John Talbott

My old food mentor/advisor/finder and I were musing today on some differences between what is sold on our street and seen on restaurant menus. Only a few years ago in our shopping/schlepping area we had 3 horsemeat stores and 4 regular butcher shops; granted the horsemeat places were one man hole-in-the-walls while the butcher shops employed 2-5 men and women in larger spaces, but in any case there was and is a significant demand for horsemeat vis a vis other meat. In addition, we have a rotisseur who always had and has dinde on the counter. So why are neither to be found on Parisian menus? Is it that Americans would shudder at eating horse; no, they put bunny and Bambi on the carte. Or think turkey was banal or only for holidays; unhuh, chicken breast and salmon are banal too and are common and holiday treats such as foie gras and caviar can be found much of the year. Is it that folks eating out want upscale products and a higher class experience when eating outside the home? No, one finds plenty of what were once trash fish as well as cheaper products such as calamari and chicken livers on menus. Perhaps we live in a non-standard, irregularly-eating, strange demographic area? Can't be, folks come from all over to our markets. So there must be another explanation. Which is........?

Thanks Felice. Interesting that the fact-checkers at the Times missed the misuse of "toilette" which (and I will bow to French first speakers on challenge) is only used in the singular in its possessive form (eg eau de...), not as a noun; which (and this gets us back on topic) is why in restaurants a man and woman going jointly toward the loo may be surprised to find that Les Toilettes only have one apparatus.

This is something that I think is age-related. People who have my color hair are more likely on entering a restaurant, butcher shop or even news dealer to give a general "Bonjour/bonsoir mesdames, m'sieurs" than young folk but I think this is reflective of their coming from a kinder, gentler time. Count the number of older folks vs adolescents listening to their iPods on Metro jump-seats leaping up when a cane or pregnant woman appears. I do not think this is a cultural but a generational difference equally applicable to the NYC subway. Except that, several of my friends (French) who live in the suburbs, definately make a trip to the toilets before they set foot in their cars.

This thread is an incredible coincidence; just a week ago, while milling about sipping wine and gorging on rillettes before dinner, my wife Colette asked a 22 yo friend of a FR-UK couple to help herself to some wine, to which she replied - "I don't like to pour my own wine." First time we'd ever (in all our years) had this happen. Learn something every day!As for "Bon Appetit," I would never think of saying it, because it would come out as such a pale imitation of what Julia Child used to chirp so uniquely at the end of each program, I'd feel like a fraud.

Well I was going to let this one go unanswered because it's kind of embarassing to admit, but my favorite is from a little hole-in-the-wall place about 8-10 Rue du Poteau, in the 18th, called Au Petit T.... something or other that had such disgustingly huge and greasy (you can see the paper underneath quickly soaking up the heart-clogging stuff) croissants that I avoided them for 10 years. But in the spirit of exploration I finally bought one 5-6 years ago and while I can only get through a half, and that only about once a month, it is a devil's delight. It is light, usually warm, although I heat it up a bit, flaky and must be made with a ton of butter (not lard, I haven't stooped to eating his regular ones). Sinful, certainly not posh, but comforting after a chilly run.

My wife Colette, Ptit and I have been having a discussion offline about the origins and meanings of "a la plancha" in its Spanish, French and English contexts. The origin as best I can trace it is to "to the plate," that is things, usually fish, cuttlefish, scallops, but also beef or veal, grilled very swiftly and served very quickly "to the plate." In Paris, last week, however, Colette's scallops had a sauce and looked all the world like they were sauteed the old-fashioned way, even in a frying pan, and then sauced. Wherein apparently comes the second meaning, grilled or sauteed on a special metalic flat surface which according to one source is specifically a "1/8 of an inch (3mm) thick" and elsewhere (which I cannot find just now) states that the metal imparts a special taste. Anyone have anything clarifying to add?

There are 15 threads, which I'll consolidate someday, on l'Astrance, the latest of which is here and a big one on Alain Senderens is here.

A contribution from Paris's hottest chef (this week featured in both A Nous Paris + Pariscope) - Daniel Rose of Spring - who says he gets his inspiration from David Rosengarten, Joel Dean, and Giorgio Deluca's "Dean & Deluca Cookbook." Not a French book admittedly but under $5 from Amazon for a used copy.

