Bux

I believe the two Mère Braziers restaurants operated simultaneously as I've read that it was considerable easier for her to commute back and forth than it is for Ducasse to run between Paris and Monte Carlo. I don't know that Lyon (by the way, I've been told that current accepted practice has been moving towards using the French spelling and towards dropping the "S" that used to be considered the correct English spelling--ditto for Marseille) is significantly going downhill culinarily. The three stars of the region have long been located outside the city with Bocuse being the closest. Lyon also built a terrific reputation for it's "Mère" restaurants or restaurants run by women. Mostly however, I think Lyon is know for good hearty cooking, the sort that is washed down by quantities of good light Beaujolais and Macon blanc. Lyonnaise dishes are ones that usually include onions. Quenelles are the most famous dish. Ethereal when made in the best kitchens, but others will often sink faster than my grandmosther's matzo balls. Otherwise one should look for local food such as andouillette and tablier de sapeur sausages of tripe and stomach and fried squares of stomach. Some of us, myself included. are always distracted by the stars but the no-star bouchons and machons are where to find "Lyonnaise" food. There have been some good threads here on Lyon.

Graham raises an important point. If you really have your heart set on a particular restaurant and can't get a dinner reservation, consider making one for lunch. It's rare that lunch is as heavily booked as dinner. The wines at l'Astrance are exceptionally inexpensive. They're mostly unknown wines from the southwest and good value. We ate with another couple and had three bottles. I believe two were white and one was red. As I recall our bill was unitemized. I was trying to figure out if we were charged for the third bottle of wine. I think we were, but it was hard to tell. It was a very warm July night in an unairconditioned restaurant and we went through so much water that I lost count of the number of bottles. The tab seemed hundreds of francs higher than I expected, but still such a great bargain and we were with people who knew the chef and manager professionally that I ddin't care to question it. I did find it strange to handed a slip of paper with just one handwritten figure, but as I said, with regard to value elsewhere in Paris, I left feeling I had stolen dinner.

Thanks for the early detection and report. I'd heard nothing here and looked on the Michelin web site just the other day in respect to Bon's reference to Hiramatsu's star. I ate pretty well in l'Amphytrion in Lorient this past summer, and my table companions were even more pleased than I was, but there's no way the meal or the evening compared to the one at Roellinger. I've only eaten at Roellinger's restaurant once, and I believe Steve has not had more than one meal. It's difficult to second guess Michelin under those circumstances, but after eating at four two star restaurnts in Brittany, I have to say Roellinger outclassed the others by a long shot and the difference was mostly in the food. He runs a very nice inn as well. It's on the simple side for a Relais & Chateaux property, but that's my preference. Great breakfast, by the way. I've been reading about Patrick Jeffroy, although we've not made it there. Brittany has some pretty good cooking. I used to think the world of Patricia Wells' opinions, but in the past year or so, I've seem some reviews that have been way off the mark in my opinion and heard complaints from others. Whether she's lost her touch or her lapses are catching up with her, I don't know. Maybe it's a matter of being over extended and losing a grasp on one's own abilities. She maintains a message board on her web site, but has never posted an answer to anyone's question. The board attracts few questions and far fewer answers, but the software and appearance get upgraded as if it's an earnest function. All that considered, she's entitled to say Savoy deserves three stars. It's just another way of her saying she thinks it's among the best restaurants in Paris and no different from Shaw saying it's an injustice for Roellinger to have only two stars. As Veyrat literally moves his restaurant, I think he carries the same three stars with him. While Ducasse seems not be on the cutting edge of cuisine, I have to say that as I look back on my meal in Paris, it was some of the sharpest honed preparation and presentation ever set on my table. I am sad for the chef/owner at La Poularde in Montrond-les-Bains. We had a lovely dinner there many years ago. I mostly remember the best St. Joseph we've ever had and a sommelier with one arm, who recommended the cheese that best went with the wine and introduced us to Maury along with a complementry chocolate dessert for the wine.

