Laidback

By an interesting coincidence I am in Sancerre for 2 weeks trying to appease M. Chirac by learning a little French at "Coeur de France" and noticed the article you posted today on some fine restaurants in this area. As you can see from the attached photos, the author speaks knowledgeably about La Tour. In our experience it is the tops in Sancerre proper, followed by Auberge de Pomme d'Or which is right across the street from the school. It is more casual than La Tour, with a more limited choice, but I had a terrific escargots in crème d'ail douce, and an excellent rognon de veau. Just at the foot of the hill which Sancerre occupies sits the little village of Chavignol which may have 150 inhabitants if you throw in a few goats, but more importantly, it has the fine little gourmet restaurant called Coté Mont Damné where we enjoyed an excellent meal(think Thierry Burlot at Polidor prices), langoustines, souris d'agneau and a fine souflée griotte. We plan to work our way out to the other 2 places mentioned and will probably report back. Sorry for not linking the link, but I left my instructions at home. share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AauWLhm2ZNGJd

Thanks for the heads-up, fresh_a, I value a slam critique about 2 to 1 to a positive one. It is odious to get ripped off.

Phrederic, Your posts are probably the most prosaic, in the sense of Webster's first usage, in the world of egulletdom. I eagerly await your further participation, and am amused that you choose a quote from Byron who opined concerning your apparent city of choice that "Paris (and Vienna) left him speechless with repulsion, loathing, even resentment"; probably related to having to share it during the pre-war period with low life tourists like Joyce, Miller and that poet who abandoned upper case, as well as his tousled American friend Hemingway. I think that to hope excellent restaurants can be hidden from intrepid American chow hounds such as our own Dr. Talbott is an exercize in futility; hope and reality are not likely to merge in this arena as there is a subculture of Americans who are dedicated to ferreting out good restaurants and when successful are genetically unable to resist sharing them with like palates. You make some marvelous points; can we only expect the Jean-Claude Vrinats to maintain an excellent cellar? I wish there were more Phrederics out there advising restaurants on the merits of maintaining a decent to excellent selection of wines. Please grace our forum with more of your wisdom.

I must also endorse La Merenda, the bargain of all bargains for excellent food at exceedingly reasonable prices. Be aware that the street has changed names in the recent past and most guides haven't haqd time to make the correction. Also the good seafood renditions at Les Viviers can be had for less money at their adjacent bistro; I think the food comes from the same kitchen.

I've only heard good things and indeed tried to go a couple of weeks ago but was caught in the Winter Sports vacation school break break. For a cote de boeuf, have y'all tried Bobosses at le Quincy? ← John, I enjoy Le Quincy; perhaps everyone should be warned to come with a big appetite, get there before Bobosse passes on and don't expect to pay by credit card. Another old spot in the same vein(aged mari/femme, kitschy decor, traditional favorites, no foam) is La Grille, on the border of the 9th&10th. The old man makes a beurre Nantais the way God meant it to be and serves it over a beautiful grilled turbot or coquille St. Jacques.

"Le Florimond" in the 7th is one of my perennial "go backs". The best chou farci in Paris. One can also count on the consistency of Ginette Boyer at "Au Petit Tonneau" also in the 7th.

It's free and under restaurants not on the home page - not sure why. Edited to add url ← John, apparently Karen reads this forum...today your article is on the home page where it rightfully should be. Allow me to say that your style agrees with me...none of the frothy exuberance of the other critic who to my knowledge has never written anything but glowing reviews...just honest, homey, personal opinions which indicate you don't pander for "freebies".

John you mentioned an article by you this past week in Bonjour Paris about restos under €30, but the last one I find by you is about the ubiquitous pumpkin soup.

I'm pretty sure the Grande Epicerie at Bon Marché has Alsatian wines.

Another place we enjoyed immensely is just outside Vaison La Romaine on the road to Roaix , Le Grand Pré. It appears that Michelin has discovered it too as they awarded them a star in the 2006 red guide.

No need for Splenda anymore; they now have "Canderel" widely available all over France. I remember not too long ago when they didn't even have diet soda, though... ← You are right, many cafés even serve Canderel with an order of coffee now, but I think that Canderel is based on Aspartame while Splenda is sucralose, a sugar derivative. It is nice that most grocery stores now carry decaffeinated, sugar free drinks, which are a daily requirement for my wife.

