June’s New Restos:Comptoirx2,Vin de Soif,Casaluna

[John Talbott]

June’s New Restos: Comptoir x2, Vin de Soif, Casaluna, Griffionier, Arpent, Mon Marché, Rez-de-Chaussee, The Place

Since I’ve already posted my thoughts on Yves Camdeborde’s new place, the Comptoir of the Relais St-Germain on a separate thread to be found here, I won’t double post but merely summarize that it was the best of June – and, and, folks, just as good at lunch (with plenty of choices) as at dinner when there are no choices but lots of dishes.

This next place is why we come to Paris: Spring/Summer, cool (70-80), no pollution, no clouds, good food, nice people, enthusiastic, if not over-exuberant staff, great wines; where to go when you die? No choice. This would be just another super-nice, bistro of the quartier, were it not the 7th, where a lot of eGullet members and others, regularly find themselves. Vin de Soif, 24, rue Pierre-Leroux, 01.43.06.79.85, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, got itself well-reviewed weeks ago – two hearts in Figaroscope, “maximum respect” for the wines in Zurban. The chef and salle-man are both super-friendly, jokey and totally at ease - I suspect in their prior lives, they did not get beaten down in brutal stages in rigid kitchens. The place, while small (20 covers in the main room, 10 around and by the bar) is not sardined, and as opposed to most resto/wine bars, it doesn’t have the fungible (not fungible in origin but description) forced choices of platters of charcuteries and cheese – here, one has four 1sts, mains & desserts to chose from and a formula of 2 mains, 1sts and coffee for 12E – beat that. And a huge wine list of really interesting stuff (Cote du Tarns = 18 and 26 E, not bad!). I’ve had my knuckles rapped for referring to the amount of English in a place, but let’s be frank, isn’t it fun to hear the language of my ancient ancestors rather than others? And to be surrounded by folks who are (1) neighborhood dwellers or workers, (2) 1/3rd with ties, 1/3rd with polo shirts and 1/3rd with jeans, (3) 20’s-90 or maybe 95 years old and (4) where the red/white wine ratio is 10-1? OK - the food; first off, the bread was not industrial, it was fresh and warm, the wild salmon tartare was brisk and tasty, the shoulder of lamb was under-cooked inside, crispy on the outside (without asking, they knew how I love it) and served with wonderful beans, and the poire for dessert was super. 40 E. Go back; recommend? You bet. To respond to Lucy’s thread about missions in Paris: how about simply the newest, neatest, nicest niche? OK, this may not be the summum bonum, but it’ll do for June.

Casaluna, 6, rue de Beaujolais (at the Northern tip of the Palais Royal gardens), 01.42.60.05.11, is a gem of a restaurant in several ways. It’s on a charming quiet street; it looks spectacular on entering (the cave-like appearance is real and intimate); and the table settings are incredibly beautiful (I immediately ran out soon to buy some of the fabric our hostess covered the tables with). So, when folks rave about the setting, the food is usually bad, right? Actually no. Let’s start with the only downer; their fabled salad of squid (hot). That day it was replaced by a salad of octopus on lola rossa (cold), but the waiter insisted it was equivalent, who knows?, it was very good anyway. Then rather than a main (but in truth, the ones passing me en route to other tables looked quite acceptable), I had an enormous platter of very slightly smoked charcuterie (also mentioned in all the reviews); simply the best such I’ve had here or in Corsica. I skipped dessert for the coffee with myrtle eau de vie, a good decision. Wine was 12 E for 50 cl; the bill 40.50 E. Since the Casa Corse closed, I’ve not had a Corsican rade; this is definitely it.

I’m not necessarily listing these places in rank-order, but “sort-of.” Whoever (Simon, Rubin or Demorand) said Le Griffionnier, 8, Rue des Saussaies in the 8th, 01.42.65.17.17, was a cantine of the Ministry of the Interior (across the street) was spot-on; it’s filled with suits and ties (essentially the permanent government, except for the 6-8 folks lost in the Sarkosy-Villepin-Sarkosy shuffle), no smoking (until the journalists assigned to cover Sarko, deprived of tobacco for 3 hours, showed up), and in and out in prompt time. It’s a funny place; a real dark and dirty bistro in the 8th (of all places), largely serving charcuteries and beef, a few salads and their own wine (I had their Griffionnier St-Amour which was superb). It is packed, serious, but OK. Sorry for saying this, but there’s nothing spoken here but the mother-tongue. For a crowd of pretty thin, fit, ministry folks, they serve huge portions; the amuse gueule of sliced sausage (which a neighbor ordered a full portion of afterwards) was a lot; my garlic soup couldn’t be finished by two persons (and it cleverly wove its way between an homage to the Les Halles’ soups of yore without being too retro, too cheesy, too garlicky, or too bready); and my onglet with shallots was the only downer (as you know, the beef here is too often either tasty but tough or chewy but bland; this was tough and chewy,) but in a snub to Sears/Atkins/Montignac/etc., their sautéed potatoes were redeeming. For Colette, no fish or chicken, but several tempting looking salads. The bill was right in the 30-35 E range as advertised. Go back? In a flash if the Minister wants my advice.

A friend invited me to go to L’Arpent {my trans: a bit of terroir}, 12, rue Jean-Jacques-Rousseau in the 1st, {just far enough from Les Halles to be frequented only by Parisians, but near enough to the Louvre des Antiquaires to be convenient}, 01. 42.36.52.90, closed Sundays. It bills itself as a wine bar and restaurant, but while I’d agree with the former (wonderful and reasonable white and red wines; great charcuterie, esp the chorizo and sausage; fine cheese - St. Nectaire and camembert) – it’s really not the latter - the only hot prepared dish (sliced veal with pasta ears and tomato and black olive sauce) was dreadful. So if you need a break for lunch while at the big Louvre or Louvre des A’s – do go, but eat light. The bill, thankfully, my host picked it up, saving me any annoyance.

