Report from Paris

[Bux]

We just uploaded to the WorldTable food/wine/travel site, a report on our short visit to Paris in July There's a very positive review of L'Astance, a restaurant which impressed us greatly, as well as notes on other interesting places in which to eat, sleep or sightsee.

[Jason Perlow]

Nice closeup photo of the crab/avocado appetizer... what kind of digital cam did you use for that? Or is it 35MM slide film scanned?

[Bux]

Sorry to disappoint you, but this page has what I think are the first photographs on the site not taken by us. Both the food and hotel scans are from printed material.

[rpdkpd]

We are just back from 10+ days in Paris, with several meals at restaurants selected from comments in this forum (plus some other sources). I have also included some brief descriptions of meals at the homes of French friends.

Some overall notes:

Our three best meals: Taillevent (M. Solivérès has obviously earned the confidence of Parisians, and M. Vrinat was constantly attentive in the dining room); Claude Colliot (the French food press has been questioning why he does not have at least one star, and now we have the same question); Spoon Food and Wine (I know that this recommendation will be controversial in view of earlier posts, but we had a wonderful lunch).

Trends: whipped/frothed sauces are very "in"

Best courses:

Colliot: Foie gras tiède et crémeux, caramel de truffes (soup/mousse of foie gras, served lukewarm in a froth of cream and truffle)

Taillevent: Ravioli of langoustines and a sauce of shellfish in a basil reduction

Spoon Food and Wine: served as an amuse -- consommé of langoustine en gelé, with cream of Rocquefort and minced vegetables

Lower rated (in our view): Balzar, Le Train Bleu (unremarkable food, but in an extraordinary room overlooking the trains, which made it a good spot to entertain elderly family for Sunday lunch)

Following comments are chronological (that's how I kept my notes). Please bear in mind that we are simply travelers who love good food and we are not food professionals (thus translations and spelling, to say nothing of judgment, are probably uneven).

Thursday lunch: Georges (Centre Pompidou), 4e

Salade mache

For R: Shrimp and vegetable tempura; for K: smoked salmon with blini; for E: ziti with sautéed morels in creamed mushroom sauce

Wine: Sancerre

Thursday dinner: Brasserie Balzar, 5e

Saucisse

Petit salade

For R:Roast lamb; for K: cassoulet; for E: steak au poivre

Wine: Brouilly

Friday lunch: café off the Rue de Rivoli, memorable for outside table on the sidewalk with southern exposure in full sun. Crottin with frisée, salade compagnarde

Friday dinner: L’Angle du Faubourg, 8e

Menu Degustation

Capuccino celery soup with truffle

Rouget planche with bouillabaisse sauce

wine: Languedoc Cuvée Aurelles

Braised lamb shank

wine: Gevrey Chambertin (Melpin) 1999

Chocolate croustillade

Sunday lunch: Le Train Bleu (Gare de Lyon)

Saucissions chauds de Lyons; K: braised endive

Filet of duck breast; K: poached salmon

fromages

Monday lunch: Spoon Food and Wine, 8e

Amuses: consommé of langoustine en gelé, with cream of Rocquefort and minced vegetables

Steamed shrimp and pork “ravioli” served with steamed vegetables and red pepper sauce, in a Bento box

Pan seared tuna, satay sauce and wok sautéed vegetables

wine: Reserve Monnier (Burgundy)

Desert: for R: nougat ice cream “Toblo” (covered in chocolate and served in the shape of a Toblerone bar); K: pear Belle Helene

Wednesday lunch:

Taillevent – Menu Degustation

Foie gras with fig marmalade – Sauternes

Ravioli of langoustines and a sauce of shellfish in a basil reduction – white from Languedoc (Hérault)

Viennoise of scallops with foamy sauce of watercress

Roasted milk fed lamb with pepper from Espelette, served with potato gnocchi and artichokes in a pepper sauce – red from Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Chevre breaded à la ciboulette (chives), served with reduction of balsamic vinegar sauce and red onion

Layered crispy crepe with lime cream sauce

Chocolate cream egg with pistachio crème anglaise

Thursday dinner – Chez Michel, 10e (Gare du Nord)

Traditional regional dishes from Britanny: fish soup, oysters, stewed sweetbreads

Friday dinner

Restaurant Claude Cholliot – “Le Bamboche”, 7e

Menu Découverte

Velouté de potimarron (chestnut flavored pumpkin soup)

Foie gras tiède et crémeux, caramel de truffes (soup/mousse of foie gras, served lukewarm in a froth of cream and truffle)

Filet de Saint-Pierre poêle et graines quinoa (pan-cooked filet of John Dorry served with puffed grains of quinoa)

Côte de veau, abricots secs et épices (roast veal, served with dried apricots and spices)

Wine: St. Nicolas De Bourgeuil-"les Malgagnes"

Larme de chocolat Samana, sirop d’olive noir (chocolate tear drop with a trace of black olive syrup)

Armagnac

*************

Meals at the homes of friends:

Tuesday night, with M. & Mme. _____ in the Sixth:

Champagne, crackers with tapinade and fish roe

Smoked duck filet, mache salad

Roast venison (chevreuil), chestnuts, home-gathered mushrooms du bois in wine sauce

Fromages

Tarte citron

Saturday lunch with M. & Mme ____ in their country house outside Paris

Smoked salmon, spinach and Boursin roll

Braised rabbit with roast potato

Fromages

Chocolate cake

Thursday lunch with Mme. ______ at her apartment on the Champs de Mars

Cold green bean salad with foie gras

Poached salmon with cold cream sauce and tomato

Tarte douceur

[nightscotsman]

Excellent! Thanks so much for the report. It's great to hear that the chef change at Taillevent seems to have gone smoothly. And I'm happy to hear you enjoyed Spoon - it was one of my favorites when I was in Paris for the first time last year.