BDWiener

Personally, I have no ethical problems with this. Maybe I'm ethically defective. I usually get my guidance from the NY Times' Ethicist column and he has yet to take this up. I often have to travel to NY on short notice for business and a decent meal is one of the few perqs of the transcontinental slog. But I can never get a reservation at a decent time at a restaurant I'm excited about eating at. So, I'd be grateful for the requisite personal referral to Prime Time Tables from any kindhearted egulleteer willing to oblige me.

Pedro- I perused them in a bookstore in Paris last month and came to the conclusion that it was unlikely I would cook even a mere fraction of what was in them. But that wouldn't make them much different from half the other cookbooks I buy. I didn't buy them in Paris because they weigh a ton and I already had enough to lug home. If you're interested in the English translation of the Grand Livre, it was supposed to be published June 15th, but I just heard it will be delayed several months. Ben

All- I ate at La Table for dinner on May 27th with my wife, father, and mother. My parents, who were on their way back to North America after two weeks in Spain (and a lot of good meals in San Sebastian and elsewhere) thought it was the meal of their trip. I thought it was wonderful as well. In the old Seize au Seize space, it's off the beaten track. The crowd was well heeled, well dressed, wealthy, and neighborhoody. We were the only non-French in the place. While the menu was mostly identical to that at the Atelier, there were some different items as well. And the experience was a traditional one as opposed to sushi bar cum haute French dining that characterizes the Atelier. And despite two meals at the Atlelier already under my belt, there was lots of new stuff to try. The service was exceedingly warm and the atmosphere was genuinely convivial, a rarity in your upper strata restaurants. Rather than give you the lurid Penthouse Forum version of what we ate, morsel by morsel, here are the highlights. The langoustines with basil, also available at the Atelier, were served as an amuse. They're sublime. Our other amuse was a foie gras mousse in a martini glass, topped with a truffle froth. It was excellent as well. The crab and avocado appetizer was good. The gazpacho was identical to the soup at the Aterlier, and equally excellent. For main courses, the duckling and the quail (also from the Atelier) were terrific. The dish of the night, however, was the fried fish my wife ordered. I’ve never seen fish presented this way. The insides had been butterflied but the head and spine were intact, and just the butteflied filet had been breaded and fried, then served with a herbed butter. All the mains came with the famous Robuchon potatoes, which, if you haven’t tried them, are basically a delivery vehicle for butter. By the way, I made Robuchon’s potatoes at home once and they were very good. I’m pleased to report his are better. The wine list was small but well chosen and the sommelier very friendly and willing to steer us to lesser known wines. We had a bottle of Billecart Salmon rose to start, and the a Bordeaux (the second bottling of Chateau L’Angelus, I think. The name eludes me now). Why go to the Table when you can eat at the same food at the Atelier in a more convenient location and for slightly less money? Well, it’s a totally different dining experience, one of the best of my trip.

Hello All- Just back from ten days in Paris which included two meals at the Atelier, a lunch and a dinner. First a weekday lunch: We were warmly ushered inside by the attractive hostess and with no wait whatsover, seated at on our stools, which despite the Lebey Guide's complaint, are not uncomfortable. The crowd was a mixture of French and tourists. The service was warm right from the get go, my mediocre French was indulged, and my request for translations of certain menu items received replies in flawless English. My wife and ordered, and both requested glasses of red wine. The staff discussed among themselves for a moment, going over what we'd ordered, and brought us what they thought was appropriate. And the wines were delicious and I wish I hadn't lost the bill so I'd know what they were. I started with the sorrel soup followed by sweetbreads, then lamb chops and finally the "chickory" dessert. All were excellent. The sorrel soup was a fresh and frothy taste of springtime, garnished with slices and spears of asparagus and studded with a few cubes of foie gras. It was excellent. The ris de veau was the best I have ever had. Crusty on the outside, and generously peppered, it was like an unbelievably moist, unctuous steak. The lamb chops were better than ordinary but not up to the two previous dishes. And the chicory dessert was a revelation, kind of a deconstructed tiramisu with a coffee Jello (not meant pejoratively) accompanied by creme fraiche and mascarpone. My wife's gaspacho starter was smooth, cool and utterly refreshing and her mackerel tart elevated simple provencal food to new heights. The service was efficient, but we never felt rushed. We both emerged excited and feeling like we had a perfect lunch. Sated, but still energetic enough to enjoy a day, as opposed to bloated and somnolent like we usually are after a fancy midday meal. So we had to go back.... Sunday night dinner. The hour wait the unpleasant and slightly dowdy hostess warned us of was in fact two hours. We cooled our heels at the adjacent hotel bar where the young French bartender could barely be bothered to serve us. We finally sat down for dinner at 11:00 pm, where the same friendly and gracious staff we recognized from lunch were clearly exhausted. And so was the food. The same sorrel soup I loved at lunch was served slopped in to the bowl and was kind of greasy. My entrecote was indifferent. And the extra portions of Joel's famous potatoes that arrived unasked for (and uncharged for) were not forthcoming. My chocolate tart for dessert was mediocre as well. The evening was further marred by the rather drunk young French men sitting near us who, assuming no foreigners can understand their rarified tongue, indulged in making fun of the appearance and habits of the foreign diners around them and complaing to the waitstaff about their inability to smoke in the restaurant. To sum it all up, great meals are to be had. And great experiences. And mediocre ones too. All within a few days of each other. L'Atelier is definitely worth eating at. I just hope your experiences are more like my lunch and less like my dinner. Ben

I made a reservation at Seize au Seize a few weeks ago for dinner on May 26th. I was very, very confused when I discovered I was in fact calling (or reserving at) La Table de Joel Robuchon since I could find no mention of such a restaurant existing in any guidebook or on this site. While I'm disappointed to have missed the 'old' Seize au Seize, it sounded excellent, I'm excited to have a first dining experience chez Joel since I never made it to Jamin or any of his other places. I'll post a capsule of my experience when I return in June. Thanks, Ben

All- I am finally at a point in my life where I can buy wine faster than I can drink it. So I'm facing a storage issue. Living in Southern California, I don't have a basement. Nor do I have a spare room to dedicate to wine. I was thinking of buying a storage cabinet to put in my garage (which we never park our cars in, by the way) to have some climate and humidity controlled space to keep things. I don't need anything pretty. I don't want to pay a premium for mahogany, or inlay, or glass doors for the matter. I want something I can plug in (hopefully to a standard outlet), that will keep the most wine in the ideal conditions for the lowest cost. What do I want to buy? And from whom? I've been shopping around on the Internet and I daresay the experience has been akin to buying a mattress. That's not a good thing. Thanks, Ben

I have a more practical, grammatical question arising from this post and the next one. Est-ce que c'est "en Paris" ou "a Paris?" Et pourquoi? Thanks, Ben

Hello All- My wife and I are taking our son to Paris in May for 10 days. He'll be 14 months old at the time of our visit. We already have a few dinner reservations (Grand Vefour, Seize au Seize, Meurice) that we know we'll need a babysitter for. How about lunch? Will we get the stinkeye from waiters or other patrons if we try and bring Henry (our son) anywhere except a chain restaurant or tourist trap for lunch? My wife and I don't want to compromise too much on our dining standards. But we don't want to make a contribution of our own to worsening Franco-American relations. Overall comments on the etiquette of dining with a small child are appreciated. As are suggestions of good, baby friendly restaurants that we could visit. I assure you that Henry is very well behaved for a one year old. He only throws every third piece of food we try and stick in his mouth. Thanks, Ben