Bux

This is, in fact, one of the prime reasons I will take a tasting menu or the advice of someone I trust. While the dishes that seem less likely to work are often those that do not work, it's the dishes that seem unlikely to work, but do, that are the memorable ones. Of course ordering them leads to both my my best and worst experiences in restaurants, but it's a matter of nothing ventured, nothing gained. The advantage of a "surprise" menu is largely that I don't have to overcome my early warning radar that tells me (rightly or wrongly) that a dish is going to be a disaster.

I suppose it's been said, one way or another, but the ones that get attention by one reviewer are the ones that also get attention from most reviewers and a good part of the reason is the expectation that these are the ones that already have the readers' attention.

When you say "not bringing a suit" does that also rule out sport jacket or blazer? Paris is not as formal as it used to be. In fact, I've been told that some men show up at Ducasse in a sweater, not that I'd advocate you should do the same and feel comfortable about it. Nevertheless a sport coat will usually get you by in most places. Everyone eating in Ducasse the night I was there was wearing a jacket and probably a tie, but I'm not sure about the latter, however I have seen some really casual and sloppy attire in some places where I wouldn't expect it. Once again, I'm not advocating sloppiness. PS Besides, don't you have to sleep with tie and pajamas at the Georges V?

I'd have to say that our tolerance for alcohol is diminishing. No longer can we have an aperatif, a half bottle of white and a bottle of red and still enjoy both a dessert wine and digestif as we did in our prime. Regarding aperatifs, I'd have to note that when we first started to eat at fine restaurants, it severely strained our budget and we regarded aperatifs as poor value. At some point we found the aperatif part of the "esthetique" of dining. In some restaurants you will be offered some serious amuse bouches and it's nice to have a glass of champagne or something at hand. An alternative would be to order your wine early, but sometimes the amuses come before you get the carte. In any event, either way, it should ruin your meal to begin without ordering a drink, or totally ruin your budget to have a glass of overpriced champagne either. Relax and enjoy your meal.

We're on the road in Spain right now, but my wife, who's a travel agent, suggests Citadines, a chain of apartment hotels. The one near the Louvre is nice and very well located. We'll be back in ten days and can offer more help then if it's not too late for you then. Try www.pagesjaunes.com or .fr and search for Citadines Louvre. Sorry we can´t be more specific from here.

We just had dinner at Santceloni, Santi Santamaria's one star resturant in Madrid. It was a very good meal, but we didn't think it compared to Can Fabes. Michelin has the stars right in these cases as far as we can see. I should add that it was a few years ago that we were at Can Fabes and it's not fair to make those kinds of comparisons -- it's not as if one can make real rankings after one meal anyway. After two meals in Madrid however, I think the multistar action is in Catalonia and not in Madrid.

Dulce de xxxxx Pasta de xxxxx Just saw some dulce de naranja in a shop window in Madrid. It was an upscale shop (Lhardy to be exact) and the dulce de naranja appeared to be homemade. First day here, so we're jet lagged, but I'll keep an eye out for this stuff. In Puertop Rico, pasta de guayaba (guava) is popular. It's very sweet and usually eaten with a fresh white cheese.

There are no social situations, and that includes the nursery school sandbox, that are without their own protocol, etiquette or other subtle savoir faire, but the haute cuisine restaurant is not a secret society and there is a large staff whose job is generally to see that you are comfortable as well as well fed. Of course you are entitled to be a bit aprehensive in any environment in which you find yourself for the first time. It's natural and don't try to pretend you're any more experienced than you are. A love of good food and an honesty of approach will carry you a long way. Most maitre d's, captains and sommeliers will be as eager to teach a young novice as they are to serve a familar customer. Work your way up if possible from the simple bistros through more formal restaurants with perhaps one star or even a good no star restaurant. Life is full of mistakes. Whatever mistakes you might make will not ruin your meal if you're cool and there really are few things you could do wrong, assuming you've already eaten out somewhere in the world. You may be interested in knowing that French formal service dictates that the only implements on the table are those to be used for that course. In a fine restaurant all cutlery will be replaced with each course and you don't have to worry about which fork to use. Ask questions if you're in doubt. The staff is there to serve and will reward your honesty. Enjoy Paris and tell us how it goes.

