December 2005 – Pergolese, Girafe, Ripaille, Trans

[John Talbott]

December 2005 – Pergolese, Girafe, Ripaille, Transvзrsal, Cote 9e, Betsey, Fin Gourmet, Fernandises, Commerce, Gourmands, Evasion

Forward – Another roller-coaster month – some great ones, some losers and some in the middle.

8.75 – Le Pergolese aka Gaboriaule Pergolese, 40, rue Pergolese in the 16th, 01.45.00.21.40, closed weekends, menus at 38 (lunch) and 80 E, a la carte 50-70 E according to le Figaro, is a lovely place that you quickly realize is very, very swank, both from the voiturier (very friendly) to the huge staff and lovely setting. The chef, Stephane Gaboriaule, best worker of France in 2004, is from Lyon and greeted me warmly and even though I had to switch seats to avoid a stream of smoke from a totally oblivious canoodling couple, the staff, his wife Chantal first among them, was totally understanding. I had a bit of sticker shock looking at the carte; entrees were 18-45, mains 32-45 and desserts 12-15 E; which my math brings the a la carte figure to between 62-105 E total without wine, etc (not 50-70 as Figaro added it up). So be it. I wasn’t ordering a la carte anyway and the 80 E menu did not tempt. Nope, I went straight to the 38 one. The amuse-gueule was a terrific cream of chestnuts on top of warmed diced smoked ham and the bread was impressive. The raviola (that’s right, there was one big one) stuffed with lobster was divine, more cream sauce but hey, and my tender lamb chops were under-roséd, as asked for. Even the polenta with olives they were sitting on was good and I hate most polenta. Dessert was a deconstructed thing; which separately was banal (four stuffed prunes on a brochette, a granité and sauce of minced orange peel) but when reconstructed was dazzling. But there are problems eating here; unless you run a hedge fund, it is pricey, and if there are more than two of you, ordering the lunch menu will be boring. In addition, I had a problem with the speed at which both kitchen and patrons delivered and ate the food, respectively. I realize it was 100% working guys (except for the Master and Mistress over in the corner) but I had to tell them to slow down; the wait-staff, not the lovebirds. My bill = 69 (which if there had been two to share the wine would have been just over my magic number of 100E).

8.5 – Le Cou de la Girafe, 7, rue Paul-Baudry in the 8th, 01.56.88.29.55, closed Sat lunch and Sundays, 28 E formula, 36 E and 45 E menus, a la carte runs 50-60 E, has what Figaroscope described as a “photogenic décor” and indeed it is. I sat in “no smoking;” it’s that big a place (I’d guess 35 covers with 5 at the bar as well). I had a simply wonderful meal for a place open only two weeks; the service was correct, careful, attentive and caring. No wonder, because it’s run by Gregoire Coutanceau, one of several members of the famous family of the eponymous two-macaroon, four knife and fork resto in La Rochelle. The menu of the moment was a pumpkin soup, filets of pork and a chocolate dessert (I assume moelleux – I didn’t see one go by.) I chose off the carte with a just great warm cuttlefish and artichoke mix atop crushed tomatoes with parsley with a parmesan tuile (the only thing I had that needs more work to make it a bit more crunchy); then I had wild duck prepared three ways (breast pink and succulent; leg roasted; and the rest shredded and intense) accompanied by wild mushrooms that were divine. The meal was book-ended by an amuse-gueule of chopped veggies in a natural sauce and intense chocolate cookies and Illy coffee so serré I thought I was in Naples; the three breads (olive, seed and wheat) stood right up to the rest. After a meal like today’s, I often say to my eating chums that if I die today, I’ll die a happy man; and it was surely true today. Other points: all suits and ties, all in and out in an hour (it’s the 8th after all), no smoking anywhere, no language other than French spoken, no disreputable characters. Take my advice; go now, because it’ll be a year before the guidebooks list this place (except for Zurban, which appears in March). Oh, the bill, because I was alone, it was over the magic number of 50E - but for two, with two menus @ 72 E, one cheapo but wonderful Languedoc wine @ 23 E, no apertif or digestif, no bottled water, no coffee – you’re under 100E for two. Can you do better in the 8th? Tell me about it.

