VivreManger

Good suggestions. I will be staying not too far from both. If the tart is served hot, I prefer ice cream to creme chantilly or the other alternatives.

Mark Bittman's reference in today's NYTimes Travel section http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/travel/22paris.html to the "classic pot of sweetbreads with fresh noodles and wild mushrooms" at Mon Vieil Ami raised the question of what restaurants in Paris prepare the best sweet bread dishes. Any takers?

The website http://wwwdavidlebovitz.com/ seems out of order. Despite different tries through different routes it failed to appear. Please check with your friend to solve the problem.

While the Pages Jaunes photo does not jog my memory of the yesteryear shop I had in mind, Millet on 103 Rue St. Dominique might be worth a try. I assumed you had to special order it.

March when I will be in Paris is not the best season for apples, but if there is any chance of finding a good tarte tatin, I will have to do my research. I have recollections of three tt, none outstanding. The Groupe Flo Bakery near Bastille regularly made them in two sizes. While ok in a pinch, it was not outstanding. A small neighborhood bakery near the Centre Pompidou (on a side street off Rambuteau, parallel to rue Beubourg, made a better version, but it was only on certain days of the week. Years earlier I tracked down an antique-looking patisserie on the Left Bank, near Blvd. Saint Germain, but I can't recall the name or precise location. Any suggestions out there?

I called customer service a second time and was told that there is no extra charge on foreign credit card charges, "aside from what the merchant imposes". Whatever that means. Unfortunately the companies will not send the fine print unless you sign up for their cards. That strikes me as a classic bait and switch.

Here is a link that does gather a lot of useful options, http://www.smartertravel.com/advice/askans...e.php?id=288725 According what Ed Perkins writes, the best credit card deal right now - - and I use now advisedly - - is Capital One. I went to their web site to clarify their options, but unfortunately the two issues that need to be addressed, the extra charge and the alarming practice of dynamic conversion - - in other words allowing the merchant rather than the wholesale market to set the actual exchange rate - - are not addressed. Perkins advice on this subject is rather clueless: "Merchants are free to use whatever phony rate they choose. The result is an obvious double markup. You pay both the merchant's currency markup and the bank's surcharge. If the merchant uses an exchange rate that's, for example, five percent below the wholesale rate, your exchange cost could total eight percent—five percent for the merchant plus three percent for the bank, an obvious gouge. Clearly, you should never accept dynamic conversion." How in the world do you know whether or not "dynamic conversion" is being imposed? Do you have to walk around with the wholesale rate in your head and then ask the merchant what he is charging? Does anyone have the Capital One phone number handy? As it turns out after posting that, I checked my mail to find two Capital One credit card offers clogging the box. I called the first number about the offer and they did not know about dynamic conversion, but they did claim no added charges on foreign credit card exchange transactions. As for dynamic conversion, the representative was quite surprised to hear about it, but could do nothing but offer the general customer service number 800-548-4593. I did call customer service who promptly contradicted the other marketer. The second representative claimed that Capital One does charge 1% on top of the international charges. Re: AmEx in France, over the years my experience has been inconsistent. Certainly MC and Visa (Carte Bleue) are widely accepted, but sometimes AMEx has worked better. One of those machines refused my Visa card, but happily billed the AmEx.

As this earlier thread which I am now reviving demonstrates, US credit card companies have found annoying ways to charge you for services they do not perform. A few years ago I left United Airlines for MBNA to avoid the 1% charge most companies add on top of the other transaction costs (1% for Visa which handles the foreign exchange). There is no expense for the credit card company itself to justify the charge, but they have gotten away with it. Now MBNA has joined the gougers and I am looking for another card to use, particularly on foreing travel. Now in 2006 does any one know who does not add the 1% charge?

