raisab

I am being lazy here, I will be in Paris Sunday. I need a new resto to try. Any suggestions on a low to moderate priced resto? I will look in archives also, but if anyone has a suggestion, it would be kindly appreciated!

I don't know about a cab, but the Irish Pub at Porte Maillot across the side street from the Concorde Lafayette (where the AIr France drops off), has shuttles a few times a week to Beauvais. Ifyou are near there stop by and check their bulletin board. I don't think this is offered by the pub but they let someone hang up their advertisements there.

Could one of the two JOhn's please advise me? I have read different stories on L'Ourcines hours. Are they open weekdays for dinner? I would like to try this resto next Thursday evening. If not, I am in total agreement about sophomore visits. My last few meals in Paris have been nice, but not great. What rest would you recommend to the tunes of La Regalade which was my favorite of all times. Has anyone been back since the new owners?

Auberge Relais Reuilly Try this link for the hotel resto. They have decent comfortable rooms also.

I just spent a couple of days in the Reims/Epernay Region a few weeks ago. The champagne houses are not next to each other, you need to drive or take a taxi. My suggestion to you would be to rent a car in Paris and drive to Reims. It is literally just an hour away. We visited the Nicolas Feuillette winery while we were there. The most commercial tour is the Moet Chandon. You need to make reservations for both and pay for both also. They both have websites. My favorite champagne is Cristal but their tours are by invitation only. Most of the wineries are in Epernay. There is a WONDERFUL one star restaurant on the way to Epernay called Relais de Reuilly. The prix fixe is 42 Euros if I remember correctly anf the food was to die for. If you are going to rent a car, do it on the internet and not at the offices as you will get raped if you walk in to reserve. Try Budget who has offices all over Paris and I think AVis does too, and maybe Alamo. Stay away from the European companies as they can't compete with the prices the big ones offer. Hope this helps.

The place sounds great, (except for one thing)I love cold unfiltered sake. I will be in NY on the 23rd...about the techno...how loud is it? I don't mean to offend anyone, but I HATE techno music!

I have to try something, plus exercising my ass off (literally). My uniforms do not fit and I refuse to order a larger size! (Long story short, I was on physicians orders not to exercise for 3 months, got depressed and solved that depression by eating more..... ) But Rays is a good place for a high protein diet....and did I mention he's kinda cute..lol

No, I did not eat at 5, I showed up at their door since I kept getting the machine on the phone, then I left and came back. I ate at six as this was my breakfast lunch, dinner yesterday, yes I know reallly healthy.....

Lucy, Thank you for your reply. Is there a bakery you can recommend in Paris? I love all the pictures of your food they are beautiful. But...would you post one of yourself? Just thought I would ask... Raisa

So there were at least 5 of us there last night. I really shouldn't include me in us as I usually lurk and don't post (mostly on the france page). When are you all planning to go there? I am starting South Beach today, it is cutting me off wine for two weeks aargh!!!!! Morela, is AA alcs anon or AMerican Airlines?

I showed up at their door 30 minutes b4 opening. They were very accomadating. Oh and great winelist, had one of their summer reccomendations, a petite syrah at only 35 a bottle and it was actually so very good. Mind you I had purple teeth at the end of the meal.....

Lucy, How can you be sure the pain integrale is 100% whole wheat? I see it at the boulangeries in Paris all the time but do not trust that they don't use white flour. Unfortunately, I don't have a relationship with a baker like you do...........

I ate at Ray's the Steak last night and it was wonderful, i had the house special, my husband the 20 oz strip! My steak was perfectly cook, seared on the outside and with that wonderful peppercorn on ethe outside. The mushroom sauce was delicious. I couldn't finish it though. My piggy hub though ate his whole steak! I also had the crabcake appetizer, we shared one. Mike would not tell me what his binder was, says it is a secret, I am guessing some sort of fish mousse, regardless it was wonderful! And now I have to apologize to Mike, the table next to mine asked how the food was, I said great, but also said the desserts were so-so compared to the steaks! Mike caught the so-so part.....even though we had originally ordered only one key lime pie and then ordered another after the first. Mike I am so sorry, it really was very very good. I have to say, this is the first time I have ever seen the chef in the dining room helping the staff! Kudo's to you Mike. I would of loved to have worked for someone like you when I waited tables! (and besides that he is kind of cute....) I can't wait to go back! Again sorry about the desserts Mike.

