Felice

Pierre Hermé fans won't want to miss eG Society member Fanny's posts about her experience as an intern in the famous pastry chef's kitchen, you can read all about it HERE

Their info is a bit out of date, because the Bistro de la Muette has been open for a little while now. I can't remember when, but it has been several months.

Many thanks for another review Pierre. I am trying to think of a new place to go next week with a friend who is in town from the States and was considering Rich but probably won't thanks to your review. I would love to hear about your latest meal at the Bistral, I haven't been in some time.

Yes, I meant for lunch. I have always gone at about 13h30 or later and have not had a problem. Dinner is more difficult. And as for Au Gourmand, they have moved but you can read more HERE and Pierre45's recent review is HERE

They don’t take reservations, so you either need to go early or late. I have been many times and have never had to wait more than a few minutes, but I have mostly been at off hours. You could also try Christian Constants new place, but from what I have read it sounds very casual. Pierre's choice of Rich might be a good one.

In case you haven't seen it, our very own Dave Hatfield has just begun his eGfoodblog HERE, which I know readers of the eG France forum will not want to miss.

I stayed at a ferme auberge in Normandy two summers ago and just loved it. It was a beautiful working farm which served homemade jam and freshly churned butter and milk from the cows of the farm for breakfast. The food was simple but very good. I found the address in a book called Vacances et Week-Ends à la Ferme You might try the following website Bienvenue-a-la-ferme/ to find more in the Luberon.

Daniel Rose and Mark Singer (of Spring and Caves Gourmand) might both be American chefs but their food doesn't strike me as being 'American'. When I go to Spring, I don't feel like I'm eating American cuisine at all. I feel like I'm eating great food that just happens to be cooked by an American. American restaurants are for the most part really bad in Paris, with a few serving okay food. None serve great food, which is why I enjoyed 'Hidden Kitchen', it was definitely American and the food was really amazing, something that does not exist in Paris. I have yet to try Haynes, but have been to most of the others and have never found anything that come close to serving great American cooking.

The chef is named David Panis. Here's the website: http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/chienlunatique/ Apparently he's cooking at Chez Panisse for the summer. ← I wrote to them a vey long time ago and never heard back. I thought they were closed, however the menu they have posted now is much simpler, so it looks like they are still around. There was also a squat in the 20th which served dinner on Friday nights and was getting some press a while back.

Well to get around this detail, they explain that they are a dining club, not a restaurant and they only ask that you make a suggested donation, which I believe is between 50€ to 60€ with wine included. Plus you can only reserve two nights a week for now.

The problem is more that you just can't find a truly amazing hamburger here, sure you can get a pretty good one, but it just doesn't compare to the best at home. So most Parisians have never had an amazing burger.

Trying to convince Parisians or Europeans in general that American cuisine can be great is not something easy to do, especially since most of the restaurants serving ‘American’ cuisine here in Paris, dish out mediocre burgers and fries or flavorless tex-mex. Ironically it was after living in France that I developed an interest in American cuisine and have always wished there was a more authentic rendition to be found beyond the usual tourist traps. Unfortunately after trying most of the American restaurants in Paris, I have yet to find even one that comes close to what you can find back home. Until now… A few weeks back I was lucky enough to be invited to the trial run of ‘'Hidden Kitchen', an underground dining club started by two young American chefs from Seattle. I had never been to an underground restaurant before and wasn’t sure what to expect, but it sounded like a lot of fun--a 7 course meal, paired with wine, served in a private apartment. The evening was pure bliss for me and the night proved that when American cuisine is done well it can easily rival the world’s best cuisine. Dinner began with an amuse bouche which consisted of a refreshing shot of gazpacho with a miniature BLT, then came a velvety roasted corn soup garnished with a fragrant black bean salsa Fava beans 2 ways, soft cooked egg, and the chefs take on green goddess dressing Chilled crab cake with layered avocado and spicy mayo Seared Atlantic salmon over Israeli couscous salad and watercress A cool watermelon granita cleansed the palate (no photo) An amazing balsamic marinated steak with spicy peaches and crispy fried onions Heirloom tomatoes over mozzarella fondue (no photo) A delicious cherry hand pie and a miniature root beer float (no photo) We finished up with a small box of beautiful handmade petit fours, all variations on American favorites like Oreo cookies and peanut butter cups. One of the most fun aspects of the evening was introducing my French boyfriend to American classics like the ‘Root beer Float’ an acquired taste it seems. Now, perhaps the nostalgia in me has swayed my opinion, especially since I’ve only been back to the States twice in six years and begin to long for tastes of home, but I really felt this was a wonderful dining experience, something unique and refreshing on the Parisian dining scene. The cuisine was fresh, playful and expertly prepared and my only fear is that like so many of my favorites, it will soon be too hard to book. For more about “Hidden Kitchen” (and better photos!) read Clotilde’s take on Chocolate and Zucchini Go to'Hidden Kitchen' for reservations

I love their sardines, but haven't tried much else.