And let me note that it's far easier to deal with not finding 700 euros in the street than actually putting them out of my pocket. I thoroughly understand the need to do something extravagant at intervals, especially when it involves food. I also find the thought of one excellent meal like that at least as attractive an alternative as a dozen far less interesting and rewarding meals. Economizing on the minor meals in several ways will help me afford that extraordinary experience and forgoing lobster for skate or monkfish and drinking easy wines in lesser restaurants is fair trade off. We're good cooks and willing to eat chicken at home more often to afford lamb or pigeon prepared by great chefs. Of course I wouldn't mind spending a year or two researching the answer to the question of whether or not I'd appreciate the great meals as much if I were eating them once or twice a week. Maybe I could get a research grant.

I enjoyed that, up to a point at least. I wish I could honestly say I'd prefer to have the 700 euros in my pocket, but your report triggers a kind of envy that a story about someone who found 700 euros in the street would not. I'm intrigued about the wines, especially the Marsala and the Madeira with the savory courses as well as the Sancerrre with the soup. I also found the continuation of ingredients watercress and truffles interesting. It sounds as if they were a nice progression in the meal as a whole rather than a repetition. I could be wrong, but I sense a subtle flow. Was the Beaune also served with the lobster? On the whole, I haven't found the service in Paris to be stuffy. Sometimes it's a bit reserved and those who come to the restaurant a bit uncomfortable leave feeling the same way, but I often suspect it's more their projection. It's probably true that there's a bit less formality in the way diners are treated. It's almost as if the French have had lessons from Gramercy Tavern. These things are hard to judge. As I get older the waiters seem to get younger and one might expect a more formal treatment, yet I sense a more relaxed style, so it must be changing in that direction. Then again, I don't eat in three star restaurants with enough regularity offer an opinion with much conviction.

A single visit affects scoring only to the point that the score is a lot less reliable if the restaurant has any inconsistency. In a highly rated restaurant, inconsistency would be grounds for lowering the ranking all by itself. I don't have my 2003 Guide handy, but didn't someone mention that they awarded that score on the basis of one perfect meal? It's absurd to rate a restaurant perfect on the basis of a single meal, in my opinion. Generosity may be a mushy term, but I hesitate to use the term rigorous when the low marks are accompanied by fewer visits.

From a little reading in the guide, I came away with the impression that many, or all, of their ratings are based on a single meal. I miss any report on a restaurant in Langogne, we discovered in last year's guide and enjoyed very much. We had a lovely meal there and I'm surprised to see it dropped from the guide. Last year it had a 15 and a heart. Fewer high scores based on fewer visits may just mean they are les generous rather than taking a stringent and rigorous approach. I assume Paris restaurants are getting more than a single visit and I'd expect that to be the same for the high ranked restaurants across the country.

The conglomerate that took over the Balzar, the brasserie in question, was the Flo Group named after their first brasserie purchase, is also the owner and operator of the new Les Grands Marches I recommended earlier. I won't defend their take overs other than to say that the brasseries were all for sale and without the interest of the Flo Group, it's quite possible that each and everyone of these places would have suffered a worse fate. There are few of the fine old brasseries still independently owned and operated. I heartily recommend the andouille at any of the Flo Brasseries and like le Vaudeville. Note that this is a sausage of tripe or chitlins with a barnyard aroma. First time travelers should be warning that it is not the spicy sausage of Louisiana and may be an acquired taste. In fact, it was at the Balzar, which did have a great many American diners, that the waiter asked my wife if she had eaten pig's feet before when she placed her order. Her indignation warded off a similar question to me when I ordered an andouille. The andouille was excellent, my wife was less pleased with the pig's feet. I hope you enjoy Paris and that you've done some searching here for older threads on Parisian restaurants.