6.5 – Ripaille, 69, rue des Dames in the 17th, 01.45.22.03.03, (their card says open all days but Sunday night; Figaroscope says closed Saturday lunch and Sundays – ergo – check) is another of these places, like Cerisaie, Temps Au Temps, etc., that’s from another gentler, finer but in a way, rougher time – wonderful folk running it, small (33 covers,) nicely-priced food and wine, out of the hurly-burly, with absolutely first rate cooking. It’s a two man and one woman show, using a kitchen smaller than mine (and I have a struggle turning out food for one); the front-man is just the nicest guy in the world, I love him; the chef seems equally pleasant – best, both seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely which I think shows in their food. The menu (on the ardoise) has a lot of specials, which in their case means it’s what he got in the market or via the delivery truck today. There are two formulas, 11 and 15, at lunch and two menus, 23 and 29 E. There’s plenty of stuff for vegetarians and women guarding their line, example salmon and salad; plenty of fish – St Pierre, dorade, salmon, bar, St Jacques; a game of the day; and lots of meat. With trepidation I ordered a carpaccio of St Jacques, which the front-man insisted I tell him if it needed more olive oil, salt or pepper – I didn’t – it was perfectly cut, flavored and temperatured (eg not straight out of the frigo). Then I had the game of the day, in this case pheasant with semi-dried tomatoes and rutabagas (instead of the cabbage as originally told – no problemo) – melt in your mouth stuff. And I topped it off with my equivalent of Bocuses’s sliced fresh tomato – the moelleux of chocolate – standard! (that’s a compliment). No language other than that of Moliere, no smoking, no loud music (except Astrid Gilberto at one point, but hey). Now I always caution that I eat at lunch, so things are different at night (they say it’s packed and two neighborhood folks came in to reserve while I was there.) Wine can be ordered by the glass, bottle or a la ficelle (what you drink). Bill; menu 29 + ½ of wine 10 + coffee 2.50 = 41.50 E. Beat that, you guys in the 8th! I always say “I so wanted to like this place.” But I didn’t need to want to like Ripaille, you can’t not like it. But it’s one of those places people will say to me “You want me to go way out where?” To Rome, friends, the metro stop, not the city. Could the 17th be the new 11th?

5 (NN*) – Le Transvзrsal – that’s correct, the з is backwards like the r is in le Tяuc, a backwards я, could this be a trend? OK, lets start with the art (fooled yah, didn’t I?) If you loved the art selected for the semi-old American Museum designed by Frank Gehry in Bercy (circa 1994-6) or the Whitney Biennale (it seems like since forever), you’ll love this stuff, termed around my philistine dinner table as “broken slate on the floor and strips of felt on the wall.” Then there’s the schlep; which might not be so bad if everything South-East of Paris were not torn up for “le tramway” and everything South for bus lanes. Ergo, count on 30-40 minutes to go 3 km south of the Porte de Choisy (where the esteemed psychiatrist Henri Ey (1900-1977) has a hospital named after him and even farther after the Tang Freres’ relatively new huge and impressive emporium), and forget your car or a taxi, the construction brings to life 1/3rd of the revolutionary slogan, i.e., “Egalité.” Then, there’s the setting. Lovely, great building, cool parvis, ensconced in a sea of HLM’s (cheap housing), Chinese social clubs and discount boxes. Finally, the food. Well, the Zurban/El Bulli crowd is gonna go nutz – it’s deconstructed food that they tell you how to reconstruct – for example, take items 32, 31, 9 and 11 together – so you’ve got two veggies, miso soup and cheese. Exaggerating? A bit, but only a bit. It’s a fairly-close relative of Le Café des Delices, l’Angl’Opera, La Famille + Le Refectoire, (got it, edgy food), and got three hearts in Figaroscope last week – three hearts! That’s Table of Lancaster, Dominique Bouchet + Table de Joel Robuchon territory. Three hearts. My. OK. Confession #1 – we (two of us) had lunch there, because nothing we read, warned us not to – but I suspect the difference between lunch and dinner there is akin to that at Le Comptoir or eating at the bar Le Passage vs the main place at Senderens. The clientele looked like they were 100% visitors to the museum. Confession #2 – I couldn’t remember the dates the co-chef, Inaki Aizparte, was at La Famille, where I loved my first meal, had reservations about the second and hated the third, so I didn’t know which type of food to expect. (His co-chef here, for better or worse, is Laurent Chareau.) Confession #3 – we ate very well, albeit funnily. The menu has about 40 numbered items, grouped under veggies, soups, salads, cold-cuts, cooked meat, fish, cheese and desserts plus a “variation of the day,” our day a pot a l’ectricité (whatever that means) = pot au feu and a plat d’exposition (linked to a show in the museum), which they were out of, called a Mono Lapin (whatever that means). PS Confession #4 we actually asked the waiter about all this. Anyway, we had the following very good food: olives (came with the aperitivo/wine), dried tomatoes Lirgurian, three kinds of warm beets (very sweet, good sweet, not cloying), rillettes of rabbit (outstanding), scallops both raw and sautéed (great), wonderfully affinated comté cheese, fabulous cooked bananas and a “Mikado” (whatever that means) of chocolate with desserty bread sticks. Good, edgy food; not three hearts tho”. Maybe at night it’s three. The bill = 71.60 E for two (paid by check because they’re not yet geared up for Visas, etc). Oh, the coordinates, not that you’ll ever go there - Le Transvзrsal, Place de la Liberation (Vitry-sur-Seine) in the MAC-VAL (Musee d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne), Dept. 94, 01.55.53.09.93, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday essentially only open for lunch (11 AM- 7 PM) and Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11 AM – 12 midnight, listed in Figaroscope as costing 30-50 E, ten “miniatures” for 40 E.

