John Talbott

Wow, thanks Felice.Last night on the flight from Dulles to R/CdeG the debutante attendant lady was so excited to be here for Food Week that she pumped everyone for info (cute!)

This is a truly dumb, make that uninformed, question from someone who genuinely wants to know the answer. Who is Sarah Weiner? (yes, I’ve Googled her) and why is she treated like a culinary goddess/genius on Arte in “Les Aventures de ……” I only watched a smidgen tonight but I think I’m missing: 1. the back story, 2. the real story, or 3. the story. Is she the new M. F. K. Fisher, Julia Child or Floyd or is this pure hype?

I’m posting this here because after a magnificent meal* at Ze Kitchen Galerie at which we were astonished by several new dishes, almost all of which were accompanied by a lot of pureed and grilled fall vegetables, I asked chef William Ledeuil if, since some of our members are vegetarian, he served any all-vegetarian dishes. Of course, said he, indeed folks sometimes like the vegetables they’re served so much they ask for another helping. *A fuller description of which and disclosure statement of what were we comp'd can be found here.

I think even I’m becoming tired of hearing myself rave about Ze Kitchen Galerie on this and other topics, but it’s impossible not to. Today, for instance, we had another magnificent meal* at which we were astonished by several new dishes (such as salmon and octopus sashimi-sized bits, lentil soup with chestnuts and mushrooms, veal raviolis with a sweet-sour Thai soup of ginger, cilantro and other herbs*, almost raw in the middle but toasty on the outside scallops on a stalk of lemon grass with citron caviar, daurade with a caper sauce, roasted figs and roasted mango, both with ice cream) as well as an old favorite for dessert - the intense, almost-fudgey “cappuccino,*” but we were also overwhelmed by the pureed and tiny grilled and warm and half-cooked fall vegetables from zucchini squash to pumpkin and pepper, etc. *Under the disclosure portion of our volunteers’ ethics’ policy, I should mention that while I have never asked to be comp’d for a meal, I do accept comp’d items on subsequent visits after I’ve reviewed a place, when to refuse such would be both churlish and unadventuresome (eg Inaki Aizpitarte’s shrimp). In today’s case, we were treated to coupes de champagne, raviolis with soup and the “cappuccinos.” P.S. The service again, for us, was exemplary. Edited by John Talbott to add link to other topic on Ze.

Okay. So here's the core around which Colette and my Friday and Saturday's meals will be structured: Friday: tartare de boeuf and Argentinean steak Saturday: Springbok loin with beef biltong and rosbif. I think that pretty much comports with the beefy folk who'll be out on the pitch.

I assume you've checked our listings of areas that has a couple existing topics covering Arles, Aix and a half-dozen on Provence.

I'm not sure my French friends are representative of anything. I host a Franco-American symposium each year in a different city and my French guests seem to like it when I take them to a place serving "local" food, Mexican in San Diego, crabs in Baltimore, southern in Atlanta, cajun in New Orleans, etc. But my French critic/writer friends are more interested in cutting edge stuff (WD50 in NY, Alinea in Chicago, etc.) However, the much larger number of French visitors fall in neither group and from the newspapers I glean that they love anything in Los Vegas, Florida, etc.

Felice's note reminded me that I meant it was available now, indeed weeks ago, at least fowl and hare.

Well it's not a real review and all he says is "Autre nippon de qualité, Bushi-Tei (Japantown), qui pratique, lui, une cuisine fusion enlevée (pieuvre géante du Pacifique grillée, salade de tomate et pistou de shiso, langouste et crabe, feuille de chrysanthème, papaye, bacon, crème de gingembre et huile de curry, etc.)," that is, the other Japanese place of quality practices fusion cooking con brio (then giving the ingredients). And he mentions they have a star. In the intro he says SF is a happening place where one eats well and with food from all over, including France.

Web Radio du Gout suggests a Rugby tartrine aka Basque shepherd tartine for the semi-final tomorrow. It consists of a base of “Dorépi” toasted multi-grain bread rubbed with garlic, topped with slices of Coeur de Boeuf tomato, Bigorre black-pork ham and Ossau Iraty, passed under the grill and finally topped off with three Espelette peppers in vinegar. And then I guess there’ll be rosbif.