Have you read Gopnik's From Paris to the Moon? His son was younger during the period he and his family lived there and which was documented in the book. I'd also note that I've found Europeans every bit as absorbed with pop music as we are.

R.G. Diamond, enjoy Paris. I regret to say it's no longer the place it was when I first went there in the sixties. Today, it is possible to get a bad meal in Paris and certainly easier than in most places in Italy -- Venice perhaps excepted. As Lou says, the French love kids although I've often thought they prefer to see dogs in restaurants than kids. I'm kidding -- mostly -- I have seen large families with youngsters in restaurants as posh and formal as the old Robuchon. T he hardest problem with children in restaurants maybe the length of a meal in a very formal restaurant. If your son can say "bonjour," "bon soir" and "merci" with a half recognizable accent and smile broadly while eating enthusiastically, he's likely to charm the French very much. I don't know that neighborhood very well, but have found the place du Bastille very lively. There's a contemporary interpretation of a brasserie, Les Grandes Marches, there. It offers a more interesting contemporary menu than what one might expect in a brasserie and we enjoyed it very much a few years ago. I believe there's an interesting market along blvd. Richard Lenoir, but don't know what day it runs. Mostly, you'll be drawn to the west, but there's the market at pl. d'Aligre a metro stop (walking distance, I assume) to the east that's also interesting. On rue Roussel leading to the market there's a little bar called Baron Rouge. (?) It's a smokey little bar unsuited for that reason perhaps for kids, but they serve oysters on the street to an overflow crowd. If your son likes oysters, this is an amusing scene. If you want a beer or glass of muscadet to accompany the oysters, one of you will have to belly up to the bar, but you can bring the glasses out to the street. Every available building ledge and car hood seems to serve as a table. We're on our way to Spain having made two trips to France last year plus one that took us to both countries. We find ourselves splitting our time between these two countries more and more.

That's what makes horse races. eGullet may be at its best when you get two contrasting opinions posted at precisely the same minute. Oh what the hell, throw in enough wine, vinegar and shallots and I'll enjoy bearnaise with hanger steak as well. I'll take a few sprigs of watercress with the frites to keep my doctor happy.

It's been a long time since I've seen béarnaise sauce on a menu. Along with a lot of other classics, I don't see it any longer. Is it not being offered or do I no longer go to the right restaurants in my quest for creative cuisine? Am I one of the ones responsible for the disappearance of these classics because I haven't been looking for them and because I stopped ordering them? Just a few days ago, I was offered the choice between a pepper sauce and a béarnaise for my hanger steak. I chose the pepper steak, a reduction of meat juices enriched with peppercorns. In self defense, hanger steak seems a little rich for béarnaise.

Nobody cares? Not one single solitary person? It may be outside the context of a comparison you care to make perhaps, but certainly within many contexts. It would seem to even the most casual reader her that you are imposing a level of specificity that is outside that which most members see as categories within which comparisons may be made.

I understand your point, but exaggeration isn't helpful. One might just as well note that exaggerated claims are useless. Any information is useful as far as it goes. A second thought here is that it's the expert who wants the most information. There are any number of diners who will find that knowing whether the wine is red or white is all the information they can use. There are even those who don't care if it's red or white as long as it's below a certain price.

