Busboy

You may be thinking of John Whiting, not John Talbott. All those guys with white beards look alike. ← Not to mention the similarity of their names and the fact that my brain clouds with envy at their apparently Paris-heavy lifestyles (you, too, Bux), occluding my ability to think straight. Anyway, here's the link. It appears that he spends more time on the left bank than in the environs of the Place d'Etiole, but glancing through it would be a worthy effort. ewindels -- bistros in the 7th are probably about ten minutes by cab from l'Arc.

There's another thread now running about the 8th, Ave George V, in particular, that may be helpful. I will second the thought of the Cap Vernet, I've always liked their fish & bulots and found the decor, service and price to be good. Without getting into a huge discussion about "What is a Bistrot" I do not consider the Cap to be one, except in the Bistrot du Dome/Bistrot Cote Mer sense, eg bright, blue and white, fish. ← Indeed. While I am no boulevardier, I recognize Cap Vernet is probably not a bistro. But it did seem to have those bistro virtues of informality and a moderate price, and could give ewindels something Wells-approved to show her boss. Say, don't you have a website full of bistro recommendations you should be linking to at this appropriate moment?

I went here, on Well's reccomendation. I enjoyed it, but it was more modern than classic in terms of design and feel. I had little other than raw sea creatures. Whether they are Paris' best, I cannot judge, but they were quite good. It is about a block from the Arc. CAP VERNET 82 avenue Marceau Paris 8 Tel: 01 47 20 20 40 Fax 01 47 20 95 36 Closed Sunday. About 40 euros. "Still the best oysters in town! I also love all their fish selections including dorade and home-cured salt cod on a bed of cabbage. " If your boss isn't wedded to a particular spot, you can go onto www.viamichelin.com and do a search. You have to register (free) then click on "Michelin Guides" and then on restaurants. On the next screen, type "Paris 8e" in the city/area box then go over, on the scame screen, and click on MIchelin Guide extras" click on the picture of the Michelin man's head, and then click "OK". This will give you a list of recommended, moderately priced restaurants in the neighborhood. For instance Caves Petrissians nearby: "Céline, Abel Gance, Roland Dorgelès loved to visit these cellars more than a hundred years old, both a wine shop and a restaurant. Good, bistro-style cooking." Meals run from 38-70 Euros.

I stumble into BdC pretty regularly as my office is on the same block and it has become, among other things the default lunch and happy hour spot. Dinners, I have never found the bar staff or hostess to be anything other than pleasant, and occasionally charming. The wait staff has never been rude; but they've often been a bit brusque. They do have a service style that I have encountered in France, that is they will rarely acknowledge you existence until they are "ready." Once they are ready -- once they got the other table's orders and drinks down or ring out the deuce next to you or whatever -- they seem to run a fairly tight ship. If you're looking for touchy-feely, "je m'appelle Jean-Claude and I'll be your waiter tonight," or the generally refined service you might get at a more formal spot, you're going to have a bad time. If you relax, get a first drink at the bar, and take the place on its own terms, you can have a good night out. Think of it as a beer hall with frites. The food is admittedly mediocre -- but I'll take mediocre bistro food almost any night. And the music can be damn loud if you're early or late. But I like the energy and excitement of the place, and I'm sure I'll be back again before Christmas. Michel? My wife and I once launched a two-person boycotte of Les Halles because he was such a prick to us one night. But the few times I've bumped into him at BdC, he's been the very model of the affable patron. In balance, sweetfreak, I'd say you have a better than even chance of having a pretty good time. Relax.

I think you're fooling yourself. There are few things in life more delicate than the "simple" task of perfectly preparing a piece of fish -- roasting, sauteeing or marinating. Or roasting a chicken. Or preparing the perfect vinaigrette for a lobster salad (had one at the old Bouley years ago; it was a $24 lesson in the difference between you or I in the kitchen and David [now, 3-star] Bouley). And remember, if you get one right, there's still the sauce, and the garnish, and ther five courses and the cheeses you allowed to ripen to the point of perfection and the wines you selected and the service and the plus fours. All of them, perfect on the same night. It ain't going to happen unless you use one of your three wishes to get it done. I'm happy to be a subject for the taste test, though.