Thanks much to you and Howard and FoodMuse who started this whole idea off.As for TimeOut in Pariscope, it was terrific but ceased publishing (in Pariscope,) last year.

I think you will find that the Michelin lags way behind Lebey, Pudlo etc and you can find ample reviews in these more contemporary guides. Have you tried searching here on the France Forum? Both l'Astrance + Lucas-Carton, now Alain Senderens are well-covered. Happy eating.

I have pinned a new resource up today - an Index of Paris Restaurants alphabetic and by Arrondissement at the request of several members and managers. I hope it is accurate and complete, at least from January 1, 2006 to date. I will attempt to keep it up to date going forward and time permitting retrospectively. Thanks and by the way, Happy New Year. Happy Eating in 07. John Edited 1/17 to move request to new comments post.

An index of restaurants from existing threads: those in Paris are listed alphabetically and by arrondissement This is an evolving resource that will be updated prospectively and, time permitting, retrospectively. Currently it goes back only to January 1, 2006 and stops August 1, 2008. 6 Odeon 25º Est 35° Ouest Le 144 Petrossian 153 Grenelle L’Abadache l’Accolade Afaria L'Agapé Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee Alain Senderens Les Allobroges l'Alycastre Les Ambassadeurs l’Ambrosie l'Ami Jean l’Ami Jean l'Amuse Bouche Angelina l'Angelique l’Archelle l’Ardoise l’Arome Arpege Arpege Astier l'Astrance l'Astrance l’Atelier de Joel Robuchon L’Atelier des Comperes Atelier des Comperes Au Bon Acceuil Au Petit Marguery Au Petit Monsieur Authenti© l’Autobus Imperial Autour de.... Les Autodidactes Aux Zingots Bar a Huitres Bar des Artistes Baratin Baratin Au Bascou Au Bascou Au Bon Acceuil Bath’s Benoit Bis de Severo Le Bistral Le Bistral Bistro des Faubourgs Bistro Paul Bert Bistro Paul Bert Bistro Paul Bert Le Bis-tro Vin Sobre La Bonne Table Bonnes Soeurs Boulogne sur Mer Bouquinistes Brasserie de l'Isle St Louis Breizh Cafe Bristol Cafe de la Paix Café du Commerce Cafe Very Le Carre des Vosges Le Carré des Vosges Camdeborde’s Snack Take Out Cameleon Cameleon Cameleon Le Cannibale Cantine de Quentin Carpediem Carte Blanche Casier a Vin La Cave Cafe Caviar House & Prunier Caviar House & Prunier Charlain Chateaubriand Chateaubriand Chaumette Chene Vert Cheri bibi Chez Casimir Chez Cecile Chez Cedric Chez Corto Chez Francis Chez Georges Chez Jean Chez Jean Chez Julien Chez Leon Chez les Anges Chez Michel Chez Panis Chez Papa Chez Rene Chez Rene Chineurs Christophe Le Cinq La Clarisse Le Clocher Pereire Le Clos des Gourmets La CocotteLes Cocottes de Christian Constant Les Cocottes Les Comperes Le Comptoir Le Comptoir Corneil Cote 9e Cottage Marcadet Cottage Marcadet Les Cotelettes Le Cou de la Girafe Cristal de Sel Dalva Dan Bau Dominique Bouchet Drouant Drouant Drouant Ducoté Cuisine Edgar Enichi l’Epigramme Escarbille l'Escargot l'Estrapade Et dans mon coeur il y a…. l’Evasion Fables de la Fontaine Fables de la Fontaine Fables de la Fontaine Fables de la Fontaine Ferme Saint-Simon Fernandises Ferrandaise Ferrandaise Au Fils des Saison Fin Gourmet Fines Gueules Fines Gueules Fish