4 (N*) – Cote 9eme, 5, rue Henri Monnier in the 9th, 01.45.26.26.30, closed Sat lunch and Sundays, running one 30-35 E, is the 6th resto to open on the charming square/place G. Toudouze (two Indian ones, the No Stress Café, Auberge et Cie and a café with an ample ardoise fill out the deck). If I lived here and not four stops away, I can see eating here every few weeks. The product is fresh and good, the portions perfect and the price is right. But (and there had to be one), except for the moelleux of chestnuts, that’s right chestnuts, (they have chocolate too), the cooking was correct but not inspired; for instance I had 6 #3 Fines de Claire for 8 E, my copine/voisine - the Roquefort/endives salad – OK, you don’t expect fireworks. Then she had the special, daurade with braised endives and I the rougets with mashed potatoes – again all was proper. Nothing wrong, not bad, but not dazzling either. Two bookends were great though – the bread and the Illy coffee not to mention an ancient calvados that was beyond classification. Our bill, 90E.

2.5 (N*) – Miss Betsey, 23, rue, Guillaume-Tell in the 17th, 01.52.67.12.67, closed weekends (actually, as of Jan 1, it’ll be open Saturday nights), menus at 25, 29 and 33 E. Despite the name, the clientele (totally speaking English until 9 P.M.) and the blond hair of the female chef - this is definitely a child of cuisine minceur, vapeur, fusion/world food and Alice Waters a la francaise - not Anglo-Saxon. I can understand why the Zurban/Fooding folks celebrate it; it’s got edgy, light, deconstructed food with atypical spices/pairings. But I left wanting a slice of fatty pizza or merguez with frites, not more calories-lite. It’s in a happening part of town, the 17th near Meating + Mon Marche, it’s nice, has the most attractive service people of December and is reasonably priced. The amuse-gueule tips you off to the theme though; big slices of cooked carrots flavored with cumin. I had a “crème brulee” of mushrooms and indeed it was a crème brulee on top of a duxelles base, OK but the sweetness of the top did not work. Second, I had shredded rabbit wrapped in braised endives, again, OK, but so what? I was clearly the only person who didn’t think this stuff was great. I have great respect for what the Generation “C” guys and “le Fooding” are trying to do; I’m just not sure I want to go there. Bill = 39.20 E. For those members who disagree with my reviews 100%, I suspect you should go here, you’ll love it.