Ah, you were there during Tet, too, then. I spent Tet trapped in a MACV compound in Bao Trai - with CRIP. ← Yea, I was there for the Tet festivities, sort of. Happened to be "Over The Fence" with a few friends for a short visit at the outset. Shortly afterwards, we were extracted and returned to Da Nang. ← Interesting indeed. To steer this back to food, after eating largely out of cans my wife sent from Zabars et al to Binh Hoa/Long Binh, I was due to fly into Sai Gon the day after Tet eve and had it all planned to stay in a villa, eat a Chinese chef's fresh food from the market and Dalat and wine and dine beautiful French women, the wine coming from their fabled cellars. Well, all hell broke loose of course, the Ammo Dump blew, and I was stuck as well, although after some pleading my chopper buddies agreed to fly me into town where they were still dive-bombing the Phu Tho Racetrack and the beautiful women and fabled cellers were no more; but the Chinese chef was and the chow was very fine.Let's hear more Chef.

I'd be interested if there have been any new places or old places getting better since 2004. Thanks

Hello out there. I thought you might be interested in “how others see you” from a French perspective, especially since so many of you are Parisophiles. Jean-Louis Galesne of Les Echos, who does a weekly column in the French equivalent of the WSJ or FT, did today’s on the largely ethnic places he went to in San Francisco. They included The Slanted Door, Sushi Ran, Bushi-Tei, Quince, Yank Sing, Mamacita + Coi. The article is of course, in French, for those interested.

Wonderful; do you know its name? Also, for those interested in a garlic cooking lesson with C. Constant go here.

According to Web Radio du Gout, December 3rd, Christian Constant and Stéphane Schmidt will conduct a special white, pink, violet garlic cooking course for 10 folk (drawn by lots) at the Violin. More info here.

Host's Note Recall that the topic is entitled "Restaurant food photos," please, all. Thanks. John

For more on cookware, bakeware, pan stores, etc. please see here. And I'd second Pti's point about BHV; we furnished our kitchen largely from BHV.

Cooking and baking equipment, stores, etc A compendium of existing topics. This is one of a series of compendia that seeks to provide information available in prior topics on eGullet. Please feel free to add links to additional topicss or posts or to add suggestions. Copper pans in the Loire or the Dordogne Pastry ingredients and supply stores Bakeware, Pans, cookware, etc. Copper in Nice

You may want to check this topic out.

