Bistro Bob

We had an excellent meal at Voltaire last year with outstanding service. The girls really liked the the decor. (I really liked the blond in the low-cut red dress and sunglasses smoking a cigar.) We're going back to dinner at Votaire on Friday, so I'll get back with a detailed update.

We've had two totally opposite experiences at Lucas Carton. We had a terrific lunch about three years ago. We ordered off the relatively inexpensive (about 60 euros) prix-fixe luncheon menu. The three-course selection was limited but every item was delicious, exhibiting the creative use of spices that Sendrens is noted for. Service was excellent, and the sommilier's suggestion of a '92 Mercury "La Framboisiere" for only 35 euros was just perfect. Wewere so pleased with our luncheon experience that we chose Lucas Carton for our "splurge" dinner a year and a half later. What a huge disappointment! The service was bush league - no one was unfriendly but everyone was very uptight. I won't get into the details but several so-called classic dishes were mediocre or worse. The "Canard Apicius" was a duck taffy apple. I also had the unique (for me) experience of spending more on my appetizer than I was paying for a night in my hotel. My guess is that the "B" team was in the kitchen that night, but for $200 plus per head there shouldn't be anything but "A" players in the place.

Chez Georges (2e) was one of the first Parisian bistros Michele and I tried, more than twenty years ago, and it has been on our short list of favorites ever since. If you are a group of three or four or more, a good appetizer strategy is to each order a different savory salad - champignons a la Greque, salade jambon, celeri remoulade, herring, etc. (served in big glass bowls) - which lets everybody put together a nice antipasto plate. Of course it's also difficult to pass up the excellent foie gras or the perfect salade frisee with a poached egg on top.