Felice

Many thanks for the recommendations Dellis, they look great. I would especially love to try Nicholas le Bec's Lecon de Gout.

You might want to go to a few wine bars then while you're here, where you can sample wines by the glass from different regions to get an idea of what you like. Lavinia, Legrand, Willi’s Wine bar, Juveniles, and Fish are all places where you can have interesting wines by the glass. For more ideas check out the thread on Paris Wine Bars. There are also many free wine-tastings on Saturdays and I am hoping to include more of them in the events. You might also want to take a wine class while you are here. There are many in French of course, but I know that the wine shop La Dernière Goûte will be offering wine tasting classes in English in October, so this might be something you will want to do as well. One of my favorite things to do on Sunday is to spend the morning at the market and then head to a café to read the paper. The marché biologique on ave Raspail might be a nice choice for a Sunday morning, with a café afterwards in Saint Germain. If it’s the first Sunday of the month you might want to go to a museum, as most ,if not all of them, are free.

Just wondering if anyone has heard anything more than what John already mentionned in the Digest.

The vendanges is the wine harvest and montmartre celebrates its harvest each year with a festival. I unfortunately haven't been, but Im sure it would be a lot of fun and is probably a mix of tourists and locals. I tried to check to see what the dates were but found conflicting information on two sites and their official site isn't working. I will definitely put it in the events when it gets closer to October. Here a discussion about Transversal from when it first opened. ←

Have an amazing time Raisab! It's good to hear that things are opening back up. I have a dinner I'm organising next week and was worried that places would still be closed. Please let us know how it was. I think they have changed chefs in the last few months and I haven't been back since the change. The owner, who was the pastry chef at Taillevent, is still there of course, so I'm sure it will be just as good.

Today’s Figaro announced that the Government will announce a ban on smoking in all public places except bar-tabacs (which is where cigarettes are sold) and nightclubs. The ban is said to take effect in January 2007. So, smoky restaurants and cafés might soon be a part of French history. Here's the article

I'm pretty sure that they don't take reservations at L'Atelier, only walk-ins.

It’s definitely just a cultural thing; there’s not a lot of ice because people don’t really use or like a lot of ice in their drinks. It’s not even something that anyone would think about. I think it has to do with the way people drink their drinks here. How many people drink soda with dinner in France? Not many. It’s either wine or often bottled water, so you don’t need ice. Soda is often something you would have in a café, where you sip your drink and relax, so ice would just water down the drink.

I loved Magnolias as well, but realise with jetlag and only a one night stop over, you might want to stay closer to your hotel. Two of my favorite meals in the last few months have been Chateaubriand and L’Ami Jean. Or what about Atelier de Joel Robuchon, that might be a fun last night in Paris, especially if you’re alone. You may be limited in your choices as well because some restaurants won’t reopen until September unfortunately.

Thanks Mzimbeck for info on the Grand Palais, it looks great. Last month they had a restaurant éphémère in the same space during the expo La Force de l'Art. Hopefully they will keep using the space for each expo. I will try to go this weekend at somepoint. If you scroll down to the bottom of this thread you can see photos and a bit of discussion about the restaurant they had. I ended up going to several of the guest chef appearences and loved it. And I'm glad you liked Point Ephémère; true it's not for everyone.

Daisy, please let us know how it compares when you go...

Just incase eGullet members in the France forum didn't know, Joel Robuchon's latest venture has opened in NYC... Here's an article in today's NY Times (registration required) New York: Joël Robuchon Strides In It will be interesting to hear how it compares to his restaurant in Paris. Edited to add: Discussion in the New York Forum

Thanks so much Daisy for giving us a report back. I have to say that I haven't seen very many places that do have bar seating in Paris and was surprised to hear that Bouquinistes did. I saw someone recently eating at the bar at Chateaubriand, but he also seemed to know the staff so I don't know if this was the norm. In the US, I love sitting at a restaurant's bar and would welcome the chance to do it more here, but for now it doesn't seem to be very popular.

Say "cime di rapa" and he probably will know. We used to eat a lot of that in Nice when I was a child. It's really Italian. You can get cime di rapa at Paris markets. Look for the maraîchers and the vegetable and fruit stands run by Asian people. On the marché Monge near my place, maraîcher Marc Mascetti sometimes has broccoli rabe. It is more common in France than purple-sprouting broccoli. It's not that we're "not keen" on this one, it's just that it isn't widely grown as yet. Restaurant Pasta e Basta on the dalle de Choisy (XIIIe) makes a great antipasto of cime di rapa. If you can't find cime di rapa, here's a hint: get some Chinese broccoli from an Asian market, it's almost the same thing. ← Merci beaucoup Pitipois! I will keep my eye out for cime di rapa then. I love sautéed broccoli rabe with garlic. And thanks Druckenbrodt, for the info on purple sprouting broccoli.

