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I ate at les Ormes in December for the second time and really enjoyed it. I have some picture from that trip and will post when I figure out how. On the same trip I also ate at 1 star La Braisiere, 54 Rue Cardinet. This one is similar in size to les Ormes, maybe a little larger. The service is very attentive, really good cooking. I had a dish called gallete de pomme de terre, foie gras, trompette de morte. This was potato cake, not fried, with bits of foie and trompette in it, very good. For mains we both had jarret de veau over celeriac. For desset I had a prune and almond tart, wife had souffle poire williams. Wine was Allees de Cantemerle, second wine of Chateau Cantemerle. The have a nice list of Armagnacs but not quite as extensive as at Trou Gascon I highly recommend this one, will certainly go again when I return to Paris in June. I have pictures and will post them some time soon.

Astrance has been noted in the Michelin Red Guide almost since it opened about 4-5 years ago, it now holds 2 stars in the Guide. Lucas Carton held 3 stars in the Red Guide for years. It remodeled / reformulated in 2005, is now called Sendrens, and holds 2 stars in the Red Guide. Not sure why you are saying these are not in Michelin.

Sure it was not just the variety of rice? basmati has a very nice flavor on its own, very unlike plain white rice you may be accustomed to.

Gallopin has steak tartare cru ou cuit listed on their menu but I have never been there so can't comment on it.

Yes, it is called Hotel K, 12 chambers and suites, tel 00 33 3 87 06 50 85. I got an email recently from them saying it had opened. I got on their email list after making reservations and dining there in December.

There is a truly wonderful 1 star in the 7th, les Ormes, on Rue Surcouf. It is right around the corner from Thomieux, which should be avoided. Les Ormes has a 45e dinner menu, although with limited choices, so you can eat there for only a little more than Thomieux would cost and it is exponentially better. I have a theory about restaurants with too many items on the menu, that it is difficult for the kitchen to do so many things well, and Thomieux's menu has a huge number of items, and the things I have tried are just mediocre. To me its only plus is that it is open on Sunday night.

The Michelin Red Guide has a section listing restaurants open on Saturday and Sunday, there is a Paris only version of the Red Guide that is helpful for this kind of thing. I hesitate to recommend it but Thoumieux (7th) is open on Sunday. This would be my last choice for Sunday eating. Some other options are le Procope (6th, Freres Blanc chain) and Rotisserie Beaujolais (5th).

If you are going to be renting a car, I got an email from Cheval Blanc advertising a special dinner scheduled for 15 December 2005 for only 90e with the menu shown below. At this price it would make sense to rent a car. I do not know of any other 2 star anywhere that you can eat like this at such a reasonable price. Wines are included in the 90e price 1er apéritif : Crémant de Chardonnay 2e apéritif : 2004 Pinot gris Langoustines, St Jacques et huîtres pressées à l’eau de mer, cappuccino d’huîtres et oursins, émulsion à l’échalote au vinaigre de vin rouge à tartiner sur pain de seigle 2004 Riesling Brandluft * * * * Filet de rouget au beurre de citron, vermicelles au citron confit, petite salade amère 2002 Riesling Grand cru Wiebelsberg * * * * Médaillon de lotte rôti, poêlée d’encornets aux aromates, jus corsé à l’encre et au Pinot Noir 2003 Pinot Noir « Les Quatre éléments » * * * * Cappuccino de homard 2003 Sylvaner « Zotzenberg » * * * * Foie chaud aux cèpes poêlés, crème de cèpes au cacao amer et petite salade de cèpes confits 2004 Klevner de Heiligenstein * * * * Poitrines de pigeon rôties en croûte de noix, baekeofe de racines oubliées, les cuisses braisées au marc de Gewurztraminer 2004 Pinot Noir Demi Muid et 2003 Pinot gris « Rippelholz » * * * * Croustillant de chèvre chaud de la Ferme Grammes, chutney de pommes et poires 2003 Muscat VT Grand cru Zotzenberg * * * * Douceur aux raisins et au crémant Crémant extra-brut * * * * Gourmandise au Gewurztraminer 2004 Gewurztraminer « Zotzenberg » A l’issue de cette soirée vous aurez la possibilité de passer la nuit à Lembach à prix réduit : HOTEL « AU HEIMBACH » ZIMMERMANN 15, Route de Wissembourg 67510 – LEMBACH Tél.+33 3 88 94 43 46 - Fax +33 3 88 94 20 85 contact@hotel-au-heimbach.fr Chambre double : 50 € * * * * AUBERGE DU CHEVAL BLANC 4 Route de Wissembourg 67510 – LEMBACH Tél. +33 3 88 94 41 86 – Fax +33 3 88 94 20 74 E-mail info@au-cheval-blanc.fr CITRONNELLE Suite junior 111 € SAFRAN Suite 159 € LAVANDE Suite 159 € CANNELLE Chambre 85 € ANIS Suite 134 € MARJOLAINE Suite 146 €