Things we take to Paris are decaffeinated tea bags and individual packets of Splenda. We return to FL with tins of foie gras and Huile de Noisette and olive oil by LeBlanc.

Mimi, I think JGV opened "Market" about 3 to 4 years ago on Ave. Matignon.

Quote: "I do love the romance of a cork and I would love for the corked wine thing to be solved without resorting to screw tops but in the end--whatever method evolves it is a shame that so much wine is corked today" This may necessitate some new wine terminology; would you prefer to be corked or screwed?

I was merely reading from the "dossier de presse" that Busboy kindly linked a few posts ago in this thread. Is this inaccurate information?

Some Parisian things of interest to me in the new Mich. Rouge are that Chez Jean in the 9th received a star after only being a 2 forker last year, quite a feat for Bordier; also I was gratified to see 2 of my favorite bistros, l'Ami Jean and Le Mellifère get Bib Gourmand ratings.

Daniel all of the above are exceptional restaurants. I can't vouch for Ledoyen since the departure of "La Belle Belge Blonde", but differences in responses to restaurants at this level will be highly subjective...which do you prefer, Chateau Margaux, Haut Brion, Romanée-Conti or La Tache? I personally prefer Taillevent which has maintained 3 stars since the amazing Barbot was in diapers, but expect to get passionate replies in all directions.

Daniel, You made an excellent choice. I have stayed right around the corner for about 8 months. The street view of the Eiffel Tower at night is one of the best in Paris from Montessuy. Right across the street(120 Montessuy) is an excellent 1 star restaurant, Vin sur Vin, with a tiny capacity but an enormous wine selection and an Arpege trained chef. A few doors down is a good Italian restaurant, Il Sorrentino, and around the corner on Ave de la Bourdonnais is a good patisserie, however probably the best is a few blocks away on St. Dominique, Jean Millet, which is close to the best chocolatier, Michel Chaudun(corner of Malar&Université), although Jean Paul Hevin on Motte-Piquet has its devotees as well. One of the most celebrated fromageries, Marie-Anne Cantin is close to you on rue Champ de Mars before you get to rue Cler; try their St. Antoine and Reblochon. The Charcuterie "Charles" on St. Dominique, close by to another neighborhood star(Violon d'Ingres) has won awards for their boudin. Davoli on rue Cler has excellent jambon blanc as well as many Italian specialities. The Café Constant is 2 blocks south of you and has excellent value. My 2 favorite boulangeries near you are "Pain d'Epis" on the corner of Bosquet and Champ de Mars and a few blocks further, Poujauran/Secco on Jean Nicot. I hesitate to recommend a creperie in the neighborhood but in Montparnasse there are many, such as Ty Briez, Josselin, etc. If you prefer one of the few remaining family run brasseries as opposed to the showier chains of the Blanc brothers and the Flo group, there is the neighborhood favorite, Thoumieux, on St.Dominique. Let me also add that 2 of the best prix fixe restaurants in Paris are within yards of your apt.; Au Bon Accueil and Le Clos des Gourmets.

John, I received today from "NewsGullet" the link to the forums covering the faux/vrai merchants cited in the book: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=82785

Carlsbad has given you some excellent info. I would add the 2 excellent moving street markets close by. They are both of the top quality demanded by the wealthy clientele in the area( Princess Caroline has an apartment directly opposite yours on the other side of the Champ de Mars), and are in walking distance. You can visit the Sat. morning market on Ave. Wilson by walking under the Eiffel Tower, crossing the Seine on the pedestrian only Passerelle Debilley which leads right to the market a block from the Seine. The other market is on Ave. Saxe right behind the Ecole Militaire and is open on Thursday as well as Saturday morning.

fresh_a, what do you hear about the talented but "here today gone tomorrow" Michel Del Burgo?

It could be that Aizpitarte will replace Michel Del Burgo as the peripatecian of this new decade.

Just give me the date; I know where you live.

It appears that La Ferrandaise has taken over the space of the old Table d'Aude. Is this a completely new enterprise or is it still a Languedoc outpost ? For years I have wanted to try the Escargot Montorgueil for snails and frog legs but have always been turned off by the appearance consistent with tourist trapping. Have you tried it recently?

I've enjoyed sweetbreads at Chez Géraud on rue Vital in the 16th.