Business trip to Paris (for a couple of weeks)

[Andy Lynes]

I'll be in Paris the working days of weeks commencing 8 and 15 March. I'll be doing my research on eGullet for places to visit (all the big names will however be way beyond my expense account limit) but in the meantime if anyone is around and would like to meet up for a meal, I'd be delighted.

[Andy Lynes]

So I'm all set for one meal this week at Robuchon and I doing a little research to identify some affordable venues for the remaining nights. I definately want to try Aux Lyonnaise, but as the big names (Savoy, Gagnaire et al) are beyond my budget I would appreciate a steer on whats else is good right now. I'm staying in La Defence for business reasons so looking at the map, the most accessable arrondissment are 8, 16 & 17 although I'd probably travel anywhere for a decent meal!

The sort of names I'm toying with are the likes of Casa Olympe, La Regelade and Chez Jean in rue St-Lazare where I had an exceptional and reasonably priced meal 4 or so years ago. I have very little time now to trawl the France forums, so if anyone would be so good as to throw a few ideas my way I would really appreciate it. I'll try and do a bit more homework when I get back next weekend!

[Scott]

Andy,

Regalade is amazing. do not miss it!

[magnolia]

Bear in mind that La Regalade is only open during the week. Go late and eat with the Parisians.

In the 17th, for something with gentle prices, I really liked L'Entregdeu and want to return - I believe it has been discussed before on this board. Chef is ex-Chez Michel (10th, just near Gare du Nord, a great place to go as your first meal off the train)

At L'Entregdeu, check out the kitchen, it must be the world's smallest for a restaurant of this calibre and will forever stop you from ever whingeing about the limitations of your home kitchen. Also the market in the 17th (Avenue Niel) is my favourite but you might be working.

[Busboy]

Andy -- I may be in Paris the 18th or 19th would be delighted to aid you in your search for affordable venues. In the mean time, I'll definitely have a night in Paris the following week, so real-time reports of your discoveries would be mch appreciated.

Charles

[bleudauvergne]

Andy, if you want to swing down to Lyon any time during your stay in Paris, I'd be happy to take you to my favorites on a budget.

[fresh_a]

Mon Vieil Ami.

Owned by three-star chef Antoine Westermann. Run by his first in command. Accolades of all kind, including the recent "Best Modern Bistro" by Lebey. And a 38 Euro menu, unbeatable in Paris for this level of cuisine.

Here's a link to Patricia Well's recent review.

Edited March 8, 2004 by fresh_a (log)

[magnolia]

For the record, the name of the restaurant I recommended - above - is L'entredgeu -I reversed some of the letters. It's closed Sunday & Monday. Addres: 83, rue Laugier, 17th - phone: 01 40 54 97 24. A bit out of the way but bijou and good, cheap eats.

[Busboy]

Andy -- it appears that I will be in Paris on the evenings of the 18th and 19th, and would love to get together for a bite and perhaps to compare notes about our parallel experiences in the MasterChef competition and the telcomm industry. I believe I'll be staying in the 7th, if that affects your plans at all. PM or reply here.

Charles

[Andy Lynes]

Charles, would you believe that my two week trip has become a one week trip due to some monumentaly bad planning (this is not terribly interesting but the billing function I was intending to audit turns out to have been moved back to the UK and nobody thought to tell me. However, I was able to just about squeeze a weeks worth of work out of what hasn't yet been moved (basicaly one man and a bunch of spreadsheets)).

So the upshot is that I won't be in Paris next week, which is a real shame - Telecomms and Masterchef, thats plain spooky! Was it the UK or US version?

[Busboy]

Too bad you woin't be around -- if you leave with further investigating to do, I'd be pleased to follow up on a couple of leads for you and report back.

I was in the US MasterChef, sadly for only one round. Regarding the telcom thing, we were almost co-workers (if I read one of your other postings correctly), as I was in the communications dpartment of MCI, whom BT left standing at the altar way back when.

[Andy Lynes]

Mon Vieil Ami.

fresh_a - good call, thanks for the recommendation. A terrific meal.

[Andy Lynes]

Too bad you woin't be around -- if you leave with further investigating to do, I'd be pleased to follow up on a couple of leads for you and report back.

Yes, there's about 100 or so I didn't get around to!

I'm going to write up my reports this weekend so they may be of some use to you. I'll put a list up of those restaurants that particularly interested me and that I didn't have time for but please feel under no obligation to try them just for my sake!

[Andy Lynes]

The trip got off to an "interesting" start when my plane arrived at CDG just after 9.30am, a great deal earlier than the scheduled time. Flicking through my guide to Paris I noticed that La Regalade opened its doors at 11.00am. In theory, I calculated that I had just enough time to jump on the RER to Denfert-Rochereau, take a short cab ride to the restaurant, enjoy a bargain lunch and be in La Defence in time for my first meeting at 2.00pm.

I didn't know the precise time I would get to Regalade, but knew that I would need to be seated as soon as I arrived. I decided therefore not to phone ahead. Given that it was early on a Monday morning, I anticipated that I would have the place all to myself and the thought of trying to book a table for an unspecified time in English seemed more trouble than it was worth.

