AmoParis

Thanks again for such a great journal -- you really get the "to the minute" feel. I'd like to know if you've tried the Anti-hotplate technique before and how well it works. Does the serving staff ever get annoyed, as they like to have all their slips in? I guess my other worry is that I'll focus on those hotplated dishes once I feel I have some control, and for me the sense of not having that control is one of the nicest parts about being served food (rather than making it myself). On the other hand, hotplated food can really kill a dish.

I just wanted to say I really admire this post (unless you forgot a smilie!). In a perfect world anytime any foodlover wanted to have lunch with another gastronome (a technical term for one addicted to gastronomy ) he/she could just make a great reservation and then send out an invite. I'll be in Paris for June this year. Post your invites then and I'll show up if I'm not working. Dutch treat but invitee buys the kirs.

I agree with Loufood. I just got reservations by calling and asking for the next available and taking them. I did this more than 31 days ahead, so there isn't a deadline on that. I did chat to the host a bit, but he seemed very professional and easy to work with.

I really enjoyed reading this journal and particularly this review of Aux Lyonnais. The emphasis on liquid nourishment combined with detailed recollection of staff gestures (the bottle sampling episode was great -- makes me realize I need to measure that puppy each and every time :) ) and the particulars of dishes is entirely to my taste. Would you care to comment on the way the place felt though? I guess the question is: "Would you go back?" So often it isn't just the food, because there is so much fun in discovering new old classics newly made in new destinations. What brings me back is the "welcome" the French value so much -- the "acceuil." So what do you think -- are they bonhomminous? Would you go back to Aux Lyonnais? Thanks for your wonderful journal and your thoughts. Very good reading fun.

Hello to those few, proud connoisseurs of andouillette. I am hoping we don't see a thread devoted to this intestinal theme, it may turn an offal lot of foodies off -- but not me I was almost convinced two years ago by a charming butcher to make my own andouillette from the ones hanging on his wall (I was staying in a home in a very small town in the Cotes d'armor). He gave me very simple step-by-step instructions but I was faint of heart. I was wondering if anyone had tried home-made on their own -- is it as easy as it sounds? I am actually writing to this list with two questions however. One of my favorite vrais bistros Parigots used to be Les Vins des Rues, in the 14th near Denfert Rochereau. The owner (a fairly vicious curmudgeon and definitely part of the charm of the place as well as a really fine cook -- the terrines especially were extraordinary and arrived on your table in a powerful and noseworthy trio in huge serving vessels, one poisson, one volailles, one viande; cheap yet respectable red by pitcher great with food and after-dinner drinks pretty much at your discretion as long as you laughed at his jokes and were wiling to drink from one of those marc de Bourgogne bottles with the snake in it) retired two years ago. I'm wondering if anyone has been recently or heard of its new staff's success. I hate to waste an evening if someone else has been and can give me some hints. Second, I have seen and appreciated the list of and commentary on inexpensive dining restos. But would anyone care to share any small places with ebullient owners who just have that knack for food and conversation that makes what I feel is a real parisian evening of a certain kind? I am not discounting the pleasures of more formal dining and thank especially Picaman for such a mindful and conscientious listing, to which I hope to add on my return from Paris this summer. But what I have in mind places like Le Mauzac (near Luxembourg Gardens) before it was sold in 2002. Dinner late into the night, and the owner sits down and you leave with bizous all around. Much thanks to any who choose to respond.