DIGEST: 2004-6 Paris Restaurant News + Reviews

[John Talbott]

The Week of May 23rd, 2005

Monday-Tuesday, A Nous Paris, grace à Felice, reviewed two places: Jerome Berger gave 4 blocks to Louis Vins, 9, rue de le Montagne-Ste-Genevieve in the 5th, 01.43.29.12.12 {reviewed both in the press and on eGullet}and Phillippe Toinard gave 4 blocks to the “Zen” Thai place Mum Sabai, coordinates given before.

Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand in Zurban devoted his major space to a South American bar and grill, Fogeo, 8, bvd Montmartre in the 9th, 01.47.70.27.20, open everyday from 10 AM to 4 AM, lunch formulas 12-14 and a la carte up to 30 Euros. His casseroles covered an unusual bar-resto with a long menu, Ferdi, 32, rue du Mont-Thabor in the 1st, 01.42.60.82.52, closed Sundays, a la carte 28-35 Euros, serving everything from gaspacho to foie gras, tarama to tuna and on and on, terminating in a baba - with of all things – limoncello; Le Café, 253, boulevard Voltaire in the 11th, 01.43.73.40.54, serving uneven food (good andouillette and beef - bad salmon tartare) for about 25-29 Euros; and a new brasserie, Millésimes 62, 13-15, pl Catalogne in the 14th, 01.43.35.34.35, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, formulas and menus running from 19-24 at lunch and 24-26 for dinner, with so-so food (crab-avocado tartare, vapeured cod, duck with mango) but good wines.

Also on Wednesday, in Figaroscope, “C’est nouveau” featured its usual five places. Two hearts went to three places: La Plage Parisienne, Port de Javel-Haut in the 15th, 01.40.59.41.00, open everyday, where for about 45 E you can get guacamole, shrimp on a skewer and panacotta; Romain, 40, rue Saint-Georges in the 9th, 01.48.24.58.94, closed Sundays and Mondays, also about 45 E a la carte and 23-25 E (lunch,) 31 E (dinner) menus, serving Italian fare; and Le Griffonnier, 8, rue des Saussaies in the 8th, 01.42.65.17.17, closed Sundays and Mondays, serving parsleyed ham, confit of duck and entrecote for about 30-35 €. Then comes a one-heart: L’Atelier du Marche, 4, rue Saussier-Leroy in the 17th, 01.42.27.73.50, closed Sundays, which for about 30 E (menus are 18 & 23 at lunch; 22 & 27 dinner) serves coques in crème, a too-pulpy tartare and a gratin of strawberries. Finally, a broken heart went to Beige in the 4th.

In the “Dossier,” the crew describes briefly a host of places to eat that have terraces:

Roland-Garros

Le Pavillon des Princes

Le Quinzieme Cuisine Attitude

Le Marquis

Cafe de l’Homme

Le 20e Art

La Terrasse du Jardin

Aux Marches du Palais

Le Square

Le Cafe des Techniques

In Palaces and Grand Hotels :

L’Espadon

Les Orchidees-le Grill

Le Cinq

Bristol

La Place

Le Pavillon

Pershing Hall

La Table du Lancaster

Show Offs :

Hotel Costes

Apollo

La Gare

Le Flandrin

Harold

Le Cafe de la Jatte

With that Village Feeling :

L’Absinthe

Au Bourguignon du Marais

Pasco

Fontaine de Mars

Chai 33

La Cagouille

La Terrasse Mirabeau

Caves Petrissans

Charming :

Fontaine Gaillon

Restaurant du Palais-Royal

Il Cortile

La Cigale Recamier

Le Delicabar

Maison du Danemark

Cafe Guitry

Sud

Eye-filling :

Café Marly

Le Georges

Maison Blanche

On greensward:

Maison de l’Amerique Latine

Café Lenotre

Laurent

Pavillon Montsouris

Chalet des Iles

Le Pre Catelan

Pavillon de la Grande Cascade

And typically, Francois Simon picks a prime terraced resto to try for his Hache Menu, Le Safran, 51-57, rue de Courcelles in the 8th (in the new Hilton), 01.58.36.67.00. Bottom line: Should one go? “Yes.”

Rosa Jackson, writing in Paris Notes’s “Paris Bites” reviewed La Table de Lauriston, 29 Rue Lauriston in the 16th, 01.47.27.00.07 where she notes that the forced-choice menu is a bargain 25 Euros but the 45 E a la carte (without wine) is still worth the visit. She heartily recommends the gigantic baba au rhum.

Nick, Jancis Robinson’s significant other, this week visited Paris. He had a disappointing 120 Euro meal at the Carré des Feuillants, 14, rue de Castiglione in the 1st, 01.42.86. 82.82, closed weekends and then a surprisingly good meal in the 35/40 range at L’Entr’acte, aka Chez Sonia et Carlos, 44, rue Dorsel in the 18th, 01.46.06.93.41, closed Sunday evening, Monday and Tuesday.

The first review I’ve seen about Rudolph Chelminski’s book, “The Perfectionist: Life and Death in Haute Cuisine” (Gotham Books, $27.50 – remember to order through eGullet’s link) about Bernard Loiseau, he of the Cote d’Or and Tante …. restaurants, appeared in this week’s New York Observer, written by Bryan Miller.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of May 30th, 2005

In this week’s Bonjour Paris, Dennis Neuenkirchen, a vegetarian, wrote not so much a review as an essay on a restaurant with a Greek name, Illios, 61 rue Ramey in the 18th, 01.42.23.67.60, menu 26 E, run by two Greek men, which he insists is not Greek. They serve mediterranean food such as mushroom gazpacho with thyme, rougets, turkey and spinach roll and rib steak with gorgonzola.

Monday-Tuesday, A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinard gave mini-reviews of several ethnic places in Paris, as follows:

Denmark Flora Danica

Spain Fogon St-Julien

Greece Les Delices d’Aphrodite

Hungary Le Paprika

Ireland Carr’s

Italy Caffe Minotti

Portugal Saudade

In addition, May 9th, I missed reporting on A Nous Paris, but through the good offices of my downstairs’ neighbor, Alexandra, I see that Jean Aubry (a new name among “A Nous’s” reviewers) gave a miserable1/5 blocks to Harold, coordinates in prior posts and considering the consensus on its lack of merits, I’ll say no more.

Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand in Zurban devoted his primary review to Yves Camdeborde’s new place - the Comptoir du Relais, 5, carrefour de l’Odéon in the 6th, 01.44.27.07.97, closed Saturday and Sunday; lunch is about 30-35 E; set dinner of 5 courses is 40 E. Demorand toys with the readers a bit about sites on the “net” {could that be us?} wondering when he’d open. Anyway, he then describes his meal (they change nightly) of gazpacho, pork cheeks with foie gras, lamb’s knuckle and a “pot” of chocolate {my review is here}. In his ”Casseroles,” he covered 3 places: a vaguely 1930’s looking but new brasserie, Bistrot B, 81, avenue Bosquet in the 7th, 01.47.05.36.15, open everyday with a formula at 22 and menu at 28 (a la carte 38-45E), which was only fairly good but had quite good charcuteries, Goupil, 4, rue Claude-Debussy in the 17th, 01.45.74.83.25, closed weekends, a la carte about 45E, which he notes looks like 10,000 other bistros but where he liked the boudin noir and pintade {for my take see here}, and a Cambodian place in the 1st – La Mousson.

Also on Wednesday, in Figaroscope’s, “C’est nouveau,” Emmanuel Rubin reviewed five places, giving only one heart but the photo and lead to l’Azalee, 78, ave des Ternes in the 17th, in the old Amplycles space, 01.40.68.01.01, closed weekends, serving veal sweetbreads, lobster gratin, seasonal fruits for 50 E a la carte and 37 E menu at lunch; then two two-hearters, The Place, 11, rue Jean-Mermoz in the 8th, 01.43.59.21.47, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, run by Gilles Epie’s son, serving crevettes beignets, marinated dorade and too dry risotto of peas for about 45E, lunch menu = 25 and a Persian place Mazeh in the 15th; and then two more one-heart ones – Tandem, 10, Buttes-aux-Cailles in the 13th, 01.45.80.38.69, closed Sundays {see my April thread for my review} serving platters of charcuteries, boudin noir, pureed potatoes, etc., for about 30 E and a Japanese place Hinata in Asnieres-Gennevilliers.

There really are two “Dossiers” this week; the first concerning a variety of vegetable gardens in the Ile de France open this weekend that appears to be only available in the hard-copy, which is regrettable since there was a strike of delivery folks that prevented Figaroscope from arriving at kiosks and news agents; the second, called “l’Air du Temps” is about ephemeral restaurants that are open this summer (rather than give them as they do by the number of days open, I’ll list them by date of closing so persons wanting to go will know how long they’ve got to take advantage of them):

Open:

June 22-23 - Les Delphemeres tele 01.70.08.71.38 (place unknown)

June 9-16 - Tokyo Eat at the Palais de Tokyo

mid-June for 90 days – Guinguette a la Villette, Parc de la Villette

Closing:

June 5 – Les Jardins de Roland-Garros

June 5 – Vegetable at Printemps, Alain Passard’s one

June 22 – Table Nutella, 46, ave de Sevigne in the 4th

Sept 15 – La Terrasse du Parc at the Sofitel le Parc

Sept 15 - La Cour Jardin at the Hotel Plaza Athenee

And several others you can find via their website.

In this vein, Francois Simon dined at the Raphael, 17, ave Kleber in the 16th, 01.53.64.32.00, (one must call to be sure terrace is open), costing 80 E for one with water; In his “Hache Menu” he asks “Should one go?” Answer: {my translation} - “Sort of.”

Thursday-Friday, Jean-Claude Ribaut’s “Toques en Pointe” in Le Monde reviewed three places: L’Oliver, 418, rue des Wallons in the 13th, 01.43.31.36.04, closed Sundays, menus from 15-40 E with wine where Laurent Dewynter gives you a gizzard salad, terrine of veggies or cassoulet of mussels and choice among six mains (salmon, lotte, magret, beef, etc) for an “unbeatable 15E; L’Ecallier du Bistrot, 422, rue Paul-Bert in the 11th, 01.43.72.76.77, closed Sundays and Mondays; formula of lobster and fries for 40 (until the end of July), a la carte 25 E {Ed Note: they’re best known for the oysters that come from the Madame Cadoret’s father’s oyster beds in Brittany}; and the Cave Gourmande, 410, rue du General-Brunet in the 19th {if the address looks familiar it’s because it’s the old space of Eric Frechon, for several years decamped to the Bristol}, 01.40.40.03.30, closed weekends, where Mark Singer, origin American but trained here, serves an “honest, vigorous” menu from the market, much as Frechon did; eg 5 entrees, 6 mains and 5 desserts for 32 E, formula = 28 E.

Saturday, Francois Simon’s “Croque Notes” in Le Figaro discusses Taillevent’s Jean-Claude Vrinat’s reaction(s) to Alain Senderens giving up his stars and the profitability or lack thereof, of starred places. He also semi-reviews a “restaurant-bar” Polichinelle Café, 64-66, rue de Charonne in the 11th, 01.58.30.63.52, where the chef mixes puts Asiatic touches (wasabi, wantons) onto food that could be served in a great place, but for “soothing” prices – eg 25-30E.

Sunday, JDD’s Astrid de T’Cerclaes reviewed two restaurants: one that has recently been opened and reported on above, le 5 Mars aka Cinq Mars, where she liked everything but the reservation rigidity; the other, longer in existence and in some guidebooks: le Pre Carre, where she found the food well-cooked but the clientele a bit too much. Also, in what I always find an interesting section, Aurelie Chaigneau recounts a well-known chef’s personal affordable eating places. In this case, Michel Roth of l’Espadon at the Ritz selects l’Ami Marcel, coordinates in prior posts and le Bistrot du Boucher, 1 rue Damremont in the18th, 01.42.59,11,28, closed Sunday nights, running about 28 a la carte but with a 16 and 17 E menu with an apertif or 26.50 E with an apertif, drink and coffee.

Finally, no longer willing to fork over many too many Euros to Gault-Millau for what has become a glossy vehicle for advertising, with my news-agents’ permission, I snuck a look at this season’s very brief reviews of Paris restos, of which there were only three: Harumi, Beauvilliers + Auguste, coordinates and reviews already reported above.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Edited June 7, 2005 by John Talbott (log)

[John Talbott]

The Week of June 6th, 2005

Alexander Lobrano, in June’s Where, had a nice list of currently “hot” Paris bistros and since their coordinates have already been given, I’ll just list them: La Cerisaie, Les Papilles, L’Ami Marcel, L’Ourcine, Le Mesturet, Le Marsangy, Le Temps au Temps, + Au Vieux Chene. Said AL also gives two places for “[t]rendy dining:” Le Refectoire + Senso, four more for beef eaters: Meating, Le 5 Mars, Le Titi Parisien + Au Boeuf Couronne, and three for vegetarian food – La Ferme, Aquarius + Arpege. (Since I missed “digesting” May’s Where, I’ll tag Alexander Lobrano’s contributions on here: he mentions the opening of Beauvilliers in a mixed review, ie, superb pork but poor 1st and desserts; the 82nd year of the brasserie, Thoumieux; and late-dining opportunities to be found at eGullet favorite Chez Denise – La Tour Montlhery, La Poule au Pot and Music Hall).

Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, an indication of the state of new French restos came when Philippe Toinard reviewed L’Orto a very Italian sounding place in St-Germain-en-Laye and Jean Aubry covered four wine bars in the 14th: La Treille d’Or, La Cave des Papilles, Balthazar + Les Crus du Soleil.

Sebastien Demorand, in this week’s Zurban {inadvertently I must assume,} demonstrated the state of new French restaurants opening this spring. Of the four he reviewed, only one could be considered French, and that was La Tête dans le fromage, 20, rue de la Grange aux Belles in the 10th, 01.42.06 94 21, closed Mondays, with a luncheon formula at 11,50 a la carte about 15-20E; but their charcuterie is Spanish (from Donestia) and their pate is Corsican. The other three are all foreign: a Korean place Samiin in the 7th, a Japanese place, Ebis in the 1st, and a Lebanese restaurant Beyrouth, in the 11th.

Also on Wednesday, in Figaroscope’s, “C’est nouveau,” Emmanuel Rubin reviewed five places, giving two hearts and the photo spread to the recently renovated but quite long-standing bistro near Drouot, A La Grange-Bateliere, 16, rue LaGrange-Bateliere in the 9th, 01.47.70.85.15, closed weekends, dinner for private parties, formulas 25 and 30, a la carte 50 E, serving brandade, cote de veau and seasonal red fruit. He also gave one heart to one French one with a smart British chef - Express Bar, 31 rue St-Maur in the 11th, 01.47.00.66.18, closed Sundays, serving a formula at 18.50 for lunch, a la carte 25-30 E, with such things as a spinach salad with goat cheese and veal’s liver as well as three one-hearts to two Italian places – La Strada, in the 4th and Subito, in the 1st, and one Japanese restaurant Higuma, in the 1st.

The “Dossier” this week also concerned places serving red fruit in various forms:

Trifle Hotel Costes

Strawberries marinated with parsley Le Pre Verre

Wild Strawberries Melba Berthillon

Strawberry/Praline Tatelette l’Autobus Imperial

Strawberries and Vacherin l’Affiche

Panna cotta with red fruit Emporio Armani Caffe

Cappuccino of strawberries Millesimes 62

Tarte sablee with red fruit Flora

Tiramisu with red fruit Pavillon Elysee Lenotre

Strawberries and raspberries, juice and sorbet Pierre au Palais-Royal

And also:

Pearl

Chez A & M

Maceo

Terrasse Mirabeau

Table du Lancaster

In addition, there was a box of stores, etc selling prepared “creations” based on fruit written by Colette Monsat. It mentioned: Fauchon, Damman’s, Pierre Marcolini, Bioboa, Pierre Herme, Delmontel, Laduree and Dalloyau.

In the same vein, Francois Simon went to the Gallery Lunch Baccarat, 11, pl des Etats-Unis in the 16th, 01.40.22.11.10, closed Sundays, no reservations, where he had a 12 E dessert of strawberries with a small glass of vodka. Should one go? Ans: For the setting.

Wednesday-Thursday, Jean-Claude Ribaut in Le Monde reviewed the eponymous Pot Au Feu and on Thursday-Friday’s “Toques en Pointe” covered Chez les Anges, coordinates of the former in the guidebooks and the latter in prior posts.

Friday, in the IHT, Patricia Wells covered three places where one can drink the nearby wine as well as dine: one very positively – Le Charlemagne in Pernand Vergelesses, one Olivier Leflaive Frères in Puligny-Montrachet;, where it sounds like the wine outranks the food, and the third, the Hostellerie de Levernois in Levernois, where the food lacked a lot.

Saturday, Francois Simon’s “Croque Notes” in Le Figaro discusses his very positive reactions to Yves Camdeborde’s new resto Le Comptoir de l’hotel St-Germain as well as a new restaurant run by Christophe Leroy – Les Moulins de Rematuelle on the route des Plages - (he already runs several others everywhere from Marrakech to St-Tropez).