Because I'm a skeptic and a cynic and I don't share anyone's taste. Truthfully, I don't find many printed reviews all that reliable. If I were writing to a newspaper, it would be the print reviews that would get the sarcastic comment. Nevertheless, I'm always reminded of the old New Yorker cartoon of two dogs standing in front of a computer. The big dog says to the little one, "On the Internet, they don't know I'm a dog." I don't know who's writing. I've seen users rave about the best restaurant in the world and leave me with the impression that this was the first restaurant they've ever been in with tablecloths. It's not that the posts are lies or even generally off base, it's that you don't know who's posting and which posts are credible.

Maybe she's just trying to send a message. :D

Liza, we need a better explanation of "crust." My suspicion is that there's some foreign element involved like a pepper or mustard bread crumb thing invovled and that it's not just an extra charge for proprely cooking your meat. Perhaps it a charge for cooking a steak "well done" as aopposed to done well. From the sound of things, I'm waiting for the return of the cover charge as well as one for bread.

Now that you mention it, it's really a natural. I'm surprised this concept hasn't arisen earlier. Dish from column "A." The sauces are ordred separately and served on the side. You want sauce with your dish, ya gotta ask for it. Is there a decent restaurant out there where every cook and waiter isn't convinced there's an army of people who want their sauce on the side?

Sounds like the Craft philosophy is trickling down.

Welcome to eGullet.com. If you search through the messages in the France board, you'll see that l'Astrance has become quite popular. Then again no need to tell you. I wish we had advise for you on an easier way to get a reservation or better yet, you had a clue for us. You might be interested in reading the Restaurant reservations thread. I'm sure you'll find, if you've not already done so, the numerous references here to l'Astrance interesting and useful. I trust we'll also hear from you after you return with some reports on your meals in Paris.

My meal at l'Ambroisie was also very somber. I wrote it off as possibly due to a house full of English, American and Japanese diners, and I wondered if Parisians don't go out for a big lunch on Saturday afternoon. It seems more of a tourist thing to do. Everyone seemed so serious. The mood was as hushed as at a funeral. The food was perfection, but excitement came only from the absolute flawlesslness of the dishes.

Although I've browsed the Relais & Châteaux site before, I hadn't realized you could download their guide. I miss the regional maps that are useful for finding a place to stay in a particular area and wish the guide were in html format rather than pdf, but it's still a neat way to get the lastest edition. The French section was less than a one minute download with my relatively slow dsl connection. Of course with a broadband connection, the advantage of having the database on my hard drive is nil.

My taste and appreciation for haute cuisine continues to develop and it's been some years since we ate at La Côte d'Or, but I have to say we enjoyed that dinner immensely. I sometimes wonder if current star status accorded to chefs and the focus on creativity doesn't burn out chefs too quickly. If it's true, I'm not sure if it's the public or the chefs themselves who are most to blame.

macrosan, I'll grant that the point might be different to different people and I'll assume that's an editorial "you." I don't go to great restaurant with any expectation that the chef will actually be at the stove cooking my dinner. If we're speaking of a first time visit, I go based on the positive information I find. Sources would include guides such as the Michelin, reviews, recommendations of friends and associates, and the rare online post I find worth believing. For instance, a rave by cabrales would certainly pique my curiosty although I'm not at all certain we share the same taste. She however, acknowledges that she doesn't know or care if the chef's in residence. Should I? I do get your point, I just think it's not an important issue, for most great restaurants. Most chefs are executives these days and the success of the restaurant is as much based on their ability to delegate authority than it is on any ability to cook. In NYC, I expect to see Dan Barber at the stove in Blue Hill. I expect to see Daniel Boulud holding a pan on TV and if he flies down to South America to do a benefit, I know the food won't suffer that night. Another issue has been raised about seeing the chef. It's been discussed elsewhere on this board and I have to agree with what's been said there. Sometimes it's better to meet him before dinner than afterwards. There's nothing so awkward than having him arrive at your table if you've been disappointed. Worse yet, perhaps, is when your companion is the non-diplomatic type.

