Ptipois

And her writing style is quite refreshing, for instance "the carpet under your feet leads you to your table"

Damman's ice creams and sorbets are now served by various restaurants and some cafés. The brand is distributed through the catering/restaurant industry. Personally I'm not a fan. I think Berthillon in France is still unbeated (though not all their flavors are equally successful).

It should be granted to him that he fully knows his field of competence and sticks to it.

One good thing about Petitrenaud is that he can be trusted when he sends you to a bistrot: he tells you to go somewhere, you just go, you don't ask. He knows where the good things are, within the limits of French bourgeois/bistrot traditional cooking.

Hussain certainly does. Did he serve you the Global Warming cocktail? My favorite. It is based on a pink concoction of (I think) strawberry and watermelon juices frozen with liquid nitrogen, the usual Pokis and capsules stuck into that, and lying on its back upon the ice, a small white-chocolate-covered marshmallow bear partly covered with rasperry coulis. The composition symbolizes the dying polar bears on the melting icefield.

Allard was also terrible the last time I went there. Some time ago. Not to mention the price. I chose not to write anything about it and bury it as deep as possible in my memory. It's like the resurfacing of an old demon. Brrrrrr!

I am going to defend Hermé this time. I think you should at least have tasted that pastry I wrote about before you make any definitive judgements. Hermé has access to incredible sourcing and the success of that pastry depends a lot on the excellent quality of the Parmesan he finds for that dessert. I think even you would be happily surprised by the results. To me this pastry is one of Hermé's strokes of genius, much more than the Ispahan or any other of his trendy creations. Besides your judgements on the French using Parmigiano and your little trattoria are a trifle off-topic in a thread about pastry shops, if I may allow myself to say so. (Following your off-topic remarks, though, I cannot say you're absolutely wrong about the French's poor talent for risotto and pasta, but I should also point out that a sizeable part of the Southeastern part of France is of Italian culture or has had plenty of culinary contact with Italy throughout the centuries, and they're not so dumb with pasta and risotto as you would believe. And don't forget the Corsicans are French, by the way.)

I was expecting a lot from the arrival of Gilles Marchal at LMDC, but from my few visits to some of the shops since then I haven't seen much in way of new cakes (I haven't been there often, though). As I wrote above, the chocolate éclairs I bought last week from the François-Ier shop were extremely disappointing. Maybe he is taking care of the chocolate bars and bonbons before he rolls up his sleeves and reshapes the pâtisserie department.

Hi naf I know one good place for chocolate éclairs. Much better than La Maison du Chocolat where I bought some very mediocre éclairs last week (I don't know what's the matter with LMDC, they do great stuff normally). Go to an outlet of "Cacao et Chocolat", there is one on the île Saint-Louis and another one on rue de Buci — best chocolate éclairs that I know of. The choux pastry is firm, the cream is chocolatey without being heavy, the icing is slightly crispy. I really dislike Aoki's green tea pastries, too. Much too sweet and with that same greasy-cloying predominance that I hate in hyped pastry. Green tea pastries should have a good balance of taste and the green tea should be made to come through. I have heard that Aoki's pastries sold in Japan are much less sweet and gooey than the ones you buy in Paris, which may mean that the "modern" taste in French pastry is probably computer-designed by an army of marketing gurus who think in terms of trends, not in terms of taste. A really delicious macha green tea pound cake is made by the Japanese pâtisserie Colomba (not quite sure of the exact name), at the Marché Saint-Germain. Japanese-style French pastry at its best: light, not too sweet, very tasty, with a good texture balance.

It is a jellied custard made from Parmigiano cheese from the vicinity of Reggio (Emilia, Italy). Do you need any more information?

