julot-les-pinceaux

The only place outside restaurant is the shop in Vieux Ferrette, which as you know is next to Ferrette, south of Alsace, 20km SW of Basel. He also has a truck that he takes to neighbouring villages. Otherwise, expensive restaurants only, such as l'Arpège, Alain Ducasse, Les Ambassadeurs, Ledoyen, Dieter Müller, Tantris, Köingshof in Munich, Schwarzwaldstube or Manresa.

May I ask how much the Decouverte des Specialites is? Is it offered (and at the same price) at dinner? ← 198/284 bc (beverage included) and yes.

From their website: "Chocolate biscuit made with marzipan marinated in lime juice, chocolate ganache flavoured with cardamom and black pepper, served with a dark chocolate sorbet". Speaks for itself, doesn't it? And, as I said somewhere else, you can trust Savoy for the avalanche of desserts. Of course it's also a reference to Rugby -- Guy Savoy is a coach and the restaurant stayed open late during the world cup, for "third half-times".

Is early December too late for lièvre à la royale? The last time I had it (not in France) was in November, as you say. ← I think it is. It's really an early fall thing.

There are such restaurants, but it is a double edged question: they have a great pastry chef but also the savouries are not quite as interesting. To me that is exactly the case with le Meurice. But the general case is quite the opposite, methinks: often desserts are not up to the rest of the meal, partly because one is already way too full. To me l'Ambroisie and Guy Savoy are dessert champs, but I would not say that the main reason to go is their dessert, whereas I would say that about le Meurice.

On special order at Senderens. At Le Bristol. Maybe Gérard Besson. Definitely Bernard Loiseau (serves both recipes together). La Table de JR.

It's rather a bit early to book now for early november -- but actually, it never is, just book now and they'll tell you if you need to call back later. For Senderens, I always think it's a great idea if you chose wisely (and I'm happy to offer personalised advice, just email me) and 350 for two is largely enough unless you have some very high end wines envies. See for instance: http://www.julotlespinceaux.com/2007/09/se...and-erotic.html

I agree. That's why I try to cover everyone heard about but no one reports about. It's almost impossible to get Guérard posts for instance. Anyway, for Pré Catelan, see Gastroville, Luxeats.

That really does not count as a disagreement. The only way to be sure would be to hang out with Anthony when he sends cheeses to Passard, Ducasse, Wohlfahrt and Klein, in order to see which one gets the best ones. As you say, travel may be a factor, and more generally the fact that cheese are living ingredients and as such always changing. Plus, you actually make my point that the best Anthony cheeses are the best cheeses ever.

Yes they are -- there's no good value at l'Ambroisie, ever, no prix fixe, just the regular ALC stellar items. And that website is fiction indeed. I'm not even sure it's from the actual l'Ambroisie, I suspect it was some designer teasing them into paying for making a website. You'll have to rely on food bloggers for extracts from the carte. There are usually four or five "entrées", "poissons" and "viandes" and it's hard to eat three courses for less than 280eur. (which happens to be the price of the truffled roast chicken, if I'm not mistaken, so it's easy to eat for much more.) There's also a Facebook group which is not a bad place for information.

Not at all. Just taste them. No one who has does not think they are the best ever. Anthony is a genius. I don't know what makes them the best in the world -- that guy calls himself "éleveur de fromages". He selects them and ages them, and no one matches his skills at it. Those cheeses are all wonder of balance, as strong as they should be but not too strong, full of clear and distinct flavours. Btw, that's also where Dieter Müller's cheeses come from. And Wohlfahrt's. And so many others.

I wonder why Robyn thinks that l'Arpège is weak on cheeses indeed. Fact is, not only does Passard have Antony's cheese, he has the very best of Antony's cheeses, which is to say the best cheeses in the world. So it's a good idea to have the actual cheese trolley and get everythnig you like + everything they recommend.

Also something that you learn to like in places better than Chartier. I love Chartier but they don't do top notch food.

You need to add Christian Constant to your list, open 365/7. Also Pichard, a simple but great bakery+pastry, is open in august, closed mon-tue and 1-4pm. And le Boulanger de Monge is open in August, closed mondays, and despite his name, the tarts and other millefeuille are what he does best.

I think it is a good occasion to remind that l'Astrance is objectively admirable by the skills deployed, the quality of ingredients, the precision of cooking and seasoning. The rest is indeed a matter of personal preference (and maybe luck as well). Robert and I are not l'Astrance fans, but I would not argue that those guys don't deserve their third star or that what they do is not special and talented.

Limiting the choice actually serves both purposes: focusing on the day's best amd making the chef's life easier. Now we can't know what the motivations of people are deep inside, but we can have an opinion about the result. To me, places like l'Astrance of Spring are exemplar of the later option (making chefs' life easier) taking precedence. I say that because I think that the food could be better but their specific process is being favoured over the research of the best possible result.