The Week of October 1st, 2007 Last week, only posted recently, Francois-Regis Gaudry in L’Express reviewed Afaria, 15, rue Desnouettes, in the 15th, 01-48-56-15-36, closed Sundays and Mondays with lunch menus at 19 and 27 €, a la carte: 30 €. The article/review posits that the 15th is THE happening place populated by the chicks from the Christian Constant hatchery - Christian Etchebest at Le Troquet, Thierry Faucher at l'Os à moelle, Thierry Blanqui at Beurre Noisette and Mathieu Garrel at Bélisaire, plus one has Benoît Gauthier at the Grand Pan and Karil Lopez at the Cristal de sel. In any case Afaria is chef’d by an “ancient” (he looks like he’s 12 if a year, but truth in reporting; he’s actually 26) from Drouant, Carré des Feuillants + Daniel Boulud, serving 14 tapas, an échine de cochon gascon confite en cocotte de légumes {which I’ll report on later}, and lots of Hispanic, Haitian, Basque and other dishes. Monday/Tuesday, A Nous Paris had three reviews: Philippe Toinard gave a rare 4/5 blocks to Pierre au Palais Royal, 10 rue de Richelieu in the 1st, 01.42.96.09.17, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays which has a menu of 33 for two courses and 39 € for three. It serves things such as tuna tartare, Breton bar and a petit pot of orange. Meanwhle Jerome Berger awarded 3/5 blocks to two places: Les Cocottes, coordinates and dishes well given before and the new Vapeur Gourmande, 49, rue Balard in the 15th, 01.45.57.71.90, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, with a lunch formula for 15, a la carte 35 € that serves a plate of veggies from Joel Thibault and white peaches with caramel sauce. {I think you get the picture.} On the side-bar was an announcement that a place Le Café qui Parle, 24, rue Caulincourt has reopened in the 18th, 01.46.06.06.88, under a chef from la Maison du Danemark and his wife with very gentle prices – 12.50-17 € at lunch serving stuff such as gazpacho with ecrevisses, salmon and cheese and fruit. Wednesday, Richard Hesse in Paris Update reviewed the MiniPalais, coordinates given before, where he seemed to have found the setting stunning but unless I’m mistaken, only the desserts equally so. Wednesday, as well, Emmanuel Rubin, in Figaroscope once again gave lots of space and ink to a place he essentially trashed but also awarded two hearts each to Au Bon Acceuil, coordinates in the guidebooks, newly taken over by a Japanese chef who serves a 31 € menu (a la carte 50-60 €) of a type of mackerel like sushi, sautéed cepes and a baba; and Pierre au Palais Royal, coordinates above, serving Madagascar shrimp, boudin noir and a trilogy of duck. One hearts went to Ratatouille, 168, rue Montmartre in the 2nd, 01.40.13.08.80, closed weekends serving for 35-50 € an honorable ecrevisses ravioli, nice enough crab, chicken breast, lotte and a tarte tatin {I cannot figure out what was wrong}; Le Floors, 100, rue Myrha in the 18th, 01.42.62.08.08, never closed, which is an “American diner” serving fish & chips {that’s sure American}, cheeseburgers and a chocolate milkshake for 20-35 €; and Le Look, 17, rue Martel in the 10th, 01.42.46.12.88, closed Sundays, with no menu or “menu” but serves hot-dogs and salads for 15-20 €. Figaroscope’s “Dossier” this week was all about Small plates obtainable in covered markets: Les Enfants-Rouges l’Estaminet d’Aromes et Cepages Taeko Beauveau Corossol Sur les quais La Maree Beauveau St-Germain Bacchus & Ariane + Litchi Bar reviewed by F. Simon in his “Croque Notes” St-Quentin Quach Ternes Les Cousines en Cuisine Rue Daguerre Fromage Rouge & Co Levallois La Table Rouge Wednesday-Thursday, in Le Monde, Jean Claude Ribaut wrote about innovations in St Emilion wines. Friday, in l’Express, Marie-Amal Bizalion had a review as an under 30 E place, of Le Longchamp Palace in Marseille and François-Régis Gaudry reviewed La Maison Blanche, that Forbes magazine called the “World's top power dining spot.” Saturday, Francois Simon in Le Figaro, devoted his “Croque Notes” to a farewell to the front-room star of Stella Maris, cutely misprinted as Stella Paris, Michiko Yoshino who left Paris last Tuesday night for her home near Kyoto. Sunday in JDD the famous chef picking restos in Paris (now for under 35 €) was Fabrice Salvador of the Table du Lancaster who chose Azabu + Krung Thep. In its Version Femina, Astrid de T’Serclaes reviewed: Chez Julien + Vintage, 46, rue d’Argout in the 2nd, 01.40.26.57.54, lunch formula 15, a la carte about 30 E serving irreproachable meat, game and mushrooms. And Sunday as well, Margaret Kemp has an article in Bonjour Paris about Gordon Ramsey coming to Versailles as well as the Ferme St Simon, les Princes + La Table du Lancaster while John Talbott has an update on the 10th arrondissement’s restaurants, notably Garance. Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

This weekend in the FT Adam Jones wrote an article on five cooking schools in Paris that might be helpful to those making a choice. They are: L’école d’Alain Ducasse, www.atelier-gastronomique.com L’école Lenôtre, www.lenotre.fr L’école Ritz-Escoffier, www.ritzparis.com Le Cordon Bleu Paris, www.lcbparis.com L’Atelier des Chefs, www.atelierdeschefs.com

