menton1

A recent stop for some fresh fish showed that nothing has changed, just retail, 2 little tables, still a curtain with construction going on. Any intrepid Eg-er have the scoop on when the restaurant will open next to the retail counter?

Saturday, October 8, 10-2.

Rue Clément between Rue de Seine and Rue Mabillon has about 6 nice bistros which should be available without reservations; La Golfe de Naples, #8, has above average Italian food in a bistro setting; L'Instant Gourmand at #2, is open until midnight with some terrific casual food; Nicolas, across the street, is a great Wine Bar with some great small plates; Directly across from La Golfe is a wonderful bistro with their hook being every dish is cooked with fresh herbs. A beautifully-decorated place, with inventive, creative dishes. If you want to try, down the block at rue Mabillon is La Petite Cour, a step up from a bistro but might be "complet" or Aux Charpentiers which is also in the similar category. A slew of others also on Rue de Buci, including the bistro L'Atlas. Bon appétit!

There should be many; what arrondisement will be close to you?

Also, Seafood Gourmet in Maywood is now expanding and their wonderfully prepared super-fresh fish will now be served in a restaurant area as well. They only have 3 tables now, but soon they will have 15. Perhaps someone here knows the timetable. We have discussed Seafood Gourmet before, and, aside from having great seafood, the only criticism someone had was that the place was TOO clean!!

Being from New Jersey, USA, just about ANY patisserie in France I find to be fabulous!! Not only is everything wonderful and delicious, but they are displayed as a work of art in the windows! Here are a couple of photos from our recent visit to Toulouse; the patisserie is somewhere on the rue des Cordeliers, but I can't remember exactly where. I can't imagine being disappointed in a patisserie in France... By the way, where are you dining in Toulouse?

This topic reminds me of a newcomer on the scene, Patrick Roger. We had passed his shop every day on Blvd St Germain in the Odéon area, his work is a lot of fun and quite artistic and resembles high fashion! Here is the web sit, the best creations are the almond pastes, be sure to have a look at those: http://www.patrickroger.com My mouth is watering...

Well, it sounds like you may be at the peak of the French August Holidays; for a little slower pace, try to get to the Gers, a very quiet region off the beaten track. This is old Gascogne, lots of history, centered around the villages of Auch and Condom (no comments please). Also the home of Armagnac. The Gers will be less crowded, and the prices are a bit lower than Lot and Dordogne, although they are all much lower than Provence. Enjoy!

I think you will love the Marais! It is my favorite area in Paris. As far as restaurants there, one of my favorites is Le Dome du Marais, 53 rue des Francs Bourgeois, 4th. A gorgeous setting, in an indoor courtyard with skylight-windows covering the courtyard. The food is lovely, a touch of Brittany in the cooking (the chef hails from there) and fairly reasonable "menu" pricing. Be sure to reserve ahead. P.S. In the Parc Monceau area, DO NOT MISS a little-talked about gem, the Musée Nissim de Camondo. The chateau facing the parc is exactly how Mr Comondo left it, before he died and left everything to the French State. The decorations, the artwork, the dinnerware, and the exotic kitchen make this a wonderful "off the tourist track" experience. http://www.ucad.fr/fr/04museecamondo/index.html Here's a photo of one of the gates that serve as an entrance to this beautiful parc:

Vmilor, I hope you noticed that I live in New Jersey! However, in Nice, I have heard that Les Viviers has the best seafood on either side of the border. It is in a residential section of Nice, well away from the tourist track. Here is their Web Site: http://www.les-viviers-nice.com/ Perhaps Robert Brown or Jonathan Day have first-hand info about the place, as they spend much more time in the area than I do. But this restaurant is supposed to have fantastic seafood. If it's anything like the photos on the web, it should be damn good.

Glad you folks enjoyed the report. I also enjoyed the memory of it while writing. Vmilor, I disagree with you about Italy vs France. It's really impossible to claim that the food is BETTER in Italy; it's decidedly not! It's just completely different. After so many trips to France and oh, so much great food, I just cannot say that I would rather eat in Italy! Sure, the feeling is different, the culture is different. And we can enjoy the differences without making one better than the other. As a matter of fact, one of my pet peeves about restaurants in Italy, is that they just don't do good salads. They seem to throw together some lettuce, a few tomato slices, and the dreaded shredded carrots invariably top the dish! Not really attractive, and quite ordinary. In France, the most ordinary cafe usually does artistic saladry. They usually have a selection of several, and they are put together beautifully on a plate. The dressing is usually added, and the results are wonderful as a rule. Yes, the food in Italy is great, but restaurants in France don't hold second place to anyone, either!