Getting to most any of these without a car is likely to be a challenge. They are located in little hamlets without rail service as I recall. The exception may be le Cerf which is only about 20 miles from Strasbourg.

This place is in the Patricia Wells book. I ate there 4 or 5 years ago and found the food to be good but not exceptional. I recall the prices being high. Seems like I spent about 95e for a plate of asparagus with herb vinagrette, coq au vin, cheese, grand marnier souffle, and a demi of an 85 bordeaux of some sort. The night I ate there only 2 other people were present. Sounds like the Grammonds need to retire.

The fashion designer Sonyia Rykiel is well known as a chocolate lover. At Christian Constant's shop, 37 Rue d'Assas, he has a bannana & chocolate pastry named after her. Seems like I also read that she has collaborated in some way with Robert Linxe in the design of his shops or the packaging of his products. Linxe (la Maison du Chocolat) as with Christian Constant, produces exceptional pastry in addition to chocolate.

To me the best ice creams are as follows: La Maison du Chocolat - In the warm months they sell a limited but fabulous assortmnent of classic flavors. Chocolatier Christian Constant - At his 37 Rue d'Assas location a similarly fabulous assortment of house made ice creams and sorbets. Best of All, go to lunch or dinner at Jamin. Their hosue made ice creams and sorbets are good to the extreme.

I took a gastronomic trip to Alsace in September 2003 and ate at the following starred restaurants Auberge de l'Ill, 3 stars Le Cerf, 2 stars Auberge du Cheval Blanc, 2 stars Au Crocodile, 2 stars Hotel Bareiss, 2 stars (Baiserbronn Tonnbach, Germany) It is difficult to put them in order except to say that Crocodile was the least favorite. If pressed, though, I think I would pick Cheval Blanc as best. I returned to Cheval Blanc last June and stayed 4 days in guest rooms on the restaurant property and was impressed again. It is well north of Strausbourg, in Lembach. Do a search and you will find their website. Marlenheim, home to le Cerf, is an easy maybe 25 minute drive to the west of Strausbourg. I would definitely drop Crocodile and reschedule to le Cerf. They have a website too where you can view the menu. If you do not mind an hour's drive or so from Strausbourg, go to Cheval Blanc. Across the Rhine in the Black Forest, the restaurant at the Hotel Bareiss was truly fabulous, easily the equivalent or better than the French restaurants listed here. I guess it is 40 or 50 miles from Strausbourg but you have to go through some winding mountain roads to get there.

Restaurants that are open will often have a special Menu de Paques (easter), with special meaning both higher priced than usual but also with somewhat better dishes. In the 6th a reliable place to eat on Sunday is le Procope. It is part of a chain, but a good chain. They have a website where you can make your reservations (always make a reservation when dining in France, especailly for easter dinner as a lot of families will be dining out that day/night and the restaurants that are open will be busy). Other places open on Sunday in the 6th are le Reminet near Notre Dame (maybe actually in the 5th, not sure) and la Mediterranee on a plaza across from the Odeon Theater. I have eaten at all of these, you will not be disappointed. Le Reminet is probably the most inventive of the group I have listed.

