John Talbott

Wow, who would'ave thunk it; hard tack and a pint-aa tasted better than kangaroo and a Foster's. Me, I was trying to recover from World Food badly made (but more about that later).

I had lunch yesterday with a rugbyman who confirmed what my Kiwi ex-son-in-law rugbyman told me, that the War Haka was a pretty bloody invitation in days of yore, so maybe some tomato paste/sauce would not be a bad idea. Very good Pti; it also sounds tasty. I assume the linguini is itself made from cuttlefish ink. Now I suppose we could also add an appetizer of hard tack with kangaroo rilettes about 3 PM with a pint-aa. ← No, in my imagination the linguini is white linguini and the ink is in the sauce. There is no point in preparing black linguini with squid or cuttlefish ink sauce; better pick a different sauce in that case. It could also be chipirones en su tinta, perfect for a post-haka dinner. ←

Once again one is up against an age-old problem; can a place stand on only one dish, no matter how magnificent. A mutual friend of ours, Pti, told me to go somewhere for "x," but in the process, I forgot what "x" was and three of us ordered what we wanted - it was horrible. Yes I loved (before they were taken over by the syndicates) - Chez Rene for the coq au vin and the Brasserie Lorraine for the fish soup and Le Truc for the huuuuge lamb chop, but one has to have more than one dish and one has to eat with others (occasionally).

Pti, Felice, Braden, Cave, Tarte - everyone: I suppose this deserves a new topic and Pti has already commented elsewhere about the fact that French open markets are not what we in L'Amerique Profond consider Farmers' Markets. Whatever faults American food has and I don't want to start WWIII by discussing McDo's, etc, but, whether it was average citizens, or Alice Waters or the Chino's who are/were responsible, Farmers' markets in Baltimore and Philadelphia really go back to the best traditions - that is, they only sell what they grow, only in season, and fresh, no matter how funny looking. I truly don't know how it happened, but they co-exist with entreprises just as stiffling as S....; QUERY: can we here learn anything from the American experience (however, recall that it was UCDavis who/that invented all these wonderfully colored, identically shaped and beautifully sized, astoundingly sturdy and incredibly tasteless tomatoes and apples we all suffer with.)

Very good Pti; it also sounds tasty. I assume the linguini is itself made from cuttlefish ink. Now I suppose we could also add an appetizer of hard tack with kangaroo rilettes about 3 PM with a pint-aa.

Host's Note There have now been almost 80 posts on this topic, which threatens to make it more popular than the Ice one. I would remind everyone of the Member Agreement and suggest we note especially: I'm not saying anyone has breached these but we may be broaching them.New, calm points of view on the topic at hand are welcome. Happy weekend, John

A while back we had great fun with what one should eat during and after the Tour de France so I'd like to know what you would consider an ideal meal for Saturday night that would, so to speak, cover all the bases. Having had daughters who are good cooks in both countries I can point to some common dishes: lamb, mussels, apples and liquids (esp Sauvignon Blanc and for ruggers - beer). But I suppose we should bow to the visitors (although in Cardiff they're more like the home team) and have some of those huge chunky fried potatoes and kiwi fruit too. What am I missing? (I'm ashamed to say I'm actually having take-out pizza with Corbieres.)

Report: he's gone. Full report follows.

Well, I drifted by after lunch at l'Ami Jean about which I'll have much to say later, and the place was full and when I looked in the window I was astounded by a raised table facing the street seating about 8 persons that had more glassware on it than most restaurants carry altogether. I entered and asked to see the carte (menu); there is none, one orders the 50, 100 or 1000 Euro meal and with the wine(s) come "surprise dishes." It opens tomorrow to the public, today was a Press preview (having just eaten I only half-heartedly suggested they should have invited me). But they were most pleasant and we exchanged cards. On verra. ← I don't know why I keep thinking this is the event of the month, fall, or year, but I dropped by again today after a very nice lunch at the back-to-normal Bon Acceuil. The carte was now in the window. The 50 E menu has three wines, an Austrian (I presume white) with the entree (unspecified), a Cotes de Rhone with the main (ditto) and a Muscato with the dessert (same). The 100 E menu has five wines and adds a cheese course and something else (I forget, sorry); and the 1000 E one has a staggering number and quality - including a Petrus and Chat. d'Yquem. So I'm going to let the big boys or one of you hedge-fund beneficiaries try it first before I take my honey.

