Cafe Constant and others...

[raisab]

I just tried making reservations at Cafe Constant and was told they have a no reservation policy. Is this correct or did I misunderstand? I also made reservations at La Famille and they have two seatings. Do they have a Table d'Hote there? I am thinking of Le Pamplet or L'Ami Jean for choices also, anyone have any suggestions? I know Le refectoire seems to be the darling right now but two by the same group may be a bit much.

[Laidback]

Raisab,

The tiny Café Constant does not take reservations, but if you are only 2, it is not a bad problem other than Fr./Sat. Ask for a table upstairs where there is a little more elbow room. This place was slammed when it first opened and all the positive reviews came out, but now the novelty has somewhat worn off and it is not so crazy. We go there at least once/week as it is so close to our apt. and it is such a great bargain...coffee=€1; most wines €4 at the most, and you will more likely than not run into Christian a/o Catherine Constant. His tiny seafood restaurant on the other end of the block does take reservations...Les Fables de la Fontaine.

[raisab]

Laidback,

Thanks for your reply I wil just try it for lunch instead of dinner. I also rented an apartment for the week starting Thursday. For Friday night I made reservations at Villaret...and am thinking of Mon Vieil Ami for Saturday. Fish Le POissonaire on Sunday...so many restos so little time!

[John Talbott]

I just tried making reservations at Cafe Constant and was told they have a no reservation policy. Is this correct or did I misunderstand? I also made reservations at La Famille and they have two seatings. Do they have a Table d'Hote there? I am thinking of Le Pamplet or L'Ami Jean for choices also, anyone have any suggestions? I know Le refectoire seems to be the darling right now but two by the same group may be a bit much.

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Correct; get there at noon and you'll be fine as Laidback suggests. Check out the Board for their daily specials before selecting a date; they rotate but stay the same on the same day. As for elsewhere, I love Mon Vieil Ami; am the only person I know who doesn't shine to Villaret and L'Ami Jean; why not Cerisaie, Ze Kitchen Galerie, Cinq Mars, Dominique Bouchet?

[Juanito]

We were there two weeks ago, and I'll second the recco for Ze Kitchen Galerie.

We enjoyed terrific, professional service, and beautifully presented, tasty food in what I thought was a very attractive space. We also had a very good meal at Fish, but not in the same category as ZKG, IMO.

[John Talbott]

Check out the Board for their daily specials before selecting a date; they rotate but stay the same on the same day. 

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Just found my list of specials:

Tues - Veal's liver

Weds - Roast chicken

Thurs- Rabbit

Fri - Ray

Sat - young duck

[Laidback]

Last Saturday the plat du jour was hachis parmentier de joue de boeuf, the entrée du jour was paté en croute, and the dessert was tarte au pomme. There is a wide range of choices that are fairly consistently on the blackboard but as John states there is different plat du jour every day.

[raisab]

Thank you, I will be leaving tonight for CDG, my husband wants to stay the entire week, I would like to come back earlier. I will be there all next month with work but then again he hasn't been in over a yearand a half.

This is totally way off sunject but does anyone know a gynnasse I can go to? I am worried about eating and gaining!!!!

[Laidback]

There are many; perhaps it would be good to state which arrondissements would be convenient for you.

[John Talbott]

There are many; perhaps it would be good to state which arrondissements would be convenient for you.

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Yup I've got two within two blocks and I'm in a most un-PC area.

[raisab]

I will be in the 6th Arrondisement, Rue Dauphine closer to the Seine than not. about a block away.

Merci pour votre response!

[Bux]

. . .

This is totally way off sunject but does anyone know a gynnasse I can go to? I am worried about eating and gaining!!!!

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In the context of eating and dieting, perhaps almost on target. At any rate, it reminds me of the time about ten years ago, our daughter took a term off from college to live and work in Paris. She found an apartment, a gym and looked for a job, in that order. To bring us totally on topic, she never found a job and finally put her time in Paris to use by going to cooking school. Although "spoiled" and "privileged" may come to mind, in her defense, she had accelerated her education and graduated on time, saving one term's tuition, room and board which was more expensive than living and studying in Paris for an equal amount of time. I know some of us may think it was sad to waste our time and money on college when we could have been living in Paris.

What I recall most about our daughter's reaction to a French gym was that most of the members seemed to pay dearly for the proper work out clothes and weren't about to ruin those clothes by breaking out in a sweat.

