Margaret Pilgrim

I have noticed a Catch 22 situation cropping up from time to time on this board. While admitting a lack of familiarity with French food and customs, members planning first trips to France have asked for advice about 2 and 3-star dining rooms. It is frequently suggested that they start closer to the beginning of the French food chain and build an understanding and appreciation of the basics of French eating. Sound advice, but there is little follow-through with the alternative suggestions that would send people out to country gems and small, lesser known Paris treasures. One has to read every post carefully not to miss jewels like Vieux Pont and Chateau de Pasredon. The preponderance of posts remain discussions of 3-stars. It is not surprising that lurkers and new travelers think of them as the only reasonable destination for even beginning visitors. For reasons totally unrelated to cost, my husband and I choose restaurants that hover around the 1 and 2-star level (GM 15-17 points) over the prestige houses, and I have therefore been disappointed to find so little interest in these venues on this board. I’m sure that the lack of discussion re these lesser places is a case of “been there and done that”, but I think there is a real need for both referal to and coverage of these restaurants that may be more the essence of French food than the 3-stars. I don’t believe that one has to be a native to either know of or patronize 1 and 2-star establishments, although one reason we do prefer them is that you are surrounded by “real French people” as well as a few English, and blessedly almost no Americans. We aren't anti-American, but we do travel to experience something different from what we can find at home. And then again, we do delight in a quote from A J Liebling referring to his father in Between Meals : “He was a patriotic man at home, but he was convinced that in Paris the presence of Americans was a sign of a bunco joint.” I did start a thread on our spring visit to 1 and 2-star restaurants in Pays Basques this year, but quit after the first installment on the 1-star Table Ibarboure because there was little interest, although our visit continued to several pleasurable and traditional hotels and dining rooms that would be perfect for newer travelers, yet would not disappoint experienced ones (La Patoula in Usteritz, Ithurria in Ainhoa and La Galupe in Urt). I do wonder, are there any sub-3-star lurkers out there who care about the best of “ground floor France” and who would like to share dining and travel experiences?

Cabrales, it's part of my baggage that I try not to "exercise" either friends or services. To the extent that it would be interesting to the group to get a calibration on the effectiveness of different concierge services, I might stretch my ethics. That said, and if you really don't mind using your service, it would be lovely to see what they would come up with. I do think that these services need to have the parameters strongly drawn in order to provide good information. As I stated in an earlier post, we were looking for not-too-formal places around the 1-star Michelin, or probably more precisely, the 15-16 Gault Millau level. These are the ones I will target later in my search.

In response to Bux's request, here is my experience with the concierge service of my (brokerage house) VISA card. I called an 800 number and told the rep that I was looking for a list of Paris restaurants, around the 1-star Michelin level, open for holiday dinner on Christmas Day. As she knew of no existent list, she forwarded my request to a concierge for research. I asked to be contacted by fax or e-mail since I am frequently away from home. I was contacted within an hour or so by e-mail, confirming the search, providing contact fax, phone plus extension numbers and e-mail address of the concierge, who, from the e-mail address, seemed to be from a major international travel company. I was informed at this time that it would probably take a week for restaurants to answer the faxes and/or e-mails being sent out on my behalf. We left town for a week, and came home to find a list of restaurants annotated with contact numbers and websites, when available. The list: Arpege, Au Pied de Cochon, Auberge Nicolas Flamel, Cafe du Commerce, Charlot Roi des Coquillages, Chartier, Hard Rock Cafe, La Fermette Marbeuf 1900, Le Procope, Le Temps au Temps. They ended with an invitation to continue the search and/or to request that they make necessary reservations. (Editorializing, I suggest that these credit card concierge services provide an excellent service for those who either know precisely what reservations they want and, at the other end of the continuum, for those who haven't any idea how to do the research. They are cost nothing and are very simple to use.) In the meantime, I have received in response to an effort on my part an e-mail from Les Bookinistes, saying that they will not be open. I will probably wait until early fall before resuming the hunt by privately faxing and e-mailing a group of target dining rooms. And in the meantime, will chat up favorite waiters and dining room managers, as well as our good deskman, for their more personalized thoughts.

From Bux: In the same general time period as Frechon's eponymous restaurant, we enjoyed fennel confit (fennel stalks poached in a syrup containing whole star anise, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, black peppercorns) served with a very tart citron sorbet, showered with basil chiffonade. It was a wonderful combination, and visually delightful with all of the "woody" whole spices and brilliant basil. This was at Clos du Gourmets on Avenue Rapp. Another veggie dessert I liked a lot was La Bamboche's mille-feuille with a sweet tomato filling as well as creme layer, again visually stunning as well as delicious.