1.75 (N*) Le Fin Gourmet, 42, rue St-Louis-en-l’Isle in the 4th, 01.43.26.79.27, closed Sundays, menus at 23, 27 & 35 E, a la carte 40-45E. As I entered this place in Tourismo-Central, I kept thinking that there was a place right around here Colette and I ate at in another era, but it was called the Gourmet de l’Isle and was essentially two long tables along each brick wall into which were packed tourists of all nations; whereas this place was bright, light and the tables were separated by at least 4 inches. But, that nagging memory kept intruding and I later found out that indeed, it was the same place, then run by Jules Bourdeau, 80 years old, when the menu was 90 FF = 16 E and the food was barely passable. Well, there’s still an old gent in the kitchen with two young’uns, but he’s not 100; however, the food’s not much better. The place was empty (one other soul in addition to me, who was over-perfumed but wearing a stunning fur-ish coat; I saw another leather and fur-topped coat on an elegant woman schlepping off a huge bag of Bertillon product in her very American-looking SUV, so that’s the neighborhood), but it was the Friday of the exit of families from Paris for the Winter Sports, and the kitchen guys were madly chopping stuff for the evening, so it’s probably hopping then. It’s another place you really want to love; charming setting, great warm welcome, nice choices on three “menus,” all with wine and coffee included. But, but, but, my first of avocado with crayfish and red pepper was under-spiced (I don’t need guacamole, but I need something) and the main, their Boeuf Bourguignon (BB), had a great-looking black sauce which went very nicely with the expertly cooked, spiced and buttered linguine but the beef, bof! Digression: one can either do BB a la Julia, with pricey great product or one can cook the living bejesus out of cheap beef, but you can’t undercook poor quality beef. I’ve mentioned the “can I do better?” test; this barely met that but failed to surmount the next bar – “can Colette do better?” The coffee was one of those trendy blends with some sort of clever flavoring – I hated it. My conclusion: this is an example of the sorts of chefs Simon bemoans: they leave the sheltering arms of the Ducasse/Frechon/Robuchon/etc empires too early to set out on their own. The bill, depending on menu and numbers of courses can go from 23 to 60; mine was 48 E.

1.5 – Les Fernandises, 19, rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi in the 11th, 01.48.06.16.96, closed Sundays (and maybe Mondays because they didn’t answer the phone), menu at 15 E, a la carte 30-35 E (sez Figaro); actually, three of us ate for 42.70 E each. This is another place that got two hearts in Figaroscope but is not even one heart in my book. It’s trying to be a French bistot with Basquish pretensions (tapas, Serrano ham, supions, etc); packed full; kitchen stretched beyond snapping (30 minutes plus for our firsts). Three of us had an assortment of stuff: firsts: I had three very nice pastillas with a nice sauce, the others had the tapas assortment (actually one of us ordered the Serrano but was so hungry he ate the Serrano, sardines, squid, etc that was presented) and egg with mushrooms and onions which was OK; mains tho’ - oh boy, two of us failed to heed the “always order different dishes because if one is bad, you can sponge off others” rule and got stuck with a confit of duck that was inexcusable – both too salty and too dry, our partner had the onglet which was much better. Only one of us dared have dessert. “Can’t you say anything else nice, John?” Well, yes, the expert at our table who knows his wines ordered a natural Beaujolais that was spectacular and the vieux prune was very good and reasonably priced. Final score: Booze 10 – Food 1, no rematch scheduled.

1.25 – Le Café du Commerce, 51, rue du Commerce in the15th, 01.45.75.03.27, open everyday, running 30-35 a la carte, “gourmet” menu today at 26.50 E, is one of those places you really want to love. Recommended by Pierre45, with whom I agree 99.9999% of the time, spectacular setting that looks unchanged since 1921 (this is the brasserie “look” moltoe should seek) with a small entry full of very reasonably priced albeit small-sized oysters but with a huge interior court rising up three stories like an old New Orleans restaurant and brass doors to the kitchen as well as 1895 posters, hustle-bustling seemingly brusque wait-staff with hearts of gold (like the folks at Gage and Tolner - those years ago) carrying those classic gigantic “silver platters,” great carte with everything you might want (salads, soups, steak, scallops, baba, profiteroles), reasonable prices and reasonably priced wine, open Sundays, but but but. The old folks (that is, my age) were all seated at 12h30, I got a warm welcome, nice table, ordered eperlans and a paleron of beef (Pierre had warned me off the “menu,” “go with the beef” he said.) The eperlans, my favorite fish, were a bit “fishy” smelling and had a different sort of homemade tartar sauce (not bad), but OK. Then the paleron, which eGullet member Paga has taught me should be crisp on the outside (it was) and have an almost black reduced sauce (it didn’t, the sauce was brown-grey with all five food groups -cholesterol, butter, fat, calories and anti-Omega 3 - represented.) Unfortunately the wonderful ambiance was thrown into disarray when their credit/debit card machine broke down and the scene resembled the chaotic situation described to me by a cellist in our symphony orchestra when everything went wrong; “oh you mean that train wreck?” The bill = 43.50 E.

