fresh_a

It's not something seen in Paris, really, unless I guess it was some specialty store doing different variations on a product. I know Guy Martin's short-lived sandwich shop Miyou did one. Comptoir de la Gastronomie as well. But not something people usually eat.

Frenchie, you'll never get into, ditto for Chateaubriand (thanks, Bourdain) , Rino (thanks NYT), Spring downstairs is a wine bar (upstairs forget it), all the rest , book in advance, 'cept Avant Comptoir which is a very casual crowded wine bar with small bites..

Wouldn't call it 'hip' by any means

I think you're right. They've been flagging for ages. I think finally this is a case of David (online food writing) killing Goliath (ie, them). I don't think I've ever seen a Guide Rouge launch drawing less interest. There was, of course, the initial twitterverse/blogosphere frenzy, every Tom, Dick and Harry food blogger hoping to announce the results first. But after a couple hours, it died down and nobody really cared...

Yam T'cha has had a ginourmous amount of buzz. Disappointing lately, though. Passage 53 has really come a long way. I've been going since the beginning when it was more of a 'bistrot de luxe' with great products, but not much challenge for chef Shinichi Sato, doing things like steak frites (Desnoyer, comme meme..) and tartars, jabugo ham. People complained about the deco being too crowded. Guillaume the owner listened to his diners and critics, completely redid the dining room, hired great waitstaff, and an amazing cute Japanese sommelier (from Tokyo's three star Qunitessence), and gave the chef free rein with the tasting menu only menu for both lunch and dinner. He's learned , come a long way, and allowed the table to become what it is now, a well deserved one star. Although some dishes really shine like the recent "tempura" of artichokes on a bed of yuzu flavored oysters and the famous veal tartar and oysters are the ultimate "Surf and Turf", and it definitely gets my vote as my top table of the year. I recently felt bad writing this .......

Funny, there doesn't seem to be too much commenting on the new Michelin guide. It seems to have left people pretty cold, but I'd love to hear what you people out there think of it. Is Michelin trying to change? Does the Etoile magazine and sporadic online reviews make any difference, make them more valid? Does giving the first one star to Yam T'cha and Passage 53 make them a little more open to new trends? What do you think?

20 seater in another month or so.

I can't believe there have been no replies/comments to this! What do people think of these results? I was happy to see the Passage 53 get a star, they deserve it just as much , if not more than Yam T'cha. Bigarrade, not so sure... Anyone else?

The pasta was delicious. And the lievre was the best I've ever had.

Put off by this dish?? Blasphemy! This is indeed the Senateur Couteaux version.

He's actually opening a new concept gastro upstairs from Thoumieux , but not for a few months so I hear...

url=""]Here's the one I had at the Pré Catelan yesterday. Superb with a nice 2007 Cote Rotie.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2009-11/1348671/IMG_1932.JPG"]Here's the one I had at the Pré Catelan yesterday. Superb with a nice 2007 Cote Rotie.

Indeed.

Yeah , it seems Inaki's strong side is his being a media darling. I've never been that impressed with his cooking to tell the truth, whether it be at La Famille, Transversal (where his tenor lasted about 2 minutes before he abandoned his partner- their words , not mine..) and currently at the Chateaubriand.