pierre45

Curious about Guy Martin's new venture, a week ago i had dinner. The setting is ultra modern and sleek ,somewhat impersonal.I was greeted warmly by the hostess ,who remembered my tel call and was given a table that allowed me to observe the action.The restaurant was full and was all Parisian. I started with lisette en fine tarte,a treatment of baby mackerel over a crunchy tarte with a tomato based and a tartar based sauce all on a fennel bed. The result was fresh and lively dish full of citrus flavor , just deliceous. The main was pigeon enrobe de muscovado.I thought i was in heaven .Tender ,rosy pigeon with caramelized sauce .IT reminded me of the pidgeon i had at l'atelier ,but i prefer this rendition. A decent coings confis ended the meal . I drank an interesting saumur champigny, which complemented the meal admirably. Total cost without the wine was 63 euros , which is excellent value. Through out the meal There was constant inquiry about how i felt and when i left the young chef came to ask me .Comment c'etait? . I said un vrai success ,vous allez voire. He responded with a big smile. Oh , j'espere bien. I think This is the best newcomer in 2006. A few days later there was an article about sensing in figaroscope , giving it a high rating

Its simple.There is nothing of interest in bistrot terms around the louvre. Also none of the ventures by the savoy group have been truly successful. Please note that its only rarely i use strong declaration so , A bon entendeur .salut!

These restaurants are close to jardin de luxembourg.The heart of touristy 6th in paris.I beleive John Talbot has them in his top 10. I am mentionning them because one still could find family run places that provide very tasty food in cute surroundings at a very reasonable price.Usually you have only 30 % tourists and the owners work hard to please . I ate yesterday at La Ferrandaise.Small funky place,warm reception and a busy waitress.You start with 2 amuses bouches,both very tasty. An unbeileivable feat for this kind of a place.The appetizer was a lively st jacques soup and the main a wonderful cote de cochon aux jus de truffles.Dessert was a dry and average cake. THe whole thing cost 30 euros.Bergerac red went nicely with dinner. Maison de jardin also small is charming.The clientel was older,however the smiling waitress was as harried as the one in the 1st restaurant. I started with a mixed salad with foie gras ,deliceous and had veal liver with mashed and legumes.IT was a bit too vinaigry but not bad. Dessert again was forgetable.Nice gevrey chambertin rounded things up . Again the total cost was 30 euros. Overall a nice and honnest place ,although i prefer la ferrandaise. INcidentally another similar restaurant is les papilles.Which started the trend of eating in a country store setting ,wine beeing served at almost retail prices

Del burgo ex chef of BRistol and taillevent has taken over L'orangerie located on ile St louis. The atmosphere has a polished boring look.The cuisine technically good is uninspiring . John T and I had pissaladiere de rouget for entree and a veau roast for a main dish at a recent lunch. They were both OK and equal to what you get in an ordinary bistrot. This was the restaurant's 2d week ,so perhaps it may improve ,but at 60 euro a person a rip off. Figaroscope states that its already popular with americans

Recently i dined at Wastermann's new restaurant in Paris. He has followed the new trend of creating an informal place with a wide choice of tapas style dishes. thus one chooses from categories of vegetable,fish or meat. So if you choose fish ,lets say, you end up with 5 small fish dishes,each very different in composition and taste.You also have a choice from a list of plat principal.ITs better to go as a small group of 4 ,so that one can have the 3 categories plus 2 or 3 main dishes. That's what we did and the evening was stellar.Mr Wastermann uses bold flavors from the far east ,the middles east as well as france,specially provence.The style of cooking is french so that the results are truly unique. WE drank crisp reisling and fruity languedoc wines.Total cost was 60 euros per person.What a wonderful experience at that price. I spoke with mr Wastermann and asked him about his goal .He said he was influenced by the tapas concept and wanted to create a place that's informal,warm, and easy to the pocket, exhibiting at the same time food of merit. I think he has a success on his hands.