Mon Marché, 31, rue Guillaume Tell in the 17th, 01.43.80.04.73, calls itself an epicerie fine, wine bar and restaurant, which is accurate and it was packed the day I was there, which probably accounts for the interminable wait between courses. It’s a bit out of the way but its banal menu is straight out of the 1950’s (eg terrine maison, steak, crème brulee). I opted for the encornets in garlic sauce with pepper (“garlic?” - could’a fooled me); they were out of their plat de jour (chicken fricasee) so I had the pork (unfortunately it didn’t pass the Colette test – ie can she do it better?), the edges were crispy & great, the center – blah, but the ratatouille was more than acceptable. Bill = 25.80 E. It gets my blue ribbon for best price of the Year 2005 and if I were staying in a hotel nearby, I’d retry it.

Hummmm, what to say about Rez-de-chaussée? The night before I ate there, the Guignols , (that only now, I discover, after all these years, one can watch every week-night, even in the US, via their website), based their show on being positive about French politics. So I’ll begin my impressions of this place, located at 65, rue Letort in the 18th, 01.42.64.64.39, closed only on Sundays, accentuating the positive; specifically, it’s near the St-Ouen flea market (and there’s not a lot of opportunities there; Le Soleil being quite unpredictable), it’s really, really cheap (formula = 12.30 and menu = 17.80 E with a glass of wine), it’s charming, with a pleasant staff, and it serves the biggest digestif in Paris. Ah, but there’s a “but” here, right? Indeed. The food is OK, only, and, while, if it were in the 11th, it would be hopping, it’s not, so unless you live nearby or you’re at the flea market and must eat on the quick, I wouldn’t schlep out here. My salad of gizzards was correct, well-cooked, with just the right amount of tartness in the dressing to set it off; the cod was perfectly cooked with a nice side of curried white lentils; the chocolate mousse standard. So what if the bread was stale, waitperson preoccupied, the toilet Turkish and the paper towel dispenser empty; it’s convenient.

The worst meal of the century? Surely not – the century is only 5 years old. The worst pricey meal of the decade? Possibly right up there. The biggest disappointment? Well, it’s in the running. Exaggeration? Maybe. The improbably named The Place, 11 rue Jean-Mermoz in the 8th, 0143.59.21.00, got 2 hearts in Figaroscope this week, so when I had the chance to eat there with two wonderful, sensible, wise and young Paris-based foodie-friends, I couldn’t imagine it would turn out so badly. But think about it: it’s in the 8th (who eats there anyway?); it’s run by Gilles Epie’s son (and we all have our personal opinions about Epie pere); and it looks like a cross between Spicy and Spoon. But you know you’re in trouble when three of you fumble to order, your major caloric intake is from the wine not the food, and when you try to share your food, you’re politely refused. We made not unreasonable choices: a tartare of tuna, gazpacho, fish with coconut sauce, sweetbreads, rougets and fried shrimp, but not a one was worth finishing. The bill?; I’m too embarrassed to say.

[Duncan]

Casaluna, 6, rue de Beaujolais (at the Northern tip of the Palais Royal gardens), 01.42.60.05.11, is a gem of a restaurant in several ways.  It’s on a charming quiet street; it looks spectacular on entering (the cave-like appearance is real and intimate); and the table settings are incredibly beautiful (I immediately ran out soon to buy some of the fabric our hostess covered the tables with).  So, when folks rave about the setting, the food is usually bad, right?  Actually no.  Let’s start with the only downer; their fabled salad of squid (hot).  That day it was replaced by a salad of octopus on lola rossa (cold), but the waiter insisted it was equivalent, who knows?, it was very good anyway.  Then rather than a main (but in truth, the ones passing me en route to other tables looked quite acceptable), I had an enormous platter of very slightly smoked charcuterie (also mentioned in all the reviews); simply the best such I’ve had here or in Corsica.  I skipped dessert for the coffee with myrtle eau de vie, a good decision.  Wine was 12 E for 50 cl; the bill 40.50 E.  Since the Casa Corse closed, I’ve not had a Corsican rade; this is definitely it.

We were in Paris last week, so we went to Casaluna on the Monday evening.

For starters I had carpaccio of coquilles St. Jacques, Judy had the charcuterie. The carpaccio was really nice (I don't think I have had a scallop carpaccio before), soft and creamy and with a walnut oil dressing. The accompanying bread was crusty and well flavoured (a sourdough I think, certainly not baguette). The slightly odd thing was that they started by giving us a basket with 4 pieces of bread, and every time we managed to reduce it to 2 pieces they replaced it with a fresh basket.

Main courses were (me) Baragoule de Rougets on a bed of cubed artichoke hearts, (J) Filets de Loup covered in very thin slices of potato giving a sort of fish scale effect on asparagus and served with something we think was a sort of smoked roe.

(No photo---its a new camera and I think I managed to press the power switch instead of the shutter release )

For dessert, I had a very interesting plate of candied tomatoes stuffed with raspberries and served with a sorbet de mûres. Judy had a spoon (actually she didn't ask for anything, but they insisted).

Then we both had the coffee with eau de vie. Very reminiscent of corsica, but perhaps without quite the same feeling that the eau de vie was homebrew that we've had there.