Felice

Hmmm, I'm not so sure about a magret de Moularde, but you can certainly buy magret de canard at Picard, a store that carries just about anything you can think of frozen, in case you don't know it. Some of Picard's things are better than others, but I've generally been pretty happy with most of their products.

I also read that they were considering creating an online version of Zurban. I hope it’s true, but can’t imagine it will be as good as the print version. I guess we will have to wait and see. I’m still weary of the reviews in Pariscope and wonder if they are little more than paid advertisements. Was Hachette the owner of both Zurban and Pariscope? I have always liked A Nous Paris and Figaroscope, but am definitely mourning the loss of Zurban. There’s also the Fooding website.

It is definitely pretty hot in Paris at the moment, so a terrace might not be such a great idea. And it seems that the heat wave is expected to last for at least a week. I checked the Pudlo guide that I have at work (2005) and it says that Les Ambassadeurs, Le Bristol, and Le Cinq, are all open daily. L’ambroisie is closed Sunday. Le Grand Vefour is closed Friday evenings, as well as Saturday and Sunday. Pre Catalan is closed Sunday. What about either L'Atelier or Table de Joel Robuchon? Both are listed as open.

I know most people are looking for French, but Azabu, an amazing Japanese restaurant in the 6th, has bar-type seating overlooking their teppanyaki grill.

I forgot about Willi's, that's a great recommendation.

I don't remember either les Bouquinistes or la Regalade having a bar area where you can eat and haven't been to either L'Affriole or L'Epi Dupin. Unfortunately I can't think of all that many places in Paris that do. I think I remember John Talbott saying that Drouant has a bar area where you can eat. Fish, on rue de Seine, certainly does and I often eat there alone. Atelier de Robuchon, does, of course.

Sorry as usual I had the address slightly wrong. The real address is: salletes ← I stayed at the Chateau de Salettes two summers ago and can enthusiastically recommend it; it was a beautiful place to stay. Although a bit far from where you want to be. As for a city to stay in Languedoc, what about Montpellier?

I'm sure this has been mentionned elsewhere, but there is a really great article in last week's New Yorker (June 26 issue) about pastry chef Will Goldfarb and Room 4 Dessert. It's titled "Notes of a Gastronome, The Dessert Lab: A Pastry Chef's Quest for the New. It definitely made me want to try Room 4 Dessert the next time I'm in NYC.

Thank you Pitipois for clearing this up. Ididn’t know the word “troquet” and thought of the places referred to as simply cafes. Was the author wrong to call them bistros? They are certainly not what I think of when I think of a bistro. I’m glad to see that the article was not really talking about what most people think of as “bistros”. When I came home last night, rather late, and read this topic, I found it surprising to read that bistros were on their way out, especially since they seem to be the “in” thing, at least in Paris. Is this why you often see the word “neo-bistro”?

Felice, that was quite right. Cabillaud = cod, codfish, from the Flemish kabeljauw. Loup is sea bass (also called bar), saint-pierre is John Dory, and dorade is sea bream. Catfish is not eaten in France though you may find some frozen in Asian stores. ← Merci Pitipois, I knew you would have the answer. It's strange that there is so much conflicting info. Both government publications I looked at (the one I had on fisheries and the link I gave above from Canada) listed loup as catfish, not that I would expect them to know much about food.

Loup: sea bass St. Pierre: John Dory ← Well, now you have all sorts of conflicting answers, so I guess we will have to wait for Pitipois to chime in. The names I listed were found in a publication my work put out on fisheries which has an appendix that lists the French and English translations of hundreds of fish, many I have never heard of, so I would be surprised if they were not accurate, but you never know. Here is a link that lists the same translations http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/...nadahomee.shtml

CABILLAUD is COD LOUP is CATFISH DORADE is SEA BREAM I'm not sure about St Pierre. If it's Saint Peter's Fish then I think it would be Tilapia in both English and French.

Oh no, why didn't you go? Yes, I have photos and will post them soon.

I walked by last Wednesday on my way to dinner and Yves Camdeborde was there greeting people. I went back this weekend and had a very good sandwich--baguette with Serrano ham, parmesan cheese, Bordier butter, and romaine lettuce hearts. Unfortunately they were out of the two out of the four special sandwiches of the day. I was sort of hoping for something like the "cuisine de rue" that they served during the last Fooding event at the village St. Paul, where they served dishes like a hot dog of boudin blanc with apple ketchup and a delicious grilled lamb gyro with red pepper puree. They did have hotdogs, but they didn’t look all that good.