Sunday, JDD’s Astrid de T’Cerclaes reviewed a group of fairly well-known foreign places in Paris. In addition, Aurelie Chaigneau featured the “affordable” restaurants chosen by Pascal Barbot of l’Astrance: La Rotisserie du Beaujolais + Le Banyan.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of June 13th, 2005

Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger gave 4/5 blocks to Le Comptoir, Yves Camdeborde’s new place, whose coordinates have already been provided and on which a thread is running. In addition, Philippe Toinard gave 3/5 blocks to l’Azalee, 78 av. des Ternes in the 17th, 01.40.58.01.01, where the menu is 37 E and it costs about 40-54 E a la carte for fare such as crusty sweetbreads with beans; they have lots of wines by the glass. Also, in the sidebar, they announce that the dessert champion of France is Jonathan Wahid of l’Espadon du Ritz and the best croissants made with butter from Charentes-Poitou were from Au Petrin d’Antan, 174, rue Ordener in the 18th in the artisanal category and Aux Peches Normands, 9, rue du Faubourg-du-Temple in the 10th in the “Ouvrier” category.

Wednesday, in Figaroscope’s “C’est nouveau,” Emmanuel Rubin gave three hearts and two hearts respectively to two Lebanese places Liza in the 2nd and Beyrouth vins et mets in the 11th. The French places fared less well: one heart went to the “retro bistro” Autour de…, 397, rue de Vaugirard in the 15th, 01.45.30.18.47, open everyday, serving such fare as tartare of beef for about 35 E as well as a chic sandwich shop - 46 Avenue, 46, ave Marceau in the 8th, no phone, open everyday, costing 10-20 E depending on your appetite. Finally a busted plate went to Le Passage in the 15th.

The Dossier covered musical places:

Opera

Bel Canto

Mandala Ray

Lyrical

Music Hall

Jazz

Le Bilboquet

Le Petit Journal Montparnasse

l’Arbuci

Salsa-Funk-Soul

Canal Opus

Rock

Le Reservoir

Mariachi

El Chihuahua

Karaoke

China Town Belleville

As is his want, Francois Simon went to one of these that was full of testosterone - Favela Chic, 18, rue du Faubourg-du-Temple in the 11th, 01.43.57.15.47, which cost 88 E with 5 glasses of wine, had a good price quality ratio, nice ambiance and Brazilian music and served marinated fish and shrimp with yucca root.

In Zurban, meanwhile, Sebastien Demorand reviewed the Rez de Chaussée, 65, rue Letort in the 18th, 01.42.64.64.39, closed Sundays, with formulas at 12.30 and 17.20 E; a la carte about 25, where he saw lots of heart-clogging charcuteries and had a well-cooked cod with curry and white lentils that were a bit too creamy as well as a mousse of ricotta with hibiscus - for my take on it see here. In his “Casseroles” he also noted: that the well-reviewed and “hot” place in the 18th – La Famille, 41, rue des Trois-Frères, 01.42.52.11.12, open only for dinner but closed Sundays and Mondays, formula is 27 and a la carte about 33E, has a new and successful chef; that there is a new wine-bar called l’Amuse Gueule, 10, bvd Morland in the 4th, 01.49.54.85.51 costing about 20 E for merely OK charcuteries and wines; and that there’s a new Italian resto-pizzeria Amici Miei in the 11th.

In Wednesday’s Dining Section of the New York Times, there were three articles which to avoid double-posting, I’ve commented on in their respective threads but for the record, they were:

“The Anti-Michelin: Caution and Anonymity Not Required”? about Gilles Pudlowski;

“At Last France Embraces the Vegetable about veggie places in Paris, and

"Whose Stars are they anyway” about the Senderens/Gaertner/Maxim’s/Michelin story.

Saturday, in his “Croque Notes,” Francois Simon noted the opening of a new, nicely-priced and tasty Italian place Soprano as well as a Taiwanese tea house Zenzoo , both in the 2nd. He said he’s often asked for a wonderful new place and wonders what’s wrong with going back to: le Comptoir du Carrefour de l'Odéon, la cour jardin du Plaza Athénée, le bistrot Paul Bert, le Baratin, les Enfants Rouges, + I Golosi .

Through the good offices of Felice, I learned that last week’s Le Point had a overview of several (generally) new places, most of which have been covered already but some of our members may wish to read their comments. They were: Le Comptoir, Apicius, Fin’s Herb, Amici Miei, Dominique Bouchet, Le Goupil, Le Refectoire, Bar a Manger, Un Jour a Peyrassol, Bertie, Mu, Le Square. In addition, this week, Gilles Pudlowski did brief reviews of several more, more established places– Mon Viel Ami, La Marlotte, La Terrasse, Les Ambassadeurs.

Jean-Luc Petitrenaud in L’Express reviewed Midi Vins, 83, rue du Cherche Midi in the 6th, 01.45.48.33.71 and found it a good price for the food (menu 20 E).

Time Out, which has seriously reduced its food advice, has in this week’s section a squib about Le Cour Jardin at the Plaza Athenee, now featuring Ducasse protégé Cedric Bechade serving French/Mediterranean/North African food under parasols averaging 80 E each.

June’s Food & Wine magazine had two notes of interest; first that in the US, Alain Ducasse is the most “idolized” French chef and second, that Jacques Pepin likes Le Café in St-Malo.

June’s Omnivore has a front page article titled “Where are the Chefs?” which essentially follows the publication’s hopes of a revolutionary new French chef of the 21st century - a clever picture shows a bunch of chefs’ backs as they get up on risers for a group photo. Inside are articles on Cambdeborde and Choukroun and of course Senderens.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of June 20th, 2005

Monday-Tuesday’s A Nous Paris featured two places: the first, which got 3/5 blocks, a{nother} wine bar-grocery-resto Le Casier a vin, 51-53, rue Olivier-de-Serres in the 15th, 01.45.33.36.80, closed Sundays, a la carte runs 23.50-38.50 E for wines, charcuterie/cheese platters but also regular dishes; the second, which rated 2/5 blocks, The Place, 11, rue Jean-Mermoz in the 8th, 01.43.59.21.47, formulas 25 & 30, a la carte = 45E, meriting comments such as “fashionistas,” “hype et cool,” and “so what.” {For my strikingly similar take see here.}

Wednesday, Emmanuel Rubin in “C’est nouveau” in Figaroscope rates 4 places as two-heartworthy: the first an African-North African-Asian place Bouillion des Colonies, 3, rue Racine in the 6th (co-located with the Belgian brasserie Bouillion Racine), 01.44.32.15.64, open everyday; an ex-couscous, now-Thai place Mme Shawn, 34, rue Yves-Toudic in the 10th, 01.42.08.05.07, open everyday but Sunday; a Korean place Samiin, 74, av de Breteuil in the 7th, 01.47.34.58.96, open everyday; and the renovated resto of the celebrated Lebanese pastry/etc place Noura Pavillion, 21, av Marceau in the 16th, 01.47.20.33.30, open everyday. The only French-French place got only one heart – l’Absinthe Café, 54, rue Turbigo in the 3rd, 01.48.87.79.30, open everyday, running one about 25 E for a spotty meal of chicken liver salad, hamburger and crème brulee.

Their “Dossier” this week featured places to go to when feeling “nomadic” {all translations mine and loose}:

To bicycle:

l’Os a Moelle

Cyclobrunch

For a picnic basket:

Les Vivres

l’Avant-Gout

Earthy (“terroir”):

A la ville de Rodez

Exotic :

Mavrommatis

Noura

Bucolic :

Musee de la vie romantique

Summer Grand Fooding of 2005

For his picnic, written up in “Hache Menu,” Francois Simon picked up 43 Euros worth of stuff from Chez Michel, 10, rue de Belzunce in the 10th, 01.44.53.06.20, which he encourages readers to do quickly.

Also Wednesday, in Zurban, Sebastien Demorand reviewed two French places in his “Casseroles” section: a neo-bistro with a good wine list – l’Express Bar, 31, rue Saint-Maur in the 11th, 01.47.00.66.18, closed Saturday lunch, with a menu-carte at 23 E, serving spinach salad with goat cheese and calf’s liver English-style {Ed Note: the chef is English, ex- apparently Chateaubriand} - Demorand says to go quickly because in mid-August, the 1950’s décor will be updated; and the meat-focused bistrot Boucherie Rouliere, 24, rue des Cannettes in the 6th, 01.43.26.25.70, closed Mondays with prices from 30-35 E a la carte, serving marinated sardines, a great cote de boeuf (for two, of course) with fries along with a fine Morgon. He devoted his primary space to what he termed a fine but “improbable trattoria” {with the cutsey name of} Pasta et Basta, which is at 103-105, rue de Tolbiac, in the 13th; and an inexpensive sushi place catering to “salarymen” – Hyotan, 3, rue d’Artois in the 8th.

Thursday, Gilles Pudlowski’s contributions to Le Point this week included: Le Galvacher, 64, av. des Ternes in the 17th, 01.45.74.16.66, menu = 24 E, a la carte 45 E, which started with refrigerated fish tartare but followed with good beef, monk’s head cheese salad, baba and wine; l’Actuel, 29, rue Surcouf in the 7th, 01.45.50.36.20, menu - 29 E, with a chef ex-Senderens serving raviolis, place fish with chorizo and crème brulee; Goumard, 9, rue Duphot in the 1st, 01.42.60.36.07, menu = 40, a la carte 120 E, serving risotto with crayfish, squid with sweet peppers and a cinnamon macaron; and Michel Troisgros’ Le Lancaster, 7, rue de Berri in the 8th, 01.40.76.40.18, a la carte = 90 E with veal with truffles, cod with Japanese rice and risotto of sweet beets.

Thursday-Friday’s Le Monde’s Jean-Claude Ribaut’s “Toques en Pointe” featured three places of which only one is French-French: Le Jardin, 37, av Hoche in the 8th, 01.42.99.98.50, in the Hotel Royal-Monceau, closed Saturdays, Sundays and Monday lunch, where Christophe Pele has taken over fully and Ribaut feels the price is worth it for such a palace – market menu = 60E, a la carte about 100E. The other two places are one for Thai brunch - Silk & Spice, 46, rue Mandar in the 2nd, 01.44.88.21.91, and Atrio Restauran in Caceres, Spain.

In the June 20th New York Observer, Bryan Miller wrote ”The Michelin Invasion,” about the Red Guide’s publication in November covering 500 New York restaurants. For French readers, two things were of interest: first, that as opposed to their method elsewhere, in NYC places will not have to wait months or years for 2 or even 3 stars, and second, that some Americans are afraid of its publication, because, among other reasons, they’ll be rated by French inspectors.

Margaret Kemp, writing in last week’s Bonjour Paris, provides her answer to a friend who wants to go to places like Taillevent, L’Arpége, Grand Vefour, but is aghast at the $/€ ratio and requests her list of “secret addresses to blow” his mind. I suspect they are not so secret to eGullet members and thus will provide coordinates only for those lesser known. The list includes: Auguste, Le Comptoir du Relais, Flora, Les Olivades, La Cuisine, La Cabane, Le Pavillon des Princes, + Les Fables de la Fontaine. Those less well-known are a canteen, Saveurs et Salon, 3, rue Castellane in the 8th, 01.40.06.97.97, lunch 20 plus wine, dinner 36E plus wine; Chez Flottes, 2, rue Cambon in the 1st, 01.42, 60.80.89 from 21 E, open everyday ; Café Minotti, 33, rue de Verneuil in the 7th, 01.42.60.04.04, lunch formulas 26 and 32 E, a la carte 50 E plus wine; and a Thai place, the Restaurant Cathay Maillot, 141, av de Malakoff in the 16th, 01,40.67.18.90, open everyday with menus from 12 E (plus wine). In addition, she wrote an article later in the week about Yves Camdeborde, mentioning Le Comptoir, Regalade + Les Papilles.

Adrian Leeds, writing in her ParlerParis wrote about her visit to one of the classic guinguettes, Chez Gégène in Joinville-le-Pont. The article has information about several others as well.

Jean-Luc Petitrenaud, in this week’s L’Express reviewed the Café Barge, 5, port de la Rapée in the 12th {between the Pont d’Austerlitz and Pont de Bercy}, 01.40.02.09.09, where one dines under parasols on an old barge – lots of seafood, rosé and at times a gypsy band. The menu-carte is 35 E; but on Sundays is 25 for adults and 15 for kids.

Heather Stimmler-Hall’s Secrets of Paris this week, mentions two places : Naked, 40, rue du Colisée serving fusion-influenced healthy wraps, salads, juice etc., and Chez Haynes Soul Food, 3, rue Clauzel in the 9th, 01.48.78.40.63 – where the name says it all; live jazz Friday and Saturday nights.

An article by Julie Baker in ParisVoice suggested several places on the left bank to go for an intimate meal, including: Le Quinzieme: cuisine attitude, Alcazar, Restaurant Les Ministeres, La Villa Corse, + Chez Francoise.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of June 27th, 2005

In Monday-Tuesday’s A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinaud gave 4/5 blocks to the established Le Bistral, 80, rue Lemercier in the 17th, {Ed Note: right near l’Abadache; it’s clear that the rue Lemercier’s another happening street & quartier}, 01.42.63.59.61, menus at 12 and 27 E, a la carte 30 E, where he raves about what the chef does with Joel Thiebault’s {he of the Palais de Tokyo market} vegetables and other dishes; he ends saying “What, you haven’t made a reservation yet?” In the other “review” they feature “caves” of the 15th, principally the Caves Vouille + Couleurs de Vigne, as well as Vins et Delices, Les Vendages + Cellier St-Charles.

As is traditional, the last Wednesday in June, the Figaroscope team puts out its little booklet of “Best of’s” {Ed note: No internet access unfortunately.}

10 Restos for summer: Plage Cote Sud, Le Refectoire, Cinq Mars, Isse, Chez les Anges, Le Comptoir de Relais, La Grange-Bateliere, Liza, Le Louis Vin, Apicius.

10 terraces: La Blanchisserie, Café Guitry, Le Bistrot des Dames, Flora Danica, Le Square, Le Delicabar, Apollo, La Cigale Recamier, Il Cortile, Le Pavillion des Princes.

10 “Green” places: l’Ile, Le Chalet des Iles, Maison de l’Amerique latine, Restaurant du Palais-Royal, Villa 9-Trois, Roland-Garros, Le Pre-Catalan, Le Pavillion Montsouris, Pavillion de la Grande Cascade, Les Etangs de Corot.

10 cocktail-tapas places: Casa Eusebio, Estiminet du marche, Trema, Le Comptoir Paris-Marrakesh, Andy Whaloo, Da Rosa, Chair 33, Libre Sens, La Tete ailleurs, Autobus imperial.

10 weekend brunches: Café des Techniques, Café Jacquemart Andre, Rose Bakery, l’Artisan de Saveurs, Le Safran, l’Appart’, A Priori The, l’Alcazar, l’Asian, Relais Lagrange.

Near the water: Quai Ouest, Rendez-Vous des quais, l’Ecu de France, Guinguette de la Villlette, Cap Seguin,.

10 ice cream places: Berthillon, Damman’s, Octave, Raimo, Pascal le Glacier, Bac a Glaces, Gelati d’Alberto, Amorino, Pierre Marcolini, Pierre Herme

In addition, they announce that we’re waiting for (in the next few days): Caroll Sinclair to open an annex La Table d’hote, the team from Chez Gerald + l’Affiche to open l’Ecole de Gorisse, Heiniken to open a resto-bar-nightclub; (in September): Alain Ducasse to reprise Benoit, Pierre Gagniere to revive Gaya and Alain Senderens to reopen his deMichelinized Lucas-Carton; (even later): the group that runs China Club + Fumoir to open La Gazetta; and also changes at Table du Chef at the Hyatt Vendome, Cou de la Girafe, Man Ray, Ailleurs, La Petite Syrah, + Table d’Aude to be henceforth called Ferrandaise. Finally, Michel del Burgo will take over at Jamin, the Maison Richard will run Spoon, Fogon will move and Gilles Choukroun will sell the Café des Delices to prepare for new projects.

Buried in this tear-out section Wednesday in Figaroscope is Francois Simon’s “Hache Menu” that recounted his meal at the venerable and evocative Hotel du Nord, 102, quai de Jemmapes in the 10th, 01.40.40.78.78, where he was served correctly prepared food for less than 100 E for two for a full meal (vegetable mille-feuille, chevre raviolis, souris of lamb and tiramisu with strawberries) – although he does have what sound to be minor quibbles. The usual query “Should one go?” “Yes.”

In Wednesday’s Zurban, Sebastien Demorand reviewed three French places in his “Casseroles” section. The best-known and previously reviewed is the moderately recently moved two-star place, Apicius, 20, rue d’Artois in the 8th, 01.43.80.19.66, which is closed weekends and has a degustation menu for 130 and a la carte 100-120 E. Despite the prior reviews and buzz, Demorand calls the food which is classified between “neo-classic” and “neo-bistot-chic;” e.g., sashimi, veal’s head, beef, merely OK and suggests you have a glass of wine and main course only in the lovely garden. Then there’s the third off-shoot of the neighborhood bistrot, Les Galopins, 33, avenue Philippe-Auguste in the 11th, 01.43.67.01.23, open every day, a la carte 28-30 E, serving correct spicy foie gras, cold veal cutlet with very hot pleurotes and a tartare of duck with a very strange metallic tasting sauce; all in all - “no big deal.” Third is another wine-bar, l’Arpent, 12, rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the 1st, 01.42.36.52.90, closed Sundays with a lunch formula at 12,50 E, serving wonderful chorizo, sausage and cheeses with bio wines. {For my take on it – see here.} Finally, he devoted his main review to an “elegant” Lebanese mezze place, much beloved already by other reviewers, Liza, 14, rue de la Banque in the 2nd, 01.55.35.00.66, lunch formulas 17-21 E, a la carte 35. In addition, in Zurban, Demorand lists his best of list by arrondissement as of the Summer break:

1st Lac Mouson

2nd Memere Paulette

3rd Les Don Juan

4th l’Amuse-Guele

5th Le vPorte-Pot

6th Boucherie Rouliere

7th Samiin

8th Hyotan

9th Fogao

10th La Tete dans le Fromage

11th l’Express Bar

12th Les Jardins de Mandchourie

13th Pasta et Basta

14th Millesimes 62

15th l’Auberge Bressane

16th Aux Marches du Palais

17th Goupil

18th Le Rez de Chaussee

19th Chez Vincent

20th Le Café Noir

Thursday-Friday’s Le Monde’s Jean-Claude Ribaut had an article on restaurants with terraces for summer eating. They included: L'Absinthe, Le Bistrot d'à côté Villiers, Laurent, La Grande Cascade, La Cagouille, La Terrasse Mirabeau, Au Relais des Buttes, Le Coq de la Maison Blanche. {Ed Note : I won’t recount his dishes, since in general they’re the stuff of summer – gazpacho, sardines, anchovies, langoustines, squid, etc.}.