Please report back; I haven't seen that display of tomato types in a while (altho in truth I haven't been looking).

Book Notes: Le Guide Des Restaurants Fantomes ou Les Ridicules de la Societe Francaise by Christian Millau, Plon, 2007, 20 €. When I read Francois Simon’s “Croque-Notes” last week about Christian Millau’s new book that makes fun of restaurants, restaurant reviews and restaurant reviewers, I thought it would be a fun read. But it was not either very funny nor well-carried out satire. Indeed, it’s rather sad that this icon of the ‘6o’s and ‘70’s sounds like someone trying to get back into the spotlight after years of living on the margins. It is prolix, defensive and at times, almost incoherent. Let me spell out what I think he was trying to do. In the 22 years since he “retired” from “GaultMillau,” I think Millau’s been stewing over how very, very important he was in shaping the direction of French food in the past and how far outside current developments he has become. So these phony reviews of largely imaginary places (eg Chez Papa Louis) but some real ones (eg Drouant,) I think, were intended to poke fun at the excesses of current trends, restos and purveyors, from El Bulli to fusion places, from bourgeois cuisine to Nespresso, from Hevin to Cantin, with the goal of putting him back in the spotlight. But writing humor or satire is not as easy as one thinks. I served as editor of a monthly scientific publication for 25 years and of the many supposedly-humoristic submissions, none survived the review process; they simply were not seen as funny by others. But back to this book. Each review is about 3-4 pages long and bear a striking resemblance to those found in Karen Elizabeth Gordon’s “Paris Out of Hand: a wayward guide,” Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1996, which is not to say he copied the style and some of the ideas, but rather, that French restaurants present an appealing and seemingly easy target of satire. I finished the book feeling rather sorry for M. Millau, once such a mover and shaker. Perhaps returning to “straight” writing/reviewing, he can once again find himself shaping the direction of French cuisine. John Talbott October 5, 2007

After one reads "Send, The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home" by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe, one is aware that one should not post impulsively, but it's now been 6 hours since the RFC and I ate at Paris's hottest new place, Afaria, featured this week in l’Express, Figaroscope + A Nous Paris, and thus ipso facto has become the new Spring, and we had a fine meal (to be reported on soon by both of us,) marred by only one thing, the taking of flash photos by a foursome of same-aged (as me, that is,) Americans. I can reliably report that the rest of us in the room, French, except for me, cast their eyes skyward and I sank into my seat in shame. I realize that you micro-equipped, non-flash, snappers, do not cause such disruption, but the RFC and I were there for the food and this was really out of bounds.

News from Figaroscope: Gordon Ramsey will be cooking at the Trianon Palace in Versailles {? when, ? for how long, ? how involved?} The 66 team will open a resto-bar-club on the ground floor of the Palais des Congres in the 17th by the end of the year. The Mme Shawn folk will be opening two new Thai places in the 3rd and 16th. La table de la Salle Pleyel 8th, will host different invited chefs for the next year; the first Sonia Ezgulian of Lyon. Benoit Cohen will open his 4th trattoria in the place Dauphine in the 1st where Il Defino is now; adding to his empire of Les Cailloux, Lei + l'Altro Thierry Faucher a member of the new generation of bistrotieres who runs l'Os a Moelle + Les Symples de l'Os a Moelle will open a table d'hote in Chatillon-sur-Seine at the end of the year. The Cinq Mars bunch will open a new place on the quai des Orfevres (1st) not far from #36 {the police headquarters featured in the 2004 film with Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu.} Thierry Costes will reprise l'Arbuci in the 6th. The Cap Vernet {just refurbished a while back} will close its doors; it's been sold and the new owners will open an Italian place there. As announced here, the first Georgian resto will open in the 6th imminently. Also as announced here before Joel Robuchon will open a cave next door to his Atelier in the 7th in October. Le China Club is closing. Gilles Choukroun will become "advisor" at yet another place - le Buddha Bar in the 8th.