A Poulain, Thank you for your reply. Though it is not what I wanted to hear! Oh well, regardless, the French authorities have requested my compnay (AA) along with quite a few others (I think BA already agreed to go back) to move back to ORLY temporarily. (HAHA) until they rebuild the terminal!!!!! At that point we will be back in the city as there are few hotels by Orly! They have closed the entire new terminal down from what I hear! This is going to cost the French Taxpayes Billions!!!

Well, some of the others may be good, but I still think Carrabas sucks. I am sorry you had a bad experience at Dolce Vita, but I would ratther have a bad meal there than the crap I was served at Carrabas. I feel the same about most of their other chain restos also, Outback, etc. Just my opinion though.

I ate at Le Chapeau Rouge last week on the 12th. It fell quite short of expectations. The food was quite good but the service left MUCH to be desired. Apparently there was a wedding at the same time as our sitting 9:30 PM. and the dining room was fairly abandoned. There were very few servers in the room. A few times we had to get up and serve wine ourselves from the table he had placed the bottle at across the room! The prices were fine for a Michelin star but the retaurant just did not live up to that star and therefore neither did the prices! The next night we ate at and stayed at Marc Meneau's L'Esperance in Burgundy. That was an unbelievable meal! He has truly earned his 3 stars. His service staff is synchronized beautifully. His food time perfectly. And the quality and inventiveness of his cuisine was unforgettable. His someilleirs were quite knowledgeable. (unlike my spelling!) We also ate at a wonderful retaurant in Champagne by the name of Auberge de Reuilly. It is a Michelin 1 star and probably deserves more. I will post a seperate thread on this restaurant. Unfortunately I drank a little too much their and did not write down the names of my plates!

Carrabas is absolutely awful! I went to the Centreville location, yuck. Just balot of food for not alot, but simply passable. Try Dolce Vita in Fairfax for a wonderful Italian! And please kiss joe for me!

Bleu, Not to throw another fly in the ointment....but BMI's are very misleading. I have a BMI of 23.8 but still consider myself to be overfat. My bodyfat according to the caliper method is 22% but I know that is wrong as I store ALL my fat in my hips and ass! BMI's don't take into consideration your muscular structure, therefore you could be a bodybuilder and have a higher % of muscles than the norm and still have what is considered an obese BMI. I have found with me undfortunately, I have to go to the low end of BMI scales if I am not weightlifting and the low end of weight scales because I am so small boned. It could be considered a blessing or a hindrance depending how you are looking at it.

How abaout La Bergerie? I thought that was supposed to be OK. Blue POint is very good. We went to a new Thai that opened on King at the water about 2 weeks ago, it was decent and nice outside sitting.

Acquired, is definately the word for it. My husband enjoyed it. I unfortunately felt like gagging. As for cheeses, I brought back quite a few with me, St. Marcelin, ST Felician, Epoisse, Crotins, Chevre en Robe, Comte, Camembert etc. I am hoping they last more or less a week without ripening too much. The French look at me like I am crazy when I tell them we will be eating some the next day! But I tell them not to fret too much as we are American and will eat their cheese anyway we can get it!

Bleu, Congratulations on your wieight loss. It does not seem that slow to me! I just came back from a 4 day trip to France. One of my stops was Troyes where my husband ordered Andouillette. I like most foods, but I have to say this was particularly foul tasting! It was at a very nice restaurant, recommended by Michelin in one of their guides. It was not cooked completely, it just had a very funky taste! Is this normal....? Other than that, I thought of you while I was there at the markets. I also ate at some very lovely restaurants and tried to follow a lower carb (Montignac) regiman, but the wine did me in more ways than one! The good thing is, I only gained 2 pounds....oh well. Do you keep you tray of cheeses for the week? Or do you actually eat all those cheeses each night? Just curious.

Go toJack_travel. He has a great list of restaurants, I have been to almost all of them and they are great. He also has his private list which he will e-mail to you. I don't know why he doesn't just include it in his website. Their are so many wonderful resto's in Paris, my only advise is avoid the touristy places like the plague. You will get gouged for substandard food. Ex: Champs-Elysees, Sacre Cour, Latin Quarter (Touristy spots.) Go down the side streets away from the people, and look for restaurants that are busy. Unfortunately alot will be too busy (complet) if you don't have reservations. Have Fun!

If you just want to stay in the 17th, try Bistrot Saint Ferdinand. It is across from Porte Maillot. Le palais De Congres. 31 Euros everything included, wine coffee, kir royale and three courses.

Bux, Where is that free wi-fi McDo's? thanx!

I think it is chervil.