Ironically, L’Express had its own list of 10 secret places including: the home and museum of Ary Scheffer, Fauchon, Chai 33, La Gare, Le Comptoir du Relais Saint-Germain, Bistrot romain Champs-Elysees, Delicabar and then more adventuresome places, Le 20e Art, 46, rue des Vignoles in the 20th, 01.43.67.22.29, La Plage parisienne, Port de Javel-Haut in the 15th, 01.40.59.41.00 and the Point éphémère, 200, quai de Valmy in the 10th, 01.40.34.02.48. Also, in a pretty neat addition to its website, this week’s l’Express has a 5 minute film clip and interview with Pierre Gagniere’s in his kitchen, doing his kitchen thing and another with Herve This, doing his chemistry thing. Finally, Jean-Luc Petitrenard suggests two restos: L'Escarbille in Meudon and Mon Viel Ami in the 4th.

Meanwhile, Gilles Pudlowski in Le Point wrote up Georgette, 29, rue Saint-Georges in the 9th, 01.42.80.39.13, a la carte : 40 E calling it “divine,” {Note: Credit has to go to the New York Times for "finding" this place, for Americans anyway, several years ago} as well as Robert Rodriguez + La Barbacane in Carcassonne.

Saturday, in his “Croque Notes” in Le Figaro, Francois Simon went back to the venerable Allard, 41, rue St-Andre-des-Arts, 01.43.26.48.23, where nothing (clients, cooking, service, etc) went well {fortunately or unfortunately, the gory details are not yet posted on their website.} The remainder of his article announces that best young chef of the year 1977 in the USA, Gilles Epie, (ex-Pavillion des Princes, Cour St-Germain, Orangerie in LA, Miravile) will be taking over the space and wine-price tradition (that is, list prices) of Francois Clerc, 6, rue Arsene-Houssaye in the 8th, 01.42.89.15.51 and opening a resto called Citrus Etoile in early-September.

Sunday, in the JDD, the editors state that their second section features the “two best chefs in the world,” Marc Veyrat + Alain Ducasse. Veyrat’s part is the traditional recommendation of two affordable restos in Paris; his choices: l’Estrapade + l’Entredgeu, coordinates in the guidebooks. Ducasse’s article is an interview concerning his two year effort to introduce promising young chefs from the provinces to a Paris clientele. Finally, in their “Version Femina,” Astrid de T’Serclaes touts the terrace of the Restaurant du Palais-Royal.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Edited August 16, 2005 by John Talbott (log)

[John Talbott]

The Week of July 4th, 2005

Last Friday, Le Monde’s Jean-Claude Ribaut wrote an article only posted much later on their website and now retrievable only at a cost; anyway, it was of the moderately recently turned over resto near the St. Ouen flea market Le Soleil, 4109, avenue Michelet, 01.40.10.08.08, open everyday at lunch and Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, serving a soup of cold monkfish, tuna (cooked on the outside/raw on the inside) and great desserts for 40 E a la carte.

Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand's primary space in Zurban was devoted to a sortie with William Ledeuil of Ze Kitchen Galerie, through the markets of the 13th for an “orange menu”– carrots, oranges, salmon, melon, apricots, etc.

Friday, Patricia Wells critically reviewed (the article is entitled “Totally organic, partly satisfying”) two places in the South: the only Michelin-starred all organic resto – La Chassagnette in Le Sambuc where a lot (wine arrival, wine steward correcting her French pronunciation five times, utensils arrival) went wrong and another Michelin-starred place well-known for its bouillabaisse, Chez Michel aka La Brasserie des Catalans in Marseille where her group had the famous soup, in which the fish was “boiled to death.”

The recent issue of Gault-Millau announced a total makeover and indeed, there is. However, after almost 30 years of rating restaurants on their innovative toque and x/20 system, none of the reviews have such indicators. In addition, they group them in three categories: New, Trendy and New something (décor, chef, etc). All the places mentioned have already been mentioned by others – therefore I will not repeat the litany.

EnVille, another one of these ubiquitous free newspapers, irregularly available to me, had articles in the June issue by Francois Lemarie and Andrea Petrini on La Regalade, Le Comptoir, Le Refectoire + Chez les Anges, essentially saying (respectively) that Bruno Doucet despite his Vigato-heritage, has chosen to keep La Regalade pretty much as is; that M. Camdeborde, the “Pope” of Parisian bistrots, has begun anew with good products and “natural” wine ; that the off-shoot of La Famille has dishes combining ingredients much like Ferran Adria; and that Au Bon Accueil’s food is impeccably made and lies between the Sodom of pork and Gomorrah of game.

This month, Where high-lighted two light summer and salad places – Harold, 48, rue de Prony in the 17th, 01.47.63.96.96 + Da Rosa, 62, rue de Seine in the 6th, 01.40.51.00.09. Alexander Lobrano also joined in the praise for Yves Camdeborde’s new Le Comptoir, coordinates above.

Saturday, Le Figaro had three articles of interest that seem to be only available online for a fee. First, Francois Simon in his “Croque Notes,” wrote about a terrific sounding 18th century farm called Hegia near Biarritz renovated by Arnaud and Veronique Daguin (of the famous Auch and New York/Jersey family) – 700 E for two for a bed and three meals with all the trimmings. Simon also notes that two chefs who jump from resto to resto like a kangaroo are opening new places in Paris: Gilles Epie, ex-Pavillion des Princes/Petite Cour/Miravile to Citrus Etoile and Michel del Burgo, ex-Carcassone/Bristol/Taillevent/Gordes/Negresco to an un-named site after the rentree. In addition, Joel Robuchon is opening another Altelier in London’s Soho.

The second article was a charming history/book review of guinguettes outside Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux – the book is “Memoire de guinguettes,” by Francis Bauby, Sophie Orivel and Martin Penet (Editions Omnibus, 26 E) and Alexandra Michot also provided a website for more info.

Finally, for those on the road in the next while, there are a host of festivals:

Pfaffenheim - 9-10 July – Wines

Hendaye – 13 July – Calamari

Olonne-sur-Mer - 16 July – 20 August – Mussels and sardines

Marmande – 21-23 July – Tomatoes

Calvados – 23-24 July – Seafood and mackerel

Lautrec – 5 August – Pink garlic

Bar-sur-Aube – 6-7 August - Champagne

Arnay-le-Duc – all summer – Porcelain and glass

Chateau de Moulin in Lassay-sur Croisne – all summer - Strawberries

Sunday, in the JDD, aside from articles on Jean-Pierre Coffe’s {EN: he, most recently, of the trio on TV attempting to save failing restos} veggie garden and Regis Marcon’s local product-influenced food at l’Auberge des Cimes – there was an advert for the new edition of the Petit Restos des Grandes Chefs with 185 new places; thus a total of 520 ones. {EN: For 16.90 E, I find there to be no added value to the routine guides, that is, (Michelin, Pudlo, Lebey, G/M and Zurban}.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Edited July 19, 2005 by John Talbott (log)

[John Talbott]

The Week of July 11th, 2005

Monday/Tuesday, A Nous Paris’s Jerome Berger wrote about “Places to Eat While Shopping,” that included:

In the Maison de la Chine Shanghai Tang

At Bon Marche le Café de la Grande Epicerie

Near the Madeleine Ventilo Cafe

At Galeries Lafayette le Bar Rouge

At Armani Emporio Armani Café

Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand of Zurban continued what appears to be a summer feature, giving three “green” recipes of Thierry Burlot’s; a cold soup of petit-pois, risotto with pesto and Granny Smiths with Mint granite.

In Le Monde, Jean-Claude Ribaut reviewed four places open in August, of which two are French: a jewelers’ cantine Duke’s Bar, 13, rue de la Paix, (in the Westminster Hotel), 01.42.61.55.11, open every day and in August, count on about 50E for everything from a shrimp cocktail to a filet of beef; Le Passage, 126 {Ed Note: website address numbers in his article are incorrect} rue de l’Abbe-Groult in the 15th, 01.48.42.40.60, open everyday and in August, unbeatable prices – a weekday lunch market menu = 19, menu-carte for 33E, serving soft-boiled eggs in a spinach soup, succulent curried lamb and iced creamy peach; and two foreign places: an elegant trattoria, Il Settimo, 57 {I think} Rue Bellechasse in the 7th, 01.45.50.39.27, menus at 16 and 22 E, a la carte 55, closed Sundays and Monday nights but open in August; and the “gourmet Latino bar” Ferdi, 32 {I think}, rue de Mont-Thabor in the 1st, 01.42.60.82.52.

Friday, in Le Figaro, Jean Miot’s “Propos de Table” featured the hotel/resto Le Moulin de Chameron in Bannegon near the geographic center of France, which sounds terrific and most affordable (26, 35 & 46 E) {EN: one must pay for the article, it was never posted on their free site}.

In L’Express, Jean-Luc Petitrenaud reviewed the well-known Mon Viel Ami, coordinates already given and l’Escarbille in Meudon.

Meanwhile, Le Point reviewed one place {I’ve heard little of although it’s in the Pudlo} - L'Art des Choix, 36, rue Condorcet in the 9th, 01.48.78.30.61, menus : 21-25 E, where an ex of Dutournier serves clever dishes, eg veggies with parmesan, ballotine of foie gras, etc.; three relatively new places already reviewed and coordinates given by others - Groupil, 4, rue Claude-Debussy in the 17th, 01.45.74.83.25, a la carte about 45 E; Beauvilliers, 52, rue Lamarck in the 18th, 01.42.55.05.42; menu 35 E and Les Coteaux, 8, rue Jeanne-d'Arc in Saint-Mande, 01.48.08.74.81, a la carte 32 E with wine included; and the venerable Lasserre, 17, av. Franklin-Roosevelt in the 8th, 01.43.59.53.43, lunch menu = 110, dinner-185 E.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of July 18th, 2005

Margaret Kemp, writing in Monday’s Bonjour Paris, has a piece entitled 40 years on Buzz on the venerable resto La Maree, coordinates well-known, on its 40th birthday. {Ed Note: one needs to be a premium subscriber to read the whole article.}

Adrian Leeds Paris Parler has an article on the “Perfect Paris Bistrot”; she touts two: Le Sept Quinze + Les Sorcieres, both of whose coordinates are in the guides.

Monday, in Figaro Entreprises, instead of a “Table d’Affaires” contribution by Francois Simon, there was an article entitled “Best of: 20 ways to save the wine industry” by Jean-François Arnaud, Jean-Yves Guerin and Jean-Marc Philbert. Stating that despite George Deboeuf’s huge success marketing Beaujolais and the success of Beaujolais nouveau, the French wine industry is losing ground to wines from the “New World.” Thus, the authors, after consulting experts in France and abroad, propose several remedies; among which are {EN: all translation errors/liberties are mine}:

1. Pull up the vines; e.g., reduce over-production.

2. Beef up tourism to wine areas.

3. Reform the AOC’s.

4. Get more women to buy.

5. Simplify the labels.

6. Establish a « Wine Week. »

7. Mix wines up (this was Robert Parker’s suggestion; e.g., Bordeaux with Syrahs, etc)

8. Relax the rules of wine-making (by say adding wood).

9. Create a national council to broaden advertising.

10. Permit the big guys (e.g., Rothschild’s Mouton-Cadet) to advertise.

11. Get rid of the standard bottles, for say, box wines.

12. Let wine folks sponsor sporting events.

13. Create a “country” wine for Bordeaux.

14. Let alliances of small producers join together to better export their wines.

15. Develop {more} varietals.

16. Sell the best wines in hyper-marches.

17. Retain French character in wines (e.g., don’t try to out-Shiraz the Aussies).

18. Move from displays by region to type {EN: Joshua Wesson, where are you now that they need you?)

19. Revise the rules of AOC’s.

20. Reinforce enforcement (e.g., of the accuracy of stated acreage).

Monday/Tuesday, A Nous Paris published another list of restaurants to go to this summer that have terraces. They are: the Hotel St-James & Albany, L’Estaminet, Point Ephemere, Apollo, La Plage, Le Quinzième, Tokyo Eat, Café de l’Homme, Le Roland-Garros, Le Square, Le 20e Art.

Tuesday, Heather Stimmler-Hall’s Secrets of Paris issue #62 called attention to a new boutique specializing in absinthe(s): le Vert d’Absinthe, 11, rue, d’Ormesson in the 4th. She also endorsed the following places whose coordinates are already published: Bouillon Racine, Ladurée, Frascati, Amorino, La Fourmi Ailée, restaurant at the Musée Jacquemart-André, Les Phìlosophes.

Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand of Zurban, continued his color-themed visits to established places – this week, a pink meal at Flora Mikula’s, 36, av George-V in the 8th, 01.40.70.10, where he had a fine meal of tomato-horseradish gazpacho with a pink Martini granite {he gives the recipes, as he has for the past two weeks}, pink shrimp and beet-colored risotto and for dessert, a “milkshake” of strawberry yogurt sorbet.

Thursday-Friday, Jean-Claude Ribaut, still reviewing this week in Le Monde, covered four established foreign places, three in his “Toques en Pointe,” Chez Vong, Fontanarosa + San Francisco and one 30 year old one in a long article entitled “Kim Anh, Vietnam in Paris”; coordinates in the guidebooks.

Sunday’s New York Times Magazine contained an article by Amanda Hessler called “Bleu-Plate Special” in which she mentioned several things of interest related to her thesis that the “French food establishment” is under assault: (1) that the “next generation” of chefs (e.g., Camdeborde, Bluy and Breton) is disillusioned with “fine-dining” and has opened smaller places, (2) that Cammas and Rubin’s “Fooding” movement (combining food and feeling) has gathered speed in promoting “liberated and experimental,” e.g., non-traditional, French food {EN: her explanation of the trend is the best I’ve seen in English}, and (3) that Maghrebian and Southeast Asian food fused with French cooking has become “near-standard,” as evidenced by a relatively-new cookbook, “Cooking at Home on Rue Tatin,” by the Louviers-based American, Susan Herrman Loomis.

August’s Food & Wine had a notice about Yves Camdeborde’s Le Comptoir that also mentions the “spectacular” breakfast served guests at the Hotel.

July’s France Monthly’s whole issue was devoted to Roquefort cheese.

The Aug-Sept US Saveur, has an article on Nimes in which it recommends Les Amis de Pablo Romero, Le Bistrot "Au Chapon Fin," + a restaurant wine bar Chez Michel.

Time Out’s “This Week” is touting La Cour at the Plaza Athénée + Senso.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of July 25th, 2005

This week, there were two articles in Bonjour Paris about food; one by Monique Wells on the newest Bar… restaurant (e.g. after Barfly, Buddha Bar + and Barrio Latino) in Paris, Barlotti, 35, place du Marché Saint-Honoré in the 1st, 01.44.86.97.97, open every day from 12 noon til 2 AM that since July 1st has offered 8 risotto dishes at dinner. The second, by regular food critic Margaret Kemp, concerned La Mas de Pierre in Saint Paul de Vence, which houses a restaurant La Table de Pierre chef’d by an ex-Guerard sous-chef.

Sebastien Demorand, in this week’s Zurban extends his color palate to yellow with a piece on Sylvain Sendra’s cuisine at Temps au Temps, 13, rue Paul-Bert in the 11th, 01.43.79.63.40. Featuring all things yellow from sunflower on the tables to lamb cutlets with lemon and corn; plus zucchini flowers stuffed with tuna (as is his want this summer, he provides cooking instructions), bar with yellow peppers and a delicious sounding lemon dessert. It sounds like Temps Au Temps continues to be great even in the heat of summer.

This week Expatica had an article on Didier Elena of Les Crayeres in Reims, calling him the “Piet Mondrain of haute cuisine” but saying that he'd not yet proved himself outside Ducasse's kitchens.

The US version of France Magazine had two articles in the Summer issue; the first by Alexander Lobrano entitled “Culinary Empires” in which he points out that there are three types of such: the first, run by global “gastro-entrepreneurs,” such as Ducasse + Robuchon; the second, the Parisian “bistrot annex” bunch, such as Rostang + Savoy; and the third, his preferred group of chefs running “local empires,” exemplified by Olivier Roellinger of Cancale. The second article, by Susan Herrmann Loomis (she of the new book “Cooking at Home on Rue Tatin”), talks of chefs who are moving to set up smaller places, notably Dominique Bouchet, l’Atelier de Joel Robuchon + Le Troquet, the latter headed by Christian Etchebest.