I was referring to a general style, not to Hermé's in terms of stabilizers. In his case there are no horrible artificial stabilizers as far as I could notice. Still, as Julot pointed out as well, there is an excessive use of textural agents like sugars and gelatine that are there to help the stability of an otherwise fragile edifice but would not be needed if withstanding a certain amount of shelf time was not crucial. This also explains why restaurant pastry is often more clear-tasting than modern shop pastry. Although you have worked at Hermé's, you may probably not be aware of the structural differences between "traditional" pastry and trendy, designer pastry, which does have its own texture issues owing to the fact that it is generally more based on look than on taste, openly publicized as "fashion collections", and those differences are undeniable. This phenomenon is not restricted to Hermé but is a common feature of today's trendy pastry, and I am not excluding Ladurée from the category. It is significant that the Pierre Hermé pastries that do have an assertive, clear taste are the ones that rely less on architecture, for instance the Tango (a quite interesting composition of sesame sablé crust, a thick raspberry-red bell pepper coulis, a dome of Reggiano Parmigiano jelly, and fresh raspberries around it). One of the best store-bought pastries I've ever had, but its simplicity of form and lack of architectural constraints probably gave the overall taste a better chance to come through.

No worry, I completely agree. And you are by no means in a minority. There is an important detail that is often overlooked, or plainly ignored, concerning contemporary restaurant pastry versus "designer" store-bought pastry. It explains why the former is generally better and more wholesome than the latter. Fashionable store-bought designer pastry is based on architecture and visual effects. The stress is put on their look. The pastries are elaborately structured conceptions that have to stand up for several hours in the shop without collapsing. Hence the importance of texture-enhancing ingredients like gelatines, etc., and the generally excessive use of fats and sugars of all sorts, emulsifiers, stabilizers, and everything that is crucial to structure but not essential to taste. The taste disappears within the texture and is absorbed by the mass. Restaurant pâtissiers, who do not have that problem of having to keep the things up for eight hours in the store and still standing up when they reach the customer's home, have a better way of proportioning their ingredients and their pastry is often better and fresher-tasting. This also explains why the tastiest things at Hermé's are the viennoiserie, the butter cookies and the pâtes de fruits. But the trend of "textural" designer pastry has gone so far that even some restaurant pâtissiers stick to it. Lately I tasted some pastries Christophe Michalak conceived and made for a press breakfast. Since the preliminary speeches were dragging on, and the atmosphere was a bit warm, he was worried about his creations collapsing before people could grab them, not about their taste. But most of them were lacking in taste, while being too soft, gooey and sweet.

Holy Moly! And he is, too!

Okay let's just suppose for a couple of minutes, just for discussion's sake, that this '50 restaurants' list (which is getting more laughable every year) is to be taken seriously (I had lunch recently with one of the French participants, who smiled when I mentioned that list and said that he just replied n'importe quoi just to get rid of the job. Looking at the results I suspect he is not the only one to do so. I'd probably do the same.) I think both Felice and Frege are right. Meals at Le Chateaubriand can be either stellar or terrible. It depends on many conditions, but I have seldom seen a restaurant where the quality is so up-and-down. Not just uneven, but rising to great heights and falling to deep pits. Depending on when you eat there, you may think like Frege or Felice and either way you will be right. Inaki Aizpitarte's presence in the list would make perfect sense if he bothered to deliver an even quality day to day. Which amounts to saying that Frege is right because regularity is a crucial quality in a restaurant. Which makes the choice of Pierre Gagnaire at such a high position in the list another matter of discussion. So is the absence of Eric Fréchon. Edit to add: "Best in Asia", tssss… I bet they didn't try Karakorum, Tiruvannamalai and Vladivostok.

I was there and I loved it too. I too will report in detail later (blog post, Flickr set…) but Julot's pictures are a good rendition of that lovely meal. Since I can't edit my older post, I'll just mention that my blog post on the Ramsay lunch is here.

Yes, La Famille has a small bar area in the front, where the cocktails are made right before your eyes (or should I say in your face, the place is really tiny). I suggest you have dinner there first and then have cocktails, French-style; they almost count as dessert I should add.

A thread about cocktails in Paris would certainly not be complete without a mention of the amazing "azote liquide" cocktails served at La Famille, rue des Trois Frères. A must-try, bring your goggles.

But you saw his talent at Eric Frechon nr the Buttes Chaumont non? Those were memorable meals too. ← Never been there in my whole life, John. I'd remember it for sure.

