hughw

I don't think we have enough "votes" to say who is majority and minority but I'm with you Phil. ← All this brings up a somewhat related subject. Assuming that this was "a really great and (relatively) undiscovered" Paris Bistro and it was in the news like it has been. Could it remain "a really great and (relatively) undiscovered" Paris Bistro?" Or would it be ruined by the hordes of AMerican tourists that will descend. And don't sites like this in some ways bring about the destruction of what they value? By posting a report on an out of the way place, are we not risking the that too many of us will find the place. Is all this perhaps a giant restaurant "Ponzi" scheme where we seek out the new before the rest of us get there and ruin it?

I'm suprised that no one has yet posted anything about this restaurant. I know nothing about it, but Barack and Michelle Obama dined there last night to the delight of the other customers. So, is this a good bistro? Do the people at the Ambassador's House know what they're doing in setting this up?

We really liked Mirazur when we ate there a year agp, Subsequently, our friends who went with us and live in Villefrance sur Mer have eaten there several times, the latest last week, and say it has become formalistic, overly relying on foam and colorful flowers and less on taste. However, they reported a fantastic meak at Paris/Rome in Menton. The chef there is considered one of the next rising stars. We also enjoyed a marvelous lunch at Lou Fassum, a one star, outside of Grasse. I posted photos and a description of the lunch in another thread earlier this year. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...21247&hl=fassum

The English SLow Food 2007 edition if Osterie & Locande d'Italia is available on Amazon for $19.14, all 1152 pages of it so it is hard to figure what might be in the Italian version and not this one. http://www.amazon.com/Osterie-Locande-dIta...40079296&sr=8-1 I've also gotten some terrific recommendations on restaurants, hotels, and touring tips, on the Slow Travel site (no relation to SLow Foods. www.slowtrav.com

At The Modern at least there are two separate kitchens and separate staff for the Dining Room and the Bar Room. ← The Bar Room is a restaurant in its own right with numerous tables and a less expensive menu then the "Dining Room". There is no bar menu as such, The al la carte dinner menu can be had either at the bar or at any of the numerous tables.

It might be The Hidden Kitchen. See: http://www.hkmenus.com/english.htm

John, Pizza Chic, corner of Rue Mézières and Rue Cassette in the 6th. It's very pleasant with a wide variety of "gourmet" thin crust pizzas, salads, and decent wines by the glass. Hugh

what could be more romantic than a dinner for two at Le Timbre.

And if anyone is interested, here is Clocher Perire's menu from Thursday evening, February 19th: (Note: I can't figure out how to display the image within the post. Can someone help?) http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...d=si&img=138463

