirled foamed milk on top along with tasty pastries.

Some additions: As I walked back home from lunch today I realized several other changes: 1. Our local dive, the Nord-Sud, now has a blackboard of "cocktails" - shocking! 2. We have replaced a cursed space (that was various things over the decades, incl a chicken take-out place) with a lovely flower shop (and our big flower shop was taken over by Monceau Fleurs, just as our great #9 Poteau Cheese Shop was taken over by Quatrehomme). 3. A crappy pseudo-Italian traiteur that used to be called The King of Sausages has rebranded itself as Olives, Salami & Co.

Interesting question. Since I wrote the above, one fish store , one specialty (Auvergne products) store, one coffee roaster and one green grocer have closed to be replaced by a Halal butcher, nothing, a junk store and a fine wine store; in addition, a big cheese emporium has downsized and some occasional stores have made way for a giant cell-phone vendor.In brief - fewer choices except for wine and Muslim meat. And, as the news reports about once a week, food product prices have increased every since the conversion to the euro (which conspiracy theorists see as linked).

Host's Note One thing we cherish here on the France Forum is discussion/disagreement without personal/ad hominem tones. Life is difficult enough, let's be sure we remain civil and appetizing.

The Week of August 18th, 2008 Tuesday in Le Fooding Julia Sammut wrote about Les Tamaris in Marseille. Wednesday-Thursday, Jean Claude Ribaut in Le Monde wrote an article on Alain Passard’s apple tart. Saturday-Sunday in Bonjour Paris Margaret Kemp had a piece on “Alice’s Boudoir Buzz” and John Talbott published an essay “Bistro Brasserie Resto Café Bar: What’s in a Name - III?” This month's Gourmet was devoted to Paris; a topic on the issue discusses it. Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

In Portland, Duckfat is really one-of-a and a fine one-of-a. We cruised in (as usual), on a Saturday just before noon (as usual), easily found a parking place (as usual), and entered to queue in not a bad line (as usual). One of the specials that day was a BBQ pulled pork panino and that really spoke to me along with a tardively-ordered small Belgian frites order with red pepper infused mayonnaise; Colette preferred a beet salad and communicated by wait-talk to also obtain a piece of flat bread (really foccacio). All were quite special (as usual); what is not usual is their (usual) reasonably priced wine ($10 for the half bottle.) $39.86 was our total bill before tip with two half-bottles of wine. On the other hand, Walter’s, disappointed us this year. We loved the chorizo and clam chowder, loved is too mild a word - it was terrific. But I had the bistro fish special which that day was mahi-mahi that was characterless as were the accompanying frites. And Colette thought her peeky toe sandwich was missing the promised “avocado cream” and candied jalapeño, making it kinda unexciting. With two glasses of wine the bill was $47.08 before tip.

Crush opened recently in the former Taste space in Belvedere Square and was reputed to be less pricey (single digits for starters but mid-high-$20’s for mains); we tried it this weekend with mixed results. The outdoor tables were nice and allowed one to escape the noise inside generated by a lack of acoustic/sound-dampening, use of cell-phones (despite the menu’s request) and elevated voices trying to over-ride competing conversations as well as a sports bar atmosphere with TV’s showing both the Ravens and Orioles’ games. But the food was subpar. We sort of shared a portion of tuna tartare that while small was made with very good product. Then I had a platter of fried, over-battered calamari that was strangely tasteless with or without the two sauces (calamari are my American equivalent of Bocuse’s fresh, tasty sliced tomato; something every chef should be able to produce but often fails at.) Colette, meanwhile, had an equally tasteless halibut. We left $69.96 lighter before tip but after a bottle of wine.