Oct 07 – Afaria, Pierre au Palais Royale, Garance, Le Clocher Pereire, Au Bon Acceuil, l’Ami Jean, Le Carré des Vosges, l’Ordonnance, La Clarisse, Le Passage Gourmet, La Marlotte Grey is the new black and Afaria is the new Spring. 6.9 Afaria, 15, rue Desnouettes in the 15th, 01.48.56.15.36, closed Sunday and Monday lunch, is the new Spring, i.e., everybody is talking about it, l’Express, Figaroscope, A Nous Paris, etc. Well, I can see why. The RFC and I had lunch on a dreary fall day, in this dreary area near Convention, where there are almost more pretty, pregnant ladies than in the 11th, and we actually talked as much about the food as about the pulchritudinous scenery. I showed up in black jeans, tee and leather jacket, he in a grey tee, jeans and black wind-cheater, and he quickly informed me that grey was the new black, OK, but he agreed that the new black was also black. This place is another funny (in the good sense) blend of new/old, Basque/world, light/overwhelming, exciting/reassuring food that I found below at Pierre…… see below. I entered a bit early and on every mirror was written the wines, by the glass (4 E), 50 cl carafe (8 E) and bottle (you name it) from all the regions plus Sunny-land. Being Amurican, and knowing that the RFC always got delayed doing some act of Christian charity or diverted by some slug in a wine bar (it turned out to be the latter), I ordered a ½ of the house white – not bad, not bad at all. I said the place was funny; there’s a menu with groupings of three dishes (1st, main, dessert) for several rubrics (Sud, voyage, small plates, things for two to share and noble, not Nobel, dishes). Except for the nobles, it runs one 19 for two to 27 E for three dishes. Then there’s an ardoise of 14 “tapas” – everything from peppers to potatoes. Plus there’s a plat du jour for 15 E, which our day was a huge piece of fish (I thought it was fowl it looked so tempting) on tarbais beans. Like Ze Kitchen Galerie’s confusing list of planchas, etc., one just orders and they work out the math. OK, we started with three “tapas”, much too much, the fried accra (cod) balls in a cone were very good, the duck hearts in a garlic/parsley sauce had to be tried but the chipirons, fried, yet again, {in what I always thought was a Northern (Flemish) sabot} were divine. The two old guys next to us were so impressed they had to ask “What dat be?” Oh yes, the bread, albeit Banette, was edible. Then we had a “dish to share” (listed at something like 10.50 E,) incredible falling-off-the-bone confited pork spare ribs with a wonderful side bowl of fall veggies (carrots, leeks, parsnips, turnips, onions, cabbage – a meal in itself.) Stuffed, we repaired to the huge shared table for 8 at the front by the bar – I suspect because the RFC thought he could cop a smoke there, but no, so we repaired outside to two of the, I would guess, ten seats to finish our, what number, bottle of wine, coffees, pear and almond cookies. The tariff – I kid you not – for much, too much, very good food and wine – 110 E. Any detracting element?; yes, the old (my age) Americans taking flash photos of all their food. Should you go? Well try Spring first, but after you get rejected (don’t take it personally), come here. The Kings (Jean-Paul Arabian & David Fremondiere) are gone and living well; long live the Kings (Eric Sertour & Pascal Bataille - ex-l'Arôme + l'Ami Marcel) 6.8 Pierre au Palais Royal, 10, rue de Richelieu in the 1st, 01.47.07.58.57, closed Saturday for lunch and Sundays, this week got 4/5 blocks from Philippe Toinard in A Nous Paris and 2/4 hearts from Emmanuel Rubin of Figaroscope and I can see why; it’s terrific, elegant but serving gusty food! I went with my friend/colleague/host when I crash in New York, who was doing a consultation a few blocks away, so I wanted a place he wouldn’t have to schlep too far for and it was perfect. He arrived a bit before me, settled in with a kir and the room started filling by 12h30 and was chock-a-block by 13h00. There were a few Anglos but the majority were locals. The food is an interesting blend of traditional, neo and fusion. Let me explain. For a first he had the sautéed cepes (5 E extra) and I the rillons (cold) of beef cheeks and tail. Both were classic and very good. Then he had a classic tete de veau with gribiche sauce while I had something called a tempura of plaice fish that was almost like the fish in good fish n’ chips, with tartare sauce on a bed of Japanese veggies/seaweed/etc and wasabi. Finally, we shared a deconstructed pannacotta with a small ball of ice cream. We had no bottled water or coffee, but a bottle of excellent wine. Without the kir and cepes supplement our bill would have come under the magic 100 € number. NB there were two entrée specials and two main specials that can be had as part of the very big menu-carte costing 39 for three and 33 € for two courses. Go again? I plan on dragging Colette here next month. It is what it is and what it is, is pretty good, sauf being the local Casa de Peepee. 