I rarely buy the same wine twice and instead go to an interesting shop and ask the cavist to choose something. Unfortunately I don’t take many notes, which means I never remember the details later. Thanks to this thread I have bought a little note book so I can start keeping better track of what I like and don’t. Recents whites that I have tried and liked were all from the Augé Loire tasting Domaine du Bois Lucas, Touraine Sauvignon 2005, by Noella Morantin and Junko Arai for 14,79€ (a bit pricy but really delicious, made by two women winemakers) Villemade’s Cherverny Blanc 2005 for 6,12, (this one I would certainly get again as it was quite delicious and inexpensive)

This has been my experience as well. I have several French friends of somewhat modest means who have been to starred restaurants. From what I have observed, great cuisine (though perhaps not haute cuisine) is very important to French people at all economic levels and is not something reserved for the rich. This was obvious to me one Christmas when I dined at my then boyfriend's family's house and the father was a police officer with a very modest salary. This did not prevent them from having several bottles of premier cru bordeaux, foie gras, oysters, and smoked salmon from one of the best stores in Paris for dinner.

You definitely need a reservation at Fish, unless you go after 9pm or so.

I have just received my copy as well and very much agree that restaurants should not have been indexed by le, la and l'. Thank you John for pointing this out, as I had not looked at the index yet. We will definitely let the editor know for the next edition. And yes, it was just a translation and not a revision in any way.

I can’t say that I have any new suggestions to add but would be thrilled to try a new address. I’ve been to most of the places mentioned but for me the best couscous I’ve had in Paris was at my friend’s grandmother’s house and the second best was probably at John T’s. When the weather gets nice, the terraces along the blvd de Belleville and Menillmontant are jam packed on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, does any one know if any of these restaurants and if they are worth trying?

Braden, It seems that your question was answered by this week's A Nous Paris. Courgeau has recently opened 'Au Gourmand' near the Palais Royal and they gave it glowing reviews. Au Gourmand 17 rue Moliere, 1st 01 42 96 22 19 Menus-26€ to 36€ closed Saturday lunch and Sunday.

I have to say that I really agree with this. I think this has become a problem in Paris. Since many tourists tip, owners use it as an excuse to only pay the bare minimum allowed by law saying that tips will make up for the low salary. The problem is that many natives don’t tip or tip very little, so you are relying on American tourists to make up for the low salary. In the past restaurants would give servers the service charge directly which was added automatically to the bill. As more and more people were leaving tips, the owners thought (I assume) that waiters were making too much and now pay a monthly salary instead, which is often the minimum wage and not enough to live on.

I'm somewhat surprised to hear this. May I ask why? Is it that you can ultimately earn more under the US system, or that for you, cash outweighs benefits such as health insurance/paid vacation/whatever? Genuinely interested... Si ← I suppose for purely financial reasons really. I worked part time in Paris and probably made about 800€ a month including tips for working 20+ hours a week (we pooled tips with the entire staff). If I had worked full time I would have made 1600€ which is nothing to write home about for working more than 40 hours a week. Because restaurant owners in France need to pay so much more (they pay about 15€ per hour to cover the benefits to the Government) they put very little staff on, so I had ten or more tables as opposed to only 4-5 in the States, with no bus person and no food runner. So needless to say you work very hard and earn about 50€ per shift including tips. In the United States I have made that on one table. In addition there is just something fun and motivating about working for tips. In France it didn’t seem to matter so much what kind of service you gave because there are many people who would never leave a centime more, so you lose a bit of motivation to go the extra mile. In the US, if a table comes in at 5 minutes to closing you don’t mind because it means more money. In the US you’ll fight with the chef to get the client what they want because it all means more money at the end of your shift. It might sound crass but the possibility of more money is a highly motivating.

This is because waiters in the US work for mostly for tips and the salary is minimal. When I worked as a waitress in the United States I was paid 2.01$ per hour (this was in Philadelphia) and a small percentage was taken out for meals. Rather than getting a check at the end of the week I often owed the restaurant money due to taxes. I have to say that if I gave excellent service and was tipped less than 15% I would probably be a bit disappointed as well. I have also worked in Paris in a restaurant for two years where I was paid a little more than 7€ per hour (the legal minimum wage) and was given 5 weeks vacation, health insurance and retirement benefits, something waiters in the US rarely get. We still depended on tips because 7€ an hour doesn't go very far, but as long as someone left a few Euros, I was very happy. But all in all I really prefer the US system.

Last week’s A Nous Paris listed several restaurants where you can dine under the stars, including the following in Paris: La Table du Lancaster, Le Transversal, Il Cortile, L’Hotel Amour, Le Saut du Loup and L Eclaireur And for a few suggestions outside of Paris Sens in Levallois Perret, Le Xylo and L’Heureux Pere both in Saint Cloud

I’m sorry to make you even more jealous but it really was a great event. The weather was perfect and the atmosphere very laid back and fun. Where else could you find 17 artisanal wine makers happily talking about their wines and letting you taste at least 4-5 different wines—all for free. Here’s Hervé Villemade discussing his Cheverny acacias 2005 I also recognized many people from Paris’s food community, including Yves Camdeborde, Hugo Desnoyer, and various people from wine bars/shops around town.

Dave, I think the flour was your problem but hopefully Ptipois will give us more information. Most people recommend using '65' type flour and there is a great thread HERE which discusses where to find various ingredients. At the begining you will find a link to David Leibowitz's blog which has great information.