C'mon, Holly, cut them a little slack... Actually, NGT is probably the best of its breed of Travel Mags. Conde Nast and T & L are pretty much pap and shill service these days. As far as Philly, it did have a decline in the 80s and early 90s. The clean-up of Society Hill, the gentrification of Old City, the (re) birth of Manayunk (even though some say it's now on a decline) and the opening of hundreds of new restaurants in Center City have made Philly a better, nicer place in the last 10 years. I suppose it is now really being "discovered" by those not in the know. Luckily for me, I discovered Philly inadvertently about 10 years ago and visit as often as I can even though it is 100 miles from Northern NJ where I live; So I suppose for those of us who know and love Philly already, the secret is now out!

I highly recommend that book, "From Here You Can't See Paris". It's a wonderful account of a restaurant operation in a small town. According to the book though, the restaurant basically shuts down around October. Most of the SouthWest gets very quiet from mid-September on. We just returned, we were in the SW in mid-Sept and the season was already winding down. Restaurants were only half-full at dinner. I can recommend one place if you are nearby, Le Privilege in Monpazier. A beautiful village, bastide-type, and a wonderful family-run place. Lovely courtyard for dining, if it's not too cold already. What is your itinerary and timetable?

On our recent trip to France, we were only 30 minutes from the Italian border so we decided to do one dinner in Italy. I thought it would be relevant to post this excerpt from my report on my trip to France here on the Italy Forum. Here it is: On our third day on the Côte, we planned to dip over into Italy for one dinner and a change of food and culture. The Gantié had talked about a little family operation in Bordighera called Magiargé. Bordighera is a bit more attractive than the first 2 towns over the border, Ventimiglia and Vallecrosia, which are decidedly seedy. The pedestrian way (Lungomare) bordering the sea is quite nice here, but the restaurant is located in the Centro Storico, or the Old Center. In Italy these centers are usually closed to cars, as was the case here, so the restaurant is on a small quiet Medieval square, which at dusk is very atmospheric and enjoyable. The food here did not disappoint. Run lovingly by a couple, Carmen and Mauro, our smattering of Italian came in handy because nobody spoke much English-- this is really off the tourist track. We chose for starters the "Degustazione" which is 4 plates of appetizers. There were 2 fish plates, a pasta, and a salad/vegetable dish. Stoccafisso mantecato Brandacujon alla ponentina, Passatina di zucchine trombette col ragù di pesce, Sardini Ripene, and Taglielini con pesci cappone; Main courses were tuna steaks in a balsamic vinegar reduction, and a scalope de pesce loale con pachini e con basilico. It's sometimes quite refreshing to go to a simple reataurant like this one producing fresh dishes with local flavors. It's certainly relaxed, and, although the Michelin-star restaurants will always have their place, it is definitely harder to relax in one of those than a place like this. It was a lot of fun, and the food was terrific. A grand evening in Italy! Here's the couple that runs the place: For their full menu and a history of the owners, go to: http://www.magiarge.it

I took one shot with a flash, and, I felt a/like I was making a spectacle out of myself, and b/ that without the flash it captured the beautiful lighting effect of the restaurant. Glad you noticed, and glad the photos are discernable!!

It was a little place called Le Cabanon In Cap D'Ail on the coast; I think it was just a Tarte aux figues from the tableau noir; I have some photos of the place on my Trip report on another thread. It was a late-afternoon snack with coffee.

On our third day on the Côte, we planned to dip over into Italy for one dinner and a change of food and culture. The Gantié had talked about a little family operation in Bordighera called Magiargé. Bordighera is a bit more attractive than the first 2 towns over the border, Ventimiglia and Vallecrosia, which are decidedly seedy. The pedestrian way (Lungomare) bordering the sea is quite nice here, but the restaurant is located in the Centro Storico, or the Old Center. In Italy these centers are usually closed to cars, as was the case here, so the restaurant is on a small quiet Medieval square, which at dusk is very atmospheric and enjoyable. The food here did not disappoint. Run lovingly by a couple, Carmen and Mauro, our smattering of Italian came in handy because nobody spoke much English-- this is really off the tourist track. We chose for starters the "Degustazione" which is 4 plates of appetizers. There were 2 fish plates, a pasta, and a salad/vegetable dish. Stoccafisso mantecato Brandacujon alla ponentina, Passatina di zucchine trombette col ragù di pesce, Sardini Ripene, and Taglielini con pesci cappone; Main courses were tuna steaks in a balsamic vinegar reduction, and a scalope de pesce loale con pachini e con basilico. It's sometimes quite refreshing to go to a simple reataurant like this one producing fresh dishes with local flavors. It's certainly relaxed, and, although the Michelin-star restaurants will always have their place, it is definitely harder to relax in one of those than a place like this. It was a lot of fun, and the food was terrific. A grand evening in Italy! Here's the couple that runs the place: For their full menu and a history of the owners, go to: http://www.magiarge.it

I wanted to post this photo taken from a recent trip to France; it is the window of a small, typical "one person bakery" on an anonymous street in Toulouse. The cakes and pastries resemble Balthazar in their perfection much, much more than they resemble Andre, as his stuff tends to be a bit sloppy and assymetrical most of the time. To say that his work is imperfect because he is small is not a good excuse, IMHO. Just look at the things in this window!