Next time........................Thanks

Hi. We're visiting Paris in February and Felice's write up of La Gazzetta definitely makes it sound worth visiting. However, after doing a search, I found several less than flattering reports (some using words like "inedible" about certain dishes). Obviously, I take everything I read with a grain of salt, but I would love to hear any other recent comments from other gulleteers. ← Hugh, in case your trip is not yet complete, Francois Simon raves about La Gazetta in today's Figaro and calls it "sans-faute". You can read the full review (at least for now) here ← So now I'm really in a quandry. We're going to be in Paris for three evenings next week: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We have reservations at La Mère Agitée, Clocher Pereire, and l'Ami Jean. So maybe we'll do La Gazzetta instead of La Mère Agitée. We've also been to l'Ami Jean once and loved it and I kinda want to go back (that rice pudding is calling me). Or we could go to La Gazzetta. What do you think? There's a decent write-up with some nice pictures here http://www.hotels-paris-rive-gauche.com/bl...estaurant-paris ← So our report. On Thursday evening we opted for La Mère Agitée over La Regalade. It was a scene from a comedy and kind of a hoot but definitely disapointng regarding the food. La Mère greeted us along with her large dog (a griffon, I think) and offered us a choice of a mushroom or duck pate (no printed menu) as a starter and Bordeux or Rhone wine. The pates were served warmed on a piece of toast over a salad and were quite tasty, The wine was brought to the table in an already open unlabled bottle. For a main course, we shared some kind of a cross between a charcuterie and a cassolet. It was quite unattractive, but flavorful for what it was. Meanwhile La Mère is constantly letting the dog (who was quite friendly) in and out of the restaurant to the street. Eventually, she walked into the dining room from the kitchen with a large bone for the dog. After the dog tired of the bone, she picked it up off the floor and laid it on my wife's dinner plate as she was clearing it. I can't remember the dessert, but whatever it was, it was not memorable. The cost was 65 euro for the two of us. Oh, how I wished we had gone to la Regalade but my wife wanted to try somewhere new -- she was sorry. On Friday evening, we had a delightful meal at Clocher Pereire After a celery soup amuse bouche, my wife started with the Risotto du Jour (escargot) and I had a veloute de chataignes (chestnut soup); both were terrific. For our mains, my wife opted for filet de barbue poche, jus de coquillages et d'artichauts, and I had the Filet de Canette with polenta. Both were wonderful. And for dessert, my wife had Ossau Iraty cheese with a black cherry confiture and I, the Moelleux au chocolat Guanaja avec sorbet coco. The cheese was good but my wife fought me for the moelleux. The bill for both of us for the menu (30 euro) along with a decent Cote Luberon and a bottle of mineral water was 95 euro. All in all, a wonderful dinner at a modest cost. John, thanks for the recommendation. Last night, we decided on La Gazzetta over l'Ami Jean . Big mistake, despite Francois Simon's glowing review. Novelty for the sake of novelty without regard to taste. They offer a menu at 37 euros for 4 plats and at 49 for two additional plats. Unless you order from their extremely limited a la carte menu, there are no choices on the menu. You get what they are serving that evening which means you are not only forced to eat dishes that you probably woudn't order given a choice, you also lose the fun of sharing your partner's food. The entre was a wierd onion soup with three slices of less-than-sushi-grade raw fish floating in it. Next came some kind of langoustine on a bed of fennel. The fennel was OK, the langoustine tasteless and even hard to identify. The main was as the waiter described it "Bambi." Now normally, I would never order venison, but this was actually quite good, served like a fillet mignon, although too rare for my taste. Dessert was two dishes for each of us. One was an uninspired apple tartlet, the other a tasteless ice cream on a bed of butternut squash. Service was perfuntory, too fast, and completely without any personal attention. The waitress's at a Paul's make you feel more wanted. Total was about 110 euro with a bottle of brouilly and a bottle of mineral water. As we returned to our hotel and passed Pizza Chic on the corner next to our hotel and saw the young crowd through the windows enjoying their wine in decent size glasses, their designer pizzas, etc., my wife says "next time you want to drag me into the 12th for a mediocore meal, take me here instead."

They're not chic, not cool, not luxurious, not high on service; but the various Paul's scattered around the city offer a really nice breakfast at a very reasonable cost, whether continental or with eggs, etc. http://www.paul.fr/uk/histoire.php

Well we made it to Lou Fasum and we had a wonderful lunch yesterday. The food was as delicious as it was beautiful. Our reception and the friendliness of the staff was equally good. We had the Menu Plasir du Mois à 38 €. La mise en bouche - this was a tuna tartar under spring flowers La mise en bouche - this was a tuna tartar under spring flowers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Les truffes en omelette soufflées Crème aux parfums « d’Alba » Où Le saumon bio d’écosse, marinade d’agrume, pétale de fleurs Rémoulade de betterave crue, copeaux de Poutarge de Mulet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Le carré de porc « Noir de Bigorre » rôti sur un lit d’herbes Petit choux farci de pied de cochon et légumes. Où Le filet de daurade, pommes boulangères à la soupe de roche, Rouille de Piquillos. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notre sélection de maître « Bedot », salade, fruits secs (Sup. 8 euro) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Le pré dessert du moment -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Les millefeuilles à l’huile d’olive vanillée Où Le sablé banane chocolat. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mignardises

Hi. We're visiting Paris in February and Felice's write up of La Gazzetta definitely makes it sound worth visiting. However, after doing a search, I found several less than flattering reports (some using words like "inedible" about certain dishes). Obviously, I take everything I read with a grain of salt, but I would love to hear any other recent comments from other gulleteers. ← Hugh, in case your trip is not yet complete, Francois Simon raves about La Gazetta in today's Figaro and calls it "sans-faute". You can read the full review (at least for now) here ← So now I'm really in a quandry. We're going to be in Paris for three evenings next week: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We have reservations at La Mère Agitée, Clocher Pereire, and l'Ami Jean. So maybe we'll do La Gazzetta instead of La Mère Agitée. We've also been to l'Ami Jean once and loved it and I kinda want to go back (that rice pudding is calling me). Or we could go to La Gazzetta. What do you think? There's a decent write-up with some nice pictures here http://www.hotels-paris-rive-gauche.com/bl...estaurant-paris

John, I noticed your rave review of Chez Lena et Mimile, but lin a later post you mentioned inconsistancies there. So, what do you think worth a visit over Itineraires? Or back to my old standby La Regalade. And was it the molecular menu you were raving about? and if so, do you remember the price?