Our 7 nights dining in Paris (long)

[AGM Cape Cod]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I have been lurking on the board and adding to our file. Here is my payback.

We spent a week in Paris celebrating our 25th anniversary. We stayed at the Relais St Germain in the 6th but traveled all over for our meals.

Sunday- It is difficult night to dine out in Paris which seems so strange to our American sensibilities. In past years we have relied upon L’Ardoise in the 1st which is very good. It was a time for a change though and we were very pleased to have found Pramil. It is a small chef owned bistro in the 3rd. It was a slow night which the chef said was usual. The menu was 29€ for Entrée, Plat et Dessert.

Entrées- Omelette aux asperges sauvages (Wild Asparagus Omelet)

Foie gras mi-cuit avec oreille de porc (A foie gras terrine with pork ears in a sweet sour sauce) with a 3€ supplement

Plat- Gigot de Sept Heures (lamb cooked for seven hours served with braised vegetables)

Onglet de veau poêlé aux girolles et purée à l’huile d’olive (veal steak with sautéed mushrooms and potato puree

Dessert- Délice au chocolat tiède aux zestes d’orange confits (warm chocolate cake with orange zest)

Figues Blanches fraîches avec glace au poivre de Sichuan (fresh white figs with Sichuan peppercorn ice cream)

We spent more on wine than we did on dinner which was par for the course. We had a wonderful Riesling to start (Vendanges Tardives Riesling 1997 Domaine Julien Meyur) and a Pommard 2005 Les Cras with the plats. We had a lovely meal at Pramil and were lucky enough to talk to the chef afterwards.

Pramil Restarurant 30 rue Gay-Lussac 01 43 25 20 79 M- Arts & Métier

Monday- We traveled back to the 3rd to go to Au Fil des Saisons. It was a rainy evening and we were lucky we brought along the address because there was no sign on the place. While we were eating the waiter put the menu board in the window which has the name on it. I don’t remember what the pre fixe was here but dinner including the wine was 103€.

Entrées-Ravioli avec crème du voillaile et magret fumet (ravioli with a reduced chicken stock and cream sauce with smoked duck breast)

Foie gras de canard with lentils and apples (different with the sautéed foie gras atop a bed of lentils and apples in a broth-very good)

Wine-Saint Veran 2001 Les Sablons Domaine Jean-Luc Tissier

Plats- Entrecote (steak)

Magret of duck with spices of Colombo (the waiter said the spices would be like a curry but it wasn’t very assertive-yummy though)

Wine-Cahors Chateau Seret Monpezat 2002

Dessert- Sautee of bananas, pineapple and apricot with rum

Millefeuille de Framboise et rhubarbe

Au Fil des Saisons- 6 rue des Fontaines du Temple 01 42 74 16 60 M- Arts & Métier

Tuesday- This was our anniversary and we chose to stay and eat at the hotel. This was our third stay at the Relais since the new ownership and we have become known in the restaurant. It made for a very nice evening sort of among friends. The menu at le Comptoir is a 5 course fixed menu that they serve to everyone. It is 45€ and well worth it. We have never been disappointed.

First course- Crémeux d’œuf de poule, parmesan, jambon de Bayonne, Asperge verte et girolles de France (A custard with parmesan topped with the ham, asparagus and mushrooms)

Second course-Filet de rouget de méditerranée juste rôti Vinaigrette de calamars a l’encre Jeune poireau (a filet of red mullet which is a white fish with a vinaigrette of squid ink garnished with several rounds of squid and young leeks-it turned everyone’s lips black)

Plat-Tranche de gigot d’agneau de lait béarnais rôti Pomme ratte en purée à l’olive noire, jus pistou (Slice of roast lamb on a bed of pureed potatoes with a basil sauce)

Plateau de fromage affiné par la maison Boursault (a wonderful cheese platter that they just sit on your table and you can eat to your heart’s content)

Dessert-Coupe de gelée a la verveine et fruits rouges Lait de vache cuit à la cardamome (a verbena jelly with red fruits with a cardamon flavored baked cream)

Le bonbon du fondeur en chocolat Jacques Genin- the most amazing mango caramels!

We were served champagne when we were seated and congratulated by Livia the waitress. We drank a Côte du Rhone with dinner.

This was a very pleasant evening. Le Comptoir is tiny so you sit near your neighbor. Next to us was an American woman married to a Frenchman so we chatted with them. It was fun.