1.0 - Help, help! I’m in danger of becoming a French food critic. This is my week for an interesting problem – that is, places like today’s restaurant (Les Gourmands, 101, rue de l’Ouest in the 14th, 01.45.41.40.70, closed Sunday and Monday noon) which was charming, with a very Aubergy-look, warm welcome, cool business card, competent wait-staff, nice website, proper kirs and digestifs, fine first courses (fresh foie gras with a port sauce and a salad of lettuce, lentils and crevettes) and very friendly prices – menus at 17.50 and 32 E, formula = 25; ergo total bill = 66 E, and a great companion to share lunch and talk with (Kate Hill, the chef, authoress, cooking instructor, barge captain, expert in products of Gascony, etc., who located me though Lucy’s ISO service). But, but, but, the mains were dreadful (tuna with rice and veggies and tough as rubber; scallops ditto accompaniments, both covered with the same white sauce out of a can, that I thought was a bad habit 40 years ago on 9th Avenue in NYC, but is inexcusable today in the 14th), the menu had cutesy industry-provided (Kate informed me) pictures of bottles of various wines and spirits and the chef cannot afford or find the time to get his rotten or dead tooth fixed. So why give it a 1.0 - not a minus something? I dunno, they were nice and trying hard.

-1.5 – l’Evasion, 7, place St-Augustin in the 8th (yet again), 01.45.22.66.20, lists itself as a restaurant/bistot/bar a vins and indeed it is all three – it serves a full carte, has lots of good wines and looks like your dream of a 1950’s bistro. Pierre45 and I simultaneously but not ensemble, picked up a copy of December’s Where, where (I know) Alexander Lobrano puts it as his top bistro, ahead of La Tradition + Le Petit Verdot. We (Pierre 45 and I) talked and said “never heard of it, we gotta go!” I made sure of its bonafides by calling my (previously) most trustworthy source in Paris; his response: “very good, very expensive.” Huh? A bistrot, a wine bar, expensive? Well, he was 75% correct, it was “very expensive but very” (bad). Oh my, since the 1950’s, I haven’t had such pathetic food. Now let’s dispense with what occupies 65% of French restaurant reviews – the location, welcome (accueil), setting/appearance, ambiance, flowers, napery, wall hangings, cleanliness of the bathroom(s), fullness of the menu (carte), abundance and range of wines, etc. I was greeted as well as if not better than the convive’s, it’s a charming place, there are tons of good wines, etc, etc. It looked like a combination of Le Regalade and the old Bistrot d’Hubert, Eric Frechon + Le Troquet. In the Michelin, Pudlo or G/M, these factors would and do overpower the rating of the food. So the latter two give it a fork/knife and green (Coup de Coeur) 13 respectively – but there is no French guide that simply rates the food. So, if you do the math, the French way, you get:

location = 10

welcome = 10

setting = 9

ambiance = 9

flowers = n/a

napery = 6

wall hangings = n/a

cleanliness of the bathroom = 9

fullness of the menu = 9

abundance and range of wines = 10

food = - 1.5, so their total is:

total = 7

Come-on guys! (that’s not sexist, all the Parisian reviewers except Alexandra Michot are guys.) My American math, though, says that’s a – 1.5 meal. The sauteed mushrooms with name-originated ham was without character and did not pass the “is it better than I can do” test and the deer was desert-dry with a stew sauce so watery and tasteless the guy (sorry, he was, and 90% were and they wore ties too, spoke French and did not smoke) next to me emptied his salt-shaker on his. As Simon asks “Should you go?” Ans: “Yes, if you’re seducing someone or in love (as were three of the couples), because who cares what you’re eating.” Can’t I say anything nice? Yes, the Illy coffee was nice. The bill – I almost forgot – it’s too painful to recall – well, the mushies were 13E, the civet 28E, coffee 3.30E and wine 20E = too much.