I diasagree. First I am more likley to go to a great play than a poor one. The author, director and cast all have input. Personally, I don't like virtuoso performances of poor substance. Be that as it may, in both the theater it's the perfomance one should want, not the performer. In the restaurant it's what's on the plate, not who's in the kitchen. If a chef knows how to run his kitchen, it may run better without him, than the kitchen of a lesser chef with that chef in attendance. Finally, if the performance of the understudy is superior to that of the star, I am most rewarded. There is nothing so fine as discovery or being there when a star is born.

It's my experience that everyone's quirky when it comes to food. My quirk may well be curiosity. I can enjoy a far broader range of chefs than many people. For me, the first meal at least, is for the collection. Just to know and understand that chef's work and broaden my experience. I guess part of my appreciation of food is cold and abstract. Even earlier in our travels, my wife would ask why I would order certain dishes when she knew I didn't like the main ingredient. My response was often along the lines of "it's a traditional dish of the region" or "I want to know how this preparation tastes." Bear in mind that I'm stressing one aspect and in relationship to restaurants I don't manage to patronize all that frequently. I do enjoy eating just for the pleasure most of the time and in NY, return to favorite restaurants. Anyway, in Paris it's been a few year since we at Gagnaire. It was soon after he opened and dinner at Arpege was a few years earlier. Both were two stars when we ate at them. I was paying for my daughter's college tuition and beer when we ate at Arpège and more able to let Gagnaire pull out the stops a few years later. It's not a fair comparison, but Gagnaire was the more fantastic meal for us--at least until desserts. They were inedible. Passard seemed cerebral then and more so as I've read about him since. So I'd go there with similar anticipation. It's not so much that I had a better meal at the Plaza Athenée, but that it was more intense than the one at AD/NY. There's so much to speak to in this fast moving thread. I'd adivse not restriciting all meals to two and three star restaurants. I wish I could give good advise or even information on how a vegetarian could get the most out of some haute cusine temples whose food is so meat and fish driven.

Many of the larger and usually fancier Chinatown restaurants are used by the Chinese community for wedding banguets. As often as not, the entire restaurant may be closed for the event. That's probably not much help to you.

It's hard to argue with cabrales, but unless you are sure you share her subjective tastes, I would argue for both Gagnaire and Arpège with maybe a more classic chef or restaurant thrown in for good measure. How long is your trip, how many times have you been to France, what else do you want to do and see and is budget a factor at all? I am out of breath at cabrales' cross country (I know it's not the US) runs for lunch. It's a lot of commuting. A lack of French should not be a problem in the top places in France, especially in Paris. Cabrales has pointed out the problem of tasting menus with a vegetarian at the table. Often the tasting menu is only available to the entire table. I've never eaten at a top European restaurant with a vegetarian, but I have eaten with someone allergic to fish and seafood. The tastiing menu at El Bulli (in Catalunya) is about as long and complex as any and usually overwhelmingly seafood or fish. When we reserved our table for six, we mentioned our friend's allergy and asked about the tasting meu. When we arrived, the waiter asked if we wanted the tating menu, we replied that one of us couldn't eat fish. The waiter said they were aware and prepared to serve alternative courses. We were all impressed and our tablemate ate as well as we did with a vegetable or meat replacement for every seafood dish we had. I'm not sure most restaurants can or will be as accommodating. I've not heard great reports from vegetarians dining in haute cuisine restaurants in France. If you're interested in doing a tasting menu, by all means follow our example and give them prior notice. How strict is your friend? Will it be a problem if the vegetables are cooked in veal stock? Can cabrales tell us if meat stock or jus comes into play in Passard's vegetable dishes? It's been a long time since I've been in Roanne, but the Troisgros "inn" can probably best be described as a city hotel if I recall correctly. I've recommended L'Astrance here and on my site earlier and others have mentioned it here as well. La Regaglde also comes up all the time in people's favorite bistros.