August’s Gourmet has a delicious article by Pulitzer Awardee Stacy Schiff (the Franklin expert) on cultural differences emerging during her stay in France with her French husband and three children, ages 1-10; it’s not all about food, so members intending to live in France or take sabbaticals or prolonged first-time visits will benefit from it. In that vein, and even farther off-topic, but fascinating for those interested in cultural differences between US and French university pedagogy is this piece in Harvard Magazine.

N.B. When I started this Digest I stated I would primarily cover French restaurants in Paris, but summer presents a problem for me and an opportunity for you who vacation outside the peripherique; my suggestion: search the Figaro site using the city you’re near using Miot, Simon and Michot as well as “Vivre l’été,” the name of the section they file “La Table” pieces in during the summer, but it’ll take some searching since they’re not listed in the usual “Cuisine & Vins” category.(Reprinted from last summer)

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Weeks of August 1st and 8th, 2005

Before the vacation period, I received a special edition of A Nous Paris, courtesy of Felice, with two parts of “Favorites”, the first along the lines of (if I’m correct) Russell Lynes’ “What’s In and What’s Out” declarations; theirs is called Up and Down. Among the Up’s were: Le Timbre, Le Saint Amour, le Square, Goupil le Bistro, Mum Sabai, Le Temps au Temps, Meating, le Refectoire, Louis Vins, Le Comptoir + La Cafetiere and the Down’s mentioning The Place, le Titi Parisien, Harold, Café Charbon, Favela Chic, Chez Dom’, Chez Prune. The second feature was a listing with reviews of the favorite places in each arrondissement written by Jerome Berger and Philippe Toinard, that included:

1st – l’Autobus Imperial, Le Point Bar, l’Ecume Saint-Honore, Maceo

2nd – Le Saint-Amour, Café Moderne, Un Jour a Peyrassol

3rd – Les Don Juan

4th – Dans le Noir, Au Grain de Sel, Le Curieux Spagetti Bar, Berthillon

5th – Fogon Saint-Julien, Les Delices d’Aprodite

6th – La Cafetiere, Mum Sabai, Le Timbre, Damman’s, Boucherie Rouliere, Le Bac a Glaces

7th – Le Bamboche

8th – La Cuisine, l’Atelier des Chefs, Le Resto, Le Cap Vernet

9th – Le Café Guitry

10th – Le Verre Vole, l’Etage

11th – Le Temps au Temps, Le Refectoire

14th – La Cagouille, Millesimes 62, La Chopette

15th – Cave de l’Os a Moelle

16th – Le Petit Pergolese, La Table de Joel Robuchon, Le Bistrot de Cancale, Bon, Pascal le Glacier, Tokyo Eat, Frugier

17th – Trendy’s, Goupil le Bistro, Meating, Sora Lena, Fuxia

18th – Chez Eusebio, Le Square

19th – Chapeau Melon

20th – l’Echappee

Sunday, July 31st, the New York Times had an article by Seth Sherwood on St. Tropez that suggested several restaurants: Villa Romana, L’Escale, Spoon Byblos, Café des Arts, + La Tarte Tropezienne.

Monday, August 1st, David Rosengarten’s Report recounted his quest in May for the replicas or at least the progeny of Yves Camdebord’s creation of the “neo-bistro.” He was disappointed by the current Regalade + Epi Dupin but liked l’Ourcine, l’Ami Jean, Au Vieux Chene + l’Ami Marcel. He also revisited l’Ami Louis + Benoit, the former inducing sticker shock and the latter, pre-Ducasse/de la Brosse, the accolade of “bistro heaven.” A subscription to the report is obtainable here.

Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand, in this week’s Zurban continued his “monochromatic” quest to the color beige at Pascal Barbot’s l’Astrance, 4 rue Beethoven in the 16th, 01.40.50.84.40 where he gives the recipes for pintade, a mushroom galette, caramel dessert and a coffee “water-shake.” The week following he went for the color red with Bruno Viala, the recently hired chef at La Famille, 41, rue des Trois-Frères in the 18th, 01.42.52.11.12. The feast includes tomato gaspacho, wok’d tuna and strawberries.

Thursday/Friday, August 4/5th, Jean-Claude Ribaut, in Le Monde’s « Toques en Pointe » reviewed Le Fin Gourmet, 42, rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile in the 4th, 01.43.26.79.27, closed Monday and Tuesday lunch, formula at 27, menu with wine and coffee 35, a la carte 40 E. Its chef is David Magniez, ex at Guy Savoy; Ribaut calls the fare well executed and good with identifiable products. The article also reviews the rather old La Rotisserie d’en Face, 2, rue Christine in the 6th, 01.43.26.40.98, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, with classic mains, succulent desserts and good wines, formula is 18 at lunch, menus 25 and 28, a la carte 40 E. Next came that old film favorite now frequented by hip young types - l’Hotel du Nord, 102, quai de Jemmapes in the 10th, 01.40.40.78.78, open everyday from 11 AM til 2 AM, a la carte 40 E, where chef Pascal Brebant, ex at Guerard puts some spice and Asian twists to classic dishes. And finally, he reviews L’Auberge Bressane, 16, avenue de la Motte-Piquet in the 7th, 01.47.05.98.37, closed August 6-20 and Saturday at lunch where the classic food cost about 45 E and you eat amidst the ancient bistro decor. See here for my take.

Saturday, August 6th, in the FT, Nicholas Lander wrote an article available at the FT’s website now only by paying, but available free on his wife, Jancis Robinson’s website, on finding “the most authentic bouillabaisse in Marseille. His top rating went to Chez Fonfon, followed (if I read him correctly) by L’Epuisette + Michel, largely because of the service at the latter. If you’ll recall, July 8th, Ms Wells had an equally tepid reaction to it.

Sunday/Monday, in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp wrote a piece called “Summer Buzz” which told of chef comings and goings and restaurant changes. She noted that Toni Vianello of L’Osteria was soon to depart for Caboverde; that Dominique Bouchet was closed for August and will be opening a “salon below [the] stairs” in November; that as previously reported Gilles Epié, ex-Miravile, La Petite Cour, Pavillion des Princes will soon open Citrus Etoile in the old Bouchon de Francois Clerc space; that Cap Vernet has been redecorated by Daniel Magnac, with a self-taught and Gagniere-trained new chef Jean-Marc Lemmery, open everyday, 50 E plus wine; that the Philippe Starck decorated Cristal Room at Baccarat, where it’s hard to book for dinner but easier at lunch, lunch 40, dinner 80E before wine has a menu by Thierry Burlot of the restaurant of the same name; and that Le Bamboche is hopping under Serge Arce and Philippe Fabert, closed Sundays, lunch 28-35, dinner 56, surprise degustation menu 70 plus wine.

Sunday, August 14th, Florence Fabricant in the New York Times, proposed two restaurants in Troyes – a branch of the brasserie chain La Taverne de Maitre Kanter + le Creperie la Tourelle. {Ed Note: in the spirit of this Digest’s purpose, reportage, these are the facts, but for those wishing to visit Troyes, I’d suggest consulting the food guides for many 12-13/20 and 2 fork and spoon places, not to mention starred and Bib Gourmand suggestions.} The same day, Julia Chaplin suggested several places in Marseille – Au Lamparo, Pizzaria Etienne, Restaurant du Tagine, Michel + Le Crystal. {EN: same comment, but noting that here there are an even larger number of choices with higher ratings.}

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Edited August 16, 2005 by John Talbott (log)

[John Talbott]

The Weeks of August 15th and 22nd, 2005

Way back in June, somehow missed in my sweeps, was an article in Paris Voice by Julie Baker on “Cool terraces for hot summer nights” that suggested several places: Le Roland Garros, Le Bar Vendome, Les Arts, Diep, + A Tavola Ristorante.

Monday, Aug 15, Amber Garrison in Postcards From Paris reports on a fine meal she had at Chez Julie, a new restaurant located at 31 rue Mirabeau, Deauville (the “21st arrondissement), 02.31.87.22.11.

Monday as well, my eGullet colleague Felice reports that the week’s Nouvel Obs cover has a banner head - "Ces Restaurants qui font la Revolution" and that it contains “a very interesting article about young chefs who are going against tradition;” e.g. those called Generation C chefs. It has a pull-out listing 140 such restaurants nationwide. {EN: It is not available on their website, so get a friend to buy it if you want to see what they are}. More here.

Monday’s l’Express has four articles about food in four regions – the Atlantic Coast from Oleron to Noirmoutier, the Basque country, the Cote d’Azur and Corsica – with recipes, restaurants and farmers’/etc addresses. If you’re interested you can read them here.

Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand again followed his summer color recipe tradition, featuring the “whites” of Alain Passard of l’Arpège, 84 rue de Varenne, in the 7th, 01.47.05.09.06, including a salad of white radishes with lemon juice and olive oil, ivory-colored encornets, white onions {with a pear, yup, that’s what it says} and elderberries, and a dessert of white pears – everything it seems to be cooked very, very slowly in butter.

Wednesday as well, indefatigable eater/reporter RW (Johnnie) Apple Jr reported in the New York Times on langoustines and where in Brittany to eat them: l’Azimut in La Trinite sur Mer, La Duchesse Anne in St Malo, l’Auberge Breton in La Roche Bernard, the Maisons de Brincourt in Cancale, and the Hotel de Carantec-Patrick Jeffroy in Carantec as well as l’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, + Pierre Gagnaire in Paris.

Thursday, Gilles Pudlowski in Le Point noted that Cédric Poncet has left l’Appart' for a new bistrot Chez Cedric, 13, rue Denis-Poisson in the 17th, 01.44.09.03.30 with a menu at 20, a la carte 50 E. In addition, the woman chef Nathalie Mahé has gone to Au Vieux Molière, 12, passage Molière in the 3rd, 01.42.78.37.87, a la carte : 45 E serving marrow beignets with aioli sauce, tuna tournedos and sautéed foie gras. He also notes that Pierre Gagnaire, 6, rue Balzac in the 8th, 01.58.36.12.50 is in fine fettle and serving a 92 E lunch menu with tapas starters, market veggies, daily special and desserts; he also has menus at 225 and 260 E. Finally, he along with others likes the Cour-Jardin at the Plaza, 25, av. Montaigne in the 8th, 01.53.67.66.65, a la carte 80 E for its Ducassesque southern mets, escabeche of sardines, risotto, cod and cocoa-raspberry cold dessert.

Sunday/Monday, Margaret Kemp in Bonjour Paris wrote about Le Jardin des Cygnes, the restaurant-garden at the Hotel Prince des Galles, 33 avenue George V in the 8th, 01.53.23.77.77, lunch everyday but Sunday starting at 49.50, brunch is 55 E with wine. {EN: It’s not really a review but more of what one would write if invited to tour and eat there as a promotion.}

Friday’s International Herald Tribune brought the rentree of Patricia Well’s, writing from Riec-sur-Belon {some name huh?} about “Dining: in oyster country.” She mentions two places: the Huîtrières du Château de Bélon in Port de Bélon, Riec-sur-Bélon, 02.98.06.41.43 where 15 Euros brought her “a dozen oysters, bread, butter, lemons and half a bottle of {Muscadet} wine;” and Les Viviers de Térénez on the Route de Térénez in Rosnoen, 02.98.81.90.86 where she had oysters, crabs, smoked trout and {again, Muscadet} wine for 60 E.

The summer issue of Gastronomica is dedicated to Julia Child; thus much of it is France-related and some articles are available on their website. Especially relevant are Noel Riley Fitch’s “Notre Dame de la Cuisine and the Prince des Gastronomes” about her early Parisian culinary training; Patrick Healy’s piece on “In France with Julia” about her (and Paul Child's) life at their house in Provence; Laura Shapiro’s “Sacred Cows and Dreamberries;” and Joan Reardon’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” about the writing of her classic first books. Kitty Morse also has a letter/article on “Le Fooding” trend and she highlights three places: Café Charbon, R’aliment + Le Barathym, all of whose coordinates have been mentioned, along with the bookstore-art gallery “Food Gallery,” 58 rue Charlot in the 3rd. Two publications are reviewed which are of interest to us: a book, Histoire de l’alimentation: Quels enjeux pour la formation?, Julia Csergo, Christophe Marion eds, Dijon, Educagri Editions 2004, 199 pp, 22 $ (paper) featuring 27 papers given at a conference on teaching about food, especially in France; and another scholarly journal, like Gastronomica, Food and Foodways and Food, Culture and Society - entitled Food and History, The European Institute of Food History, Tours, Turnhout Belgium, Brepols 2003, 274 pp, 50 $.

Last Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand in Zurban got to the color purple/violet with Benoit Bordier of Chez Jean, 8 rue Saint-Lazare in the 9th, 01.48.78.62.73, where the recipes and food included: a sangria like cold red onion soup with tartines slathered with violet mustard and grated gruyere, rolled beef carpaccio with red cabbage, raddichio and pureed violet potatoes, topped off with blackberries and beets with purple basil and cream of blackberries.

Sunday, Margaret Kemp in an article entitled “Where the chefs eat” [on vacation] in Bonjour Paris mentioned several places on the south: Lei Mouscardins in St. Tropez, La Table de Robuchon in Monaco, the Auberge des Templiers in Vence, Le Sud in Valescure, L’Escoundudo in Le Rayol-Canadel, the Chévrerie du Peigros in Collobrières, and La Verdoyante in Gassin.

Rosa Jackson, who writes “Paris Bites” for Paris Notes, reviewed Le Comptoir of Yves Camdeborde (coordinates above) very positively, except for the crabmeat and veal trotter gelee.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of August 29th, 2005

{Editors’ Note: As you know, real journalists write the hot stuff up front and the details at the end, so their generally despised editors can cut paragraphs out from the bottom. Me, I go chronologically in the Digest – but caution – this time the juicy stuff (from F. Simon) is near the end. And if you’re not a Gilles Epie fan, stop reading here.}

Last Thursday-Friday, Le Monde’s Jean Claude Ribaut wrote up Le Petit Verdot, 75, rue du Cherche Midi in the 6th, 01.42.22.38.27. Unfortunately, it’s only available now as pay for view. In any case, it’s the brainchild of the ex-sommelier at the two-star Cordeillan-Bages in Pauillac and ex-Director at Hiramatsu, Hide Ishizuka, who with a talented chef has breathed life into this old place {EN: which in the Pudlo 2005 is listed as “N=new”}. While he liked his terrine, rumsteak, etc, he loved the wines even more {for my review, check in next week; sneak preview, I agree}.

Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand of Zurban, continued his color-themed recipe column, but this week, covering black, he dealt with a menu from cookbook authors – Raphaele Vidaling and Anna Pavlowitch (Pour en finir avec la cuisine de meme, editions Tana, 12E). The meal {EN: which I’ll give short shrift to because you cannot find it at a resto, as opposed to his prior contributions,} consisted of black mushrooms, black pasta with black eggplant and black (slightly sweet caviar-appearing) lentils.}

Adrian Leeds of ParlerParis, Wednesday, wrote about the several year old place Le Domaine de Lintillac, coordinates in the guidebooks, but which I’ll mention because she finds it one of the best price-quality places in Paris (as she points out – where else is the wine 3.35-12.60 E and mains 7.40-10.15 E?) {Both John Whiting and I have posted our reaction to it already, somewhere in the cyber-ether}.

Thursday, the freebie ParisVendu wrote of the new décor’d, new menu’d, new chef’d (for a year) Cap Vernet and the new brasserie redone by the patron of Wepler in 1930’s style - BistroB’, 81, av Bosquet in the 7th, 01.47.05.36.15, menus at 22 and 28, count on 26-52 E a la carte.

Thursday, Jean-Claude Ribaut in Le Monde wrote up: the Bistrot Ternes 43, 43 av des Ternes in the 17th, 01.43.80.19.28, open every day [sic] except Saturday, Sunday and Monday with both “jazzy” music and food (e.g., nems with foie gras and caramel, tuna with endives, duck with turnips,) count on 45 E a la carte; Chez les Anges already well-covered by others three months ago; and Citrus Etoile, 6, rue Arsene-Houssaye in the 8th, 01.42.89.15.51, closed Saturday lunch and Sunday, chef’d by Gilles Epie (see much more below) where he liked the gray shrimp with girolles, lobster tail with green asparagus, and exceptional veal’s liver a la vapeur, and lots else, a la carte 50 E. In addition, Ribaut wrote a piece on Basque food (see below too), in which he mentions: El Kano in Getaria, Casa Camera in Pasajes de San Juan, Ostape toward Labourd, l’Auberge Iparia in Bidarray (both Ducasse inspired), La Plancha in Bidart, Chez Philippe and C’est Au Bon Coin in Biarritz.

In Friday’s International Herald Tribune, Patricia Wells was still writing from the south, specifically from St Jean de Luz where she loved Chez Dominique in Ciboure and Le Kaiku in St Jean itself.

