John Talbott

Jim Bowie (I kid thee not) announced in Le Fooding that the Transversal gang's going to revive theCafé de la Maison Rouge and le China Club + Julien have reopned. .

What a bashful bunch here. OK, I'll take the dare.While I've had plus/minus meals there, the best salad frisee I've ever had was at Aux Lyonnais. As for other classics, how about Chez Georges, Quincy or Bofinger or updated classics at the Repaire de Cartouche.

The Week of March 31st, 2008 March 22nd, Charles Bremmer and Marie Tourres wrote an article in the Times Online entitled “French reviewers give Gordon Ramsay a taste of his own medicine” quoting everyone from Simon to Pudlo and the press is rather bad. Monday in Le Fooding, Trish Deseine, the Irish cookbook author, wrote about taking her kids to Gordon Ramsay’s second resto in Versailles – the Veranda, 1 bd de la Reine, 01 30 84 55 55, open 7/7. The kids (7-15) thought that the décor, chocolate fondant, sauces and warm bread were good but one fish was undercooked and had a bloody aftertaste, another was too skimpy, the caramel ice-cream was too salty and the basil sorbet had a strange taste. It was also very expensive, took too long and the too many waiters looked silly holding their silver trays. Tuesday-Wednesday, in ANP, Jerome Berger had a full page piece on Hisayuki Takeuchi who has done an ephemeral resto at Bon Marche, an annex on the Champs Rendez-vous Toyota, a resto in the 15th Kaiseki.com and a book by Agnes Vienot. Wednesday, in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin’s “C’est nouveau” reviewed Gordon Ramsay’s Trianon Palace in Versailles, coordinates above and gave it a broken heart for its stiff, dismal and tasteless food that was also expensive (120 € per person); and awarded one heart each to: La Bocalee, 6, rue Ernest Renan in the 6th, 01.47.34.67.55, closed Saturday lunch, Sunday night and Mondays with lunch menus at 18 and 22.50 and about 50 € a la carte for shrimp with citrus, pea soup, lamb and profiteroles; Le Transversal a la Maison Rouge, 10, bvd de la Bastille in the 12th, 01.40.01.08.81, closed Monday and Tuesday and only open until 7 PM except Thursday til 9 PM, with menus at 20 and 25 € for mashed potatoes, stuffed pepper and egg cream; La Branche d’Olivier, 44-46 rue de Naples in the 8th, 01.42.63.48.18, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, serving mackerel rillettes, beef filet and fromage blanc on 29.50 and 36 menus and 45 € a la carte; and the Spanish-sounding Basque-Bohemian La Bocata, 31 rue Milton in the 9th, open everyday but Sundays, serving coldcuts and simple fish for 15-30 €. Wednesday as well, the Figaroscope “Dossier” dealt with the best neobistrots and rated them as follows: 18/20 Chez Ami Jean 17 Beurre Noisette 16.5 Repaire de Cartouche 16 l’Os a Moelle 15.5 Le Chateaubriand 15 Le Villaret 15 Le Baratin 14.5 Chez Michel 14 Le Troquet 14 l’Avant Gout 13.5 Le Comptoir du Relais 12 l’Epi Dupin. And, Francois Simon’s “Hache Menu” featured Le Regalade which he didn’t rate but encouraged one to go to for their 32 € menu (although he chose a 72 € wine = 146 € total) with asparagus, veal and pink grapefruit with sorbet. Wednesday-Thursday, Jean Claude Ribault in Le Monde chimed in about Gordon Ramsay as well, a bit more positively than the others. Last Thursday, in l’Express, Francois Regis Gaudry reviewed Jean in the 9th, chef’d now by Bordier’s second Anthony Boucher