6.4 Garance, 96, quai de Jemmapes in the 10th, 01.42.02.87.95, closed Mondays with an 18 € 3-course “menu” and wines starting at 15 € a bottle is indeed a “pleasant surprise,” to quote Emmanuel Rubin. I went on a glorious sunny Sunday when there was no “menu” but there sure were plenty of people, by 1:30 it was completely full and the crowd spilled out almost to the Canal St Martin. The tables and chairs are post-modern, the wait-staff all in tight black and the food quite, quite good. The menu (both put on the ardoise and printed), states that they buy and serve fresh products and I believe them. I started with the very good, fried chipirons that had an intriguing batter, a layer of tapenade on the slate plate, diced veggies and seeds to put on top, one of which was fennel. I then had an almost raw (as requested) piece of veal liver with dribbles of reduced balsamic and a carrot concoction – also very good – with great fries. On a roll, I ordered three homemade ices – Guatemala coffee, salty caramel and rum raisin, again super. No problems? Well, the folks on the terrace (aka sidewalk) were nicotine addicted and the wind instead of blowing from Vichy as it did for Bogie, blew straight into the resto. Also, for a while, the number of non-dining folks dropping in to pee exceeded those seeking tables so it was like Grand Central. And the bread is nothing to write home about, but who cares? The bill = 49 €, but on a weekday for two with one bottle of wine and 2 coffees (but no bottled water) it’d be 55 €; beat that! Should one go? How can you not love a place that plays the “Buena Vista Social Club” CD non-stop? Way out, in all senses of the expression. 6.2 N* Le Clocher Pereire, 42, bvd Pereire in the 17th, 01.44.40.04.15 was heralded by Emmanuel Rubin as the first nice surprise of the rentrée and I’d have to agree. Funnily enough I seem to have had the same meal he did, which may explain part of our shared enthusiasm. It’s a really really nice looking place, thoroughly comfortable among all the residential and business buildings of the Boulevard Pereire (unlike the Buffalo Grill down the road apiece.) Unlike many one-man band places this size (about 26 covers), there is not one but three young men in the cuisine and only Madame in front. But the service only was pressed when the place was full at 13h30; until then the food flowed out without a hitch. The bread looked industrial but was excellent, the wine selection fine and the coffee was Illy. Three dishes are 29 at lunch (5 each of starters, mains & desserts); but an OK menu (that day consisting of a terrine, tete de veau and crème caramel) was available for 17 €. I began with another hot/lukewarm/coolish (is this a trend?) mound of cepes (bound with egg) atop simpler chopped cepes with sauce; absolutely delicious (ER said “pas mal.") Then I had the melt-in-your-mouth rabbit with confited lemon (which I did not get much of a sense of) with a little pastille packet of rabbit morsels with raisins: wonderful (ER “agreeable"). I terminated with the moelleux of chocolate, this was gold standard or close. The crowd was all French and quite eclectic, many suits, two worker-types, two “working girls” with handler and a guy next to me pitching another spectacle on the Beatles by singing some of their songs that are timeless. Any drawbacks: yes, 5 women smoking pretty non-stop with inadequate ventilation (but 2008 is creeping in) and it is a bit of a schlep from the Metro or bus. The bill with ½ bottle of red, no bottled water and a coffee = 45 €. Should one go? This is a place as Pudlo used to say “worth following.” Back to the status quo ante. 6.0 Au Bon Acceuil, coordinates well known, was a regular place for my gang for years, but after Jacques Lacipiere decamped for {Chez} Les Anges around the corner, we drifted away. Once again the menu-carte is 27 € but as before, the more interesting mains are on the carte (eg ris de veau and pigeonneau) and are a heckova lot more than that. So while we three ate OK for 142 € with two bottles of Chinon and coffee but only Chat. Delanoye for water, to break off to the more interesting stuff would really have upped the end-sum. Anyway, we had three different entrees – a green salad with parmesan, a terrine of guinea fowl and foie gras (OK) and their old sautéed mackerel