The bar area was crowbarred out of the original Old Ebbit Grill, which was around the corner from the current location; the original structure was demolished. The question of whether or not an old bar in a new location with an old name and new owners is historic, is a little too metaphysical for me. The original establishment is missed, though.

You can find food like that at BdC -- roast chicken, hold the sauce; grilled fish -- but you're swimming against the tide. BdC is at its best when you're eating something hot, gooey and French on a December night, preferable accompanied by a burly red wine. Maybe you can be good at another Christmas celebration, where all you have to give up is baby egg rolls and cheese balls with Ritz, and get a little extra Bernaise with your steak tomorrow night -- you'll need it for the frites.

Ginger-Lemon Grass

Wifty: lightweight, spacy, feel-good form but little substance

Zoramargolis -- Are you working Friday night or Saturday AM? I'll be hunting for something ludicrously fresh for Saturday night dinner, and would love to chat up someone with the inside dope.

I'll see your tautology, and raise you a "chai tea". ← Shrimp scampi. Everyone is right to be annoyed, of course, but I hope no one's losing their appetite over bad grammar in foreign languages. I'm more worried about how the "primi's" taste than how they're spelled.

i do think it needs to be pointed out that a lot of us home cooks benefit from extremely low expectations on the part of our diners--something that is not shared by someone going to a 3-star restaurant. i do wonder why people seem to be so hesitant to credit the talent aspect of this discussion. it's kind of funny, really. if we were a bunch of playground basketball players, i don't think we'd hesitate to say that kobe bryant can do things that we can't. if we were living room cellists, we wouldn't be afraid to admit that rostropovich was capable of more than we were. good cooks can be made, but i'm afraid truly great chefs--like great writers, great musicians, great athletes--are born. and then to be able to realize their ability, they must work, work, work. combine innate talent, years of practice and an absolutely unshakeable drive and seriousness of purpose--that's what it takes. to think that we should be able to equal that in our spare time is ludicrous. ← Right on.

Mexican only, or are other Central Americans eligible? Hector Guerra was sous for Yannik Cam at Le Pavillion back in the Reagan administration, and played soccer and cooked with Roberto Donna for several years. He has the classic CV -- began as a dishwasher and rose through the ranks. He opened his own Salvadoran fusion place a few years back. Unfortunately, it went under and he now appers to be chef at a place called Cabanas (202) 944-4242. Given its location in a major Georgetown tourist-trap area, he may not be offering cutting-edge food at this time, but I'm sure he is still the same good chef and good guy he was back when I knew him.

Hmmm... Am I the only parent out there who still lets their kids eat cookie dough batter raw, doesn't mind a regular bit of candy in the diet and and ould care less about trans-fat?

About what time might the Firefly festivities commence?

Ned, if you drank more wine, you'd know that the price of the bottle is not always a reflection of the quality within. Why don't you just go around to all the Asian markets in your area, buy every brand you can find, and taste them? Letting your palate, rather than your wallet guide you might be the better strategy. Given the relatively limited demand for fermented fish guts, I don't think you're going to have to pay $50 to get top of the line stuff until some Vietnamese Emeril comes along to give Nuoc Mam the same elitist cachet top olive oils have. Don't worry, be happy. (In case you're wondering, I have a bottle of Three Crabs in the cupboard. The price tag has fallen off, but I can't believe it cost anywhere near ten bucks).

When I worked at an Italian restaurant with a lot of a lot of Cambodian kitchen help, they all did the same thing --only with the dinner rolls - and warmed them up in the pizza oven. Maybe it's an Asian thing.

I picked up a cheap serrated knife for about eight bucks at some kitchen equipment discount store in a shopping mall. It has a full tang, a decent plastic handle and it cuts better than the imported French bread knife we lost on a picnic. At a rate of about 3 baguettes, two boules and a ficelle a week, plus miscellanious utility duty, I assume it will last forever. Spending $50 on a bread knife is ludicrous, put the money towards another piece of kitchen equipment.