Florimond Fogon La Folle Avoine Les Fondus le la Raclette Fontaine Fiacre Fontaine de Mars Fougeres La Frite Bruxelloise Le Gaigne Gallopin Garance La Gazzetta Georges Geraud Geraud Girondine Gordon Ramsay Au + Le Gourmand Au Gourmand Les Gourmands Grand Ourse Grand Pan Grand Pan Grand Vefour Grannie Chez Naolo Hidden Kitchen Hier & Aujoud’hui Hide l’Histoire de Itineraires Le Jardinier Jarrasse J’Go St Germain Jules Verne Julien Jumeaux Juveniles Karl & Erick La Maison du Jardin La Maree Passy F. Landeau Ledoyen Lucas Carton M comme Martine M comme Martine Market Maxim’s Messager Mets & Vins Le Meurice Michel Rostang MiniPalais MiniPalais Minzingue Mollard Mon Vieil Ami Mon Vieil Ami Mori Venice Bar Mosca Libre Moulin de la Galette l’Obelisque l'Office l'Olivier Les Ombres Opus Vins l’Orangerie l’Orangerie l’Ordonnance l’Orenoc l’Os a Moelle l’Oxilis Ozu Parc aux Cerfs Les Papilles Partage Le Passage Gourmet Pere Lapin Le Pergolese Perroquet Vert La Petite Cour Petit Pamphlet Petit Pascal A la Petite Chaise Petrelle Petrus Pharamond Pharamond Pied de Sacre Coeur Pierre au Palais Royal Pierre Gagnaire Pinxo La Plancha Le Point Bar Pouilly-Reuilly Pramil Pré Salé Les Puces des Batignolles Les Racines Rech La Régalade Relais de Venise Reminet Reveil du 10e Rich Rich Rich Ribouldingue Ripaille Roger la Grenouille Le Rollin Romain Rotisserie de Beaujolais Saut du Loup Sensing Sensing Sobane Sot l'y laisse Spring Spring Spring Le Stade Sydr Les Symples de l’Os A Moelle Table d'Anvers Table de Fabrice Table de Claire Table du Perigord Table du Dancourt Table du Lancaster Taillevent Taillevent Taillevent Tante Marguerite Le Telegraphe Terminus Nord Timbre Tour d'Argent Tournon Toustem Tradition Transversal Transversal Traversiere Urbane Urbane Valentin Vaudeville Versance Vieux Bistro Vieux Bistro Villa Corse II Il Vino Violin d’Ingres Violin d’Ingres Violin d'Ingres Wadja Le Winch Le Winch Ze Kitchen Galerie 16 Tholoze Le 144 Petrossian 35° Ouest By arrondissement: 1st Angelina l’Ardoise l’Autobus Imperial Cafe Very Fines Gueules Au Gourmand Au Gourmand Grand Vefour Juveniles Le Meurice Pharamond Pharamond Pierre au Palais Royal Pinxo Le Point Bar Pré Salé Saut du Loup 2nd Dalva Drouant Drouant Drouant Au Fils des Saison Gallopin Georges Mori Venice Bar Vaudeville Versance 3rd Au Bascou Au Bascou Bonnes Soeurs Breizh Cafe Le Carre des Vosges Le Carré des Vosges Chineurs Petit Pamphlet Pramil 4th l’Ambrosie Benoit Brasserie de l'Isle St Louis Chez Julien Les Cotelettes Fin Gourmet Le Gaigne Mon Vieil Ami Mon Vieil Ami l’Orangerie l’Orangerie Vieux Bistro Vieux Bistro 5th Chez Rene Chez Rene Christophe l'Estrapade Itineraires La Marlotte Les Paillers Partage Les Racines Reminet Ribouldingue Rotisserie de Beaujolis Table de Fabrice Tour d'Argent Toustem Wadja 6th 6 Odeon l'Alycastre Camdeborde’s Snack Take Out Bouquinistes Cameleon Cameleon Cameleon Chaumette Chaumette Chez Panis Les Cocottes de Christian Constant Le Comptoir Le Comptoir l’Epigramme Ferrandaise Ferrandaise Fish Fogon Le Gourmand J’Go St Germain La Maison du Jardin Parc aux Cerfs La Petite Cour Roger la Grenouille Sensing Sensing Table du Perigord Timbre Tournon La Veraison La Veranda Vingt 2 Ze