Alcazar

[menton1]

Have often peered in but never ate at Alcazar, in the 6th. Can anyone give some feedback, please. Also, heard a lot of good things about Les Bookinistes. Merci!

[nightscotsman]

I dined at Les Bookinistes when I visited Paris last May. It was good, but for the number of reviews and amount a praise I read about it before making the trip, I thought it was just that. Good, but not exceptional or great. It actually felt like an American restaurant to me, maybe because it tends to get a lot of tourists. You'd be better off at Ducass's Spoon Food + Wine, if I may be so bold as to offer a recommendation.

[Bux]

We ate in les Bookinistes serveral years ago. I think it had just opened. I thought it was very good for what it was, but it was just one of many in that range. I'd dine there again in a flash if someone wanted us to meet them there, or I was in the neighborhood, but it wasn't a compelling restaurant. On the other hand, we ate in several very nice Parisian restaurants that were as good in their own way this past trip. The chance to try a new restaurant is usually more interesting for a sometime visitor to Paris.

As for it feeling like an American restaurant, I have to say that I find less and less French food in France and particularly in Paris. Neither soy sauce nor balsamic vinegar make me feel as if I'm in a French restaurant, and that's just the start of a list of ingredients that make menus read quite internationally these days. It's going to drive me back into the museums. When I see the Italian paintings in the Louvre, I'll know I'm in Paris.

[thefoodhunter]

Here is an article I wrote several years ago when Alcazar opened for business. I haven't been back since for obvious reasons, in Paris it is more famous as a nightspot, they have opened a Wag club inside.

ALCAZAR

For many years the term “British Cuisine” spoken aloud would result in smiles, chuckles or outright laughter. In the 80’s design magnate Terrence Conran opened a string of excellent restaurants in London and British cuisine discovered it had an ambassador. The fare at Bibendum, Quaglino’s, Mezzo etc. were not updated versions of British specialities like spotted dick, steak and kidney pie, or bangers and mash, but delicious inventive dishes drawing on a multitude of influences.

I was thrilled to learn that Sir Terrence had decided to open a restaurant in Paris. His furniture shops have already become mainstays of Parisian life providing an albeit costly alternative to Ikea ugliness for home decorating enthusiasts. Alcazar is located on the left bank near St. Germain des Pres. Last November, a few weeks after its opening, I took several New York Thanksgiving refugees there for dinner. A Thanksgiving refugee is someone who is trying to escape the forced family cheer required at America’s favourite holiday. They miss the food though, hence their decision to come to Paris for some serious paunch stuffing.

Alcazar is housed in a former cabaret. It is a huge two story building with an unassuming street entrance. Upstairs there is a bar and a glassed-in private dining room which reminded me of a hospital operating room. We were seated in the long downstairs dining area at a great table offering us a view of the entire restaurant. Diners can look into the kitchen which runs the length of the room so the kitchen is always spotless. The attention to design detail is evident, this is a restaurant to see and be seen in. We arrived at 8 PM as per the reservation clerk’s instructions who had made it clear to me that we could not come at 8:30 PM or 7:30 PM. But the rest of our party didn’t make it until 8:30 PM so we had plenty of time to watch the dining room fill with beautiful people. The attitude was thick enough to cut with a dull knife. Famous TV people and fashion designers were seated everywhere.

The menu is standard Parisian brasserie fare with only one real UK touch in the form of a hefty fish and chips. From the start we encountered problems. One of my pet peeves is cleanliness and hygiene in a restaurant. On each table there is a rather cute open salt and pepper dispenser from which customers are supposed to take a pinch to season their food. Didn’t Sir Terrence read that terrifying report about the high level of dangerous bacteria in self-service peanut bowls in bars? I don’t care how important someone is, when they leave a public rest room they are toting some scary germs with them and I don’t like my salad à la coliform.

As we waited for the rest of our party we ordered cocktails, I ordered mineral water and was offered Conran’s bottled water as an option. Where does Conran’s water come from anyway? I ordered oysters and a pot au feu. The oysters were delightful but served without the salted butter and rye bread usually served in brasseries. When I asked for these I was told there weren’t any. The pot au feu was good but the portion was quite small and tepid. We ordered a nice bottle of Bordeaux and as there were five of us we ordered another one soon thereafter. The waiter began to pour the wine from the second bottle into our half empty glasses from the first bottle. When I tried to stop him from doing this his smart-ass reply was “It is the same wine, what is the difference?”. Even the most inexperienced waiter knows that the quality of wine from one bottle to the next can vary widely. I demurred but remain shocked by this attitude.