In September I ate at two places that fit your budget and were quite good: Maison Couritne, 157 Avenue Maine. This restaurant has 1 star in the Red Guide but is remarkably well priced. The menu is 35e, with 6 or so choices for each course. A 5 to 10e supplement applies to some items. I had 2 glasses of Jurancon, one for an aperitif, another to go with the foie gras with grapes (10e supplement), a confit de cuisse de canard, a fig dessert, half bottle of Cahors, water and coffee all for only about 73e. The dining room is brightly painted and probably not an especially romantic setting. Although a starred restaurant, there is no Christofle on the table and you will have to pour your own wine occasionally since the dining room that seats about 40 is efficiently staffed with only three workers. I guess it is good to know that your bill is going to pay for the food more than expensive trappings. Phamplet - I do not remember the address but it is in the Red Guide as a Bibb Gourmand (smily face by it). It is on the east side of Paris not far from the Cirque d'Hiver. A generous amuse of pork rilletts and a large plate of various thinly sliced sausages started the dinner. The menu was 30e for 3 courses. I had an entree of saumon savage with gallette de pomme de terre. The thinly sliced salmon was arranged on the gallette and sauced with a herb infused cream. The main was two filet of small turbot (turbotin, I guess), skin crispily pan fried and sauced with jus de viande. Dessert was a fig preparation with parmesan ice cream. A plate of miniature desserts was served with coffee, just like you get at an expensive place. For wine I had a whole (no demis on the list) bottle of St Nicolas de Borgueil. The total bill was about 55e. I liked this restaurant very much. The service was attentive, although some guy who appeared to be the owner complained quite a bit that I was late for my reservation.

P Wells usually has L'Angle du Faubourg on her list of Paris favorites on her website. It is in the area of l'etoile and may be the restaurant you are thinking of. It has 1 star in the Red Guide and would not be considered a bistrot. I have eaten there 3 times and like it very much. It would be a perfect place for a business lunch.

You are correct about the 35e menu, offered at both lunch and dinner. The catch is that there is only one choice per course. Stray from the 35e menu and you will find your bill higher, but it is still probably one of the best priced 1 stars Paris. I have eaten there 3 times and like it quite a bit. They have a good selection of well priced wines by the glass too. If you are looking for good values among the 1 stars try Maison Courtine, 157 Avenue Maine. They have a 35e menu too only with 6 or so choices per course. Some dishes carry a 5-10e supplement. I ate there in September and would certainly return. It lacks the high priced Christofle and such on the table, but has a very high quality:price ratio.

I had a very good dinner at Florimond, a Bibb Gourmand in the Red Guide, last month. It is non smoking completely. I also ate at a place I picked at random called Aux Deux Canards on Rue Faubourg Poissonniere in the 10th. The person who runs this restaurant is an ex smoker who has signs up encouraging guests not to smoke, and if they do he tries to shame them out of it. It seems to work, almost no one was smoking the night I was there. This is an interesting little place. You get a very friendly welcome. The owner goes to great lengths to explain how they make "miel a l'orange" orange honey, which is not bee honey at all, which is then used in several dishes such as canard a l'orange.

Last month I had dinner at Maison Courtine, 157 Avenue Maine in the 14th. This restaurant has one star in the Red Guide but is remarkably inexpensive. The menu is a fixed 35 euros both lunch and dinner. A 5 or 10 euro supplement applies to some items on the menu. There are 6 or so choices for each course. This is a one star where your money goes for the food and not expensive table ware or a high ratio of dining room staff to customers. The tables are not set with Bernanrdaud or Christofle and you will have to pour your own wine or water occasionally. There are about 45 seats and the dining room is staffed by only 3 servers. The dining room is brightly colored and well lit, a convivial not romantic atmosphere. The cooking clearly deserves a star. The menu focuses on things from the SW of France. Portions are generous. I had a perfect Foie Gras poelee au raisins (5 euro supplement), Confit de Cuisse de Canard, and a fig dessert (figs must be in season in September, they were featured most everywhere I went). With an aperitif, a glass of Jurancon with the foie, a demi Cahors with the confit, water and coffee, the price was only 73.5 euros. I think this must be the lowest price starred restaurant in Paris. L'Angle du Faubourg also has a 35 e menu but their's only has one choice per course.

Auberge du Cheval Blanc (2 stars) in Lembach is fabulous. Here is a link: Cheval Blanc Please go. You will enjoy it tremendously.

I am going to Paris the last 2 weeks of September and have booked Maison Courtine and Bath's, both one stars, among others as part of my dining schedule. Does anyone know if these are worthwhile selections? I picked them out of curiosity since I have never seen anything about them on this board or elsewhere.