who has maintained BB’s level and cooks snails with spinach and fennel, pork with cabbage and blood orange with mandarin jelly and white chocolate ice. Meanwhile Marie-Odile Briet reviewed the Italian La Briciola in the 3rd. Thursday, in ParisObs, Philippe Couderc reviewed La Veranda, coordinates given above, where he had a tuna filet with fennel, lamb shoulder, red cabbage and crème caramel that he rated 15-16/20 for the Franco-Italian food and 15/20 for the price/quality ratio. He also reviewed Jean-Charles Ttoro, 6, rue Paul-Verlaine in Saint-Maurice (94 ; Ile de France), 01-48-83-27-27, formula at 19, a la carte 24-38 € which he rated 13-14/20 serving basque food such as baby eel, a bourrasque (bouillabaise like), calamari, charcuterie, etc. Friday in Les Echos Jean Louis Galesne wrote an essay on food fashion since the turn of the last century, mentioning Escoffier’s peach Melba, the Ritz’s classic dishes, the Cafe de la Paix, Larue, Maxim’s, Flo, Bofinger, Pharamond + l'Escargot Montorgueil. In Saturday’s Figaro Francois Simon wrote an article about Philippe Rochat, ex-Fredy Giradet in Crissier, Switzerland, saying nothing has changed. On the right, Alexandra Michot wrote about food blogs and other web productions by Pascale Weeks, Régis Marcon, Gilles Epié, Joël Robuchon, the Ducasse group, Stéphane Riss, Jamie Oliver, Yannick Alléno and Masami Akaogi. Saturday/Sunday, in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp had an article on the Dali at le Meurice and John Talbott had one on “Way out where redux”. Sunday (March 16th) in the NYT, Elaine Sciolino wrote a “Bites” piece on 1728 open now for 5 years. May’s Food & Wine had several items: four “fast” “comfort food” places: Floors, Les Cocottes, 142 Creperie Contemporaine, 59 rue St Charles in the 15th, 01.40.59.84.01 and the Café Charlot, 39 rue Charlot in the 13th, 01.44.54.03.30; two restos in Chateauneuf du Pape: Le Beaugraviere + La Mere Germaine; and 6 “Go” places: Baratin, Chiberta, Pre Catalan, Les Cocottes, Mon Vieil Ami, Racines + Spring and 3 places they “still love:” Da Rosa, Le Comptoir + Le Meurice. May’s FRANCE magazine suggests one place in Aix Les Bains: La Terrasse; one in Pouilly sur Loire: Chez Memere; and a brief review of Sacre Cordon Bleu: what the French know about cooking by Michael Booth and Jonathan Cape, paper, 12.99₤. May’s Bon Appetit had lots of things of interest: the recipe for steak frites from Le Bistrot Paul Bert; a “hot 10…euro bargain” Le Chateaubriand and two articles by “our own” Clotilde Dusoulier on the Right Bank places: Urbane, La Cantine de Quentin, Zoe Bouillion + Quedubon and “our own” Dorie Greenspan who mentioned among the “new Paris bistros:” Le Comptoir, Fables de la Fontaine, Ribouldingue, Chez Michel, Le Troquet, Les Papilles, l’Os a Moelle + Chez l’Ami Jean. Edited April 16th to add more content to Wednesday’s Figaroscope threesome that are still unavailable on the web. Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Great question. My own answer is linked to the decade of my life, let me explain. When one is young, one can eat in two such places a day and manage. As one ages, yogurt looks mighty good at lunch before a blowout dinner or a spot of cheese at night after a similar lunch. Not everyone lives in France or visits frequently; when I came once a year, it was do it all, who knows what would happen tmrw. At the time it seemed pretty cool.