Progressive lists can be misleading as there's a fair amount of subjectivity involved and subdivisions of style important to one diner are immaterial to another. Varietal lists can be quite unreliable and although apparently "truthful" can mislead the neophyte into believing all chardonnays taste alike or at least have something in common besides the grape. Learning that Chablis is chardonnay just like your favorite California chardonnay may not be useful information. The right hand column is very useful information and no matter how the lists is arranged, I am likely to look at several sections to see what's available at the price I think I want to spend as well as above and below looking for some special deal. There are some really great classic combinations of food and wine, but I find there's usually more than one way to go with most foods. Just as a steak can be enjoyed with a sauce that's deeply wine flavored, just a reduction of pan juices, or a buttery sauce, there are a number of wines that suit my taste. Moreover, when dining at a table of four or more, the wine is generally going to be somewhat of a compromise anyway. One of the things I enjoy is reading articles in food and wine magazines where a panel of experts chooses the perfect wine for a dish. I appreciate it very much when the various experts don't agree precisely and even more when they don't even agree on a color. In many cases, I will see a single expert choose a red as best, a white as second choice and then another red as acceptable. All of that avoids the question. When I first came across lists that were not by place of origin, they made me uncomfortable and I had to sort them in my mind. I've gotten used to them and they seem apporpriate in some restaurants. I suppose I would not find them appropriate to Ducasse or Daniel. In either case, I will peruse more than one section and it's no longer an issue most of the time. A good sommelier is always a plus.

I have read that "Zarzuela" is named after the operetta (which in turn is named after a town of that name), so it is rather like "Peach Melba" (although not named after and individual, in the case of the soup/stew), rather then trying to be a culinary operetta? Zarzuela refers to a type of performance, operettas being a lighter, livelier and I suppose more popular form of musical entertainment than opera. I believe the author was being poetic in her description of dish. Dishes such as "Peach Melba" or "Tournedos Rossini" were named after famous people. Some dishes are named after cities and places, and only sometimes because that's where they originated. Hollandaise sauce is not from Holland. Zarzuela de Mariscos was a 19th century invention and I suspect those who first named it found some connection to the popular art form. I don't know that, but it seems reasonable. If that's not the case, I suspect the author's description is based on conversations with contemporary Catalan chefs and their descriptions. It's quite possible that the originators of the dish sought only to honor the musical form by taking its name as in the case of Peach Melba, but even so, over time, chefs may have come to see the dish as an operetta of seafood.

Zarzuela, according to Marina Chang in Tastes of the Pyrenees, is taliored to either the chef's preferences in fish and seafood or to whatever is fresh. Zarzuela means operetta and every Catalan chef tried to dazzle diners with their compositions. It is, perhaps, not possible to have too great a combination of fish and seafood, assuming your taste runs that way.

I'm always fascinated at how some people can tell things about others just from a casual observance across a dining room. The implication of this statement is that many, if not most of the diners at Tabla could not tell the difference between the food at Diwan, Tabla or Tamarind. I wonder if that's telling of the food served or an indictment of Manhattan diners.

CyN, I may not have been clear, but my eating goes back to the thirties, if just barely--my memories of eating go back to the early mid forties, I suppose. My first trip to France was in '59 or '60 and it was followed by several more trips in the the mid sixties with my wife at various budget points. I don't recall exactly when we actually first dined in a starred restaurant--we missed both Point and Dumaine by a year or two, but that was all followed by an absence of about 15 years. We ate quite well in the seventies, but at home and in Chinatown.

Bux - just playing a hypothetical, not actually my view. I didn't mention the "F" word, but within that country where is the use of spice? Langoustines with curry powder? I meant to say that cookers of refined European cuisine are relearning how to use the spices. Actually quatre épices, or four spices, is a traditional French seasoning for sausages and charcuterie in France. The "four spices" are usually cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and white pepper. The use of curry powder goes back to medieval times and the use may be continuous. That's been documented on a previous thread. It's probably more accurate for me to say that contemporary French chefs are learning to use seasonings in a creative way and to use unfamiliar and foreign seasonings. All seasonings are not spices. Spices also seem to induce appetite, whereas hot weather seems to take suppress it. Not all spices are "hot" and not all spices are most popular in the equatorial belt, but there seems to be a noticeable increase in the level of use of spice in the tropics. I will not argue that it's stimulate appetite, preserve meats or mask flavor. I will note that people do develop tastes for what they know and pass that taste on by cooking those foods for their young. Thus, today we still see salt cod selling well in the same markets that offer refrigeratored fresh fish. Cured meats sell well for their unique flavor even when fresh meat is available. A current taste for spice is unrelated to some of it's original need.