I didn’t taste any of my friend’s dishes because the portions were so small that they neglected to offer me any. They seemed happy but didn’t talk about the food. This was a clear message of disapproval for me because during the last five meals we shared our conversation was limited to the contents of our plates. The bill for each person came to approximately 40 Euros. Since this meal I did return to eat at the upstairs bar and had the excellent fish and chips. I hope chef Guillaume Lutard will revamp his menu and fill it out with new versions of British classics. How about a toad-in-the hole made with Montbeliard sausage in an herb flavoured batter?

[Miguel Gierbolini]

On the other hand, we ate in several very nice Parisian restaurants that were as good in their own way this past trip. The chance to try a new restaurant is usually more interesting for a sometime visitor to Paris.

Bux, as I said elsewhere on these boards, I am heading to Paris on the 18th. Could you mention some of the "nice Parisian restaurants" that you encountered on your last visit? Thanks.

[Bux]

In spite of a certain reluctance, I can and will. My reluctance stems from the fact that non of them are destination restaurants and I fear they may invoke a reaction from too many that I didn't come all the way to Paris just to eat here.

If I am not giving away a confidence, C'amelot on the rue Amelot in the 11th was a gem, for what it was. Soup, appetizer, main course and dessert for no more than $30. A small list of generally inexpensive wines and even less expensive wines by the carafe or pichet. Generally there's a set menu with no choice except for perhaps a choice of desset. I eat almost everything and this isn't a problem for me, but it's possible that the only choice is what you had for dinner the night before. Interestingly enough, the night we were there, they offered a choice of two main courses and one was lièvre à la royale which I had the night before. Fortunately, I could opt for the duck. Anyway the limited choice helps keep the price reasonable. We found the GM description apt. We had an interesting wine from beaujolais--or at least the area. It was not an AOC wine and with its fruit, and in spite of its 14.5% alcohol content it was rather a gulping wine. You will need a reservation here.

The night before I had my hare at le Dauphin on the rue Royale near the Louvre. This was a repeat visit for us, so that says something, although a word of caution perhaps about an increasingly foreign clientele. It's that I'm a snob, or at least not just that, but the service suffers when the clientele make great demands on the limited staff in a small restaurant. You may not need a reservation here if you arrive early.

We had a pleasant lunch snack at Legrand, a sort of wine bar in a wine shop/epicerie. The bar itself is accessed via the gallerie Vivienne. I feel I already mentioned this another post, but a search reveals only that others mentioned the wine shop in a thread on Paris wine shops and yet another thread in which the wine shop was less favorably mentioned. I think the bar is more interesting than the wine shop itself and offers some very fine platters of cheese, charcuterie or salads along with a small selection of wines by the glass. Any bottle in the shop is available for a small upcharge. The who place had more of a tapas bar atmosphere to it than that of a Paris wine bar, or so I thought. They seem to do wine dinners and hold tasting there. There was a large table out in the gallerie.

Last, but not least, I'll give away a recommendation by the concierge at our hotel and that's for the bistro Vivienne right at the corner of the gallerie near Legrand. We didn't get there, but he assured us it was favored by locals, which is something rare in that arrondissement if you recall my comments regarding le Dauphin. I was actually quite surprised to find myself staying in the first. It's a great location if you want to see certain things or if you're a first time visitor. I generally prefer the left bank, but a friend and contact of my wife's is a manager at the Hotel du Louvre, which is a very nice hotel and staffed with excellent people as I've found at all Concorde hotels, so we stayed there to check it out. I'd be happy to return. For all my carping about the tourists, it's a very convenient location for walking and for transportation as well as right between the Louvre and the Palais Royale.

Another off hour lunch I enjoyed was at the Brasserie Flo where we had some oysters and then a few cheeses. I thought my goat cheese selection at Legrand was better, but then it was the day we arrived. I suppose the Flo brasseries are not what they were, but I think they should be visited for the decor and the history. Vaudeville is another one I like perhaps more than Flo. I recall passing Chez Georges and thinking we should get there, but it wasn't to be this trip.

[Miguel Gierbolini]

Thanks Bux. I am printing your comments and getting on the plane.