Kitchen Galerie 7th 153 Grenelle l’Ami Jean l'Ami Jean Arpege Arpege l’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Le Bis-tro Vin Sobre Au Bon Acceuil Au Bon Acceuil Chez les Anges La Clarisse Le Clos des Gourmets Les Cocottes Fables de la Fontaine Fables de la Fontaine Fables de la Fontaine Ferme Saint-Simon Florimond La Folle Avoine Fontaine de Mars Grannie Chez Naolo Jules Verne MiniPalais MiniPalais Les Ombres Les Ombres A la Petite Chaise Tante Marguerite Valentin Il Vino Violin d’Ingres Violin d’Ingres Violin d'Ingres Le 144 Petrossian 35° Ouest 8th Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee Alain Senderens, ex-Lucas Carton Les Ambassadeurs l’Arome L’Atelier des Comperes Atelier des Comperes Bristol Caviar House & Prunier Caviar House & Prunier Chez Cecile Chez Francis Le Cinq Le Cou de la Girafe Domiique Bouchet l’Evasion Ledoyen Market La Marlotte Maxim’s MiniPalais Mollard l’Obelisque Le Passage Gourmet Pierre Gagnaire Sydr Table du Lancaster Taillevent Taillevent Taillevent 9th Bar des Artistes Cafe de la Paix Carpediem Carte Blanche Charlain Chene Vert Chez Corto Chez Jean Chez Jean Corneil Cote 9e Fontaine Fiacre Le Jardinier Mosca Libre l'Office Petrelle Rich Rich Rich Romain Sobane Spring Spring Spring Table d'Anvers Tradition 10th Aux Zingots Bistro des Faubourgs Cantine de Quentin Chez Casimir Chez Michel Et dans mon coeur il y a…. Garance Julien Reveil du 10e Terminus Nord Urbane Urbane 11th Astier Au Petit Monsieur Bistrot Paul Bert Bistro Paul Bert Bistro Paul Bert Le Cannibale Chateaubriand Chateaubriand Fernandises La Frite Bruxelloise Jumeaux Le Rollin Sot l'y laisse Table de Claire 12th La Gazzetta Traversiere 13th Au Petit Marguery Petit Pascal Girondine 14th l'Amuse Bouche Bis de Severo Les Gourmands Grand Ourse l’Ordonnance La Régalade 15th Authenti©Afaria l’Archelle Autour de.... Café du Commerce Casier a Vin Les Comperes Cristal de Sel Grand Pan Grand Pan Messager Minzingue Opus Vins l’Os a Moelle La Veraison Vingt 2 16th l'Astrance l'Astrance Chaumette Chaumette Geraud Geraud La Maree Passy l’Orenoc Ozu Le Pergolese Le Stade Villa Corse II 17th L’Abadache l’Accolade L'Agapé Bath’s Le Bistral Le Bistral Chez Cedric Chez Georges Chez Leon Le Clocher Pereire Edgar Fougeres Hide Hier & Aujoud’hui Karl & Erick F. Landeau M comme Martine M comme Martine Michel Rostang Petrus Les Puces des Batignolles Rech Relais de Venise Ripaille 18th 16 Tholoze La Bonne Table La Cave Cafe Cheri bibi Chez Papa La Cocotte Cottage Marcadet Cottage Marcadet Dan Bau Enichi Les Fondus le la Raclette l’Histoire de Moulin de la Galette l'Olivier l’Oxilis Perroquet Vert Pied de Sacre Coeur Table du Dancourt Le Winch Le Winch 19th 25º Est Mets & Vins 20th Les Allobroges Baratin Baratin Bois de Vincennes Le Chalet des Iles Daumesnil Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne sur Mer Ducoté Cuisine Issy-Les-Moulineaux Les Symples de l’Os A Moelle Levallois-Perret Les Autodidactes Maisons-Laffitte La Plancha Meudon Escarbille Neuilly Jarrasse Le Pre Saint Gervais Pouilly Reuilly Puteaux l'Escargot Suresnes Pere Lapin Versailles l'Angelique http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=114471' target='_blank'>Gord