I like Willi's very much. Almost ten years ago I was working around the corner from that resto, usually right through the normal French lunch hour, till a time when nothing but a stale sausage sandwich was left forlorn in the vitrine of the local bar tabac. Willi's then had a custom of offering their regular lunch menu at the bar past the lunch hour. I wandered in one day and chatted up Will Johnson (?) while he was on the phone with Patricia Wells, advising her on his favorite bistros. I ate there from time to time until one Saturday when I look lunch at the proper hour in the dining room. The meal was great. I particularly recall an excellent mango confection. Unfortunately later that day I developed a nasty bout of food poisoning. I couldn't help but connect it to the meal at Willi's, though at the time nothing I ate was off. Somehow I have been unable to return. BTW have you ever done tarte tatin research in Paris? With neighborhood patisseries, the availability is uncertain, here one day, gone the next. Furthermore March is not exactly apple season, so I am not optimistic about finding them in abundance in the late winter. Given your name, I would hope that you had some recommendations!

Thanks for les pages jaunes suggestion. I have found another site which I consider quite amazing http://www.paris.fr/portail/accueil/Portal.lut?page_id=1 It is the website of the Mayor's Office in Paris, mostly in French. On the right hand side, towards the upper corner there is a box: Plan Interactif, Paris a la carte. Clicking on the map that appears will yield all sorts of options, including bird's eye view photo maps, detailed maps, and simplified maps. In addition there is an Itineraire option that will allow you to plan a journey within Paris, on foot, two-wheels, four-wheels, or public transport, quite the most powerful such engine I have every seen. In addition to furnishing the route, the site also gives the precise distance and an estimate of the time. I have yet to compare it to pages jaunes, but I suspect it is a bit more powerful. Now I have checked both. The Paris Mayor's map page tells you how to get there. The Pages Jaunes tells you what you will see.

There's no middle ground here - say a red Loire or a white St Joseph? It's not like you can take the two unfinished bottles to the next place. ← We can take the two back to our apartement!

Mr problem is my wife will drink no red, my habitual preference to white. Corking two bottles is a good solution.

I have read that French law and practice has been changed to allow the recorking and take away of unfinished wine after a meal. Am I mistaken? If not, how prevalent has the practice become? I was wondering if an unfinished burgundy at Le Villarette could be a candidate for the doggie bottle?

I have been intrigued by the temporary resto phenomenon in Paris. The Arpege-veggie light in Printemps was perhaps the most praised example. I have not noticed much recent discussion. Is the ephemeral merely a summer-time fling or does it occur in other seasons? Will Printemps do their name justice and open another temporesto in the spring? Whatever happens how much of an advanced word is disseminated?

John, Thanks for that helpful report. I am looking forward to trying them out, particularly the epoisses! In the States and even in Canada it is difficult to find a good true raw milk epoisses. The market is largely limited to the semi-raw milk cheeses made by Berthaut. According to your information March should being them to market. The plans for the visit are advancing. It seems that we will be taking an apartment near the Place Vendome on Rue St. Honore. My memories of that location include Willi's Wine Bar, an unsung Morrocan (Darkoum), lots of cheap Chinese-Vietnamese that never seemed appealing, a reasonable small resto on rue Mont Thabor, L’ARDOISE, (I noticed you recommended it in the November discussion of 1st versus 5th arrondisement). Any more detailed and recent reports on that place? I did a Forum search, but got so many hits that it was difficult to separate wheat from chaff. BTW is there any map searching device specifically geared to France & Paris? Yahoo does not go there and Mapquest is incomplete and primitive. I do recall finding on the Web very good maps for Paris, with restos, markets, landmarks, metro stops, and other such useful coordinates, but I don't remember how. Thanks again.

Still does. Not any more. It's now a gym for children or some similar type of yuppie place. (That's what I meant about that neighborhood's changing.) A tragic loss. PS -- Sorry I got Ferdinando's name wrong. ← At least the sign of the salumeria is still painted on the outer wall, facing the BQE and Columbia St.