with fantastic fall veggies – two different mains – a gigot with beans which wasn’t raw enough for me despite my request but had great crispy skin and was quite tasty and an equally tasty faux-filet with bok choy (the chef is Japanese, if memory serves me) – then three desserts that were fine, no more – a moelleux, a baba and a raspberry concoction atop a Breton cookie. The bread and sliced sausage seem unchanged from before. If you loved it before, you’ll like it again, if you hated it……. You can go home again 5.5 l’Ami Jean, 27, rue Malar in the 7th, 01.47.05.86.89, closed Sundays and Mondays is a place where I had two disappointing meals after it opened and that would normally be that. But so many people on the France Forum, including my charming cohost, have raved about it that I acted abnormally and went back. On entering I was struck by how jammed together the tables were and how much it resembled Le Regalade, which is of course where Stephane Jego came from. The menu, which started below 30 is now 32 for three courses. I had the timbale of escargots, mushrooms and (?) pied de porc with (?) espelette pepper which came of a hot hot plate but was of varying temperatures within, making it rather interesting. Then the paleron of beef which was huge but like the beef in pot-au-feu, not much to write home about save for the wonderful vegetable/condiment that had a spicy chard and carrots and the crisp salty bacon that made it a good dish. I had a dessert described as a tatin of yellow lemon, but it was green and deconstructed, but quite good. The service was so good they poured my carafe of wine into my glass when it needed it. It being game season, there were ample specials that by themselves approached the price of the menu. The one that looked terrific was a casserole of fowl, pork and foie gras. Should you go? I think this is an ideal place to send 1st time visitors; good chow, authentic surroundings and nice staff. The Marais: Is it the Jewish or American quarter? 4.0 NNN* Le Carré des Vosges, 15, rue St-Gilles in the 3rd, 01.42.71.22.21, closed Sundays and Mondays, where the 3-course menu is 27 and 2-course one is 21 Euros (3 firsts, mains and desserts). The day I visited was the day after it was reviewed in Figaroscope but although I passed many folk carrying their sukkot plants, the quarter seemed more American than Jewish and the restaurant even more so. I started with a nice tapenade with not so nice bread. Then I had an equally nice langoustine bisque with croutons and cheese that seemed pretty industrial: OK but not surprising. The daurade with piperade was also OK but not mind-exploding. Finally I terminated with a tarte tatin with a firm cookie underneath and splashes of caramel in the corner of the plate and supposedly something made with calvados but I couldn’t taste it. Lunch plus 2 glasses of a fine Gard wine (which came with too long a lecture on it from Madame) but no bottled water or coffee ran 37 €. I do believe English is spoken since there were plenty of them there. Should one go? If you live nearby but there’ll be no fireworks. Is there a doctor in the house? 3.8 NNN* l’Ordonnance, 51, rue Hallé in the 14th, 01.43.27.55.85, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, 3 courses for 29, two for 23 €. The name means prescription not artillery (that’s ordnance) and I’d read that it was the moral equivalent of a hospital canteen, perhaps in Miam, serving the faculty at the two hospitals nearby (Rochefoucauld + Sainte Anne’s, the psych hospital) so I suggested to a French colleague that we hold a planning meeting there. It has a no-smoking room and we were all alone for 2 hours. My friend indicated that it had been a mediocre resto before, called the Auberge du Petit Tonneau, but had really been spiffed up and the carte indicated one dish called sabodet Bobosse, so I thought the chef had probably spent time in Michel Bossard’s Le Quincy kitchen, a good sign. We had a pretty good meal; he had cantaloupe with ham and then veal with wild mushrooms which he deemed pretty good; I had a wonderful cassolette of escargots, industrial and wild mushrooms and a terrific demi-melted chunk of cheese followed by a rather banal civet of duck with the identical sauce with wild mushrooms as he did; our shared mashed potatoes suffered two bites. Our wine (from the Sologne, near from where Quincy comes) was cheap (20 €), fruity and very good with all dishes. But back to the name; it turns out that it’s named not after the nearby hospitals, but after the street it’s on, the rue Hallé (Jean-Noel Hallé was a noted physician of his time who defended Lavoisier, you remember him from Chemistry 