You've named a type of restaurant I usually go out of my way to avoid. I think a view and a meal are two separate things. I wouldn't compromise one for the other, but if I had to choose, I opt for the food. An excellent view can usually be had for far less than the premium added to a mediocre dinner tab. Furthermore, I'm not aware of any restaurant with good food that has a good view of the city. If you find one, there's no guaranty that as a first timer, you'll be near a window.

Klc, how important is it for you to say that twice? Good point though. One of the first things I caught was "nice" restaurant. I don't know why but I felt there was some emphasis on a certain type of place and it had to do with ambience. I think Blue Hill might just make your budget. It's a very handsome place in my opinion, but it's decor is simple and unvarnished. It's meant to be a simple place, but the food can be sensational. I think Eleven Madison Park reaches a bit less in the food department and is no really better designed, but it's a much more impressive space. Very high celings. Bright crisp neo art deco design. A more extensive menu, with more traditional French inspired dishes. Excellent food, just not quite as inspired as Blue Hill. Both of these may push your limits however. I can't help much with places where the decor is actually better than the food.

I posted before I saw your second message and the other replies. Most of what I say below is irrelevant, except for the recommendation to browse the threads here, but I won't delete the post. At 22, I think it's reasonable enough not to be able to afford the top places in a city such as NY on your own. Even Bayard seems high priced. How about the new range of brasserie/bistros? I'm thinking of Balthazar, Pastis and Artisanal. Blue Hill is a thought. What does Toqueville run? Eleven Madison Park may be in your budget. --original message-- Daniel (no "s") will run you $82 per person for the standard three course meal. With NY tax and a minimal tip you're already at $100 per person without wine or coffee. This is New York, I don't think You'll find a "nice" French restaurant where two can eat for $100. Daniel Boulud's second restaurant Cafe Bolud will run at least $50-60 a person plus tax, tip and beverages. And his least formal db bistro is not much less. Daniel Boulud's web site. By "nice" up above, I mean special occasion type of place, but even little neighborhood places can run that much without tax and tip. I'm also going yo suggest that at the top of the line, there's very little difference between French and American restaurants in NYC. They're both serving cuisine that well founded in French technique, but neither are restricted to the kind of traditional French food seen in the fifties or sixties. Nor, for that matter, are the restaurants in Paris. Browse through this board and you will find many recommendations. I'm almost reluctant to mention my favorites as it's already hard enough to get a table at the better ones. But, Blue Hill is a real personal favorite up with Daniel and Cafe Boulud, but down a small notch in price and a little more casual in it's Washington Square location. Eleven Madison Park may be a little less expensive. At any rate they have some great wine buys at the low end which always helps. Gramercy Tavern is going to on almost everyone's short list of recommendations, but more expensive. The bar, or tavern, at Gramercy Tavern is a great buy, but doesn't take reservations. It's not, however, a substitute for the main dining room. The food as well as atmosphere is different. I'm just repeating what we've said frequently here. Check out the other threads.

I think Magnolia's advice is good if getting a table is your goal, but it you want to eliminate those restaurants that might sit you at the worst table or offer less service to a single diner, you might want to go the other way and announce you intent to dine alone. Something that's not been considered and is dependant on the type of hotel in which you are staying, is the use of the concierge. Frequently you can fax, or even in some cases send e-mail, to the concierge and have him make your reservations. You can list the restaurants you'd most care to dine in and also ask his suggestions for those that will cater to single diners. In a way it marks you as a foreigner, although a fax from the states directly to the restaurant does that anyway, but it also establishes you as someone with clout as you will undoubtedly offer feedback to the concierge. The concierge will not want to steer you wrong and the restaurant will want to stay on good terms with any concierge that offers them desirable diners. Naturally, we're pretty much talking about the "better" hotels. Read expensive for better, and there are plenty of less expensive hotels that might appeal to those willing to drop a tidy sum on a fine meal. If, by any chance, you are staying at a top hotel and you've made reservations thorugh a travel agent, have him or her contact the concierge. More clout all around. As much as a good concierge wants you to return to the hotel, he knows the travel agency can send even more business their way.