It does not matter where you stay, with metro you can go anywhere. Drouant is a good choice, but its not typical.its based on the mezza principle,i.e many small dishes.Choose a bistrot from the non touristy 17th ,11th(astier,repaire de cartouche,etc) for another meal. Welcome to normalcy from hell

A few weeks ago i had lunch with john talbot and pitpois at le violon . Constant ,chef and owner recently had changed the focus from the formal to the informal, following a current trend in paris. The entrance is lined with wine racks and even a refrigerator,followed by a bar on the right.The seating is simple but spacious .No glitter or mirrors. The menu also has been simplified. 4-5 choices in appetizers , main and desserts only.Fixed or a la carte is 40-50 euros.I beleive for both lunch and dinner. Small and quite a reasonable wine list.Also Mme constant is gone,so service is a bit lax. THe food is sophisticated tradional.The result is outstanding.Tete de veau, or pied de porc which have been around for 100 year is treated in a new way.They are very tasty , cruchy or tender. My pied de porc consisted of crisp skin filled with tender pieces of meat, in the shape of you guess what ,surrounded with pommes mousselines. all with wonderful sauce.MY appetizer was a mixture of foie gras ,just etheral. A vanilla souffle with caramel topped the meal.WE drank a white carbonnieux,well balanced and mineral,although a bit oaky.Pic st loup red,fruity went very well with the porc and the rest. Incidentally Eric fauchon from le Bristol ,who worked with constant was across from us. Overall an excellent meal ,specially for the price

here is the list of the ones i attend as they offer degustations. Le savour club caves de la transaat. special tasing today after 17.o0 hr. 36 ave emile zola (15e) Monoprix galerie lafayette.gourmet section le grd marche(6e) Indeed the best disapear fast,specially if th're reasonable and good value. In a week's time i'll be able to tell as to what's the best. By the way dave where do you live?

THank you again john ,for saving my time and tons of money.I guess Ribouldique will be on my list.I liked your comment about the chef of les bonnes soeurs " It's pricey for ordinary food but he is young and he will learn"

My comment about the Herve and helene d'arroze incident is as follows. - I beleive in both situations the clients were way too kind and polite.In both situations the merchants were wrong. In the case of Herve the action taken was appropriate, except i would have explained the pettiness and the loss of good will with their behavior and tell them that i'll tell the story on the internet. In the case of H D'arroze i will explain why the food is not acceptable and wait for them to ask me to choose something else. I have had similar experiences before and an assertive behavior worked well . I realize that speaking french makes a big difference .However i beleive that to indicate that the food is not to one's taste gives the impression that the restaurant is not at fault .ITs a star restaurant after all and they will try to please .

There has been some discussion about what constitutes mid range restaurants in Paris.Here is my take .Cost is per person with no wine or drinks for a 3 course dinner Reasonable ; E 25-35 Mid range . E 45-65 Expensive ; E 85 -110 Very expensive; E 130 +

AS a long term resident of Ridgewood, I had dinner twice last year and again last night at the Silver Oak. It's is a nice addition to Ridgewood's multitude of restaurants. The southern cooking that it offers is different from the Italian, Japanese , and Thai restaurants, and it's a pleasure to have American regional cuisine represented. I had the barbecue baby back ribs and my companion the spicy craw catfish. The smoked ribs were delicious and the chef's sauce had the right balance of spice & sweetness .The collard greens and the mac & cheese sides both were very tasty and well seasonned. However, because they were so rich, they made the meal very heavy. My partner had the same comments about her spicy craw catfish. We were quite full with no appetizers, and the meal with BYO was resonable. Over all, it was an enjoyable dinner.

My experience with la derniere goute and fish is similar to Mike's. I have been to ldg a few times and at least 6 times to fish ,mostly on sundays,since th're one of the few open on sundays in the 6th. The food at fish is quite good and wine selection decent ,specially from languedoc. But by no means extensive or very reasonable. However whenever i went to LDG and i spoke french they were not gracious or enthusiastic, also whenever a tourist walked in they greeted them warmly ,saying they will be back if I have any questions.I noticed that they spend lots of time with them beeing helpful,etc . I think they prefer english speaking clientele ,specially the ones that they could influence.Their selection is standard rhone and languedoc and prices are regular prices .Its a good store for non french speaking people.