Tried a few places in the greater Cobble Hill, Carol Gardens, Red Hook area. Since Ferdinando's Focacceria Ristorante has gotten the most attention, I'll begin there. Located on 151 Union St. 11231, 718-855-1545. just west of the BQE, most of the week they close at 6:00, on Friday and Saturday at 9, I believe. We had the melanzane alla griglia, broccoli rabe, arancina, and panelle. The arancina was the best, sort of like a lightly fried risotto. Panelle is a cross between samosa and felafel. The rabe was good, melanzane, a bit disappointing. Certainly worth a return visit. Incidentally the foccacia of the name are simply little sandwiches, not the pizza-like flat bread, now so common. Two unmentioned spots are Mazzola Bakery, a block east of Ferdinando's, 192 Union St, 11231, 718-643-1719. The place was hoping around 9:30 Saturday morning. I tried a sausage bread -- aka lard bread -- and a cheese bread, both were delicious. Being an authentic Italian bakery, they also make rugelach. First night we went to another old-fashioned Italian resto, Sam's, 238 Court Street, near Baltic. Not in the same league as Ferdinando's, but it is open later. The shrimp salad should be avoided at all costs. The best dish was the chicken bracciole, rolled chicken breast stuffed with provolone, mozzarela, and ham, covered with wine sauce and mushrooms. Chicken was tender, sauce was pleasant, and the cheese oozed agreeably. We kept on missing the neighborhood juice bar, Nectar, 198 Court St., near Wyckoff St., 718-855-6166. Aside from stocking one of my favorite sorbets-gelati, Ciao Bella, their smoothie menu is more wide-ranging than most, but they don't post their hours on the window. And their phone has no taped information. Many thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

I will be spending a long-weekend in Cobble Hill, not too far from Atlantic Ave. I know about the Yemeni places and the bakeries and other Middle Eastern food shops on Atlantic Avenue. I have also sampled the dubious products of Bagel World, the source of bagels so large that they should be sold as sandwich loaves. Are there any other worth-while establishments in this hood? Anything distinctly Brooklyn? A little more distant is a visit to Junior's. How far is Di Faro's from this neighborhood? I will be staying around Warren & Clinton. I think that is called Cobble Hill.

While I would agree that their intention is not harassment, their effect might be. As for health and safety, that certainly is the rationale. However the definition of health and safety is very much in the mind of the bureaucrat and the legislator. As we well know, lobbyists and campaign donors, as well as vested local economic interests all play a role in this process. The pasteurized cheese industry has a considerable interest in determining how health and safety are defined. The result is that we are denied the commercial importation of wonderful raw milk cheese. Steve Shaw wrote a long piece about this many years ago. I don't have the URL handy, but the following tidbits should help any enterprising googler find it. Steve also posted this on eGullet so it is lurking around somewhere. "Cheesy does it Getting your hands on great cheese in the United States means circumventing an archaic FDA regulation. By Steven A. Shaw - - - - - - - - - - January 28, 2000 | I met "Pierre" at a rest area near the Canadian border at midnight. I handed him a $100 bill and he handed me a brown paper bag. "Don't you want to count it?" I quipped. He folded the bill, put it in his pocket, backed away from me (never breaking eye contact and never speaking), slid into his Pontiac Bonneville and drove back north to Quebec." Salon.com

In about 2002, I believe, Au Petit Marguery was sold. I dined there in November shortly after the sale, but while the former owners, the Cousin brothers, were still running the show. The meal was excellent. However I have not been back since. I have been hoping to learn whether or not the sale and the eventual withdrawal of the Cousins introduced any changes. From the continuous appearance of the restaurant in the game, it seems not, at least none for the worst. I wonder if anyone who knows the place well has done a before and after review. Or is this one of the rare instances in the Paris restaurant business where despite a change of ownership the restaurant sails on. Who, by the way, bought it? It certainly seems not to have been the Flo Group.