It is haute cuisine which is better done in a restaurant. The French revolution changed eating out. The French Elle magazine identifies recipes by type of cuisine. Often that means the region of France in which they arose, a foreign country, etc. One of the types is "restaurant" cooking. In no other country, even in the west, is restaurant cooking so distinguished from home cooking or so rarified. I'd guess that all restaurant cooking in the western world owes two debts. One to local, or relatively local, cookng and the other to French restaurant cooking. There are plenty of places in Europe and the United States where the best restaurant in town, or the region, is operated by a home trained cook. I include all the "Mère" restaurants in France, although their day has come and is almost gone. For most of my youth, the claim "home cooking" was one restaurants made as claim to superiority. Restaurant cooking when done well in the tradition of haute cuisine is cooking of a high order, but there's no reason not to value a home cooked meal or to deny the pleasures of comfort food. What is deplorable is the need people express when putting down restaurants "which epitomize Great Dining: 'Food as art for art's sake.'" I've hardly met a great chef who didn't rhapsodize about his grandmother's cooking and who wasn't thrilled to be invited to a good home cooked meal, particularly if of a food less known to him, but I'm always running into defensive comments that put down fine haute cuisine, but those with very limited experience with it.

If you can distinguish between any two wines--this wine is better (worse) than the one I had last night--than it's possible you can distinguish between any two wines. Presumably somewhere along the way, you're going to want to lump some wines together for one reason or another. If you drink, or taste, hundreds of wines, 50 categories may not be enough or four or five may be enough, but it's a personal decision. Michelin lumps restaurants into five categories. No mention Mention One star Two stars Three stars. While I have a hard time actually believing one can honestly distinguish between an 88 wine and 89 wine, I know damn well that there are greater differences between various 2 star restaurants than there is between the best 2 star the least of the 3 stars. Rating systems suck, people love and crave them. Understand that life is unfair before we continue. Parker happened. Parker made the world of wine a little safer for some people and a little boring for others. He's standardized wine appreciation a bit. People are buying his numbers. Consumers are drinking his taste and learning to adapt to it. Producers are learning to produce wines for that market. Why? A and insecure buyer wants to serve wine that will please his guests so his buys into the popular taste. It's called playing the odds. The rest is like a snowball on an incline. What's weird is listening to someone argue about the ethics of the snowball. Weirder yet may be the defense of the laws of nature as moral. Of course the losers are they guys who don't like to play it safe. Those of us who enjoy travel for the rewards of local and strange wines. They may disappear and they may no longer appeal to those whose tastebuds are no longer recpeptive to variety. My guess (hope?) is that the pendulum will swing. Life is unfair, but change is the only constant.

It's been years since I've dined alone and that was on a student budget and therefore don't have first had advice on fine dining alone. In bistrots and brasseries, it's very common to see solitary diners. On the road, which means while I'm traveling, I seem to notice many tables of one in good restaurants. I always assume the person is also traveling and traveling alone--or that he is a Michelin inspector. I've not been conscious of single tables in Paris and thus can't offer much advice about the single diner in a fine restaurant. Unless you can get specific advice, I'd say that you should make your reservation where you'd like to eat and expect them to treat you well when you arrive. By all means, it the service is particularly good, or bad, please post your results here. Tell us about the food too.

Having once, albeit relatively in my youth, been saddled with clearing through customs, a large crate of my sister's personal belongings that arrived in Newark, I've been scarred for life and hardly had a nice word for my sister for at least a year. Let's not dwell on that alternative. At the moment this is idle curiosity. Don't feel to obligated to answer in detail. My question is about the NYS tier system. NYS looks the other way when you arrive with your belongings on flight from France or California, but if I'm not mistaken, anything you have sent has to go through a licensed distributor and retailer. Does it not? I assume part of the cost is having that covered.