I recall just a year ago or so when Gaya Rive Gauche reopened my co-eater pondered whether to ask for a copy of the menu; I asked and got it, and realized then and subsequently that nowadays, with computers and printers everywhere, menus are tailormade each day and just this month, without asking, two restaurateurs offered me a menu after seeing me scribble notes. It's not as if you're asking for Taillevent's gigantic list of wines.

The closest I've seen were in front of the resto Rouge Tomate in the square of the Marche St Honore two years ago. Darn, I was just there yesterday and didn't check.As for Felice's note I agree, having just had Baltimore Waverly Farmer's Market tomatoes a week ago. As an old guy with a long memory I really do think French produce has gone through an interesting process over the last 50 years; in the 1950's fruit like tomatoes were varied, flawed, irregular and fragile, in season for relatively short periods of time; then over the last decades, I began to see product become available all year long and watched as the origin of each item changed with each month as winter crept in (and I concluded that the French importers were cleverly telling producers in Spain/Italy and Africa/Israel what they'd buy); but like in the US, when UCDavis faculty worked on making tomatoes transportable long distances, more uniform, and unfortunately less tasty and interesting; now perhaps the pendulum can swing back here as it has in the States and we'll see those funny looking but more interesting tasting products again.

Another book discussed/reviewed by Colette Monsat in yesterday's Figaroscope was "Les Plus Beaux Marches de Paris" by Benedicte Bonnet, Editions de l'If 18.50 E. It covers 78 markets of which 13 are covered, 17 specialized, 3 bio.

Host's Note Please use a PM to tell me if I've omitted you. Thank you. John

OK OAKGLEN, let me give it a go. The problem is I haven't eaten at most of them for a long time. But from where I've been and reading reports, I'd suggest Le Tour d'Argent, Lasserre, Taillevent + La Maree from the '50's-70's, Bofinger, Astier + Charlot le Roi des Coquillages from the '80's, Le Bistrot du Dome from the '90's, and Ze Kitchen Galerie, Thierry Burlot + Repaire de Cartouche from the modern era.

Host's Note : This seemed different enough from the topic to warrant a new topic. So, go at it. NB The reference is to this topic.

Well, if you mean spreading out on a blanket with 15 people and wine and such, no, they have signs all over about the precious grass. But to sit on a bench with one's honey sharing some charcuterie and cheese and wine, it works. But as I said there are lots of people around, it's not calm.

Boy, I'm impressed; looks Gourmet level to me.

Several of our members have terrific ones, Ptipois does hers in French and English Clotilde's is in English as is that of David Liebowitz and Pim is often here and former France Forum co-host Lucy as well as Abra and Dave Hatfield Vinotas and Julot's in French and English + Adrian Moore's and hit chef Daniel Rose Now like Mort Sahl I'm sure I've left someone out who'll be hurt; sorry. As for the French blogs I'll let others fill you in. And I'm going to start a new topic because this is really off topic but a great new one. Thanks. Edited by John Talbott Oct 3rd-4th to include those left out, I'll keep this open to new bloggers I've missed; just tell me by PM. Tx.

Just as scientists report negative results so should we. Therefor, I'm pleased to report that Tom Parker Bowles The Year of Eating Dangerously, St Martin's, does not have a chapter on food in France. I don't know if that's an insult or kudo for us. PS. For lovers/buyers of food books in English or French, I should report that Brentano's is currently a mess of construction, with very few French books out and the food/tourism stuff in the basement.

It's important enough that I want to correct my statement that It turns out I hadn't heard that "....the tentative strike day is no longer October 17. It’s been moved back to October 18, 2007 to respect ‘Le Refus de la Misere’ day i.e. Rufusing World Misery Day." Source Parislogue.

And I'd add that Pti has just parsed bistrots a different way, that is, by