Here is a photo from our recent trip, albeit a sweet tarte, of figues decorated with those beautiful french berries called groseilles. Délicieuse!!

That is a very difficult task! To pick out ONE restaurant from the 10,000 in Paris would be nearly impossible... You should decide if you want the formal experience of a 3-star top place, or the relaxed idea of a bistro, where the food can also be top flight. My favorite reference book is the Pudlo, but it is only available to purchase when you get to France.

We drove through Millau a couple of years ago, before the Viaduc had opened; not far is the town of Roquefort where the REAL one comes from-- there are apparently about 3 other villages across France with the same name, but the one near Millau is THE one. It will, however, make you forever averse to substitutes like Danish Blue! And, ahh, this is France, so for lunch I would just park, stroll around, check for a local-looking place, check the carte in the window, and the tableau noir for the plats du jour, and chances are you will have a wonderful meal. Make sure you get there before 1:45, that is usually the last call for lunch.

The Carrefour on the outskirts of Nice has about 90 aisles-- including electronics, books and records, hardware, and clothing. Staff goes around on rollerblades! The irony to me is, that when you are outside, the parking lot is woefully inadequate, poorly planned, and difficult to negotiate. But inside makes up for it. My favorite are the 3 full aisles just devoted to yogurt! But of course, we also enjoy the small local boulangeries, boucheries, fromageries, and of course those wonderful morning markets! (Markets are better and much less touristy outside of Provence!)

Some of the best surprises come at the little unassuming places. The weather was nice one early afternoon, so we decided to go to a little place for lunch that was right on the beach at Cap D'Ail. Le Cabanon. Very daunting to find, just a little sign from the main road, and then some wrong turns winding up in dead ends in some tony residential neighborhoods, but we finally landed there. This looks more like an open air place in the Caribbean. Lots of thatch, wood, and country tables, with the lovely French-style artisin decorations. Open-air. We had bumped in to a liaison of folks from Grenoble who were doing a promotion for a new product, "Side-Bike". This expensive toy is a motorcycle with a luxurious sidecar carrying two people in luxury while the driver sits outside in the elements. It looks like this: The food was fun as well. Petit farcis nicois was a wonderful assortment of little local veggies and fish beautifully arranged and served with a salad. Grilled sardines were also cooked perfectly and were delicious. The environment was wonderful also. Went perfectly with a local white wine, of course. While this is not going to make the Michelin guide, this is a terrific fun place for a lunch, a great ambience, great view of the Mediterranean, and the food is quite good! Web Site: http://www.capresort.com/cabanon/index.php?lg=en&p=pres

Here's a couple of photos at L'Univers, hope they are visible!

L'Univers-Christian Plumail A long anticipated visit to this well-acclaimed bastion of Southern French Cooking did not disappoint. The restaurant is long, broken up into 3 rooms by rounded archways, giving the feeling of both intimacy and spaciousness at the same time. Wood beams are placed decoratively throughout, and fresh flowers and artwork adorn the walls. A portent of good things to come was the simple amuse-bouche, 2 beautiful shrimp folded together on 1 plate lightly fried in a white sauce. The Menus (fixed meals) here are startlingly reasonable for the quality of the food. The summer menu entrees we selected were a wonderful plate of grilled sardines in an orange oil sauce and carpaccio of smoked tuna with some crisped vegetables and a bit of conserved lemon. The main server was a bit formal, the secondary servers a bit more amiable, but all were very attentive and helpful. Bread served was of the artisinal variety. Next was Magret de Canard, a Southwestern-oriented dish which is a boneless breast of duck sliced and sauced; Sea Bream (Daurade) in a sauce with cêpes, served with small potato raviolis and trumpet shaped mushrooms from the Maures area. (Var) (If this sounds great, it was!) The nice part of M. Plumail's dishes is that they are simple, they don't go too far with too many flavors. Just enough complexity to let you enjoy the taste of the main ingredients. Dessert was a Millefeuille of strawberries in a balsamic vinegar reduction with ginger cream and lemon-thyme gratinée. Not overly sweet and a terrific finish to a terrific meal. If you are coming by car, avoid the main street the restaurant is on, there is a major construction project going on; however, there is a parking building accessible through Old Nice that lets you out only about 50 steps away from the restaurant. If you are in or around Nice, do not miss L'Univers-- price/value, and the quality and care in the preparation of the food as well as the excellent service make this one of the more memorable places to dine at in Nice. Website: http://www.christian-plumail.com/