Welcome Cathy and thanks for the great advice.I would differ from you a bit in that it is surprising to me how many products are available year round (if one is willing to pay). 40-50 years ago lettuce in the winter or apples in the summer were truly pathetic, but now grapes from Chile and haricots verts from Kenya in winter seem pretty ubiquitous. In any case you've really summed things up very well and we look forward to more. John

Well for a first post it's terrific and Welcome! Glad you had such a good time and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

Christopher - I can see we've let you down (I myself have never been to Riga) but I hope you'll post your reactions. John

The Week of January 1, 2007 I omitted digesting a fabulous article from the Figaroscope of December 20th that told of upcoming openings: Right Away: Bath’s in the ex-Beatilles spot {my review is here} Bonpoint in the 6th is opening a tea salon the Moulin de la Galette in the 18th has been taken over by the French-Moroccan team from Chamarré Bains Douches in the 3rd is making a “tentative” come back l’Eclareur opening as a bar-resto Soon afterwards a new restaurant will open mid-Jan-Feb at the Musee des Arts-deco Les Grandes Marches will reopen under the hands of the Bernard Group (which runs the Brasserie Lipp, Mood, Toastissimo, Quick etc.) Copenhague/Florica Danica/Maison du Danemark will be reprised by the Blanc Group (which runs Pied de Cochon, Procope, La Lorraine etc.) Pavillion Puebla will be brought back as a resto-gallery by the Chez Vincent team Much later Jules Verne, and the other places at the Eiffel Tower will come under the hand of Alain Ducasse et al Haagen-Dazs will open a “concept food” place on the Champs-Elysees the Thai chef, Oth Sombath, (ex-Elephant Bleu, Banyan will open a showy place in the 8th) a Japanese star will open a place in Montmartre (rue Burq) Gilles Choukroun (l’Angl’Opera) will undertake a project at Printemps Bilboquet will perhaps reopen under the Costes’ direction Fauchon will open a restaurant the waltz of the great chefs will continue at the Palace Hotels (esp the George V) Marc Veyrat will leave the Alps for Paris. There is also an article in this pull-out on the new trend to serve tapas/mezze/snacking at Le Pinxo, Le Passage, Le Boudoir de Helene Darroze + Les Sensing. Monday, Elvira Masson (dinner) and Alexandre Cammas (dinner) reviewed l’Arome, coordinates given before, that they call bistronomique (a word invented by Sebastien Demorand to describe Mon Vieil Ami) and run by Eric Martin, ex of l’Ami Marcel, where the food is well priced (23 € for the menu) at lunch but pricier for this area at night. Monday, Alexandra Michot in Le Figaro counseled about how to detoxify yourself after the excesses of the New Year by consulting herb stores, pharmacies, spas, tea places etc. And on Wednesday, Jean-Claude Ribaut in Le Monde wrote about boullions after the fetes which he maintains is the best way to treat the excesses. Wednesday as well, Cécile Alizon in Le Figaro wrote of a food home delivery service called the dinners of Berenice that provides two courses for 17 € a person and 20 € for three and {Digester’s Note : looks pretty good.}. Saturday/Sunday in Figaro Madame, Sophie Grezaud had an article on great galettes that included: Lenôtre’s that looks like gold and had lemon and raspberries, Fauchon’s with chocolate/praline and Dalloyau’s with cherries. Saturday/Sunday, BP published a scoop by Margaret Kemp on Lebey’s naming Le Cameleon the Bistro of the Year and republished an essay by John Talbott on “The Culinary Children of Christian Constant” as part of their “Best Of” issue of the newsletter. The December issue of the monthly cutting edge pub oMni, ex-Omnivore, featured a long article about William Ledeuil, who espouses an “evolutionary” approach to cooking at Ze Kitchen Galerie and a briefer one on Petter Nilsson of La Gazetta. Heather Stimmler-Hall, who writes Secrets of Paris listed her favorite places: Astier, Chez André, Le Costes, La Palette, Le Cameleon, Sinorama, Ma Bourgogne + L’Esprit Tchaï. Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