1, eh?,) unsuccessfully, alas, before the Convention; he was guillotined in 1794, (now you didn’t recall that did you?), The bill, oh yah, the bill = 71 € for 2 with two menus, two coffees and one wine. Should one go? Not if you’re schlepping from the Right Bank; but my friend will be back and I’m telling another friend staying at the nearby Marriott to go. Reaching for a star and….ah….falling 3.6 La Clarisse, 29, rue Surcouf in the 7th, 01.45.50.11.10, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays is wonderful reincarnation of the nothing place La Gourmandine. It’s beautiful, the staff are terrific and for a top of the line resto in this part of the 7th, with a menu of three courses for 38 and two for 31 €, how could they miss? Plus the chef used to be at the Ferme St Simon and I ate well there. Well, let me start with the clientele and sound-dampening; the day I was there two American dot-comers, two French buyers of software and one Brit who seemed in the middle, talked non-stop at the top of their voices some 30 feet from me and the acoustics, like in Chartres, enabled their loud conversation to go bingo into my ears (and yes I tried other secluded corners to no avail). Then let’s go to the wonderfully priced “menu” – very reasonable but only two choices for firsts (eggs with boudin noir vs halfcooked salmon with sliced potatoes on a bed of ratatouille – actually quite tasty); mains (an uninteresting sounding fish dish and a tough pheasant that was also banal and tasteless – a tough combo to achieve); and desserts (an assortment of ice creams or what was described as cooked apples like a tarte tatin – which was nothing of the sort – it was OK, but was in reality a pile of cream/baked apple/what we call a lace cookie at our joint/more baked apple and a ball of caramel ice cream on top). I can just see taking my foursome here and having them balk at the choices, look at the carte (18 for firsts, 32 for mains and 12 € for desserts) – and never forgive me. The bill for the three-course menu, plus two glasses of red wine and no water or coffee = 54 €. Should one go? Do you have a full-body cast, live 2 steps away and love poor price-quality places? Ohmagawd, don’t try for what you can’t deliver. 0.5 Le Passage Gourmet, ex-Le Passage, 126, rue de l’Abbe Groult in the 15th, 01.48.42.40.60, open 12-12 7/7, has had a new patron since May and its chef ex-Cagna, has a supposedly Southern-inspired menu that has seemed to escape the attention of the big boys {now I know why} despite a lunch formula of 13.90 € and a daily special at 10.90 €. It lists itself, as I say, as open 12-12 7/7 and as a restaurant, lounge, tea salon and all-around great place (they’ve got signs outside on the Passage Dombasle in at least four places) - that should have been a warning, but no, too imbecilic to watch the omens, I plunged on. My charming co-host (CCH) and I set out to remedy the paucity of reviews. And if I do say so myself, we tried our very best. I arrived a bit before she, as is my wont, was stunned by the redecoration of a pretty big salle and huge terrace, some enclosed and heated, some outside; and ordered the cheapest wine on the carte – a Buzet, at 15 €, which the CCH, knowing more than I about wine, declared “pas mal” indeed, quite good. We took a long time deciding on what to order. The well-publicized 13.90 menu was an endive salad with blue cheese followed by a pintade forestiere with veggies and endives (could I have misheard that?) Nope. So to the carte. The CCH ordered a first that turned out to be much too much and much too pathetic sushis (a sort of dumbed-down Fresh Fields display) with (OK) mache and mango fragments and I had two chicken yakitori things with a mound of avocado called a “cappuccino” (I didn’t get the latter reference, but she liked it). Oh yah, as an amuse gueule, we had cups of what were also described as “cappuccinos” of veggies with truffles (which with the wine, were the best parts of the meal.) Then she chose the triple-lamb-chop, which was underdone (properly) with a sauce a part of mint (never in 55 years have I had such in France) which was not horrible and I ordered the matelote of eel – sorry we’re out of eel (in the era of printers why was it still on the carte?), so I had the Bresse chicken, described as “Poulet de Bresse... Le vrai... Aux Morilles, Riz Basmati aux petits légumes. Une recette traditionnelle...” Sure! Chicken was tough and tasteless, sauce looked like Asian peanut but was whaaaa?, morilles were OK, rice with veggies just didn’t work. Dessert? Are you kidding? “Run away” as one of my legal advisors cautions me. Don’t you have anything nice to say