7-10 restos where you'd dine in Paris

[John Talbott]

On another topic on "destination" places, plafield has asked "If you had one week to dine out in Paris; 7-10 meals, where would you go and why? Totally personal, subjective, no right or wrong answers, just opinions and reasons to back them up."

I thought it best to start a new topic and let that on "destination" places continue there.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Okay. I'll bite. Les Papilles has become our "first night in Paris" reservation. We know that we will arrive jet-lagged, disoriented and in need of Bertrand's warm welcome and stressless food, that he will choose an extremely interesting bottle of wine for us, that we will be cossetted and leave revived, culturally transitioned and ready to take on Paris in the morning.

[John DePaula]

Okay.  I'll bite.  Les Papilles has become our "first night in Paris" reservation.  We know that we will arrive jet-lagged, disoriented and in need of Bertrand's  warm welcome and stressless food, that he will choose an extremely interesting bottle of wine for us, that we will be cossetted and leave revived, culturally transitioned and ready to take on Paris in the morning.

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Wow, I love that description!

[julot-les-pinceaux]

I don't know all the places in Paris -- not even all the ones discussed on this board. Actually, it's safe to say that anyone who says they know all about food in Paris is probably lying. In my opinion, this is a bigger obstacle to an objective "top ten" than difference in tastes, which I think are greatly exaggerated. And in my response to this thread, three restaurants are places I went to for the first time over the last two weeks.

Anyway, I'll bite too.

Le Cinq when Briffard is in the house

Chez l'Ami Jean for lunch when I can hang out and be relaxed -- for their foie gras and cote de veau for two

Au Bon Accueil -- maybe for their roast chicken (but everything is delicious)

Le Bistral (just back from there -- wow, so joyful and good)

Lasserre (for the Paris post card feeling, and excellent food)

Pasta e Basta (for truly delicious Italian food and wines)

Wally le saharien (too unique to miss)

Fish (for great wines and fresh food, a feeling of civilization in the middle of a nastily touristy neighbourhood)

Au Dernier Métro for a true bistrot experience, cheap and hearty and good

Le Sévero (or le Bis) for a frickin' cote de boeuf

But I'd still add some quintessential auberge like Le Quincy (just went too, wow too), Parisian bistrot like La Fontaine de Mars or Joséphine.

[Felice]

Pasta e Basta (for truly delicious Italian food and wines).

I have been meaning to go here ever since I read about it in Zurban, years ago and somehow never made it so, thanks Julot, I will definitely put it back to the top of my list for places to try.

[ameiden]

If money was no object, it would be the following dozen for me -

L'Ambroisie

Ledoyen

Guy Savoy

Le Meurice

Arpège

Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée

Bristol

Pierre Gagnaire

Astrance

Pré Catelan

Taillevent

La Tour d'Argent

[Bartow]

...and if pigs had wings, there'd be pork in the treetops. Gentle people, please continue this thread. I am in Paris (well, L'Etang-la-Ville, just west of Paris) with la femme de mon coeur, and am looking for a good place for a Monday evening grande bouffe.

All the best,

Bartow

If money was no object, it would be...

[Laidback]

Totally personal, subjective, no right or wrong answers, just opinions and reasons to back them up."

Le Florimond, Carte Blanche, Le Violon d'Ingres, La Table d'Eugene...all for the same reasons....consistentancy, never a bad experience and the pleasant familiarity coming from having visited these places regularly since they opened and I am thus recognized and made to feel appreciated. My ego unabashedly welcomes gratuitous balm.

[Pork Belly]

Old time favorites where I’ve dined at the past 30 years:

Moissonier: good Lyonnais food and lots of drinkable fairly priced red wines; favorite place with our friends.

Au Moulin a Vent: solid traditional bistro food, simple Burgundies.

Au Trou Gascon: still serve the best food from the Landes in Paris; presided over by the charming Nicole Dutournier.

Chez Denise: good solid food, open when most of Paris is closed.

More recent favorites:

Casa Olympe: ate at her first restaurant in the early 80’s. Sadly, she disappeared from the scene then reopened at the current address with the same creativity. Interestingly, one can eat cheaper now than at her first restaurant in the early 80s.

La Cagouille: the only good seafood restaurant in Paris that I can afford to eat regularly. Another plus: just a few blocks from our apartment.

Willi Wine Bar: a place where I can dine myself at the bar; great and reasonably priced wines by the glass. Always happy and bustling.

Chez L’Ami Jean: too bad it is so cramped and noisy; another place that I prefer to dine alone, especially when I want to eat late.

Beurre Noisette: more creative than L’Ami Jean and La Regalade and just as good. And a little more elbow room makes a big difference.

In a class by itself:

Pierre Gagnaire: the only high-end restaurant in Paris where I am already planning my return visit before I am finished with his symphony of desserts

Edited March 28, 2009 by Pork Belly (log)

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Pasta e Basta (for truly delicious Italian food and wines).

I have been meaning to go here ever since I read about it in Zurban, years ago and somehow never made it so, thanks Julot, I will definitely put it back to the top of my list for places to try.

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Call me then. If you need further encouragement, check my photo gallery -- http://picasaweb.google.fr/ZeJulot/PastaEBasta#

By the way, why did I not list Le Pétrelle? Plafield needs to go to le Pétrelle! This is not for everyone, but those who like it, love it -- http://picasaweb.google.fr/ZeJulot/LePTrelle#

Also, tried l'Auberge le Quincy last week and was really impressed. This one too is not for everyone, with its colourful owner and scary food (tete de veau, escargots, pieds paquest, mousse au chocolat à volonté --best I ever had) but I found it worth one star.

Edited March 30, 2009 by julot-les-pinceaux (log)

[plafield]

Can we get the address for Pasta E Basta? A google search turns up 3 different addresses and not much info about any of them!

[Felice]

If it is the one I have written in my little black book of places to try, then it's the one in the 13th, on 58, r. du Javelot.

I wonder though, if this is going to be one of these places that you are thrilled to go to if you live here, but not so much if you are here only from time to time.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

It's on the dalle des Olympiades, which means that you have to take the stairs up from rue Tolbiac (métro Olympiades) or from avenue de Vitry (say at the Paris store). There you have a kind of open air mall with pagod-like little houses, all of which are hosting a Chinese or Vietnamese restaurant, but one -- this is Pasta e Basta, the only place in Chinatown where you can have a good expresso.

Menus range, off the top of my head, from 35 to 70 app. and are all more or less tasting-like, including an apéritif and a digestif. The bottom line is, you just tell the boss what you like and he takes care of your meal.

The food is excellent, one of the best Italian I know in Paris, with excellent light fried stuff, an amazing choice of different hams, etc. But what puts it over the top is the wine choice, which is truly great. If you don't care about wine... well you should go too because that is the kind of place that will convert you.

edited to add; rue du Javelot is the correct address to send mail. But it won't help you find the restaurant.

Edited March 31, 2009 by julot-les-pinceaux (log)

[Ptipois]

The food is excellent, one of the best Italian I know in Paris, with excellent light fried stuff, an amazing choice of different hams, etc. But what puts it over the top is the wine choice, which is truly great. If you don't care about wine... well you should go too because that is the kind of place that will convert you.

edited to add; rue du Javelot is the correct address to send mail. But it won't help you find the restaurant.

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The interesting thing about the wine choice is that you do not get to choose the wine. I do not recommend the place to anyone who likes to choose what they eat or drink.

It is also avenue d'Ivry, not de Vitry. A different location, like rue Sainte-Anne to rue de Richelieu, for instance