Saturday, September 4th, Francois Simon et al wrote six pieces in Le Figaro, all for only 1 E, all of which were interesting. Starting from the top left is what seems to be a tradition after two years, an extended “Croque Notes”-type piece entitled “Good (and bad) New Stuff upon Returning to Paris,” aka “chef changes.” The picture accompanying it is either intentionally malicious or unintentionally vicious, it’s of Gilles Epie’s model-wife, wife-model, {whatever,} Elisabeth, posing as if for her “close-up – Mister DeMille.” Anyway, the news {much of which you already know} follows: Paris still rules?, even in the face of what’s going on in Tokyo, Las Vegas, New York, Toulouse, Nantes, Vichy, etc; Alain Ducasse, after opening his Benoit in Tokyo, redoes the same-named 1912 classic here; Alain Senderens turns Lucas Carton into a 100-120 E starless bargain; Gilles Epie {yet again, more later} opens his own place – Citrus Etoile with his ex-Elite spouse; restos are going Italian in order to stay alive, vide Laurent after Gerard Faucher’s death; Pierre Gagniere redoes Gaya Rive Gauche {which I’ve heard reopened this week}; Antoine Westerman might revive Drouant {can it be so?, my French must be worse than I thought}; maybe a good Autumn place is Maxan [sic], sited in the old Poele d’Or space {all this stuff and the coordinates are at their site} where the new ex-Dutournier trained chef Laurent Zajac seems to have replaced the prior ex-Ducasse trained chef Alain Bourgade {for unannounced reasons}; maybe also the real surprise is Fauchon’s hiring Fumiko {one name - like Christo, Prince, Barbara and Cher; about which there’s more later}, an inventive woman-chef who held private dinners that captivated le tout Paris; also notable is the move of Amici Mei to 44, rue Saint Sabin in the 11th, 01.42.71.82.62, and Fogon to 45, quai des Grands-Augustins in the 6th; Albert Corre has ceded his post at Pergolese, renamed Gaboriau, to an unnamed chef from Lyon who won the best worker in France award; Jean-Francois Rouquette moved from Les Muses at the Scribe to the Hyatt Vendome; Christophe David has gone to the Park Hyatt in Chicago to be replaced by Sandro Gamba of the Chateau de Lignan in Baumaniere; Claude Colliot, who “unjustly” {must be a story there} left La Bamboche, has returned to Iguane, Hotel Quality Suites in Merignac; Arnaud and Veronique Daguin opened a hotel-resto Hegia in the Basque country; and {whew!} ex-Ducasse chef, Pascal Bardet, has settled at the Grand Hotel des Ambassadeurs in Menton. Simon concludes on an upbeat note; saying French cooking is changing and the new generation has arrived.

New paragraph - same page. Top right, Francois Simon poses three tough questions to {yet again} Gilles Epie, who this week opened Citrus Etoile, in an article entitled “I don’t spit in the soup.” First, how come he’s been at three restos in the past 18 months? Ans: I’m now back from the US to run my own place; I just wanted to make a lot of money in Las Vegas. Second, some/most of your menu looks the same? {I assume as at Miravile, Petite Cour + Les Pavillion des Princes}. Ans: Not at all, everything’s different; it’s got Californian verve and an Asian touch. Third, are you finished with the star-quest? Ans: I’ll take what I get, “I don’t spit in the soup.” Next, a thermostat with 4 points on the 0-10 scale; 8 Cinq Mars (coordinates given before), for a great place that hits the nail on the head; 6 Food Costes is making 4 sauces for your tartare or pasta (purchasable from Colette, Galerie Lafayette or Bon Marche); 3 Heineken has opened {after much advanced notice} its 3-floor beer palace at 65, av des Champs-Elysees, 01.42.56.88.88 {see my post next week for my first impression}; and 1 R’Aliment has closed on rue Charlot and will become an Italian restaurant. Bottom left are some very strange photos and blurbs on the “Top 5” {I assume chefs of the Rentree?} featured above - Alain Senderens’ is a bit too jokey (lobster over shoulder), Pierre Gagniere’s smiling but what’re you going to do with that mug?, Claude Colliot is “Rodinish Thinker-like,” and Arnaud Daguin’s off-kilter. Only Fumiko’s is straight and attractive. Then comes Francois Simon’s real “Croque Notes,” wherein he mourns the loss of Thomas Zorn, Swiss gastronome, author and apparently wonderful host and the retirement of Alain Loiseau, sommelier of Ledoyen, singular for his sweetness – the very antithesis of the martial, in-your-face type. Finally the product of the moment – mirabelles, which need only a little Serrano ham, no sugar please.

Topping off or ending the week was the usual article in the JDD featuring a prominent chef’s personal affordable favorites; in this case it was Jean-Andre Charial of L’Oustau de Baumaniere in Les Baux de Provence who expressed fondness for Pinxo + Chez Liza, whose Lebanese resto is in the 2nd. In addition, Astrid de T’Serclaes wrote that about the rebirth of an old company cantine into a hip Cantine du Faubourg, 105 rue du Faubourg St Honore in the 1st, no telephone or opening/closing days listed, formula = 45E.

In an interview about this week’s New Yorker food issue, where he wrote “about chefs in London and Paris who are taking food to the extremes,” Adam Gopnik, points to Alain Passard’s “innovation in elevating vegetables to star status as well as Pierre Gagniere + Guy Martin’s “sublime cooking, at once sincere and full of artifice…”

Felice gave me a copy of Nouvel Obs with the names of the restos in Paris run by the young chefs she mentioned in her thread, which I’ll pass on to you this week. They were: Angl’Opera, Aux Lyonnais, Mon Vieil Ami, Le Pre Verre, Le Comptoir du Relais, Ze Kitchen Galerie, Chez l’Ami Jean, Le Bristol, La Muse Vin, Le Temps au Temps, Le Bistrot Paul-Bert, l’Avant-Gout, l’Ourcine, La Cerisaie, La Regalade, l’Ami Marcel, Banyan, + Le Beurre Noisette.

This month’s Omnivore (#19) also arrived and not surprisingly, because of the overlap of food writers between it and the selectors of the chefs/restos above, featured an article on a reunion of the “Generation C” folk earlier this summer - William Ledeuil, Gilles Choukroun, David Zuddas, Lionel Levy, Eric Guerin, and Flora Mikula - discussing “Generation C”. Also highlighted was the third part of an interview with food historian/Professor at Paris 1, Pascal Ory (“L'histoire culturelle de la France contemporaine : question et questionnement") and several in depth looks at chefs and their collaborator/wives -- Jacques Decoret, Veronique and Arnaud Daguin, Lionel Levy, Eric Guerin and Julie and Laurent Trochain (who are moving to an eponymous resto in the Yvelines at 3, rue du General de Gaulle, 78490, Le Tremblay sur Mauldre, sort of North and midway between Versailles and Rambouillet, 01.34.87.80.96).

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Edited September 7, 2005 by John Talbott (log)

[John Talbott]

The Week of September 5th, 2005

Monday-Tuesday, A Nous Paris had an enthusiastic piece by Jerome Berger on Nicolas Vernier, chef for two years at the Caffe Minotti suggesting he merited a Michelin star.

Wednesday, Figaroscope reappeared and Emmanuel Rubin awarded two hearts each to Gilles Epie’s Citrus Etoile, 6, rue Arsene-Houssaye in the 8th, 01.42.89.15.51, closed Saturday lunch and Sunday, serving eel, marinated cod and chocolate soufflé, running about 50-60 E a la carte and the Café des Musees, 49, rue de Turenne in the 3rd, 01.42.72.96.17, open every day, running you about 30-35 E, serving homemade rabbit terrine, sautéed girolles, sautéed too-thick veal liver and sautéed squid. A broken heart went to one traditional French place – A l’Ecole, 21, rue Brochant in the 17th and one heart to the Chinese place Shanghai Café in the 6th and a burger haven Charlie Birdy in the 8th. {Editor’s Note: It is intriguing that after all the hype Le Figaro has given Gilles Epie, his elegant resto, Citrus Etoile, got the same marks as a good but not great bistro, the Café des Musees, and on page 2 in the boxes labeled – Run there! and Go there! – the places they list respectively are Chez Omar + le Café des Musees.}

Figaroscope’s Dossier covered eating and drinking for around 10 Euros. On their list were:

Chartier for a dish, cheese and ¼ wine

Le Musee du Fumeur for two eggs

Les Craneuses for a plate of coldcuts and glass of wine

Le Delicabar for a mixed salad

Le Pot au Lait for a crepes formula

Le Bar a Soupes for a soup formula

l’Ecume Saint-Honore for six oysters and a glass of Muscadet

Chez Omar for a veggie couscous

Matsuri Sushi for a sushi platter

l’Imperial Choisy for ravioli soup and beer

Angi’s for a feijoada (the Brazilian national dish)

Da Rosa for a plate of tapas

Positano for a pizza

l’Enoteca for a plate of pasta

Pooja for an Indian “menu”

Chez Ying for a Chinese “menu”

Restaurant de Bourgogne for a worker’s “menu”

l’Altitude 95 for a children’s “menu”

Hippopotamus for a main and a drink

Café Lenotre for a “long drink”

Other bargains are to be found at au Souffle, Pomze, Bioboa, Market, Laduree, Pleine Mer, Lavinia, le Foyer de la Madeleine, + Bistrot Paul Bert.

Assigned to write about places with 10 E meals, a task he makes some fun of, Francois Simon wrote up, in his “Hache Menu,” the Korean place Ossek in the 11th, where he ate for 29E.

Wednesday, as well, Sebastien Demorand of Zurban, devoted his main space to La Cave est Restaurant, 45, rue de Paris in Montreuil (Metro=Croix de Chavaux), 01.42. 87.09.48, closed Saturday noon and Sundays, which is a “two-fer,” a wine shop and resto, where, in addition to the fine wines, there are dishes such as spanish coldcuts, a carpaccio of fresh salmon, a magret, and good desserts for about 28 E, a la carte, {EN for my take on it, please see my September 2005 New Resto post.} His secondary reviews are a bit less grabbing: the reborn, beautiful Hôtel du Nord, 102, quai de Jemappes in the 10th {you know, from the film of the same name, except it was shot in a studio}, 01.40.40.78.78, open everyday, a la carte 35-40 E for a not very good asparagus “cappuccino,” magret with ginger-honey sauce, etc; the equally “nostalgic,” but of the May, 1968 era, Pub Saint-Germain, 17, rue de l’Ancienne Comédie in the 6th, 01.55.81.13.13, open 24/24 everyday, costing 30-40 E depending on what you pick, serving tuna tartare with ginger-wasabi and calamari with tartare sauce as bad as in bad Italian places, despite being chef’d by an ex-Robuchon guy; and a place for Bobos to have pasta and antipasti in a very toned-up epicerie for 15-20 E – the Cantina Rossa, 3, rue Antoine Vollon in the 12th, 01.40.19.07.79, closed Sunday afternoon following lunch.

Thursday, the free weekly ParisVendu had reviews of brunch places, including: Scoop, Cinnamon, l’Infinithé , Le Repere. B. Tea’s, + La fée verte not forgetting Kong, La Ferme, Findi, Cuba Compagnie + Le Troubadour Coffee House. They also announced the reopening of three places in BHV: Ma Cantine, Le Self + Au Comptoir. They also consider La Cafetiere, 21 rue Mazarine in the 6th {my take is here}.

Saturday, in the Le Monde 2 magazine, JP Gene wrote a tribute to Frederic Anton (ex-Robuchon 2nd) on his continuing success at the two-star Pre Catelan, route de Suresnes in the Bois in the 16th, 01.44.14.41.14, count on 300 E for 2 (lunch menu = 70 E) for fare such as crackling langoustines, turbot with watercress “pesto” or St-Pierre meuniere.

Saturday, as well, Le Figaro published another marathon of articles. Most restaurant-food related was Francois Simon’s “Croque Notes” tribute to Mimie Mathy’s cooking at La Grange Bateliere, 16, rue de la Grange-Bateliere in the 9th, 01.57.08.55.19. Then there was what was the second week for the “Thermostat” giving 8/10 to Les Glazicks 22 km from Douarnenez, 7/10 to the new hotel Costes, 6/10 to the new guide of new restaurants (20 in Paris, 150 outside) by the Omnivore team, and 1/10 to the new post-El Bulli tradition of an hour’s worth of amuse-bouches. The big spread was on the new emphasis on restaurant décor exemplified by their “Top 5:” Cordellian Bages near Bordeaux, Sketch in London and Le Georges, Cristal Room + hotel Murano in Paris. The product of the week article – “Zeste” - focused on tomatoes. Finally, there was an article on the 2006 wine guides by Laure Gasparotto, whose descriptors are given with each: Powerful – Hachette, Mythic – Parker, Refined – Fleurus, Mouth-watering – Guide des vins du monde entire, Delicacies – Solar des vins bio, Rustic – GaultMillau, Frank – 1001 meilleurs vins a moins de 8 euros, Constant – Dussert-Gerber. I recall that last year someone was interested in the game hunting schedule – this year it is here.

In the August Where, Alexander Lobrano suggested five sources from whom one could order a good picnic 24-hours in advance: Marc Veyrat, l’Os a Moelle, Les Vivres, l’Avant Gout + Chez Michel. He also was enthusiastic about two foreign places, serving Lebanese and Chinese seafood respectively: Le Pavillion Noura + Zen Garden. He also suggested the following outdoor eateries: Auberge de Bonheur, Barlotii, Beauvilliers, Le Bistrot de Breteuil, Le Bristol, Café Lenotre, Café Marly, La Cagouille, Le Chalet des Iles, Cour Jardin, Flora Danica, La Fontaine de Mars, La Gare, Georges, Le Grand Bleu, Le Grande Cascade, Hotel Ritz, Jardin Plein Ciel, Laurent, La Maison de l’Americique Latine, La Mediterranee, La Petite Cour, La Terrasse Fleurie, La Terrasse du Jardin, Pre Catalan, Le Quai, River Café, Ziryab. Vivian Thomas also had an article on guinguettes, listing: Chez Gegene, Le Petit Robinson, la Guinguette de Neuilly, Maison Fournaise, la Guinguette a Roland aka le Moulin Vert, + la Guinguette de l’Ile du Martin-Pecheur. In September’s Where, M. Lobrano gave two places for “Yankee-style” breakfasts: Breakfast in America + Les Ambassadors. He also suggests two new ethic places, Lebanese and Korean respectively: Liza + Samiin as well as three places, all of which have undergone some changes in décor or chefs or both and are reviewed most positively, for seafood: La Maree, Cap Vernet + Gaya Rive Gauche. In addition, he recommends two established bistrots, the first with “good bistro grub,” the second more contemporary: La Gitane + Le Beurre Noisette. Finally, Barbara Oudiz has an article on Steven Kaplan, Professor at Cornell and French-bread expert on five of his favorites in Paris: Le Boulanger de Monge, Maison Kayser, Jean-Noel Julien, Le Quartier du Pain + Phillipe Gosselin.

For persons interested in the history, etc., of guinguettes, Paris Notes noted that the Musee du Vin Rue des Eaux – 5, square Dickens in the 16th, has an exhibition on the subject until November 30th.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Edited twice by John Talbott to correct errors - one that the web version of Figaroscope gave a broken heart to A l'Ecole, which is correct, rather than the one heart that I originally reported from the print version.

Edited September 15, 2005 by John Talbott (log)

[John Talbott]

The Week of September 12th, 2005

Monday in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp had two reviews of restaurants chef’d by two persons who’ve been recognized by the prestigious award “best workers in France;” one very established and one very new. The former was of Pre Catalan in the Bois de Boulogne (coordinates given last week), chef’d by Fréderic Anton, which is open for lunch on Sundays from May to October and closed Sunday night and Mondays, with a seasonal menu at 135, the house one at 175 and business lunch at 60 E. She had the same langoustine amuse-bouche as was described last week, and describes the extensive menu from the Os à moelle to the fish and meat as well as the brie and desserts. The second place is Maxan, 37 rue de Miromesnil in the 8th, 01.42.65.78.60, daily menu 30E, chef’d by Laurent Zajac (ex-Carré des Feuillants, Maison Blanche + Gilles Epié as well as the Trois Marches in Versailles); again she gives all the variety of dishes on the menu without specifying what she had.

Monday/Tuesday, Jerome Berger of A Nous Paris featured two places it seems everyone is hitting this month. The first, which got 4/5 blocks, is Maxan, in the former space of La Poele d’Or, named for the two children, Maxime and Andrea, of talented ex-Les Trois Marches in Versailles chef Laurent Zajac is at 37, rue de Miromesnil in the 8th, 01.42.65.78.60, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, formula = 30, a la carte 42-61 E for a tartare of lisettes in curry, shoulder of lamb and an “extra-bitter” [sic] chocolate cake. He loved it and went twice since the rentree. The second place is the 3/5 blocks, Japanese-run wine bar/resto Vino’s, 29, rue d’Argenteuil in the 1st, 01.42.97.52.43, closed at lunch and dinner starting at 6:30 PM with a 30 E menu and 7-20 E a la carte, offering a wine list of 200 wines with a range of 38-6500 Euros {not francs my friends}, to go with your platter of ham, cold-cuts, anchovies, etc. I couldn’t read the notices called “A suivre” on the left of the page but my colleague Felice sent me this dispatch - “the first….is about the fooding event at Andy Wahloo…tonight {September 19th}.….tapas a l'agneau prepared by Mon Vieil Ami, with a cabernet-d'anjou as the wine….info on www.lefooding.com......the second bit is about a new collection of cookies and macaroons at…Bon Marché designed by various designers including Marc Jacobs with a pair of madarine and ginger blue escarpin…cookies and a "passion/safran" bag designed by Vanessa Bruno.”

Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand of Zurban, gave his big review to a neighborhood but upscale troquet/bistrot, Marmite Bazar, 14, rue Bochart de Saron in the 9th, 01.48.78.51.47, closed Sunday nights and Monday, formula at lunch 15, a la carte 30 E, where the food is good despite a banal-looking menu, he liked, in addition to the wide range of wines, the big fricassee of mussels with tumeric, “cigarettes” of farm goat cheese, magret with onion compote and a prune clafoutis. His other three reviews were not mainstream French: a banal Italian place, Romain in the 9th; a Polish resto Green Point in the 20th; and an overpriced French wine bar, with OK but equally pricey French food run by a Japanese crew, called Vino’s, 29, rue d’Argenteuil in the 1st, 01.42.97.52.43, dinner only, closed Sundays, menus running 35-55 E.