I posted this in the Xmas shopping thread, but no need not to repeat it since it is germane. My experience confirms Raisa's. "As for transporting cheese, I have been doing it for years with no trouble. Cryovaced or not it is perfectly safe for the hold of the plane. On one return home in the summer my bag was delayed for two days and all the cheeses came through in good - - in that case cryovaced - - form. In general Americans impose more cold storage on food than is needed. Technically raw milk cheese aged under 60 days is contraband in the US, but genteel customs officials never ask a cheese her age. Over the years the Logan (Boston airport) inspectors are the most genteel. On the other hand meat is a problem, particularly if it walks or hobbles - - in the case of bovine spongiform encephalyitis (sp) - - on four legs. So that toothsome terrine of ruminants may not pass muster. If you really crave a pate bring it on board and finish it on the flight over with some mustard, cornichons, and good bread, before you land. I have done that on a flight or two, always more satisfying than the plastic food on offer." I have never brought in a fish or vegetable terrine, not because of fear of confiscation, but because I have never found one I thought worth the bother. I am curious as to how good the dish proves to be.

Perhaps the thread he had in mind was the one I started - - now merged - - on gifts FOR France. As for transporting cheese, I have been doing it for years with no trouble. Cryovaced or not it is perfectly safe for the hold of the plane. On one return home in the summer my bag was delayed for two days and all the cheeses came through in good - - in that case cryovaced - - form. In general Americans impose more cold storage on food than is needed. Technically raw milk cheese aged under 60 days is contraband in the US, but genteel customs officials never ask a cheese her age. Over the years the Logan inspectors are the most genteel. On the other hand meat is a problem, particularly if it walks or hobbles - - in the case of bovine spongiform encephalyitis (sp) - - on four legs. So that toothsome terrine of ruminants may not pass muster. If you really crave a pate bring it on board and finish it on the flight over with some mustard, cornichons, and good bread, before you land. I have done that on a flight or two, always more satisfying than the plastic food on offer. Both La Grande Epicerie and Lafayette Gourmet are excellent, though I have a slight preference for the left-bank store. Large bars of dark chocolate, for eating, and for baking, and also as the base for a Burdicks-quality hot chocolate are also an excellent gift idea, but they run afoul of the delights of globalization. Trader Joe's with multiple locations around Boston stocks precisely that product in multiple varieties. I think that L'Olivier has a branch on Newberry St. Certainly l'Occitaine has become almost as ubiquitous as McDonalds. Unfortunately with the rise of the Euro and the ubiquity of VAT, the price of a lot of French products - - Marseilles soap for example - - is not that much lower in France than in the US. At least you should not take a favorable difference for granted. Other packing suggestions: certainly ziplocked freezer bags, if you have some bubble-wrapping lying around the house, bring it along. Since you are allowed two bags in the hold and for a quick trip you may need only one, take two anyway, with the second to carry home the loot. Check on the precise weight and size restrictions Air France allows and push your bags to that max. I usually take a hard wheelie and a soft expandable bag which I stuff inside the other on my outward bound passage, watching it expand with my belly on the way back. It is true that if you return with heavy suitcases you will have to spend at least fifty bucks to get to Charles De Gaulle since the RER will no longer be practical. Adding that cost into equation might mean that the slightly cheaper bottle of olive oil on the rue de Rivoli is really not that much cheaper than what you can get on Newberry St.

Actually fine cheddar used to be - - and may still be - - not widely available in France. It travels pretty well.

I propose to turn our other thread on its head and ask what you like to bring from the States for French friends that can't be easily gotten, even in Paris. One French friend who spends a fair time in the States developed - - why, God only knows - - a craving for Tex-Mex food. I used to make her quite happy with Bearito corn tortilla chips and Enrico's salsa. After my last tortilla run I wandered down Rue Rambuteau where she lives only to discover the very same chips in the local biologique store. The salsa had not made it yet, however. Another time I was visiting from England and I imported some Neil's Yard finest. She loved the cheddar and stilton. Some artisanal American cheeses have become respectable enough to bring to France, cheddars in particular. Since I have not shopped in Paris for a few years, I am curious to learn from others if any other unusual and interesting American products are rarely if ever seen in French markets. Of course the ex-pat demand is a different story. Some friends from the States now in London, are always eager for graham crackers without which they can't make key lime pie, but that is a different market from the one I am describing.

Checked out the LeFooding website to learn about future events, but none seem posted. How frequent are they? Based on the past schedules, are they likely to have anything in early March?