I'm also in favor of La Cave de L'os a Moelle, it's a great place at any price. What about Chartier in the 9th? The prices are right and the atmosphere is pretty amazing. No, the food isn't very good, but it will allow your students to soak up a bit of history as well. I went during my first trip to Paris while I was a student and was quite enchanted. Chartier's Menu

I have to say that I am extreamly sad to think that I won't be picking up a copy of Zurban tomorrow morning on my commute to work. I have read it faithfully for the past few years and never miss an issue. I really can't believe that it didn't have a bigger audience. The first thing I do is turn to the restaurant section to read Sebastien Demorand's column and will certainly miss it. It is (or was) one of the only places to find ethnic restaurants or the more off-the-beaten-track type places that the other newspapers don't always mention. Luckily the guide is still going to appear as far as I know.

I thought it was because of "la Loi Evain", non?

As a customer I can’t say that I mind smoke too much and even slip and smoke now and then, however, if you’ve ever worked in a smokey bar or restaurant, you would understand how miserable it is for the employees. And in the US, it's the employees who are being protected, not the customers. I think that France will go the same way soon and according to most polls I have read, the majority of the French support a smoking ban.

So where would you go then? These kind of places are not my thing. I have two girl friends both dating 30 something year old French "investment banker" types and they always seem to go to ManRay on Saturday nights. I recently went to Delaville cafe which I liked very much, but I don't think this is what Mathew Grant is looking for.

I would think that Mandalaray would fit the bill. 34 rue Marbeuf, 8th. 01 56 88 36 36.

Can you provide a little quantitative analysis for us? Taste autopsy? I'm thinking perhaps of tossing a salad nicoise in a blender and freezing the puree? ← The waiter said they used something called a "Pacojet" which can be used to turn just about anything into sorbet. I didn't take any notes, but it had a balsamic vinegar taste and had fleur de sel which melted in your mouth. There may have been bacon as well, but I could be very wrong about that.

Any place one should look in particular ... or is eG as good as any? We're in Paris mid-September and are always looking for unusual experiences. A. ← I’m not so sure there would be a better place than eGullet in the English speaking press. There wasn't much in the French press in advance either actually. I found out about this last event after reading a blurb in A Nous Paris, which listed when the event was starting and gave a few of the chefs, but didn’t give much in the way of details. I then went to the Grand Palais a few days later for lunch and got more details. I think just the fact that you have a two-star chef cooking for only 35€ is what makes it special. It's fun and accessible to all. The food was sort of picnic fare de luxe, but I wouldn’t categorize any of it as ordinary and the Nicoise sorbet, was pretty amazing.

I will second the recommendation for Ribouldinge. On the night I went, I wanted to try something I hadn’t had before (and there were plenty of choices—pig groin, lamb tongue, lamb’s brain, tripes, a warm cappuccino de tete de veau) and after much deliberation finally decided on a salade de tétine de vache, since a French friend once raved about them. Having never had cows utters I had no idea what to expect and was somewhat apprehensive. What came out were hearts of baby romaine topped with nearly paper-thin shavings of crispy cow’s utter, which in fact were quite delicious. I wasn’t so brave for my main course and had the beef cheeks, also quite good. Dessert was pot de crème au Guanaja from Valrohna. The table next to us had the cheese platter from Boursault which had no less than ten cheeses and was well worth the 6 € supplement. The service and atmosphere were also lovely. For only 25 €, it’s one of the best deals in town. As John already knows, I’m in agreement with the critics’ high praise of Chateaubriand, Inaki Azaparte’s newest venture. I loved my meal there, found it to be perhaps my favorite meal in one of his restaurants so far and would enthusiastically recommend it. I did read that the lunch and dinner menu were quite different, so perhaps that explains the difference of opinion. Has anyone else been?

Went to Transversal’s Restaurant Ephémère in the Grand Palais yesterday with guest chef Jean-Francois Piège of les Ambassadeurs in the Crillon hotel. When I arrived Piège and his team could be seen busily plating the cafeteria-like platters. We were given 5 dishes, four of which were based on a salade niçoise. First, an intensely flavored and refreshing niçoise sorbet, with notes of balsamic vinegar. Then a test-tube with a cool green liquid—a liquid salad of sorts. Next was a stuffed tomato, blanched, hollowed, and filled with a sliver of hard boiled egg, a black olive, a bit of roquette, and incredibly good tuna; this dish was as good as it was beautiful. After that a mason jar filled with perfectly seared tuna, chorizo sausage, roquette, shavings of parmesan. Dessert was a simple, yet delicious, fromage blanc with wild strawberries. For the rest of the schedule, see this month’s events. Some photos Looking up at the restaurant The Chef Nicoise Sorbet Stuffed tomato Tuna Dessert

Yes, I did. I'll take a look to see if it's the same as the online copy. Last time the print version had more articles than the online, so you may want to get it anyway.