"Something Casual"

[David Bizer]

Could you talk about or simply list some of the casual places you would suggest to your guests? Thanks!

[fresh_a]

There are many... in the 8th district, Chez Andre on the rue Marbeuf, and L'Avenue, on the avenue Montaigne are very popular... "Le Troyon" on the rue Troyon in the 17th is excellent , although unhappily, Jean-Marc Notelet (WATCH THIS NAME!) the chef-owner has left to pursue other projects, with, hopefully, a new restaurant in the 8eme soon... Bar des Theatres on the avenue Montaigne is inexpensive and casual..otherwise Ze Kitchen Gallerie is alot of fun, as is Allard, Bistrot d'a Cote, Les Bouquinistes (recented renames with different spelling), Le Balzar, and Chez Henri, Chez Michel, near the Gare du Nord, despite the ugly neighborhood has a great cuisine, these are just a few suggestions...

[Pan]

A somewhat related question, as I haven't checked the prices of most the establishments you mention:

Do you have a list of favorite cheap eateries in Paris? What percentage of them are, for example, couscous places or Asian places rather than establishments serving French cuisine?

(I have a feeling that I may ask you for that list at some point before my next trip to Paris. But don't worry; that probably won't be for a number of years.)

[edited to move the smiley to its proper position, as putting it right after the parentheses might seem to imply that I'd rather not return to Paris sooner than a few years from now, and that is by no means true!]

Edited January 14, 2003 by Pan (log)

[Bux]

Pan, you remind me that few of us get to Paris as often as we'd like to. I know a few of fresh_a's suggestions from first hand experience. Chez Michel should run about $30 for a three course meal without beverage, and I seem to recall that even included a rustic amuse bouche. It's hard to imagine someone arriving by cab here, but much harder yet to imagine a guest at a five star hotel walking in this neighborhood, although I can't say it seemed either dangerous or unfriendly. This is the kind of restaurant that's really hard to replicate in New York and those places that come closest don't come close to offering this kind of meal for that price.

We ate in Balzar on a Sunday evening a few years ago--where else can one eat on Sunday, but a brasserie--and it was full of Americans. So, the blame for that rests with concierges, does it.

Has anything else changed about les bouquinists? I don't remember so many Americans there, but I recall a staff eager to speak English--almost too eager for my taste. I prefer to struggle with my French. I found the waiter very patient with two young female Japanese tourists whose familiarity with French dining patterns was very limited and whose English was not nearly as good as the waiter's.

My asumption is that most visitors to France want to eat French food. I wonder how often they ask for advice on foreign restaurants and how often they are receptive to that advice when offered.

[bushey]

Bux,

As a matter of fact Les Bookinistes is open on Sundays and offers a "market menu". When we were there a few years ago the price was 180 ffs for three courses. We had a similar experience with respect to the waitstaff speaking fluent English. We were also there on a very busy and raucous night, with many Americans dining. It was fun and convivial but the ambience was more of a trendy bistro in the States that our romantic notions of a "Parisian" bistro. Bookinistes is a Guy Savoy baby bistro, and I think I remember reading somewhere that he has a connection to Ze Kitchen as well.

Ironically, another Sunday night favorite is a small Italian place run by a British ex-pat on Ile St Louis, La Castafiore. Basic homemade pastas and good salads, very reasonably priced. It's an intimate space that draws an eclectic crowd. And if Berthillon across the street is closed, the restaurant serves their ice creams and sorbets .

[MartyL]

Astrance is open on Sunday. Of course, with them one must plan ahead a bit...

[Bux]

When I was at les Bookinistes, it was a Sunday and that played a part in my choosing it. The current (2002) Michelin shows it as being closed on Sundays. French labor laws have made it increasingly difficult for restaurants not to close two days a week. I also wonder if new restaurants are more likely to be open on Sundays as a way of getting people to try them.

[fresh_a]

Les Bookinistes is now Les Bouquinistes, and has had a little restyling lately...

[Bux]

I meant to ask if anything else had changed at les Bouquinistes besides the name. Are not the book stalls on the quay, or the men who do business there called "bookinistes?"

[fresh_a]

The name has changed. The deco is more sombre, and, in my opinion, better. The cuisine I haven't sampled since this "change" , but I imagine it is the same, or better, and the name is "Les Boucquinistes", which is indeed the name for the quai-side book-stalls...

[Bux]

Then maybe it was none other than the restaurant's original name that led me to accept that spelling as correct for the name of the stalls.