Wednesday- I was a little worried about this reservation. Spring is a small (16-17) seat restaurant run by an American. It is also a fixed menu served to everyone at the same time. We had heard wonderful things about it but one of the last things we read wasn’t that good. It was fabulous though and we had a great time. The kitchen is open so you can see the chef, Daniel Rose, make and serve your dinner. If you are very interested in watching I would suggest you ask for what is known as ‘the ledge’ table. Also since it is very small please be considerate if you can’t make the reservation call and cancel. The menu is 28.50€

First course-Velouté of carrot with a garnish of fresh mint, paprika and a piece of toast with foie gras

Second course- Rouget on a bed of diced cucumbers, lardons of bacon and olives in vinaigrette with a side salad of a variety of tomatoes

Plat- Pintade (guinea hen) with artichoke hearts, peaches and chips of potato

Dessert- A scoop of chocolate fondant, raspberries with a cantaloupe sauce, and a small spoon of lime curd with sugar toasted pistachios

Wine- Quincy Domaine Mardon 2005 Gerwurztraiminer Aimé Stechtz 2005

Coteaux de Aix en Provence Domaine de la Brillane (Rupert Birch) 2006

Don’t worry if this menu doesn’t interest you. Each meal is a different menu and even each dish will change with the chef’s whim. He admitted to us that he had been planning on using the peaches with the dessert but at the last minute put it into the pintade sauce. It was wonderful.

Spring- 28 rue de la Tour d’Auvergne 01 45 96 05 72 Metro-Pigalle

Thursday- Since we got up very early in the morning to go to Giverny we changed our reservation for this evening to eat in the hotel. When we arrived the chef said the ‘votre table’ was waiting.

The menu only changed in the first course and dessert. Everything else was the same.

First Course- Jus de tomate cœur de bœuf rafraîchi, homard Canadien, Crudités de légumes d’été Chilled cubes of vegetables and lobster in a tomato broth (The first course came up out of the basement kitchen in silver soup bowls with the vegetables and lobster in it. There were little cocktail shakers with the tomato juice/soup in it. The chef came by and shook them vigorously. It was funny but a wonderful dish)

Dessert- Crémeux de riz caramélisé, amandes grilles Fruit rouges de France (a caramelized rice pudding with almonds and red fruits)

Wine-we drank a Volnay this evening but that is all I know about the wine.

Friday- I am not sure how I heard about Le Baratin but I had heard it was a place that people don’t want to become known. It is also a small place which was full. It also was one of the few places that turned the tables. When we left at 10:30 people were waiting to be seated. The menu is written on a chalk board. Entrées were around 12€ and plats were around 20 €. Everything we saw go by looked wonderful. It isn’t a fancy place-more a down home kind of restaurant with a resident cat twining around your legs

Entrées-Artichaut poivrade en ragoût au citron (artichoke hearts in a lemon sauce)

Tartare de thon à la cerise (tuna tartare with fresh cherries-I have cherries in my fridge to try and recreate this dish.)

Plats- Palette de porc rôti aux épices et légumes sauté (pork shoulder roasted with spices and served with sautéed vegetables-very good)

Guinea hen de Rouen roasted with mushrooms and sour cherries

Desserts- Marc de bois avec double crème (a kind of wild strawberry with a sour cream)

Fresh apricots poached in a vanilla syrup-fabulous!!

Wine- Domaine Gramenon Côtes-du-Rhone 2005

Le Baratin 3 rue Jouye Rouve 01 43 49 39 70 Metro-Pyrénées or Belleville (I had heard that this place was halfway up Belleville hill. So we took the metro to Pyrénées and walked down the hill to dinner and then after dinner walked the rest of the way down the hill to the Belleville stop.)

Saturday- A few of the places we were interested in trying were closed on Saturday so we tried Les Papilles. It is a wine store which serves a fixed menu dinner. It was good but not a favorite of ours. It might have been the menu or just that we were sad to be leaving Paris the next day. Also we thought that Spring was much better for the same price.

Entrée- Cold cucumber gazpacho- croutons, red onions, bacon, cucumber and goat cheese with a cucumber cream

Plat- Shoulder of Lamb Provençal- It came to the table in a little casserole which was still boiling when the waitress opened it. The chef had thrown in some snow peas just before it was served because they were vivid green and still crunchy. It was too bad that it had too much oil in it.

Cheese course- a small, blue-veined wedge of artisanal Fourme d'Ambert cheese from the Auvergne was brought to the table with a poached prune dipped in sesame seeds. It was fine for me but my husband doesn’t like blue cheese.

Dessert- A lemon cream- a lemon mousse topped with a lemon gelatin

Wine- Since this is a wine store you get to pick your wine off the shelf and then pay a 6€ corkage fee. Unfortunately they don’t carry any half bottles or have wines by the glass. We tried a wine my husband hadn’t heard of which is unusual. Faugéres Domaine Leon Barral 2004

I think the pre fixe cost was 28.50€ each and the total bill was 89€

Les Pailles- 30 rue Gay-Lussac Metro-Luxembourg

[Laidback]

Excellent report but may I point out one address typo; Pramil is on rue du Vertbois.