Once again Emmanuel Rubin’s “C’est Nouveau” in Figaroscope gives the photo and header to a lesser-rated place than one that is listed below. {Ed Note: I suspect it’s because it’s more interesting than the other two or the three hearter.} It is Le Petit Verdot, 75, rue du Cherche-Midi in the 6th, 01.42.22.38.27, closed Sundays and Mondays, run by the ex maitre d’ at Hiramatsu, serving 1970’s cuisine like escargots, rabbit kidneys and iced Grand Marnier soufflé, for about 35 E. {For my take on it see here.} Three-hearts went to a quite pricey (80-100E, menu 60) Japanese place AiDA in the 7th; two hearts to the Savoy-relinquished, redone, rechef’d Cap Vernet, 82, ave Marceau in the 8th, 01.47.20.20.40, closed Saturday lunch and Sunday, serving carpaccio of wild bar, sole and line caught bar, for about 50-60E; two hearts to the Chinese-Japanese Ebis in the 1st; and one heart to the Corsican-influenced La Casa, 23, rue de Poitou in the 3rd, 01.42.72.16.37, closed Sundays, costing 20 E, formula at 14E.

This week’s “Dossier” is a bit strange: 15 dishes that are yucky to some (eg sour, gelatinous, chemical) and that the Brussels folks might object to. They include:

Raw steak tartare at Au Galvach

Acidic tamarin shrimp at Cielito Lindo

Fatty country bacon at La Bastide Odeon

Crackling molting crab atl’Imperial Choisy

Buttery kouign-amman at Chez Michel

Sour n’dole at le Balafon

Gelatinous veal’s head at le Vaudeville

Spicy papaya salad at Paradais Thai

Sweet oriental pastries at La Bague de Kenza

Chemical Malabar ice-cream at le Spoon

And also:

Too black squid in ink at l’Ami Jean

Too boney pig’s feet at Pied de Cochon

Too slimy gumbo at le Balafon + le Village

Too bland veal’s foot at Cartet

Too salty cod at le Vasco de Gama

Too smelly Northern cheeses at Montparnasse 25 at the Meridien

Francois Simon, not to be outyucked in his “Hache Menu,”, although he was part of the tasting team for the “Dossier,” went to Green Point, coordinates given above by Demorand, which because of my rule on foreign restos, I’ll not digest, but will rather encourage Simon-fans to amuse themselves with the Simonisms within.

Thursday/Friday, Jean-Claude Ribaut in Le Monde revealed that the Hotel Westminster converted one of the Celadon’s alcoves and made it into the “so british” [sic] Duke’s Bar, 123, rue de la Paix in the 2nd, 01.42.61.55.11 open every day with seasonal starters such as rillettes of rabbit, soups of veggies and onion, grilled tuna, bar, sole, lamb and beef; formula at lunch = 32 E with wine and coffee included, 50 E a la carte. His second review was of Gaya, 44, rue du Bac in the 7th, 01.45.44.73.73, closed Sundays, with classic seafood such as grilled sole as well as Herve This-influenced ones, such as his oyster recipe, plat du jour = 23, a la carte 55. The third review is of Joel Robuchon’s post-rentree “Club” menu (starter, fish or meat, cheese, dessert, coffee and a ½ bottle of wine for 55E) at La Table de…., 16, avenue Bugeaud in the 16th, 01.56.28.16.16, open everyday – the choices are quite interesting sounding, e.g., sautéed girolles with apricot jam and slices of ham, calamari with tastes of paella, and a “pseudo-bouillabaisse” (whose ingredients sound like the real thing to me).

Jean-Luc Petitrenaud, in this week’s L’Express reviewed Citrus Etoile, coordinates given above, calling him melodious and talented, serving classics like thickly-sliced smoked salmon on potatoes like herring, shrimp and mushrooms with herbs and a chocolate soufflé.

Gilles Pudlowski is back in Le Point, which for the petty-minded, is now hitting the stands on Thursdays rather than Tuesdays. The Paris restos he covered this week were: Anacreon, 53, bd Saint-Marcel in the 13th, 01.43.31.71.18, where Christophe Accai has taken over from André Le Letty, with menus at 20 (lunch) and 32 E, featuring snails with parsley mousse, oysters in a seawater jelly and pink pigeon; the R Café, 6, rue Chauveau-Lagarde in the 8th, 01.44.71.20.85, menu = 38 E serving artichoke hearts with goat cheese, cod-stuffed (actually brandade) peppers and cod (actually cabillaud) with asparagus; Au Vieux Chêne, 7, rue du Dahomey in the 11th {a favorite of mine}, 01.43.71.67.69 with menus at 13 for lunch and 29 E at dinner, serving mushroom soup, poached egg on a bed of spinach and cod in a soy sauce; Les Racines, 22, rue Monsieur-le-Prince in the 6th, 01.43.26.03.86, where Jean-François Debert, ex-Maître Paul has created a “true neighborhood corner bistrot” next door, serving a flan of cepes, a terrine of wild boar and veal’s head for about 35 E. Then comes what can only be called a very, very long love letter {Ed Note: and in my opinion, totally off base for a critic who while accepting free meals and going cognito, is so astute} to the seductive {a word he uses three times} Princesse Hélène Darroze, coordinates in the guidebooks. I’ll let you read it and the prior reviews in their full version.

Time Out Paris this week/month is featuring Auguste + Senso, both amply covered in past Digests, calling the former “well-behaved cuisine” and the latter “refreshing” and “summery.”

Alexander Lobrano wrote an article entitled “New Recipes” in the travel magazine FranceGuide2005 with a section sub-titled “Paris’s Buzzing Bistros” in which he highlights l’Ourcine + Les Ormes, as well as places outside Paris, including: Le Chapon Fin in Bordeaux, Restaurant Jean-Luc Arnaud in Gers, La Chamade in Morzine and Les Plantagenets in Angers.

Colman Andrews wrote an appreciation of Chantal Chagny’s one-star l’Auberge du Cep in Fleurie {not to be confused with the three-star Lameloise in the town of Chagny} in the October US Saveur (always posted later on their site), calling it real Beaujolian French country cooking and noting that her talk with the pooh-bah’s at the Michelin about her move from haute cuisine to country cooking preceded Senderens et al’s by many years.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Edited October 10, 2005 by John Talbott (log)

[John Talbott]

The Week of September 19th, 2005

Margaret Kemp, in this Sunday/Monday’s Bonjour Paris, talks of the Auberge de Noves 2 km outside the city of the same name in Provence, 04.90.24.28.28, which she reveals has fallen from three stars in 1959-68 to one star now which she insists should be reinstated; they have six, four and three course meals, no prices given, but their website has a special offer of lunch or dinner at 99 E per person.

Wednesday, Colette Monsat and Emmanuel Rubin in Figaroscope’s Dossier entitled “Rentree” discuss “Suggestions for Autumn and Winter.” Top right is a picture of Ducasse, Senderens and Gagnaire and a lengthy blurb about the rentree being sweet and sour with good and bad new places. They say we’re between two generations of creators. And then comes a series of unrelated pieces {Ed Note: I’m not giving coordinates for many because they have or will be reviewed extensively}, to whit:

(1) an interview with Ducasse on his reopening with Thierry de la Brosse of Benoit, 20 rue St-Martin in the 4th, 01.42.72.25.76, and why he did it, his unchanged prices (lunch menu = 38 E) there, his far-flung empire, his feelings about this intergenerational gap (old star holders vs young bistrotiers) or lack of it, the importance of preserving haute cuisine to France (like haute couture), having a price range from 20 to 350 Euros and importing ideas from Asia, Senderens reduction from 400 to 100 Euros but equally going from turbot to sardines, what he’d answer folks who call him Citizen Kane, the Big Brother of Gastronomy – that he’s got a lot going on, and finally his favorite bookstores, cave Auge, and bistrots: l’Entredgeu, Beurre Noisette, l’Ami Jean, Ze Kitchen Galerie + le Soliel in St-Ouen reprised by a talented young chef,

(2) the opening of several branché branches:

Le Bound, by the Group George V (e.g. Buddha Bar)

Charlie Birdy, by the Group Bertrand (e.g. Impala)

Culture Biere, by Heineken

K1ze, by the Bodega team

La Gazzetta, by the China Club/Fumoir team,

(3) changes at la Table, le Bistrot, Le Café des Musees, La Gourmandine, l’Eugene, l’Entre-Nous, Cote 9e, la Boulangerie,

(4) a change in chefs at the Park Hyatt Vendome,

(5) changes in décor at Ventilo, La Villa Coloniale, Risi & Bisi, Royal Monceau, Cap Vernet, Caius, + Dalloyau at the Bastille,

(6) several “gadgets,” a tea salon in Galeries Lafayette run by Inaki, ex-La Famille, a 3 in 1(cantine/café/selfserve) at BHV, an Asiatic “dinette” run by Shanghai Tang at the Maison de la Chine, and an elegant cocktail bar called Aperitivo in Armani,

(7) the “death” of the Cafe des Delices, Safran, le Beige, R’Aliment, Tante Jeanne + Café Seraphin,

(8) the opening/reopening of three high class bistrots: Benoit, Gaya Rive-Gauche + Lucas-Carton,

(9) the opening/reopening of six “gastronomically correct” restos: Citrus Etoile, Café R, l’Auberge de la Ferrandaise, Pavillion des Prices, Maxan + Gaboriau,

(10) the Japanese influence at: Vino’s, Petit Verdot, Culinary Culture Club, Aida,

(11) the soon to happen opening/reopening of le Pavillion Baltard, La Table d’Hote respectively by Stephane Collaro and Caroll Sinclair,

(12) the much later opening/reopening of Le 123 + Steack & Lobster,

(13) the rumors of openings of a new trattoria by the team at les Cailloux, a second Taste Monde, del Burgo’s move to Jamin, Choukroun’s opening a Krug Room,

(14) and murmurs about restos in the two newest hotels: Fouguet’s (No); Un Amour (Yes; Westermann consultant).

(15) the return of the classroom style of décor at le Refrectoire + A l’Ecole,

(16) the emphasis on beef at: Meating, Titi Parisien, Boucherie Rouliere, Galvacher, Apicius, le Café du Commerce, Sebillon Elysees,

(17) the appearance of Korean places: Samiin + Ossek Garden,

(18) new places in the NE burbs: La Cave est Restaurant, Plate’s + Indigo Square,

(19) a big surprise during the December “Fooding Week,”

(20) and finally, changes/openings of several cosmopolitan, e.g. foreign places: Fogon, Ante Prima, Amici Miei + Marmite Bazar.

Francois Simon, picking up on the news of the opening of Gaya par Pierre Gagnaire, 44, rue du Bac in the 7th, 01.45.44.73.73, went there. His Hache Menu mentions his having enjoyed the 25 Euro pressed crab and the chantilly-pistache-roquette-Izarra-green apple structured dessert, but he didn’t think the “marriage” of ingredients in the 23 E plat de jour of ray, tuna and girolles worked, and the review, despite his “Should you go,” “Surely,” was not 100% ecstatic. His total was 154.70 E for two {EN: my bill was considerably less and I was considerably more enthusiastic}.

Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand of Zurban, gave his big review to the Japanese restaurant Aida in the 7th. His “Casseroles” covered the Heineken beer palace Culture Bière, 65, avenue des Champs-Elysées in the 8th, 01.42.56.88.88, open everyday, lunch formula = 24, a la carte 20-30 E, but for quite awful food {for my “view” of the place check it out here;} a “trendy-healthy” (that is, if you’re under the spell of the nutritionist-endocrinologist bunch) take-away snack place run by the chefs at Dauphin, with the unfortunate name of Eatme, 38, rue Léopold-Bellan in the 2nd, 01.42.36.18.28, closed Saturdays and Sundays, open only til 7 PM, formula at 12.50 E, a la carte 15-20 E; and the Japanese-French wine bar-resto, Le Petit Verdot, 75, rue du Cherche-Midi in the 6th, 01.42.22.38.27, closed Sundays and Mondays, where he spotted one wine for 500 E and the food cost 20-25 E (menus at lunch) and 38 E al la carte for classic stuff like the duck terrine, thick Lyon sausage, rabbit kidneys and crème brulee which he really liked; for my take see here.

Thursday, in the IHT, Jacqueline Friedrich wrote an article entitled “Paris wine bars thinking ‘petit’” in which she discusses (1) how Marcel Richaud, who brought Southern Rhone (Cote du Rhone) wine to Paris wine bars’ name is all over, (2) how bistrots have changed their wine ordering in twenty years from the big houses to little ones, (3) where to sample these wines: Lavinia, Le Verre Vole, Les Papilles, le Café de la Nouvelle Mairie + Les Enfants Rouges, (4) the popularity of wine made from “weird” grapes, sweet white, Muscadet, Cheverny and unfiltered “natural” bio wines, and (5) much too much else to summarize.

Thursday/Friday, Jean-Claude Ribaut in Le Monde’s “Toques en Pointe,” covers only two bistrots: l’Oenotheque, 420, rue Saint-Lazare in the 9th, 01.48.78.08.76, closed Saturdays and Sundays, which has a new lunch formula at 20 E (for a tomato and goat cheese salad and pork ribs), a la carte 35 E (for things like terrines, crayfish, lightly smoked salmon, veal kidneys, cutlet and veggies, chocolate and fruit; and le Bistrot de l’Etoile, 475, avenue Niel in the 17th, 01.42.27.88.44, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, lunch formula = 26, dinner menu-carte = 39, for terrines, little snails with potatoes, and different daily specials (M-S = parmentier of duck, veal kidneys, ray with capers, farm chicken, sole, lamb shoulder) and always their famous fondant of chocolate.

Friday, Vincent Noce of Libe in an article entitled “The sacred sardines of Senderens,” reviewed Alain Senderens reopened, revised, reduced resto (not a bistrot) now called Senderens, 9, place de la Madeleine in the 8th, 01.42.65.22.90, open 7/7, count on 50-100 E a la carte (he suggests 65 E plus wine) for everything from extravagant sushi at the bar from noon til 2 AM, to sardines with the taste of gazpacho, salmon with Thai spices and curried lamb. He says Senderens won his gamble and it’s a great success; mixing the exotic with fine cooking, and jeans with three stars. Catching up on a review I missed in early September, Noce also went to Yves Cambdeborde’s Le Comptoir, coordinates given before. He relates his 40E dinner of iced crustaceans, foie gras with ratte potato, Salers’ tournedos and baba. He went back for lunch and also liked his braised beef cheeks.

Friday’s IHT had an article by Mary Blume entitled “The French Table: Theater of the absurd,” for a discussion of which I’ll refer you to this thread.

François Simon, Alexandra Michot and Emmanuelle Maisonneuve have an article in Madame Figaro called “Brasseries, why so lazy ?” They critique the sorry state of french fries at Vaudeville, the disappointing dishes at la Lorraine, the grumpy service at Lipp, the mummified chicken at Balzar and the lifeless food at Zeyer. They state that brasseries “ain’t what they used to be,” but can produce poetic dishes, such as the roast chicken at Lipp, peppy polite waiters at Vagenende, Balzar, la Rotonde Montparnasse, + l'Alcazar, the amazing dishes and true wine list at Chez Flottes. But, for the most part, they’re just reheating frozen dishes rather than serving simple good stuff like spreads of crustaceans, choucroute and generous desserts. Until they rejuvenate, the authors say, we’ll take refuge in the bistrots. The coordinates for the above-mentioned as well as others, such as the Closerie des Lilas, Rotonde, Select, Au Bœuf Couronné, Grand Colbert, Fermette Marbeuf 1900, Coupole, Flo, Lutetia, Terminus Nord, Rotonde de la Muette, Arbuci, Grandes Marches, Bœuf sur le toit,. Jenny, Bofinger, Julien, Poste, Wepler +Européen can be found here.

Sunday in the NYT there were two articles of interest to us. The first by Alice Feiring was entitled A “Bevy of Wine Bars Go au Naturel” and mentions several wine bars in Paris serving natural, organic, bio, unfiltered, etc., wines. The food discussed includes saucisson at La Cremerie Caves Miard, 9, rue des Quatre-Vents in the 6th, 01.43.54.99.30; “comfort-style food” like cod steak with peppercorns plus another course for $15 at noon and $19 at night at Autour d'un Verre, 21, rue de Trévise in the 9th, 01.48.24.43.74; and marinated sardines at Le Baratin, 3, rue Jouye-Rouve in the 20th, 01.43.49.39.70. La Muse Vin, 101, rue de Charonne, in the 11th, 01.40.09.93.05, gets the photo op but no description of the food. The second article by Bill Pennington, concerns Courchevel, and mentions three places: Le Petit Savoyard, Le Cap Horn + Le Chabichou. I also missed reporting the article in the September 4th New York Times on Nice by Seth Sherwood in which he mentioned the following restaurants : Parcours Live, Kei's Passion, + Jouni.

Expatica had an article by Joel Ray on gastro-bistrots, defined as “Michelin star-worthy food at affordable prices and in a warm bistro,” that gives the history of places such as Le Regalade, Chez Michel, Le Beurre Noisette and L'Os à Moelle, even stretching the definition to include the upscale but toned down Alain Senderens.