John? Yes, they have a heckova website. But, despite the bad food, desultory service and incredibly annoying, loud American jazz music, the afternoon was not a total loss with a bill of 94 € and company that was five stars. Should one go? Do you need a life? La Marlotte IS dead -1.0 La Marlotte, 55, rue du Cherche-Midi in the 6th, 01.45.08.86.79, 27 € for two courses at lunch, closed Sundays was given two hearts (which every place in Paris is unless it’s dead, but I’m coming to that) by Emmanuel Rubin with whom I agree 79.01% and his lead-in blurb was entitled “La Marlotte is not dead.” His argument was that this place has been on life support for years and now has been resuscitated by a chef ex-Bastide Odeon, one of my faves over the years. Digression, I have a soft spot in my heart for that old, dead Marlotte, because I came here/there in 1998 with my 3 yo grand-daughter (just the two of us) and they treated her royally, sending over salami (I didn’t tell her it was charcuterie), frites and ice cream. I loved them. Of course, this is a different deal – new millennium, decade, equipe, etc., but, the memories linger on. So OK, I read this review by my guide ER, and I say “Why not?” I’ve got two food-exploratory friends from the Northwest, where food is food, man the Vancouver-Seattle-Portland corridor is culinary heaven. OK, so they blow into town Friday night and I figure this place is 1. serving classic stuff, with a 2. Basque twist and 3. in a place for which my transference (yes, transference can involves places as well as people) is very positive. Friday evening 9 PM until Saturday morning 11 AM, I telephone; “this number does not want your call,” check the number via internet and print, same. So I make a back up rez at l’Agassin, a quick hop on the 92 bus if it’s closed and head out early; it’s wide-open, I reserve, go cancel rez #2, wait for my pals. Place unchanged except lotsa Anglos and tourists from Versailles and Marne-la-Valee, Welcome and service, warm and prompt and a promising prelude of coming attractions, non? (Get to the point Dad!) Well, from there it was downhill all the way. We ordered: Madame: andouillette (yes, she knows what it is and it’s her favorite dish) so-so and frites actually not bad, and as a first - a green salad; Monsieur: a cassolette of wild mushrooms (ahright) with an egg more hard than soft boiled followed by the most tasteless rascasse on the planet in a tasteless fluffy sauce; Me: the same mushies and then tripes a la Marlotte – OK, I’m biased having gone to heaven in Florence with the tripes I had there a few weeks ago, but…… what a difference a thousand plus kilometers makes. But while the food wavered from just OK to unspeakably tasteless, the service went from pleasant and welcoming to non-existent. Madame desperately wanted dessert, indeed, had saved up for it, but the 6 wait-people were nowhere to be found and she and he departed for the Louvre posthaste, I mean 2 ½ hours after entering. In fairness, she and he hesitated ordering and the staff made the traditional response, if you’re not ready, neither are we. But, but, but, one couldn’t catch an eye for dessert, water, wine or check either. Should one go? Got a car, want a voiturier in tourist/shopping central? Scale (subject to fickleness and change): 10 - Giradet in the old days. 9 - Ducasse, Bocuse, Loiseau at their prime 8 - Bon Acceuil, Ze Kitchen Galerie, Cerisaie, Constant x3 now 7- Bistro Cote Mer at its flowering best 6 - Cinq Mars 5 - Terminus Nord 4 - 2 Pieces Cuisine 3 - Le Bouclard 2 - Sale + Pepe 1 - le Nord-Sud 0 - Auguste, The Place Ø- Iode HS* = outside classification, unfair to rate N* = a place that if one lived nearby in the neighborhood (N) would be a great place to go but gets a lower grade due to the schlep (perhaps unfairly). NN* = a place that if one lived nearby (N) in the neighborhood (N) would be a great place to go but gets a lower grade due to the horrible, immense, unpleasant schlep. NNN* = If I lived nearby it would tilt to the bigger grade. Edited by John Talbott for ortho.

Many thanks. I haven't been in quite a while so it's good to see it's still good. Your post is ironic because the same person who urged me to put some impressive looking places like the Pre Catalan in the First time visitors etc topic also mentioned the Elysees. The lunch menu which was 220 FF in 2000 has crept up though.

I assume you've checked out this topic which is fairly recent, 2006 and 2007.

We were eating in a no-star, not-yet-reviewed restaurant yesterday, that had separate menus, which I haven't seen in ages. I thought it was a tad pretentious for a place that has a 10.90 E plat du jour.