I have a great place to add to the list. I went to Andy Whaloo the other night and just LOVED it. They have a really lovely garden in the back, with bamboo trees and Moroccan-style furnishings. They have nice cocktails (half-price until 8) and start a BBQ around 8 for plates of grilled lamb, chicken, and merguez. The crowd is branchée. When we arrived at 7pm there were plenty of tables but people reserve it seems, so it might be a good idea to reserve. I took some photos, but am having some camera problems and can`t download for now. Andy Whaloo 69, Rue des Gravilliers Paris, 3rd.

I feel deprived, what is purple sprouting broccoli? Something else I have never seen, but would like from time to time, is broccoli rabe. Is this an American invention along the lines of broccollini? I asked an Italien friend about broccoli rabe and they had no idea what I was talking about.

As far as I know they should all be open in August, however not of all of the vendors will be there. There was a noticeable decrease in the number of vendors at my market last week.

Lucil, I know two people who attended this school, one French and one American. The American now owns a restaurant in Paris and I will certainly see if he can answer your questions, although he attended some time ago so it may have changed since. Also, he is in the US now and wont be back until the end of August, so it will take some time. I am out of touch with the other person who attended, but am fairly sure I saw her photo in Regal this month, so it seems to have been a good choice for her. Hopefully Pitipois will see this thread and can tell us how the school is viewed in Paris. I had the impression that Ferrandi was the school that French culinary students would attend, while the schools you listed were more for foreigners. I could be wrong though.

The French postal service has a website which should help you get an idea. Here is a link to the international shipping page http://www.laposte.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=243 I have shipped chocolates in the past using express mail and it was pretty expensive.

Mzimbeck, You should definitely go back because Chateaubriand was taken over by Inaki Aizpitarte in the last few months (maybe mid April?), so it is indeed a completely different restaurant from the one you tried last summer. I have been twice for dinner, and loved it both times. It's definitely one of my favorite places in Paris right now.

Great topic, thanks mzimbeck. I will definitely add some more as I am going out for an apero on Wednesday with friends and need to pick a place. I will add one for now. Do you know the Point Éphémère along the canal near metro Jaures? The wine isn`t great, but it`s a cool place for a drink on a summer night. It along a pretty deserted part of the Canal so there`s a lot of space, but even all the tables are full you can take your drinks down by the water. It`s also an artistic center that has all sorts of cutural events.

I love the Verre Volé as well, it’s definitely one of my favorites. Recently I tried La Cave Café, a hip wine bar in the 18th serving simple food and vin naturel by either the glass or the bottle. It seems like a place where you can go just for drinks if you’d like, as they have two rooms, one next to the bar for drinks and then another for dinner, plus a few tables outside. I’m not so sure I’d make a special trip across town, but if I lived in the 18th, I would definitely go. La Cave Café, 134, rue Marcadet in the 18th Another place I liked with vins naturels was La Café de la Nouvelle Mairie, a very nice wine bar overlooking the place de l’Estrapade in the 5th. Unfortunately they close early most nights (around 8pm, although I’m sure that I read somewhere recently that they are open for dinner on Tuesdays and Thursday) so we only had a glass of wine with a plate of charcuterie. La Café de la Nouvelle Mairie, 19, Rue des Fosés Saint-Jacques in the 18th

The current edition of le Nouvel Observateur has a new supplement written with the help of Omnivore and France bleu. It has a few different articles and touts France’s “jeune cuisine” and talks about the upcoming Omnivore Carnet de Route, due out this fall. If you read the first article mentioned in the first post of this thread, you won’t find very much new, but I thought I would post it as a follow up. In addition it has a section titled “les tables de votre region”. My print copy only has Paris, however the online version has other regions as well. In addition there seem to be more chef profiles in the online version (my print copy has Inaki Aizpitarte, while the online version also has Jean-Luc Rabanel, David Zuddas and others. CLICK HERE for the main article and then scroll down for the other pieces.

Another to add to the list is En Ville, another free publication that comes out a few times a year. I just picked up the summer edition which has a short piece on Inaki Aizpitarte --who is everywhere this month--and lists a few of his favorite places (which I'm sure John will list in his digest, so I'll leave it to him).

What a good idea Mzimbeck. There are often a few things on a menu that I don't know, but I never bother to go back and translate them later. I would never have known what a "kissel" or a "hure" was. Or even "sprat" for that matter. Your translation looks good to me and has given me inspiration to be more active about learning the words I don't know. How did you like Paul Bert? I went back a month or two ago and loved it.