This forum has to be one of the most amazing travel resources! Thank you all for the excellent suggestions. Lizziee, I will get up in the wee-hours and call our hotelman, with whom my husband had suggested I check the feasibility of a holiday visit this year. Good approach. Robert Brown, what a wonderful idea for a Christmas morning stroll, ending with brunch at Jo Goldenberg! Cabrales, I have never used the concierge services of our card, and this is a super time to put them to the test. And Steve P, should you fall over your list, and should it already be on your computer, not only would I be thrilled to see it, but I'm sure it would be a valuable addition to the eG. archive. Cabrales, re our target restaurant, I would guess it would be a 1-star. We would be looking for someplace with some degree of (holiday) joviality but decent food and good service, preferably not a hotel, and not a "bistro" per se. I was thinking about, and have e-mailed, Les Bookinistes. This question came up the other evening when our son came over for dinner, and while reminiscing about a Christmas we three spent in London, someone said, "Why not Paris and why not this year." They drifted away from the table, leaving the research and details to me. Again, many thanks for these excellent and varied suggestions.

Jaybee, I have finally learned that in this life it often boils down to "You like someone because; you love them in spite of." Friends usually fall into one or the other category.

Does anyone know of a listing of Paris restaurants that are traditionally open on Christmas Day? I haven't found one in Michelin, GM, nor have I been successful on the net. Many thanks.

Steve, I don't remember much difference in the color of the couverture and filling. And I'm sure they couldn't use enough piment to show color. :wow: Robert, I really have no idea. I don't have the feeling that they were in any way trendy; if anything, I would accuse them of having started out as a tourist oriented product, like the contrived uses of maple syrup, sea salt, dried fruits, etc.

Steve, since you mention pepper, I will add the chocolate/Espelette piment pralenes we enjoyed in Pays Basques this spring. As you probably know, Bayonne was perportedly the city in which cocoa beans were first introduced into France by Sephardic Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition,and hence became one of the early places for chocolate manufactory. Espelette, a dozen or so km inland, is famous for Piment d'Espelette. (If you see pictures of this area, these are the drying red peppers strung from eaves on all the houses.) They are a long, spicy red peppers usually sold as a ground product. Both here and in France it is trendy as a savory seasoning, but fairly unusual in sweets. So as I read about this area of France, I kept falling over references to both this pepper, the chocolate famous in the area, and finally the combined product, as well as to a village factory/shop (Anton in Espelette) which is supposed to be the only factory in France to still work from the cocoa bean. We visited Anton just ahead of a tour bus, so my shopping was hurried. The chocolates I bought were plain oval lozenges, 1 1/8" long, 1/3" thick, with the piment incorporated in the ganache filling. The coating was a very dark (60%+) chocolate without additional flavoring. The finish is amazing. The first taste was simply intense dark chocolate; then as it developed you were aware of a clean chili taste and bite. They are truly addictive. Seeing only sachets and contrived tin boxes, rather trays of bulk pralenes, I bought several handsful of the sachets, NOT enough. We found plain chocolate bars with piment in Bayonne at, I believe, Cazenave, but possibly Daranatz, since we went to both shops which are almost next door to each other. The shop had a large array of flavored chocolate bars. I didn't buy the bars, sorry now. Anton, place du Marche, Espelette 05.59.93.80.58) Cazenave, 19, rue du Port Neuf, Bayonne (famous also for hot chocolate) Daranatz, 15, rue du Port Neuf, Bayonne

Patrice, I am interested in knowing about the dessert you describe. Where is the comma? I am hoping that you are suggesting carrots and organges salad with cardamom ice cream. That'sinteresting. Pilgrim

Ajay, as this was a very simple presentation, the combination was not at all heavy or too rich. Served as spokes of a wheel on a bed of mesclun, there was mostly the textural contrast between the two that you suggeested. No cream sauce. I believe that Bux very recently wrote that his wife had the same combination, and probably in a more complex treatment. Can you get a description for us, Bux?