I have eaten a few times.. Last time with JT.You have better choices in Paris. ← For one of Pierre and my experiences - see here.As for suggestions (these are all lunch, as was Ze, where it's not noisy and American) try Passiflore, Clocher Pereire, l'Epigramme, Afaria, Repaire de Cartouche, Les Papilles depending on what you want.

Well I'm an ex-fan and I liked it shortly after it opened and said I'd go back but have only been back once.

2008 French Food Guides Chapter 5 – Two new Michelins Web Radio du Gout announced the publication of two new Michelin guides: the first of 510 good small restos, eg Bonnes Petites Tables, of which 94 new ones have 3 course menus for 28 Euros in the country and 35 Euros in Paris; the second, a guide of 330 B&B's of charm and character, 129 of which are less than 100 Euros.

Thanks all; quick report. We at at Johnny Wong's Asean Bistro which was OK but after two successive fine meals at a similarly-based (eg Lao-Thai-Viet-Chinese) resto Lao Lane Xang 2 in Paris, it paled in comparison. We'll try the Iron Bridge Wine Company next opera date.

I have been hearing this for some time, here and in personal communications. People who loved the place when he first moved from St Etienne are now disappointed. I stopped going before these reports tho' for other reasons.

Holly although I haven't dealt with the place for years, I'd do both - fax and tele.

Yup. On my street alone prices for fruits and vegetables can vary by 30% and where my friend Atar goes (Poncelet) they are sometimes 2-3-more times (but the quality is better). I like the idea of using Carrefour or Telemarket as reference points too.As a coda, the 8 PM TV news almost once a month runs a segment on rising prices of grains, etc. The "purchasing power" is a big issue in France and Italy.

May’s Bon Appetit had an article on the “Hot 10/euro bargains” that mentioned Restaurant As.

May’s Bon Appetit had an article on the “Hot 10/euro bargains” that also (see above) mentioned Museum Brasserie.

May’s Bon Appetit had an article on the “Hot 10/euro bargains” that mentioned Lille Herbern.

May’s Bon Appetit had an article on the “Hot 10/euro bargains” that again (see above) mentioned Osterreicher im MAK.

May’s Bon Appetit had an article on the “Hot 10/euro bargains” that mentioned Schneeweiss.

I realize that this is a specific request, but to just remind all that a search turns up four more topics that cover Cannes and the surrounding area. John

Sorry, one of us should have given the coordinates - it's the Trianon Palace + Brasserie La Véranda, in the hotel of the same name, 1 bd de la Reine, 78000 Versailles, 01.30.84.50.00 for #1 and 01.30.84.55.56 for the 2nd. They were previously Les Trois Marches + Cafe Trianon I believe. If you look on your Michelin Red Guide map of Versailles, it/they are almost directly North of where it reads Jardins (of the Chateau). The hotel is now a Starwood/Westin property.

May's FRANCE magazine lists 5 female chefs: Isabelle Auguy at Grand Hotel Auguy in Lagiuole Christine Ferber at Maison Ferber in Niedermorschwhir Reine Sammut at Auberge La Ferniere in Lourmarin Nathalie Beauvais at Le Jardin Gourmand in Lorient and Anne-Sophie Pic in Valence.

And here is another witty and charming review, from Monday's Le Fooding, where Trish Deseine, the Irish cookbook author, wrote about taking her kids to Gordon Ramsay’s second resto in Versailles – the Veranda. It was a most mixed review, easily read because they switch between English and French. PS I'll thus change the title of this topic to include La Veranda.

...and most without having actually eaten there (the critic from Liberation being the only exception that I can see). I know it's dangerous to question some of the reviewers mentioned, but does nobody think that you should actually eat in a restaurant before you review it? ← Fully agree. My understanding is that it was open to the press for several days, perhaps even a week, before it was open to the public, so some of them had to have gone. I know that one reviewer even interviewed him outside both the UK and France in preparation for his piece.

I have not but a March 22nd article in the Times Online titled “French reviewers give Gordon Ramsay a taste of his own medicine” quotes everyone from Simon to Pudlo and the press is rather bad.

Hi: I was surprised that I couldn't find a topic on Columbia MD. In any case I need a place to eat at Saturday before the Met Opera (eg 11:30-1 PM) that's good, quick and tasty. Thanks

Hummmmm, perhaps "Bernard Antony, Maître Affineur Fromagier, Vieux-Ferrette?"

In a recent NYT article Nicholas Kulish suggested eating at V Zatisi + U Zlateho Tygra.