[AGM Cape Cod]

Laidback-thanks for picking that up and correcting the address. We had such a nice meal and chat with the chef at Pramil that I would like other people to find and enjoy it.

[loladrian]

Thanks for the report AGM. It inspired us to head to Pramil tomorrow for lunch. I hope they still have the figs and pepper ice cream...

[follonica2]

re: lack of half bottles at Les Papilles.

I lunched there solo last month and had a half bottle of Morgon. Don't remember the label but it was NOT Georges Duboeuf.

[Jean Blanchard]

Thanks so much for your report. It is very timely for me. We will be staying at Relais in September and have dinner reservations the first night at Le Comptoir. Obviously, you like the hotel since you've gone back several times. I have had such a hard time finding a place to eat on Sunday night that I just emailed the hotel and asked them to make a reservation for us. They have been so helpful and since the list that they gave us of recommended restaurants was excellent, I decided to stop agonizing over where to go and just let them choose.

[loladrian]

Just a quick report... We had lunch today at Pramil and it was delicious. The restaurant was very cool with a huge window where you can see into the kitchen, although you have to go to the back to see it. The food was very well prepared, simple and tasty. I started with a cold soup of fresh almonds, then monkfish with fennel and fava beans. My copain started with a cauliflower cake accompanied by a nice spicy jelly, and then veal with chantrelles and potato puree. I couldn't resist dessert, because they had such interesting flavors of ice cream (my single favorite thing). We opted for the figs with Schezuan pepper ice cream and it was the perfect way to end a lovely meal. 19 € at lunch (entree/plat, our plat/dessert) and 29€ for dinner (entree, plat, dessert). I would definitely go back.

[AGM Cape Cod]

Just a quick report... We had lunch today at Pramil and it was delicious. The restaurant was very cool with a huge window where you can see into the kitchen, although you have to go to the back to see it. The food was very well prepared, simple and tasty. I started with a cold soup of fresh almonds, then monkfish with fennel and fava beans. My copain started with a cauliflower cake accompanied by a nice spicy jelly, and then veal with chantrelles and potato puree. I couldn't resist dessert, because they had such interesting flavors of ice cream (my single favorite thing). We opted for the figs with Schezuan pepper ice cream and it was the perfect way to end a lovely meal.  19 € at lunch (entree/plat, our plat/dessert) and 29€ for dinner (entree, plat, dessert). I would definitely go back.

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I am glad you enjoy Pramil. It was so empty on the Sunday evening we were there I worried about their viability. Though the chef said Sunday was a slow day. Was it busy?

[AGM Cape Cod]

Thanks so much for your report.  It is very timely for me.  We will be staying at Relais in September and have dinner reservations the first night at Le Comptoir.  Obviously, you like the hotel since you've gone back several times.  I have had such a hard time finding a place to eat on Sunday night that I just emailed the hotel and asked them to make a reservation for us.  They have been so helpful and since the list that they gave us of recommended restaurants was excellent, I decided to stop agonizing over where to go and just let them choose.

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I hope you enjoy the Relais and Le Comptoir as much as we do. Our usual Sunday evening has been l'Ardoise in the 1st. It can get very crowded though so reserve. On Sunday morning we always go to the market on Blvd Raspail and have galettes.

[loladrian]

Just a quick report... We had lunch today at Pramil and it was delicious. The restaurant was very cool with a huge window where you can see into the kitchen, although you have to go to the back to see it. The food was very well prepared, simple and tasty. I started with a cold soup of fresh almonds, then monkfish with fennel and fava beans. My copain started with a cauliflower cake accompanied by a nice spicy jelly, and then veal with chantrelles and potato puree. I couldn't resist dessert, because they had such interesting flavors of ice cream (my single favorite thing). We opted for the figs with Schezuan pepper ice cream and it was the perfect way to end a lovely meal.  19 € at lunch (entree/plat, our plat/dessert) and 29€ for dinner (entree, plat, dessert). I would definitely go back.

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I am glad you enjoy Pramil. It was so empty on the Sunday evening we were there I worried about their viability. Though the chef said Sunday was a slow day. Was it busy?

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No! And I was a little worried when we arrived because we had walked by a few cafes that were pretty buzzing. We arrived about 13h, and were the only ones there. By the time we were on dessert, there were only 2 other tables full. The quality and value were very high in my opinion, so I was a bit surprised. I hope business picks up (or is better on other days).