Gilles Pudlowski in this week’s Le Point has several reviews of places others covered this or last week, in several categories. “To follow” he lists Le Petit Verdot, 75, rue du Cherche-Midi in the 6th, 01.42.22.38.27, lunch menu = 20 E, dinner 30, where he had a terrine maison, warm sausage, the rabbit stew and a steak au poivre. “In good shape,” he mentions Gaya par Gagnaire, coordinates above, where he too mentions the pressed crab, jelly of crustaceans, and ray. He also says Citrus Etoile, 6, rue Arsène-Houssaye in the 8th, 01.42.89.15.51, a la carte about 60 E for thick salmon like herring, eel stuffed with tabouli, veal liver a la vapeur and eggs in snow. “In trouble,” however, is the Lebanese place – Liza.

I just stumbled on the most amusing “Duel” in VSD magazine, undated but in 2005, on the subject “Does a restaurant critic have to finish his food?” between top critics Jean-Luc Petitrenaud and Gilles Pudlowski – J-L P saying “Yes, but not if you’re testing/tasting 25 plates;” GP saying “You have to save room in your brain to judge stuff.” Their styles are different too: GP describes himself as a food critic not a food chronicler; J-L P says he’s not a soldier headed for war, he’ll let others risk their teeth on the new restaurants (both clearly comparing themselves to each other). When asked by the arbitrator to compare Robuchon, Ducasse and Veyrat; GP said “Robuchon is the Academie Francaise, Ducasse the King of Marketing and Veyrat the Comedie Francaise.”

The service RestoaParis has listed several new places recommended by its readers, some of which are foreign and most of which have not been reviewed by the usual critics (except La Boulangerie), so I will not certify to their newness nor goodness. They were : Les Associes, Pascaline, Envies d’Ici et d’Ailleurs, L’Essentiel, Houara Lounge, Le Coupe-Chou, La Boulangerie, La Spezia + Le Mandarin des Pyrenees.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Edited September 27, 2005 by John Talbott (log)

[John Talbott]

The Week of September 26th, 2005

In an article in Figaro Madame entitled “A la recherche du croissant perdu,” Alexandra Michot and François Simon with Alexandra Bardini and Emmanuelle Maisonneuve tested forty boulangeries in Paris, coming up with a long list of good ones. The authors criticize the number of croissants they tried that were under or uncooked which their consultants, Yves Camdeborde and Christophe Felder, respectively, attributed to the ovens used and quality and use of products. An accompanying piece by Emmanuelle Maisonneuve suggested how to tell the difference and is of such length that I’ll let you read it.

Margaret Kemp, in this Sunday/Monday’s Bonjour Paris,wrote about two hot new restaurants; Gaya par Pierre Gagnaire, 44 rue du Bac in the 7th, 01.45.44.73.73, closed Sundays, with a plat du jour = 23€ and fresh fish of all sorts; and Senderens, 9, place de la Madeleine in the 8th, 01.42.65.22.90, with reduced prices but interesting sounding food.

Monday in “A Nous Paris,” courtesy of eGullet member Felice, a whole lot of wine bars were listed and their food and wine offerings discussed but no blocks were awarded. They were: Vino’s in a “private club setting, La Cremerie – Caves Miard natural wines in a 1880 Cremerie, Le Calmont with coldcuts and cheese from Aveyron as well as many other dishes, Le Griffonnier with the usual platters plus a salad of pot au feu, Le J’Go known for its lamb in many fashions, which is a hangout for the Drouot folk who want some wine between courses, Melac which features beef with carrots - and then they simply list with coordinates, four more wine bars in the “A Suivre” right column: Le Vin Sabre, Couleurs de Vigne, Le Sancerre + Le Baratin. In addition, they announce the opening of À l’Ecole, {at school, got it?}, 21 rue Brochant in the 17th, 01.53.11.02.25, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays with a formula at 18.50, menu 22.10 and a la carte about 35€, which they {Ed Note: alone I might add} herald as a “good return to Paris” but don’t rate (eg they give no blocks).

Wednesday in Zurban Sebastien Demorand devoted his main space to the ever-popular Spanish place, Fogon, which has just moved to new quarters at 45, quai des Grands-Augustins in the 6th, 01.43.54.31.33. His “Casseroles” section comprised: a new, nice, neighborhood bistro Le Polichinelle, 66, rue de Charonne in the 11th, 01.58.30.63.52, open everyday, with a carte running 28-32€ and serving crisp crab wonton, a complicated japanesey-sounding vegetable dish, place fish and an apricot/pink champagne dessert; the renovated, returned, retro-looking and eating bistrot La Boulangerie, 15 rue des Panoyaux in the 20th, 01.43.58.45.45, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays with a lunch formula at 13€ and menus at 16 and 28 €, serving a formidable terrine, magret with a sweet/salt sauce, and a good wine list {for my take see here}; and a bad joke of a restaurant modeled on a school-room, À l’École, coordinates above, serving salmon with potatoes and horseradish, magret with ginger and honey sauce and a pastille of chicken with thyme and sage.

And in Figaroscope, {surprise} ”C’est nouveau” featured Fogon, coordinates above.

Figaroscope’s “Dossier” listed places for about 30 Euros written by Colette Monsat, Dominique Couvreur, Gilles Dupuis, Francois Simon and Sylvain Verut. It gave them as: Le Café des Musees, Le Comptoir, Cinq Mars, Le Clos des Gourmands, Cafew Panique, Les Bombis, l’Alchimiste, l’Ourcine, l’Entredgeu + La Boulangerie.

In this vein, Francois Simon chose to go to Louvre Ripaille, 1, rue Perrault in the 1st, 01.42.97.49.91 where he had an expensive (due to price/quality ratio not the genuine cost) but bad meal for 50 €, plus a 29.50 € wine, although he says there are less pricey ones at the bar. {The photo of his bill shows 28 €, very strange.} Go? “Not except to the bar.”

Wednesday in the New York Times, Florence Fabricant revealed that Michel Bras, famously located in Laguiole, was putting his name on a line of Japanese kitchen knives made by Kai.

Thursday in l’Express Jean-Luc Petitrenaud reviewed the Restaurant du Trinquet d'Arcangues, in the town of the same name near Biarritz and the now quite long-standing Savoy-offshoot, La Butte Chaillot, 110 bis avenue Kléber in the 16th, 01 47 27 88 88, 32 Euros menu, calling it an enchanted resto.

Thursday in Le Point, Gilles Pudlowski write his usual brief reviews of several places: To follow: l’Auberge du Clou, 30, av. Trudaine in the 9th, 01.48.78.22.48, lunch menu = 13, other menu = 29 and a la carte about 40 E where he liked the tuna mi-cuit and lotte with crab sauce; Mémère Paulette, 3, rue Paul-Lelong in the 2nd, 01.40.26.12.36, menus at 13, 15 (lunch) and 18 E where he had the veal kidneys, onglet and bavette with a fine choice of wines; In good shape were two foreign places: the Spanish Fogon and Japanese Taïra and two places in Bordeaux - the New Chapon Fin + La Table de l'épicier , as wel as one in Caen - Le Pet’t B.

Friday in Les Echoes, the cyber-editors put together an article on restos that have opened/reopened/changed/etc for the rentrée. The ones that caught their eyes (coordinates if not given here can be found above) were: Gaya, par Pierre Gagnaire, where they liked the creamy white tuna, cuttlefish with ginger, vitello tonnato without veal, haddock & coques and the dessert everyone {including myself} has talked of; Senderens, whose new food has a touch of Asia in things like squid a la plancha, artichokes barigoule, cepes served three ways with a remarkable white Graves, lotte with mussels, lamb with curry or roasted; two bistrots – the Auvergnac La Ferrandaise, 8, rue de Vaugirard in the 6th, 01.43.26.36.36, closed Saturday lunch, Sundays and Mondays, formula at 23, a la carte 30-40 E for milk-fed veal, terrines, roast pigeon, filet of bass and excellent nougat and Le Petit Verdot serving sausage, snails with duxelles, sole meuniere, etc; a wine bar Vin Chai Moi, 33, rue de la Chine in the 20th, 01.40.33.48.01, closed Sunday nights, costing about 25-35 E for tartines, terrines variées, beef tartar with rocket salad, raviolis of beef cheeks in wine; and several foreign places – two Italian, Tre + Il Giramondo, two Spanish Cristina’s Tapas + Fogon, and one Japanese Aida. Jean-Louis Galesne in Les Echos last week, wrote a nice article on where to eat eel. He named the following in Paris: Elysées du Vernet, Pavillon Ledoyen, Nodaiwa, La Petite Sirène.

Sunday/Monday, Margaret Kemp of Bonjour Paris wrote up L’Atelier des Chefs, 10 rue Penthièvre in the 8th, 01.53.30.05.82, already featured in prior eGullet threads, which offers courses in cooking from 15 E.

In the October Paris Notes, Rosa Jackson revisited five of her favorites that still feature cheese courses in Paris Bites. They were: Astier, Les Fernandises, Graingorge, Chez Michel + Le Timbre.

I try to keep my eye on the site EatinParis and check their top 10 restos from time to time. If I’m not mistaken La Boulangerie see coordinates above, has just gotten on the list.

Writing in Figaro Madame, Francois Simon tells one how NOT to eat during fashion week(s) : to whit: arrive without a reservation, eat very early with the “tourists,” ignore the maitre d’, make like you’re a regular, and take any table.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of October 3rd, 2005

Monday in “A Nous Paris,” Philippe Toinard gave 3/5 blocks to Citrus, coordinates given already, and his only real complaint was a lack of coherence to the menu; meanwhile, his colleague, Jerome Berger, awarded 3/5 blocks to the Italian cantine Ante Prima in the 8th with an 18 E lunch menu.

Wednesday in Zurban, Sebastien Demorand devoted his main space to Gaya Rive Gauche, coordinates given previously, which he liked despite the strange dessert (chantilly-pistachio-rocket-Izarra-Granny Smiths); {my views are here}. His “Casserole” restaurants were the fish bistrot Le Bis de Severo, 16, rue des Plantes in the 14th, 01.40.44.73.09, closed Saturday night, Sundays and Monday lunch, costing about 30-35E, an offshoot of Severo in the 14th, a largely meat place, where he raves about the wine and some dishes (eg the tartare) but disparages others; the café-concert-bistro-winebar-you name it - Vin Chai Moi, 33, rue de la Chine in the 20th, 01.40.33.48.01, with lunch formulas at 10 and 12.80 E, Sunday brunch at 17 E and a la carte 25 E, serving everything from terrines to a nice entrecote with “world” wines; and the Italian resto of the week that “comes and goes” - Sole Caffe e Cucina in the 9th.

Figaroscope’s Emmanuel Rubin, in “C’est nouveau,” gave the picture, written opening and 3 hearts to Alain Senderens’ renamed Senderens, 9 place de la Madeleine in the 8th, 01.42.65.22.90, open everyday, running one about 70-90 E for cepes prepared three ways, sole, a pink macaron, etc; but also gave 3 hearts to Kodo, 29, rue du Bourg-Tibourg in the 4th, 01.42.74.45.25, closed Mondays, which he describes as a real revelation, serving a tartare of haricots verts, lamb and poached peach for about 45 E; 2 hearts to Bound, (one of the Barfly offshoots), 49-51 ave George V in the 8th, 01.53.67.84.67, open everyday serving shrimp cocktail, chili peppers and lemon tart for about 60E; and one heart each to the fastfood place in the 2nd - Eatme and Chez Corto, 47, rue Rodier in the 9th, 01.49.95.96.80, closed Sundays serving black sausage, veal stew and crème brulee for 35-40E. Due to computer problems, I did not relate last week’s “C’est nouveau” fully and while I noted that Ruben et al featured Fogon, awarding it 3 hearts, they also gave two hearts to three places: l’Ascot, 66 rue Pierre-Charron in the 8th, 01.43.59.28.15, open everyday, a “steak-house” running one about 35-40 E; a “pop concept-store cantine,” the Café Ventilo and a Chinese place, Chez Ly-Palace de Chine; plus one one-hearter – the Pavillion Baltard, 9, rue Coquilliere in the 1st, 01.42.36.22.00, open everyday, with a lunch formula at 15 and a la carte 35 E for hot sausage, cod and good andouillette.

In the “Dossier” of Figaroscope, they list a bunch of unusual places to eat:

In a school - Restaurant d’Application

In a cellar - Musee du Vin

In a garage - Pro Car + Auto Passion Café

In a kitchen - l’Atelier des Chefs

Without light - Dans le Noir

In a dispensary - La Pharmacie

In a private residence - Cristal Room Baccarat

In a jai-lai court - Le Trinquet

In a train - Wagon bleu

In a church - Le Foyer de la Madeleine

In a squat - La Generale and also: Footsie, Nodaiwa, Conservatoire Serge-Rachmaninov, Le Coin de Verre, Ken Club, Institut Vatel, Jules Verne, + Drole d’endroit pour une rencontre.

In the world of bizarre restos, Francois Simon chose to go to the Aviation Club de France, 104, Ave des Champs-Elysees in the 8th, 01.45.62.26.88, where it was very reasonably priced (37 E) for the “banal” food and two glasses of red wine.

The food of the moment per Figaroscope, is mushrooms.

Thursday, in l’Express, Jean-Luc Petitrenaud wrote up the Château de Codignat in Lezoux and an Italian restaurant Carpaccio in the 8th.

Thursday, as well, in Le Point, Gilles Pudlowski write his usual brief reviews, including: L'Océanide in Nantes, the Bis de Severo see above, chef’d by Makoto Shigeno, ex of the Crillon, who serves up fish straight from the Mother House; a bar-resto – Mathi’s, 3, rue de Ponthieu, in the 8th, 01.53.76.39.55, a la carte about 55 E with smoked salmon, bar and roast chicken; the best Indian resto in Paris Yugaraj in the 6th; J'Go, 4, rue Drouot in the 9th, 01.40.22.09.09, with menus at 15 (lunch) and 28 E, a la carte 40 mainly known for its Quercy lamb {J’Go = Gigot, right?}; and the man of the hour – Senderens, 8, place de la Madeleine in the 8th, 01.45.65.22.90, a la carte 80-120 E, serving a host of new and old dishes from Lucas-Carton, Archestrate + Apicius.

Thursday, Gerard Besson, per Figaro, declared that the game season was open, offering up partridge, deer and wild boar in a 145 E menu.

Friday in Les Echos, Jean Louis Galesne wrote of three places in Meudon (11 km from Paris) that he thinks deserve the trip: l’Escarbille, Chez Pierrot + le Relais des Gardes.

Saturday/Sunday in Le Figaro {which has tried to revamp its image and is now publishing almost four sections a day, in imitating the New York Times, I assume,} there is not only the “Croque Notes” of Francois Simon, that talks of the ability in Paris to find the resto of one’s memory – in this case {in my neighborhood of all places} the Paris Boheme, 181, rue Ordener in the 18th, 01.57.08.55.19 where he enjoyed the confit de canard, entrecote, tomatoes and lettuce and wines by the carafe, but also one of their number numbers – this the 10 chefs delivering the most spine-tingling food right now {my rough trans}: they are: Jean-Marc Boyer's le Puits du Tresor in Lastours, Fabien Lefebre and Olivier Bontemps' Octopus in Beziers, Olivier Bellin's l’Auberge des Glaziks in Plomodiern, Jacques Decoret in Vichy, Alexandre Gauthier's La Grenouillere in La Madeleine-sous-Montreuil, Alain Senderens, Pierre Gagnaire, Yves Camdeborde's Le Comptoir and Thierry Schwartz's le Bistrot des Saveurs in Obernai.

In addition, I reported incorrectly two weeks ago (Sept 17-18) that “François Simon, Alexandra Michot and Emmanuelle Maisonneuve had an article in Madame Figaro called ‘Brasseries, why so lazy ?’” but indeed it was in the Saturday/Sunday regular Figaro and also it listed the top five of 32 brasseries as: Chez Flottes, Closerie des Lilas, Alcazar, Rotonde + Select and Le Boeuf Couronne as another where the price-quality ratio was good. Finally, that week’s numbers game, the “Thermostat,” gave a 7/10 to the Clos des Sens in Annecy. Also, M. Simon’s “Croque Notes” complained about the “parade” of unrequested “freebies” nouvelle cuisine has encouraged, eg amuse-buches, mignardises, sashimis, etc, etc. He said one goes to eat the food one orders not those little plates placed in front of you unwanted.

Last week (Sept 25-26), Figaro not only published an article on croissants I mentioned in last week’s Digest, but rated 32 bakeries; tops were Julien, Pierre Herme, Paul, Laurent Duchene + Boulanger de Monge. In addition, they gave the 4 best places to sit and savor a coffee and croissant in Paris: Le Calife, Le Café Marly, Le Cannibale Café + Le Café de Flore as well as Florida in Toulouse, le Chene Vert in Nantes, le Cote du Sud in Pyla-sur-Mer and Payard Patisserie & Bistroin NYC {I just threw that OT one in to see who’s reading this far}. Also their top 5 restos of the moth were: Le Comptoir du Relais, + L’Astrance in Paris, Nicolas le Bec in Lyon, Jacques Decoret in Vichy and Maison Baron Lefevre in Nantes. Finally, Francois Simon’s “Croque Notes” was headed “Alain Senderens en Nike” wherein he discusses his “brilliant” menu (in the American sense), including the 16 E sardines and 56 E (for two) pigeon with crab and tea as well as the punch-drunk savarin: his bill was 178 for two. He also touts the publication of “Le Carnet de route Omnivore 2006,” a guidebook published by l’Epure (24 E) by Dubranchet, Demorand & Petrini, featuring 150 young new chefs, 300 wine growers and 150 producers. {My views on it will be posted as part of my resto guidebook series, soon.}

Over the weekend, eg October 1-2, Figaro also published the “Top 5” Fashionista restos – Anahi, Hotel Costes, l’Avnue, Colette + Market and in that week’s “Thermostat” they gave a 7/10 to a new bistrot La Ferrandaise, 8, rue de Vaugirard in the 6th, 01.43.26.36.36 with an “impeccable menu” at 28 E as well as 6/10 to Fogon and 5/10 to Cristina’s Tapas for tapas. Finally, F. Simon’s “Croque Notes” talked of several issues: restos that say they serve food like at home, the new book by Bruno Verjus Tous en cuisine published by Agnes Vienot, tapas and good products at Vino’s and the harm or lack of it of pouring a second wine into the glass of the first.