I'm glad you asked for SW cooking not SW restaurant because that allows me to suggest Le Repaire de Cartouche which is not listed everywhere as a SW Resto but does SW cooking. Next would be Les Papilles and for lamb J'Go - gigot, got it? Finally, this will, as usual, land me in hot water, I'd advise against Helene Darroze, in my estimation one of the only reasons the French PR business deserves a big round of applause. ← I would add la cerisaie.N'est ce pas ? There are others but 4 days only. Incidentally, au bascou is a basque restaurant.

I dined chez michel serran last oct.Nice atmosphere and friendly staff. Good and interesting dishes.Also i think the rapport qualite /prix was very good

John. i agree with you about T burlot.Indeed he has reduced the # of good choices in the fixed price menu and the wine list has no decent reasonable wines. You are right that its an old trick.When he opened a few years ago his fixed menu had a lot of inventive choices and then prices climbed to 55 E.I went back when he reintroduced the 32 E menu. HE IS a talented chef however and his restaurant is a good one but no longer good value.

Wait for the moment when the chinese tourists start arriving on mass.

When I first arrived in Paris I worked in a small bistro/wine bar and still do when they are in a pinch. Our clientele dropped significantly after 9-11 and was even worse when the Iraq war began. Believe me, restaurant owners were thrilled when tourists started coming back. The first seating consisted mostly of tourists and the second seating was pretty much French; so it worked out nicely. We had a lot of tourists and it was never a problem. I don’t think the owner worries a bit what nationality people are, as long as the dining room stays full. It seems that the only people who have a big problem with tourists are other tourists or expats. I’ve certainly been guilty of it too. ← Is that bistrot/wine bar,Fish? on rue the seine.If so ,is'nt the owner an amarican? However irrespective of your answer,most restaurant owners are happy with paying costumers.irrespective of their national origin.

Please note the 4 individual restaurants i mentionned.Full 3 course dinner is around 30 euros without wine.They are true value .you pay double that in an equivalent restaurant.I am always searching for worthy restaurants that are good value .Despite the pessimism expressed by some ,france abounds with good eats. High end restaurants ,except for lunch are outrageous when it comes to cost. Its mostly hype and often the food is nothing special ,or not worth the cost. Inflation in paris is no different from inflation in NY, or any where else. I just retuned from buenos aires and found dinners to be 15% higher then last year.So its important to do ones homework and search for the ones that deliver good rapport quality/prix

phrederic.I agree with most of your comments.Fortunately its not all grey. Good restaurants are still around .one has to find them .John does an excellent jog in that arena. Some noteworthy ones are. -la grande rue.15e -la chaumiere.15e -couleurs de vigne.15e. mostly for the wine -Thierry Burlot.15e Please note they are mostly in the 15th . not a tourist destination.

I dine alone often .including star restaurants.Often ,table allocated has a view of the whole scene and service is better.I always chat with the people next to my table,sharing wine and insights.Actually it has given me many memorable moments.People are relaxed and at their best ,I end up with tons of emails ,which unfortunately i don't use..

I am glad to see that l'os a moelle is still striving.I have not been there for while , actually la cave de l'os ,across the street is a bistrot a vins.a very decent place for table d'hote and a wine of one's choice surrounded by new friends.

Yes i'll be going to the one in Rio

I don't know how vin sur vin got its 1 star.Its an ok place, nothing special. It has a good list of burgungy wine.Food that's ok but not exciting. Small and intimate,maybee that's the reason.

As usual an excellent review that will save me a ton of money. Boy i am so glad i did not go to l'evasion.Buy the way as i said about le cafe du commerce you have to stick to simple food with no sauce .i,e the best cut of meat with fries