We usually visit France during the last several weeks of March. So when I read about that there was a major Ham Fair in Bayonne during the three days before Easter, and also that La Table des Freres Ibarboure had added rooms last summer, I saw an invitation to visit the Pays Basques that we couldn’t refuse. Plotting our course, we would take the TGV to Bayonne, pick up a car, drive south the few km inland from the Bidart-Guethery border to the Ibarboure complex. I had faxed Mde Ibarboure requesting that she pick us a pretty room; she didn’t disappoint. Although she quoted close to the bottom of their price listing, the room she showed us to was their premium room, the coral and creme confection shown on their website. This room, number 4, is roughly 20’x20’ with a ceiling that peaks at around 18’. It has two balconies, allowing you to take the sun or not, is built out over a canyon so that you have the feeling you are in a tree house, looking out into trees growing up from the canyon floor. The bathroom is enormous, has a glassed in shower with multiple jets, a huge jaccusi, thick terry robes and slippers. We had sadly arrived south in a state of satiety, and were already worried about how we were going to cope during a week planned around eating. This ennui shows up most glaringly in my very sketchy notes on menues, plates and wine during this trip. And so we faced dinner. We were first served a trio of small Chinese cups each with several beautifully seasoned "quenelles": wild mushroom mousse, salmon mousse/rillettes, and stuffed encornets (I could have been very happy with an entire course of this latest). We both ordered off the carte, Chuck starting with marinated scallops (raw) garnished with tiny dice of apples, artichoke hearts, thyme, kiss of garlic. I opted for a plate of sweetbreads and langoustines with mesclun. The main plates were enormous, as they were to be throughout this region. We chose veal filets (3) with chorizo and cheese, tiede tomato and asperagus, and wild turbot over sauce basquaise with snow peas and carrot mousse with fennel foam respectively. Everything was excellent; my only complaint, again, is that the servings were very large by our standards. We were drinking a ‘97 Bouscasse Madiran. By this time, I had faded completely, and simply asked Mde Ibarboure to find us something light for dessert. She sent plates of sorbet: mango, banana, fruits rouges, citron, beautifully garnished with tuilles, etc. When she returned and noticed that we had barely touched the generous multiple-plateau of pre-desserts, she snatched them from the table and said that she would have them packaged for our room. She returned to say that she had sent a boy to our room with them. (We found that they had even filled in what we had eaten at table and added housemade chocolates.) This is the kind of graceful hospitality that we received at Ibarboure from the moment of our arrival. Every conceivable convenience and comfort was anticipated and addressed. Breakfast served in our room on a clothed table was also perfect: towers of fresh orange juice, a huge thermal pot of coffee, jug of steamed milk and of hot water, a dozen assorted housemade breads/pastries in a basket, yogurts, pots of fermier butter and housemade jams, local honey, and in the event that you needed something else, tiny teacups holding blanc mange with raspberry coulis, warm molten chocolate cake, and in Chinese porcelain spoons, wee servings of creme brulee. At this point, my husband who had questioned me regarding the rate for this sumptious room said, “If they charge us rack rate, I won’t say a word.” (By the way, the charges at check-out for one night, dinner and breakfast for two was...300 euros!) We were sorry that we had commitments for the rest of the week, because we could easily have stayed here and been spoiled for life. We will definitely return for at least another overnight stay. Mde Ibarboure mentioned to us that one can easily take the train to Biarritz or St. Jean and then a cab to the restaurant. It is only a matter of a few km, and a car really isn’t necessary for a short visit.

Cabrales, I have no doubt that you are entirely correct, particularly after my second encounter with the dish at another dining room. I have the awful thought that perhaps the difference was simply one of the number of soakings and blanchings. Scary. I am very philosophic about this dish: there are far too many dishes out there that I haven't tried for me to invest any more evenings with this plate!

We haven't been home much, Robert: in France end of March/early April, home but jetlagged, a week in the country and just this week back to a reasonable schedule, although we leave for the east coast midweek. A steady job actually sounds restful. Will post on Pays Basques as soon as I get myself and notes in order. Thanks for the inclusion at your joyous party!

From Bux: Exactly. Sammut's "La Cuisine de Reine" describes braising stuffed, rolled and tied pieces of lamb tripe and blanched and flambed lambs' feet with herbs, garlic, white wine and tomato for 7 1/2 hours. At this point the feet are boned, the cooking juices reduced, and the meats returned to the juices for a final gratin. After poring over her book at home, I ordered this "local color" dish at La Feniere, and was appalled after my first bite. It was probably the most singularly disgusting taste I had ever encountered, and I order this kind of stuff often. (The night before I had had a wonderfully comforting plate of tripe at a small bistro in Lourmarin.) At any rate, I managed to finish my portion of P&P, but was not able to eat another bite at that dinner, soothing my insulted system with the rest of the wine and bubbly water. The following year when we were in the area, I had to "massage the wound" by ordering pieds et paquets at L'Antiquare, which is owned by ex-employees of Sammut who struck out on their own in her previous venue in Lourmarin. To my relief, their rendition lacked the gross undertones I found objectionable at La Feniere. At this point, I am not a convert nor do I feel compulsed to research this dish further.