N* = a place that if one lived nearby in the neighborhood (N) would be a great place to go but gets a lower grade due to the schlep (perhaps unfairly).

NN* = a place that if one lived nearby (N) in the neighborhood (N) would be a great place to go but gets a lower grade due to the horrible, immense, unpleasant schlep.

Edited May 24, 2006 by John Talbott (log)

[fresh_a]

This is a mikado, John, the French kids love it after school as a "gouter".

[pierre45]

As usual an excellent review that will save me a ton of money.

Boy i am so glad i did not go to l'evasion.Buy the way as i said about le cafe du commerce you have to stick to simple food with no sauce .i,e the best cut of meat with fries

[John Talbott]

This is a mikado, John, the French kids love it after school as a "gouter".

←

So now it makes perfect sense; it was deconstructed as the sticks plus a cup of chocolate. Thanks Fresh_a

[cigalechanta]

John Talbot, you have impressed me. Will I be able to get in for an early lunch as a woman alone?

[John Talbott]

John Talbot, you have impressed me. Will I be able to get in for an early lunch as a woman alone?

←

Why not? I tend to call one day ahead and except for Senderens haven't had a problem. I also eat alone 80% of the time.

Edited December 19, 2005 by John Talbott (log)

[John Talbott]

Here is an update on a few of these that was originally mentioned in a post moved elsewhere.

I’m faced with the dilemma of having several experiences with Paris restos just a few weeks after writing enthusiastically, indeed raving, about them. Starting at the top, I loved Le Cou de la Girafe December 8th, but last Tuesday, taking three others there, I was disappointed. First off, we were not given the “formulas/menus” but only the “carte” and our “soiled” knives and forks were not replaced with clean silverware after we finished our amuse bouches, the wait person just put them on the table (certainly standard for your local cantine but not usual for a place reaching for the stars). Then, the two firsts (frogs’ legs and gambas) were bland, the kitchen was overwhelmed and slow as molasses, they “ran out” of the cheapo wine after our first (“aperto”) bottle and we got no mignardises/friandises/chocolate cookies at the end of the meal when all the other tables did. Second, I loved Pergolese December 12th and returned December 28th to rampant smoking (without adequate ventilation), a much less interesting and in no way dazzling “menu” (eggs, sea trout & rice pudding) than what I had had before (fair enough, but…..) and cold coffee. Then, I took two ladies back to Ripaille, two weeks after my first visit and while one was polite and pleased with her pork cheeks, my wife Colette thought her bar boring and my pavé of biche was just that, paving-stone hard (I know, caveat emptor.)

(On the other hand, to be even-handed, I must also report that Chez les Anges, Mon Vieil Ami, Carte Blanche, Thierry Burlot, Pinxo + Le Tяuc held up to my last visits, indeed TB is better than ever.)

[TarteTatin]

We went to Ripaille on this recommendation last week. I think we were there on Thursday night, January 5th?

We really enjoyed it. Yes, it's a little bit off the track to the "Rome" metro stop, but isn't being in Paris seeing all parts of it? We arrived early and had an apertif at a place a block or so from there. It seems there are a quite a few nice looking restaurants in the area...

We were seated and ordered: Potimarron soupe avec bleu d'auverne, coquille st. jacques ceviche, fish (dos de lieux) with lots of artichoke hearts (fresh), and rocket pesto (outrageous), lamb with girolles mushrooms, and a roasted tomato stuffed with lamb confit. (very rich that confit)

Roasted figs dessert, and a molleux of chocolate with vanilla ice cream and caramel.

Half bottle of sauvignon blanc from Chablis (yes, that's unusual), and a 2002 Pomerol. Both around 5 euros over cost, we think, very reasonable.

Took pictures of our food and the table next to us thought us strange. We'll post them if we get a chance...we never got the amuse, although the other tables seemed to get this caviar with toast thing that looked great. Didn't need it, so wonderful...so satisfied. Will definitely go back again!