During my trip to France in June of this year, I had dinner at Violon d'Ingres, Au Trou Gascon, l'Angle du Faubourg, and Relais Louis XIII (2star). Between the four, I think the cooking was about equally good at Violon and Relais Louis. You know that Violon had 2 stars also at one point, but I think lost one in 2001. I spent the most at Relais Louis but I think that was more the result of being sucked in by the 25e per glass Laurent & Perrier Grand Cuvee de la Siecle aperitif than anything. Relais Louis has a remarkably well priced, for a 2 star, 68e dinner menu with 2 choices per course and a 45e lunch menu. They offered wines by the glass in the 8 to 12e price range. I have not eaten lunch there but the 68e dinner was fabulous. Here is a link Relais Louis XIII This was my 3rd visit to Violon, I ate there on a Saturday night (it is rare to find a starred restaurant in Paris open on Saturday) and it was packed, so the service was kind of rushed compared to what I had found on previous visits, making the entire experience less enjoyable than I expected. The cooking did not suffer, however. There were many overly casually dressed Americans there too. While I have not bee to the other two Constant restaurants that are adjacent to Violon, I kept seeing platters of food being taken from the kitchen area of Violon and going out the door. I asked Catherine Constant about this and she confirmed that the chefs at Violon prepare some of the stuff that is served at Cafe Constant and Fables de Fontaine. My 2 previous visits were both for lunch and I think the lunch menu is very representative of Constant's cooking. The cooking at l'Angle is quite good too, but the decor is something more akin to what you might find in NY rather than distinctively French, in my opinion. L'Angle also has what is probably the cheapest starred lunch in Paris, 35e, but you get no choice among the courses they are offering that day. They do have a nice secection of well priced wines by the glass so you can easily have lunch there for 50 to 55e per person. L'Angle was very busy on the Monday night I ate there but the busy crowd did not seem to be as much of a challenge to the wait staff as was the case at Violon. It is a much bigger restaurant too. Trou Gascon was not really a let down but I think it was the least favorite of the group. (Keep in mind that with starred restaurants you are often trying to make a distinction between degrees of perfection) I ordered a kind of rustic dish, Cuisse d'Oie, which was a goose leg that I think had been stored in a confit type of manner then fried. It was quite good, but like I say, kind of a rustic preparation for a 1 star. I did have a very tasty glass of 1983 Armagnac after dinner that was one of the highlights of the trip. They have an extensive selection of Armagnacs and Cognacs in keeping with the SW France provenance of the owners. Hope this information helps with your selection.

I had a fabulous vacation in Alsace in June and highly recommend it. Some may say that it is not really hard core France, and it is not since it has traded hands between France and Germany a number of times. The scenery will make you think you are in Germany but the cooking is definitely French. Within about a 40 mile range of Strasbourg you will find numerous starred restaurants and plenty more local winstube type of places. I stayed in the hotel associated with Auberge du Cheval Blanc (2 stars in the red guide) in Lembach. Here is a link. Cheval Blanc The 6 or 7 rooms there run from about 107e to 190e. This is a great place. There are plenty more small hotels with good restaurants attached in the area with rooms in the 50e - 60e range. Here is a link to an example: Hotel Restaurant Anthon This area is an agricultural paradise. There are fruit orchards and vineyards everywhere. There is a road called the Route de Vin d'Alsace that winds through miles of picturesque villages where you can stop and sample a wide variety of wines (mostly white) and locally produced eau de vie. Depending on which town you choose as your base for exploring the area, it is a 4 to 5 hour drive from Paris or you can take the train to Strasbourg and rent a car from there. You are sure to enjoy this part of France.

I had a Sunday dinner on 06 June at Rotisserie Beaujolais. This one is affiliated with la Tour d'Argent so I expected something better than average. However, it was mostly a disappointment. I had oeufs en meurette to start which was quite good, but the demi canette roti was way overcooked and the tart au fraise was no better than what you get at any below average patisserie. Skip this one if it somehow gets on your list. la Mediterranee is open on Sundays for dinner. Based on one visit there I would return. Here is link. la mediterranee

In June I spent 4 fabulous days at Auberge du Cheval Blanc, 2 stars in the Red Guide, in Lembach, France, about 40 miles north of Strasbourg. The cooking and service there are both exceptional. In Alsace I have also been to Au Crocodile (2 stars now but 3 for many years), Le Cerf (in Marlenheim, 2 stars), and Auberge du l'Ill (3 stars). I think Cheval Blanc is the best of the lot. Prices are suprisingly reasonable, especially compared to what similarily rated places in Paris charge. Four nights in the associated hotel, 2 dinners in the gastronomic restaurant, 2 lunches in the gastronomic restaurant and 2 dinners in their more casual restaurant called the Rossel Stube came to a about 950 euros. I highly recommend it. Here is a link Cheval Blanc