Fried chicken skin is taboo?

Good cooking is its own best advocate; and a rose by any other name...

A more severe version of this problem exists when you show up at the Osteria in jeans on a Saturday night and need to tinkle. ← Or with two kids in jeans and you all need to tinkle. Especially if you're the kind of person who likes to walk slow and see what's on people's plates...all the swells thinking to themselves "I see that the tour group from Duluth has arrived." Oh, well -- fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.

"Milanos? Cops eat Milanos"

I thought it was New Year that was the big scrum down? ← On Christmas, the fights happen before people get drunk. The Busboys blew of Christmas dinner a couple of years ago to -- well, just to prove that we controlled tradition, not the other way around -- and celebrated what is now known in family lore as the Jewish Christmas at Mei Wah in Dupont. It was a mob scene and, though we had reservations and were relatively early, waits were long. Lot of yelling and angry stomping around near the hosts table: "Why did they get seated?" "What, did they pay you off?" "I've been here over an hour. (maybe some of them were a little drunk, after all) I want a table now." Anyway, I'd reserve soon and go early or late, unless you're at a swanker spot than Mei Wah - which is no dive, by the way. Food was pretty decent, too. (Hill, if you want to take part in a cross-cultural exchange, you can come to our house this year.)

Well worth reading just for the writers gleeful language "a whopping 56 million bottles of that fruity petulant primeur ...a growing Lilliputian band of insurgent artisans...Further fermenting the terroiristes' sour grapes..." Sounds like Mr. McBride might have imbibed a little of that petulant primeur himself while writing. Informative, as well.

If you’re looking for crusty, resonant baguettes; lovingly-tended aged and ashed chevre; or mahi-mahi flown in overnight from wherever it is that mahi-mahi gets flown in from, it’s a tough area of the city. But if you like Asian- and Hispanic-inflected food and don’t mind improvising dinner based on what’s fresh or available you can have a good time shopping Mt. Pleasant. We usually duck around the corner to the Super Save on Mt. Pleasant and Kenyon for day-to-day stuff but it offers a fine selection of Latin basics: corn and wheat tortillas, queso, Central American crema (dramatically different than either Mexican crema or sour cream), multiple chorizos, spices you’ve never heard of, tamarind paste and beans and rice of all varieties, including bulk Basmati. We buy cheap and plentiful skirt steak for fajitas there, as well, and calf’s and pig’s feet for stock. It’s also starting to some yuppie chow: Starbuck’s coffee, Grey Poupon, organic, free-range eggs and other odds and ends. Further up Mt. Pleasant, the BestWay, is bigger and, about every third day, has fantastically fresh whole fish – including rockfish and red snapper – on ice and far cheaper the WF. Tip the guy a buck or two when he cleans and scales them for you. But be sure check the eyes and gills: some days the selection is not so fresh, and the fajita option seems the better idea. Their produce section sells big bunches of fresh basil and leeks, and usually offers up mangoes and avocados in various shades of ripeness (unlike the invariably impenetrable Safeway selection), as well as numerous obscure Central American vegs. The scary block of Park Road between 14th and 16th offers up two Vietnamese grocery stores that offer everything from pre-sliced pho meat and Asian cuts of pork, to quail and duck eggs and vegetables who’s name I don’t really know but which taste great stir-fried. A great source of “Holy” basil, rice noodles and oyster sauce. They are also a great place to bulk up on peanut oil, soy or fish sauce, rice vinegar and so on at low, low prices, or pick up a few cheap bowls, spoons and chop sticks for your first home pho experiment. The language barrier is high, but the families who run the stores are friendly are friendly. It’s a pain to have to hit P-street for Vidalia onions or good green beans, but there’s a lot to like about the area, too, especially if you’ve got some good ethnic cookbooks ready to get broken in.