Things began to unravel as soon as I arrived at Denfert-Rochereau which appeared to be a taxi-free zone. When I eventually tracked one down, the driver refused the fare, telling me the restaurant was only around the corner. Like a fool I believed him and headed off, dragging my wheeled suitcase and PC bag down the mean streets of the 14th Arrondissement.

Fifteen minutes later, sweating unpleasantly and feeling a complete berk, I arrived to find the restaurant ominously quiet. As I barged my way inside, baggage in tow, I realised something was wrong. A photographer's reflecting screen was taking up a large proportion of the tiny dining room and, though it was hardly necessary to ask, the photographer confirmed that the restaurant was closed for lunch for a shoot.

Just to rub salt into the wound, he explained that even if the restaurant had been open "you would not have sat down. The restaurant is booked three weeks in advance." "Even at lunch?" I asked incredulously, "Even at dinner" he replied, not quite answering the question put to him, but I got the idea.

Chef Yves Camdeborde appeared, and when the situation was explained to him he shook my hand, shrugged and gave me a pitying look. I was then left on the street, hungry and with no idea where I could get lunch and still be on time for my meeting. It was looking like the detour would be a wasted one and I would have to admit defeat and head directly to the barren lands of La Defence.

The photographer then re-appeared and asked if I needed a suggestion of an alternative venue for lunch. Not only did he recommend a place (reassuring me that "its OK I work with all the chefs"), but he even rang ahead and booked on my behalf. A thoroughly decent and civilised thing to do of course, but somehow I was not surprised at this act of kindness.

The fact that I had been idiotic enough to travel straight from the airport to try and bag lunch at one of the city's best known and hard to book bistros without a reservation, coupled with my hangdog and deflated expression when I realised that I had been unsuccessful in my quest, must have been enough to alert the photographer that he was dealing with a fellow member of the International Fraternity of Food. And as we know, IFF members always help each other out.

A short cab ride later, I was seated in Manufacture sipping a bier blonde and choosing from the €30 set menu. Chef Jean-Christophe Lebascle worked with the likes of Michel Guérard, Michel Rostang and Marc Meneau in the 80's and joined Manufacture on Rue Ernst near the Parc Des Expositions in 1994. A converted tobacco factory, the dining room is split into two levels. My table towards the back of the lower level had a nice view of the gardens backing onto the restaurant.

The menu described a dish of "Les Oreilles De Cochon Serves Tiedes et Croustillantes" as "L'entrée préférée du Chef " and I was in no mood to argue. I fought the urge to announce "well, you've made a right pigs ear of this!" as the plate was set down in front of me, and instead tucked in to the mound of sliced, crispy porcine extremity sat on a bed of aggressively dressed leaves. It was an enjoyable enough start to the meal and complimented the beer nicely, reminiscent as it was of that classic pub snack, pork scratchings.

A main course of pave of veal, gnocchi and pesto was cooked "rose" as requested. Although the small, uniform dumplings looked to have been bought in, they were none the worse for that and made for a nice, cheesy accompaniment to the meat. Blobs of pesto sauce were the only hint of green on the plate, but overall it made for a satisfying lunch dish, despite the lack of vegetation that would have lighten things up.

The cooking slipped into another gear entirely for dessert. Although billed with "Oeuf" as the leading ingredient, only a neatly decapitated shell made it onto the plate, acting as a receptacle for what turned out to be some delicious chocolate sauce. I say "turned out to be", as I spent some time trying to figure out how on earth I could get at the contents of the shell with a spoon that was too big to fit into the egg's apperture.

Luckily, a waiter spotted my consternation and mimed a tipping motion with his hands. It was then I realised that the idea was to pour the sauce over the pyramid of deliciously light pistachio financier that was the real star of the show. A stunningly rich and bitter chocolate sorbet completed the knock-down highlight of the meal. Good and strong espresso came with 2 excellent madelines and a chocolate truffle. €45.00 including service and I made my meeting on time, although only just.

Dinner that evening was at Gli Angeli, a very informal Italian in the 3rd Arrondissment. I arranged this mostly as a sop to my business collegue who has a soft spot for Italy but professes an antipathy to the French (so, just the sort of chap you want to spend a week in Paris with then).

I won't go into details, but suffice to say we ate our way through antipasti, primo and secondi with little trouble. Portions were large, the wine was cheap and the service was fast and friendly. Carpaccio came with all manner of unnecessary extras including a whole mozzarella, but the beef looked sound. Linguine alla vongole was good, but a tomato-based stew of squid was a little odd and very chilli-hot. I was most impressed that night however by the arrival of a table for four who had an enormous Rhodesian Ridgeback dog with them. No one turned a hair and the Ridgeback was impeccably behaved for the whole evening. I simply couldn't imagine a similar scene in the UK.

Outstanding dinners at Aux Lyonnaise, L'atelier de Joel Robuchon and Mon Vieil Ami followed and I will report on these on the appropriate threads.

[bleudauvergne]

Thanks, Andy, I enjoyed reading about your adventure. I can't wait to hear about your other experiences in Paris.