I will be in the 6th Arrondisement, Rue Dauphine . . .

I've never eaten at Les Editeurs on the carrefour de l’Odéon, but it's a cozy cafe and brasserie. You've already mentioned Fish, my closest recommendation.

[John Talbott]

I will be in the 6th Arrondisement, Rue Dauphine closer to the Seine than not. about a block away.

Merci pour votre response!

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This is marginally on topic. 1. There's a gym not far from you on the Bd St Germain towards the Monde Arab, probably can be found by Googling it, (topic - it's not far from Atlas.) 2. If you haven't read Adam Gopnik's piece on Gyms in Paris - do - Bux is right. (topic - Gopnik cares about food.) 3. My ex-Gym had some very serious muscle men with very evident sweat, but (Topic) the women upstairs were definately more interested in limiting their portion sizes than losing moisture.

[raisab]

We just came back from a fabulous dinner at Villaret. We had the menu degustacion at 50 euros. As everyone knows, I am awful at descriptions but I can somewhat list. Our Amuse Bouche was a cold Creme de Rouget, starters were a warm Bisque of Langoustine avec Chorizo, followd by Chipirons and Asperge (sp?) in a reduction of veal it seemed. Plats were a Saint Pierre fillet with Artichokes followed by Agneau on Fava Beans. I know the descriptions are vague but these dishes were fabulous. Dessert consosted of Frais du Bois with Vanilla Glace follwed by a Mango Tart with a Basil Lime Ice Cream which was to die for. I would of licked the plate if I didn't have a bit of decorum left. Their wine list is impressive for such a small place. We had a Pettie Chapelle Gevrey-Chambertin Burgundy 1er Cru which even though it was young (2002) was very delicious. They even decanted it for us whcih was very nice.

I would recommend this place heartily.

Last night we went to La Famille. It was good but I wasn't impressed.

Tommorown I am off to MOn Vieil Ami. If anyone can help me with my descriptive writng, I would be much obliged.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

We just came back from a fabulous dinner at Le Villaret.

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I am delighted that you enjoyed Villaret, and that after some dozen years it continues to perform albeit with new chefs and management.

It has always held a special place in my heart as it was the first time I encountered a less-than-classic menu in French. I could grasp 2/3 of every offering, but nothing more. We were early for a reserved table for 4. I read the menu...over and over and over...and told my husband, "We have to leave. I haven't a clue what they are talking about." My husband, with his boundless faith in me, demanded that I settle down and try again. At this point, Joel, then the head waiter, now a partner, approached our table, grasped that I had some understanding of a French menu but needed help, and although speaking almost no English, pantomimed the entire menu for us. Our friends arrived, and we all ordered and ordered well! It was a wonderful evening which we repeated often for a number of years. It is obviously time to return. Thanks for the nudge.

[raisab]

I am getting ready to go back home tomorrow. I hasve gained quite a bit, so much for the gym! I went to Fish last night and Ze Kitchen Gallerie tonight. Both were good, but I like Fish better. I was surprised at the quality and originality of their food as compared to the value. (THe fact that I am a Juan Sanchez groupie has nothing to do with my opinion, I did not even go see his band Le Burps yesterday!)Ze Kitchen Gallerie was nice but I felt is belonged more in New York than in Paris. Some may say that Fish's food may belong more in Japan as their was an extremely strong Asian influence. Could it be that their chef is a French trained Japanese man...nah! At Fish I had a Filet topped with Seared Foie Gras and a medley of tempura vegetables and leaves, yes leaves. They were all delicious and heavenly. My entre was a Cream of Cauliflwer soup with raw scallops and a Walnut oil drizzle which was delicious also. Dessert was a lemon-orange tart with creme fraiche which was one of ther best I have ever tasted! My husband had the house foie gras as his entre and the duck as his plat. Both were delicious but I preferred my filet. he wine list as you can expect the owner of a wineshops to be, was very nice and extremely reasonable. We had a St. Andrieu Languedoc 1999 which was delightful.

It is late and I will enter more tomorrow or Wednesday, but another restaurant I visited was Mon Vieil Ami. and even though it was good, to me it was not memorable. In fact I had a hard time remembering where I went Saturday night when discussing the meal with someone else!

[John Talbott]

Ze Kitchen Gallerie was nice but I felt is belonged more in New York than in Paris.

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You're the second person I've heard express that; but for those of us who no longer live in NY, it's OK.