January 2007: Bath’s + Bistro du Dome Updates 7.0 Bath’s, 25, rue Bayen in the 17th, 01.45.74.74.74, closed Sundays, has been at this new address, (ex-Beatilles), with a new lunch “menu” for just a few weeks. Four of us went and had a splendid meal. There’s a 25 € (yes, that’s not a misprint) menu on which are five entrées, four mains and four desserts. For firsts we shared a carpaccio of pied de porc (super), a “wok” prepared (really steamed) dish of winter veggies and extremely thinly sliced and finely seasoned foie gras. Seconds consisted of nice beef and a risotto with cepes as well as two different cod preparations which were the same size, but the one on the menu was atop eggplant on toast and topped with grilled red pepper slices and was part of the 25 € menu; whereas the other sat on a layer of mashed potatoes mixed and colored with olives and cost 23 €, – all though were quite good. Finally, we shared three desserts, a not quite runny enough for me moelleux of chocolate with mint ice cream, a fine tarte tatin and a confiture (vieux garcons) of blueberries. Coffee and terrific mignardises of chocolatre strips and bent miniature tuiles rounded off the meal. With two bottles of Chinon Rouge our bill was 160 €/4. Bistrot du Dome in the 14th. Colette insists that I relate that she had the best meal of the past six days at this place we’ve been frequenting since it opened in the summer of 1991. Specifically, she thought her scallops, said to be a la plancha, were the best prepared and best product so far (PS, she later stated that her scallops at Ecallier du Bistrot + Spring were every bit as good). A small note; our bill was 84.10 € for just two entrees (marinated crevettes atop guacamole atop tomato in sauce and rougets over a veggie remoulade) and one main (the scallops), wine and coffee. That’s versus La Maree Passy the day before where we had three entrees (supions with sweet garlic, a huge portion of langoustines and gambas tandoori (really, tempura)), one main (a huge whole bar), two desserts, wine and coffee for 92 €. Mayhaps it’s a matter of small concern, but I think they’re bumping their prices up – and they no longer had the low-cost coques in broth or raie; rather upscale lobster two ways.

I am appending this to the thread about hosting 16 people because even though Moby was talking about sky's-the-limit places, searchers might better find Spring here. We booked Spring for a 16 person (all he can fit) dinner recently and it was terrific; good food, great wine, small enough to be able to circulate, big enough to make it festive. The menu is a reasonable 36 E for 4 courses (in our case pumpkin soup, scallops, pigeon and a saffroned pear) and wines run from 19-35 E. He was most accomodating and would have cooked darn near anything we asked for according to market rates of course.

Whoops, clearly I wasn't paying attention to the day. You and Michelin are correct. If you don't want a brasserie, then I'd suggest l'Equitable or Mon Vieil Ami.

Better would be the Repaire de Cartouche; never had an off meal there as I have at Petit Pontoise. No one has reported on eG or the French press about Reminet.

I'd suggest Meating,122, avenue de Villiers, 01.43.90.10.10, (the ex-Apicius space in the 17th); open for Saturday lunch (which Unico, the hottest, best reviewed Argentinian beef place is not). I had a fine tartare and not awfully bad frites by Paris standards there in April.

Our first galettes have been from Pierre Herme and have been very very good. Tonight (12th night) I suspect the Lord of Misrule will have an homage to frangipane prepared as well. Edited by John Talbott to correct spelling.

I would suggest you start by consulting our Paris threads compiled in compendia as well as that on Burgundy. We'll do our best to winnow down what you think sounds good/appealing to the best of our ability.

Luncheon A compendium of existing threads This is one of a series of compendia that seeks to provide information available in prior threads on eGullet. Please feel free to add links to additional threads or posts or to add suggestions. Nice, Tuesday, price irrelevant Tops for lunch Good value at lunch 3/2 stars Saturday or Sunday Lunch Lunch near Bib. Nat (downtown) Top drawer weekend lunch Best lunch under 80 E Funky weekend lunch places Table de Joel Robuchon Sunday lunch Three star lunch Monday lunch Light lunch near St Germain l’Atelier de Joel Robuchon l’Ardoise Café Constant & Fables of Fontaine Laperouse La Cantine des Gourmets Killer wine lists First Anniversary l'Angle du Faubourg Sunday lunch with parking Les Ambassadeurs

Starred Restaurants 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 topics or posts or to add suggestions. Where will the new stars come from? 3 star bias Star lunch Starred restaurants you wouldn't recommend 2-3 stars 2-3 stars weekend lunch 3 stars: history and recommendations 3 star etiquette 3 star sommelier Star changes 2006 One stars and other faves One stars Three stars and up 1-2 stars family dining