I have refrained from adding anything to this thread so far since I wasn't able to recollect my most memorable meals (most memorable dishes, sure; and I could have counted in my dinners at ElBulli, however they weren't precisely an experience of good, satisfying food, but an experience of the mind and senses, to be appreciated on a level of their own). And I did not mention L'Arnsbourg, where I dined four times since mid-March, because I am so dazzled by that place that I am still trying to gather my mind about it. However, The lunch menu I had today at Éric Fréchon's Le Bristol restaurant is, honestly, one of the greatest French meals I can remember since I was born. Can't understand why Éric has only two stars. No chef whose food I have sampled has this ability of taking the classical bases of French haute cuisine one octave higher, making them crisper, sharper and more lively. The intensity of taste I experienced in all his dishes was a true surprise. (It was the first time I ever ate at Le Bristol.)

Julot, congratulations. And as we say in French, "respect". With all the hastily spread false rumors usually blossoming around in Foodieland (and renowned journalists are not immune), it is nice to see someone who has good intuitions and enough thinking to back them.

It is self-rising flour, you may also encounter it under the name "farine à gâteaux". It contains a small proportion of "levure chimique" (baking powder). But if you are translating the recipes, be careful: French self-rising flour contains less baking powder than American or British self-rising flour and a small quantity of extra baking powder should be added whenever this ingredient is found.

Tête de veau sauce gribiche (or ravigote, I keep forgetting): Le Violon d'Ingres Veal axoa : Chez l'Ami Jean Raie grenobloise and other classic fish dishes : Le Divellec Cassoulet: L'Ecureuil, l'Oie et le Canard but I haven't checked lately Escargots au beurre d'ail : Chez Benoît Mushroom omelette: Gérard Besson Roast pigeon: Sensing Steak-frites: Le Relais de Venise (L'Entrecôte) Couscous (simple style): Chez Hamadi Couscous (slightly fussier Moroccan style): L'Atlas

And you could also compare the prices with those of general online shopping websites like Telemarket. Food prices have become insanely high in France. And with the price of cereals like rice growing, and the biofuels issue, I don't think the situation is going to get any better.

Well indeed, from the way you expressed it, it was easy to believe you were getting a little mixed up... "Crème fraîche liquide" is a lexical anomaly, as you're rightly pointing out. But the notions about cream are not very clear with the larger public in France, let alone with the professionals. As a recipe editor I have to correct the cream terminology used by chefs quite frequently. It often requires verbal inquiry to find out what they're referring to. If they write "fleurette" or "liquide" you know where you're going. Once they write "crème fraîche" it is not always clear whether they mean thick or liquid, or if they write "crème double" whether they mean cultured or uncultured, etc. It is a very regional situation. Depending on the region you're in, you may find very different local cream products. Under the term "crème fraîche" or even "crème" you'll find either thick and cultured cream or thick and uncultured cream (as in Auvergne), and the fact that every cream has its own way of self-fermenting and thickening, depending on the cow's breed and natural cultures in the air. As I wrote above, Norman cream used to be totally uncultured and that is how you may still find it on some local markets; it begins as liquid cream and thickens spontaneously after a couple of days. In the old days it used to be kept in a crockery jar obturated with parchment, placed in a bucket and kept halfway down a well shaft. That is where it was left to thicken. In other regions like Auvergne or Savoie, where the milk is very rich, you will be able to get a similar kind of cream and in its natural state it does not need any culture. And it is called "crème fraîche" as well. Commercial crème fraîche is artificially cultured in order to reproduce the natural process but the results are not the same as for the traditional crème fraîche; to complicate things even further, I realize even crème de Normandie AOC Isigny (which is supposedly the closest commercial equivalent of naturally uncultured crème fraîche) contains a little "ferments lactiques", but owing to its richness (the characteristic of Norman cow milk) it will have a yellowish color and a milder taste than ordinary commercial crème fraîche. The region of production and the type of milk are always, whenever possible, an element to consider.

Some recipes are available in French, most of them part of the XIXth-century cuisine bourgeoise tradition. Dumas and La Grande Cuisinière bourgeoise mention the stuff. I have never seen a palais de bœuf at a boucher or tripier, but from reading around it seems to be just what it means, beef palate. Judging by the preparations it should be close in texture and geography to museau de bœuf (beef snout). May be grilled (after marinating), boiled and served à la poulette, ravigote, vinaigrette, etc. Another thing to inquire about from Parisian tripiers. Of course finding a tripier these days might be just as difficult as finding a beef palate.