I don't understand your post. Whose assumption is this? What about diners who believe what you say? What is the theory you mention? What policy? Were you in a hurry when you wrote that post?

Christmas is just a bad time for food in Paris, especially christmas eve or nye. There are special christmas fare everywhere and you usually eat less good and more expensive than usual. Of course the top restaurants (those that remain open, that is) kind of maintain their quality standards. Good food suddenly gets much more expensive due to the peak in demand.

I did not lead Vedat to SaQuaNa -- it's one of the places that online foodies talk most about, and he did not need me to hear about it. I think Degusto is a more likely source. I'm glad to hear that you don't oppose no choice restaurant systematically. It did not sound that way in your initial post about l'Astrance. To me the ideal restaurant is a limited choice one because, as I said, a good chef knows what is best that day, and that absolutely no chef can guarantee the highest quality every day on every course of an extensive menu. So people who are serious about excellent food have to rely on the chef one way or another. As far as wine pairing goes, Senderens demonstrated that, when it is extraordinary well made, an exact pairing is a unique experience that you cannot do by yourself. Of course there's no point when it does not achieve something exceptional. As far as the cost-effectiveness goes, I am personally happy to pay less for the best possible food, as opposed to paying half of the cost of my meal in order to subsidy a large menu. I want the best but I don't care about paying the most. Now I am 100% in agreement about your more general point that restaurants should be turned towards the pleasure of diners before chefs. I even was one of the first to raise this issue about l'Astrance: that it is a place more about those who make it than about those who dine there. Barbot even felt the need to respond to that in an interview. I entirely share your view about not going to l'Astrance, or Keller again. But I think it has nothing to do with the limited choice concept, only with the fact that those chefs forgot the elementary truth that you mention, namely that the point of their job is to please clients. In a word, their fundamental lack of generosity. In passing, Keller's and Barbot's connection are not the only ones to which that reproach applies. What should we say about Bras, or Gagnaire and their egotism? Last point, I am extremely tempted to make fun of a concept of autonomy that includes 30 persons working on your meal. I agree that there is an art to compose a meal, but I don't think that we usually have enough informations, as diners, to exert it. Unless we are very familiar with the restaurant where we are, we are very often likely to combine names rather than actual flavours. I'd like to hear more about restaurants that offer a blow-out visit in your view.

I have to disagree with that. Wine pairing the way Alexandre makes them, or the way Senderens does, brings a new dimension to both wine and dish that you can't reproduce at home. To me, it even is the most exciting feature about l'Astrance. Now you may not like their offer, and then you just shouldn't go to the restaurant. I don't think that your criticizing their very concept is very convincing. Actually, a food lover could easily take the opposite view: why should cooks pretend that they can maintain the highest quality on every menu of the item. On the opposite, a honest chef knows that only some ingredients are at their best on that day. He also knows what he feels like cooking and what he doesn't. Therefore, the menu surprise is, in its concept, the best way to have the best possible food on every day. Now I am not a l'Astrance fan, but I don't think that your criticism goes much beyond the fact that this is not what you expect from a restaurant and you are opposed to the concept of menu surprise and wine pairing. In addition, I should add that the surprise menu concept is a way to keep costs low -- 290 for a high quality meal including beverage is quite competitive among Paris three star restaurants.

Since I was part of the meal, I can answer as well. Of course you can asl for only a couple of glasses, and they will probably charge you a little something on top of the surprise menu but less than the menu with pairing. You can see menu prices on my Picasa web album there: http://picasaweb.google.com/jultort/LAstra...192035034183282 That said, the wine pairing is one of the best features of l'Astrance, and while I would recommend drinking water at l'Ambroisie or l'Arpège, don't at l'Astrance. Alexandre does an extraordinary job, as he learnt with Senderens and Jérôme Moreau. They don't give you the menu at the end of the meal. But you can try asking.

You'll eat better at La Rotonde, at the corner of Montparnasse and Raspail. L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon is also open. Not sure about Fish, but it's not too far to check.

which one - les cocottes or violon? I have booked into le crillon for the brunch du monde, looks eye wateringly pricy but rather lovely.... ← Violon -- haven't been to les Cocottes yet.

I wasn't looking for a fight -- it's just that people have different expectations when it comes to restaurants, and I think that foodies would be disappointed at Constant. Does not make it a bad restaurant in any way and I concurr with your recommendation.

I love the place -- it is friendly and makes one of the best soufflé in town. As you say, it has an excellent ambiance and people have a lot of fun there. I would nevertheless differ with the notion that food at Constant is excellent. It once was, but I think he now only does good bistrots with nothing special.