Cabrales, you took the thought right out of my head. When we arrived, it looked like it would be "several minutes" per person for those outside, "several minutes" each for those not yet served inside, or a good chunk of an hour before it was our turn to gape in indecision. We should know by now that a sunny spring Sunday is not a good time to check out someplace trendy. :p

Be forewarned that Sunday afternoon before last there were 18 people waiting outside on the sidewalk, and as many already inside waiting to be served.

Absolutely, Robert. I believe that this simple kind of communication forges a partnership between the diner and dining room staff that exponentially improves the experience of both diner and those who serve the table.

Bux's original response is on point. While I may have personal thoughts on several of the restaurants you are considering, my sense is that you should, at this time, try to book at L'Astrance. The other three have histories that suggest that each will retain its present essence over time, and that you will have the opportunity to visit them at a future time, something I would definitely advise. L'Astrance alone among these, is the dining room that may well grow out of and away from what it is now. Do be aware that L'Astrance accepts bookings exactly once month in advance to the day of the requested reservation.

Good point re the Saveur Anderson Valley article. It spotlighted a not-too-often-reported area, and an area that would more likely be of interest as a week-end destination for a local. In reflection, I don't know a sole who "does" the Napa route anymore, except to book at French Laundry and spend a night in the area, or occasionally run up for lunch someplace. It's not that it isn't interesting, just that we've done it so often. However, just last month I provided house guests with maps and winery info, and pointed them toward the bridge. Napa and Sonoma remained the magic draw for them. :-)

Steve, you are asking for pith at a time when I had promised to be nice. What can I say? First, these special issues are usually bland in both their selection and critique. I have seldom read a state-of-the-art wine tour in one of the popular food magazines. And from my reading, most food magazines offer only their "interpretations" of restaurants' recipes. I never assume that they are the original. In fact, dumbed-down is what we usually get in these special issues. Delfina doesn't need a plug from Gourmet,and wouldn't be better for getting more than a passing nod, and Citizen Cake is usually filled midday when the locals actually do drop in for lunch, when I would guess not a few decline dessert. And, admit it, it is comforting to know that when you realy want "sweet", Joseph Schmidt is there.:-) What can I tell you? My single strongest impression was that this issue was put to bed months ago. It's an east coast magazine's impression of the Bay Area. If you aren't familiar with the area, it has a lot of good tips.

Steve, I have no quibbles with their stories. I would have liked to see more specifics about food in Berkeley. While it gets local panning because it is so un-PC for Berkeley, you could do an article on 4th St., certainly on Shattuck Avenue, and on College Avenue in the borderline-with-Oakland Rockridge area. These are great food areas. The choices in the hotel article are safe and the comments fair. Burton and Knickerbocker have put together fairly representative lists for their chosen neighborhoods. Some of the stars missing from this article are included in the 100+ list. Caroline Bates' choices include two I haven't visited. We (three) ate at B44 early last year, where we all had excellent dishes, but this review would have been more honest had it at least mentioned the noise level. Other than that, the review was a good one. I can't comment first hand on the suburban Asian houses, but their reporting on both Chinatown and Clement Street are pretty much on target. I was pleased to read Jocelyn Zuckerman's notes on Healdsburg, a serene and much under-appreciated small town north of Santa Rosa. I don't want to talk about the Frisco Kid article. Over all, I suppose I could have done with less about life-style and more nitty-gritty on where to find great food. As a frequent visiter, what were your observations?

Steve, like most of the special issues in food magazines, the March Gourmet presents the magazine's current slant on what's happening in the area. What I usually find most valuable in these issues, and find it true of this one also, is the 100+ great things collection. There are a lot of treasures buried in this list, for visiters as well as those living in the area.

Dumb question #463: Since we have no plans to visit Normandy in the near future, and since I have been interested in finding some good Calvados, and since I haven't a clue what "good" Calvados is, can some of you help me? We stock what is supposedly decent Calvados for cooking purposes. I am currently paying around $35./for a "short" 5th. I don't find it particularly "delicious". I have also tasted what was purported to be 20 yr old stuff at a producer tasting; it was firey, but didn't have a substantial layer of fruit flavor. What I need to know is, is there such a thing as a Calvados that is both firey and "apple-tasting". Not sweet, but with a strong apple presence? Or am I looking for something that isn't charactistic of the beast? I would particularly like to hear about producers whose stuff I could find in Paris.

Roger, Zuni is one of those amazing little places, where for, what? 15 years at least? I have never had a bad plate. I'll never forget one time when my husband got upset because I ordered zucchini blossoms at a time when we had 5 plants full in our back yard! But just as I suspected, I learned something new and had a wonderful dish. It's also one of our son's favorite places to visit during the last (10pm) seating for an excellent meal in a more relaxed setting than prime time.