Sunday in the JDD, Jean-Luc Rabanel of La Chassagnette in Arles picked his favorite restaurants: Jacquot de Bayonne in the 12th and Le Clou in the 17th.

Sunday, as well, Margaret Kemp of Bonjour Paris wrote an article called “Cocoa Buzz” about the Salon du Chocolat and recommended several chocolate places: Godiva, Pierre Herme, Jean-Paul Hevin, Patrick Roger and Pierre Marcolini.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of October 10th, 2005

In honor of “British Week, Monday in “A Nous Paris,” Jerome Berger reviewed tea rooms in Paris, awarding them, as follows:

La Grande Epicerie de Paris + Kilali – 4/4 blocks.

Tea Caddy, Ventilo Café + La Bague de Kenza – 3/5 blocks

Les Cakes de Bertrand – 2/5 blocks

Monday as well, in the freebie newspaper, Metro, the restos of the week were listed as: Citrus Etoile, coordinates already give, and Chez Pradel, 168, rue Ordener in the 18th, 01.46.06.75.48, featuring a new carte that has oddities such as a crème brulee with foie gras on lunch menus that run 12-16 E with wine.

Sebastien Demorand, Wednesday, in this week's Zurban, devoted his major article to trying out recipes from Alain Passard et al's new book for children, Les recettes des Droles de Petite Betes, 11.40 E, that was released October 6th. The photo shows an example of a recipe for Corn soup with pop-corn. In his “Casseroles” though, he reviewed his usual three places: the classic Montmartre brasserie showcased in “le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain,” La Mascotte, 52, rue des Abbesses in the 18th, 01.46.06.28.15, open everyday, running about 35-40€, where he enjoyed the oysters and bulots during the return of months with an “R;” a new Mexican resto – the Hacienda del Sol in the 6th and an Italian place, Italia Caffè in the 20th.

Figaroscope’s Emmanuel Rubin, in “C’est nouveau,” awarded two hearts, the photo and the top text to a new place chef’d by an ex from Beauvilliers and front-room man from Gagnaire – called Carte Blanche, 6, rue Lamartine in the 9th, 01.48.78.12.20, closed Saturday lunch and Sunday, with menus of 25 and 31 E for amusing strange cans of tiny fish, veal and beef and St Pierre. He also gave two hearts to Le bis de Severo, 16, rue des Plantes in the 14th, 01.40.44.73.09, closed Saturday dinner, Sundays and Mondays, a la carte about 35 E, for cod of the day, tartare cut thickly and hyperactive service. One heart each went to La Goumandine, 29 rue Surcouf in the 7th, 01.45.51.61.49, closed Sunday and Monday lunch, serving a terrine of beef, veal liver and crème caramel for 35-40 and formula at lunch for 17 and dinner 29 E; a Japanese place, Wa in the 1st and a neo-brasserie Eugene, 166, bd Haussmann in the 8th, 01.42.89.00.13, closed Sundays, running 35-50 E with a formula at 19.50 E for a trilogy of gaspachos, ham (sad and pitiful) and chicken breast tika massala (not very tika but very dry).

In the “Dossier” of Figaroscope, the group lists a number of new Italian places (they note that at least one a week opens):

Tartufo

Il Gallo Nero

Amici Miei

Croccante

I Virtuosi

Sole, Caffe & Cucina

Il Settimo

La Strada

Settebello

Taverna degli Amici and also

Firenze

Along this line, Francois Simon went to Ante Prima – one should peek in to see what it looks like.

Friday, in Le Point, Gilles Pudlowski gives his usual brief reviews, including those for: Citrus Etoile, coordinates given already, where he calls Gilles Epié’s food - full of spirit, bourgeois and possessing a franco-californian new wave influence; le Fils de la Ferme, 5, rue Mouton-Duvernet in the 14th, 01.45.39.39.61, menus at 17 (lunch) and 26 E (dinner), a la carte 33, where he had smoked daurade and a seductive 5-hour lamb shoulder; Le Coq Noir, 92, bd Victor-Hugo in Clichy. 01.47.39.36.69, a la carte 35 E serving franco-african food; l’Astrance coordinates well known, where the creative chef Pascal Barbot served him pigeon with a chocolate-rosemary eggplant ravioli; and the well-known, at least since 1886, brasserie Bofinger, coordinates equally well-known, where he liked the ox tail with foie gras, andouillette and strawberry-vanilla vacherin.

Friday, as well, Jean-Louis Galesne in Les Echos wrote up six places in Limoges – Le 27, Philippe Redon, La Table de Jean, Le Versailles, La Cuisine + Chez Alphonse - and I’ll refer you to their website for the details.

Saturday/Sunday in Le Figaro devoted most of their “Gout” page to Alba (e.g. Italian white) Truffles, giving seven places to get them in Paris: I Golosi, Paolo Petrini, Le Sormani, Stresa, l’Osteria, Maison de la Truffe + Armani Caffé. Francois Sinon’s “Croque Notes” started out with an amplification of his and the group’s review of Carte Blanche, coordinates above, where in addition to describing the food, if I understand him, {and that’s not ever a given,} he lauds the inventiveness and precision of the food but says in any resto in its first days, it’s like a dancer who’s not looking at the public, just dancing for herself. His second comment is about the Meurice, coordinates well-known, which he calls worthy of three stars and “incontestably” the best great restaurant of the moment.

Saturday/Sunday, as well, Nicolas Lander had a piece in the FT Weekend section entitled ”Silence is Golden: Quiet concentration and team spirit are behind the success at Le Cinq;” a subhead that says it all, after he spent considerable time in the kitchen watching how the team there worked.

Sunday in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp wrote an article called “Guy Savoy Buzz” that details Tony Blair’s meal at Les Bookinistes, coordinates well-known, as well as provides a nice history of Savoy’s journey up the culinary ladder. In addition, John Talbott {for search pruposes I’ll refer to myself in the 3rd person} wrote an essay on “How to Find Good Seafood in Paris” in his biweekly essay cum column - “French Food Folies.” He especially recommends: the Bistrot du Dome, Gaya, Ze Kitchen Galerie, l’Ecallier du Bistrot, + l’Huitrier.

October’s Where has a couple of recommendations by Alexander Lobrano: Maxan, Citrus Etoile + Le Pergolese, coordinates already supplied.

By now, it’s already a month old, but because this is the “Digest of Record,” I’ll recount that Adam Gopnik had an article discussing Alain Passard‘s evolution to growing and cooking non-meat/pro-veggie meals in an article in the Sept. 5, 2005 New Yorker, entitled “ Two Cooks: taking food to the extremes.” Not much new is revealed but it is a nice piece on a wonderful chef written by a great observer of the French scene whose “Letters from Paris,” which were so spot-on, are greatly missed.

And to finish, the freebie magazine “Voyages d’Affaires” noted that three places had new decors and/or chefs: Noura, la Table du Baltimore + le Bel Ami as well as an exhaustive listing of the fine dining and quick lunch places on and off the Champs-Elysees.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of October 17th, 2005

Sunday, in JDD, the newspaper featured the favorite reasonable Paris restos of the chef at L’Oasis in La Napoule – they are l’Epi Dupin + Le Pamphlet. In addition there was a piece on Russian food that featured two places – Petrouchka + Au Regal. Also, in its Version Femina section, Astrid de T’Serclaes wrote up Bouche a l’Oreille, 34 rue Gassendy in the 4th, serving French-Spanish-North African food, and the well-reported Le Refectoire.

In Wednesday’s Zurban Sebastien Demorand reviewed the restaurant run by the best “no-star” chef of the hour – Alain Senderens, 9 place de la Madeleine in the 8th, 01.42.65.22.90, open lunch and dinner everyday, a la carte from 80-100 €, which he calls an upscale brasserie with three-star prices and where he liked the sardines stuffed with Moroccan spices and rice, encornets, tarte of confited tomatoes and tartar of veal and langoustines. In his “Casseroles” section, he reviewed Coté 9e, 5, rue Henri-Monnier in the 9th, 01.45.26.26.30, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, costing about 30 E a la carte for “average” neighborhood food such as sautéed girolles and trumpets of death, pork with potatoes and a nice Bordeaux; a trendy bistrot with great wines but poor food (he subtitles it “Pop and Flop”) – la Réserve, 141, rue St-Maur in the 11th, 01.48.05.78.15, formula = 19, a la carte 28E; and an Indonesian place with a Balinese dancer Djakarta Bali in the 1st.

Wednesday, Emmanuel Rubin in Figaroscope’s “C’est nouveau,” gave the photo and text description but only two hearts to Cristina’s Tapas, 18, rue Duphot in the 1st, 01.42.97.53.04, but three hearts to Benoit, 20, rue St-Martin in the 4th, 01.42.72.25.76, open every day, where 80-90 E (menu at lunch = 38 E {Ed Note; but take it from me it looked most uninteresting in the window last week}) will get you frogs’ legs, girolles, ray that is not great but veal that is. One heart each went to a French neighborhood bistro Entre Nous, 89, bvd de Courcelles in the 8th, 01.43.80.78.22. closed Sundays; a sandwhich/wrap place Naked, 40, rue du Colisee in the 8th; and an Italian place – Sole Caffe e Cucina in the 9th.

Meanwhile, Colette Monsat, Gilles Dupuis, Emmanuel Rubin, Francois Simon and Sylvain Verut in Figaroscope’s ”Dossier” gave pluses and minuses but no ratings to « 10 new wine bars » as follows :

l’Appent

Vino’s

Le Porte Pot

Le Louis Vin

Le Vin de Soif

Autour d’un verre

Tandem

Vin Chai Moi

Le Cave est Restaurant

Finally, Francois Simon’s « Hache Menu » discussed another such wine bar Les Crâneuses, 72 bis, rue Jean-Pierre-Timbaud in the 11th, 01.47.00.37.59, open everyday but Sundays beginning at 6 PM, where he does not ask his traditional question whether we should go, thus leaving us trying to figure out if his Simonspeak description of just a neighborhood wine bar is reason to go or not.

Thursday, Jean-Luc Petitrenaud, in l’Express reviewed two out of town places: Le Piet à terre in Châteaumeillant and Les Arcades in Aigues-Mortes.

Thursday-Friday in Le Monde, Jean-Claude Ribaut reviewed Senderens, coordinates given, stating that while he was central to Nouvelle Cuisine, having “given up” his stars at age 65, he’s “modernized” the place and given it a second life, open 7/7 with two sittings at dinner, like in NYC. Ribaut calls the chef, Frédéric Robert, gifted and liked everything he had from the sardines to the desserts, from cepes prepared three ways to the cod with chorizo.

Friday, in Le Point, Gilles Pudlowski had his usual series of mini-reviews in and outside Paris, of new and old places, foreign and French - including: the famed Crocodile + le “R” in Strasbourg, the trattoria Ante Prima and Japanese place Aida in Paris and he also notes that Ducasse’s Relais Plaza + Le Boeuf Couronné are in good form and finally that Didier Elena, ex-Ducasse, Bocuse, Guérard, Essex House, etc, is doing a great job at Les Crayères in Reims, cooking dishes much like his “milk sibling,” Jean-François Piège at the Crillon.

Saturday in his « Croque Notes » Francois Simon wrote up Taillevent, 15, rue Lamennais in the 8th, 01.44.95.15.01, where he spent 328 E for two dining on carpaccio of scallops, betteraves and celery, impeccable small Bresse chicken, dessert divided for two and an astonishing 42 E Givry. Also, the Salon of Chocolate runs October 22-25th) at the Porte de Versailles.

Saturday’s Figaro has several pieces on chocolate; the fair’s website is www.salonduchocolat.fr.

Sunday, Margaret Kemp in Bonjour Paris, wrote up Flora Mikula’s, 36 Avenue George V in the 8th, 01.40.70.10.49, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, new seasonal 36 E menu which had four courses (there is also a woman’s lunch for 45 E that has three courses, include a glass of champagne and two glasses of wine; a formula = 26 E and the degustation menu at 60 E.) In addition, John Talbott wrote an essay on “When Should We Go?” Finally, John Whiting has a piece on Bergerac, I which he mentions: Lou Peyrol, L’Imparfait, Tour des Vents, + Chez Alain.

I neglected to include two articles from the October 8th New York Times, the first by Julia Chapin called “Abuzz on the Canal St-Martin” that mentioned Chez Prune, Le Repaire, the Hotel du Nord, La Madonnina, + Le Cambodge; the second one about the town of Sanary Sur Mer where Antonia Feuchtwanger recommends the Café la Marine which was patronized by the foreign exiles that were the focus of her piece.

This Fall 2005’s US-based France Magazine has four pieces of note by Alexander Lobrano: the first on “Ethnic Dining,” wherein he writes up: Liza, Samiin, La Mousson, Au P’tit Cahoua, 404 + Ile de Goree; the second on where to pick up the perfect picnic: La Cave de l’Os a Moelle, Les Vivres, l’Avant-Gout, Chez Michel, La Grande Epicerie, Lafayette Gourmet + A la ville de Rodez; restos in the 3rd – l’Estaminet + Café Baci; and finally places to go for brunch: Breakfast in America, Café Charbon, Alcazar, Hotel Meurice + Plaza Athenee.

Amber Garrison in Postcards from Paris, raves about La Frégate, 1 rue du Bac in the 7th, conveniently located near the Orsay Museum, saying that while it looks touristy, it serves great food at reasonable prices.

The American Saveur magazine has an article about Chez Panisse chefs David Tanis and Randal Breski’s favorite Paris restaurants (they live in Paris six months a year). They are: l’Assiette, Chez Georges, Chez Michel, + les Saveurs d’Asie, the latter for phở.

There is a very nice description in English of the Atelier Des Chefs in this week's Time Out Paris. It notes that their website indicates what they'll be cooking the day you wish to go.

Adrian Leeds recounted a 5-day food orgy on ParlerParis – it included meals at the Violin d’Ingres, Minh Chau, Les Fêtes Galantes + Bistrot Le Mazarin.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of October 24th, 2005

Monday in “A Nous Paris,” Jerome Berger reviewed Le Passage Chez Senderens, coordinates given already, which is a description of the tapas bar on the second floor (American numbering) of AS’s resto, where the menu-carte of tapas is 45 E. His colleague Philippe Toinard, meanwhile, went back to Flora Mikula’s place, coordinates also given, which is featuring the women’s only lunch for 45 E that was described above as well. They also mention Le Kiwi Corner and the Festival of Tea, at the Bourse du Commerce for 2 E.

This week’s Figaroscope’s C’est nouveau gave the lead and photo but only two hearts to Maxan, 37, rue de Miromesnil in the 8th, (the old La Poêle d'Or space) 01.42.65.78.60, open every meal but Saturday at lunch; where they had the crunchy pork, scallops and adorable tartare of oysters and langoustines. A la carte = about 60 €; menu of two dishes = 30 €. The next three got 1 heart ; they included : the wine bistro Vin Chai Moi, coordinates given above, a Mexican place Hacienda del Sol in the old Marmite & Cassolette space in the 6th {EN:I loved it}, and a Cuban resto – Los Orishos in the 11th. A broken plate went to Bistot Victoires.

Figaroscope’s Dossier was entitled From Décor to Food and discussed trendy décor in trendy places: e.g.:

Le Georges

Senderens-le Passage

Gaya Pierre Gagnaire

Bar du Plaza Athénée

Murano

Le Cab’

Le Kong

Délicabar

Etienne Marcel

Flora Danica

They also mention an exhibition « Second Skin » at the gallery Fraich’Attitude, for details see here, and the restaurant Bespoke, a restaurant elementaire by Pierre Gagniere and Christian Ghion serving lunch only at Printemps de la Mode on blvd Haussman from Nov 24 to Dec 24.

Finally Francois Simon’s Hache Menu deals with an Italian place La Gazzetta, 29, rue de Cotte in the 12th, 01.43.47.47.05, which he says to go to (117 E for 2) if you live nearby.

This Wednesday as well, Sebastien Demorand in Zurban devotes his major space to reviews of three hot spots: le Studio, 81, avenue de Ségur in the 15th, 01.43.06.20.20, closed Saturday noon and Sundays, lunch formula = 15 €, a la carte about 29, where in addition to the lounge décor and atmosphere, there are tapas; the Italo-Spanish Bobo café-brasserie La Gazzetta, see coordinates above; and the pricey but good-food serving, trendy but serious, Kodo, 29, rue du Bourg-Tibourg in the 4th, 01.42.74.45.25, open everyday, a la carte about 40-45 €, serving a terrine of octopus, Limousin lamb and a verbena tatin. In his “Casseroles” section, he reviews the Spanish tapas place reviewed by others recently – Cristina’s Tapas; the demi-bistro L’Épicurien, 86 bis rue Lepic in the 18th, 01.42.51.25.51, with a menu-carte at 27 €, serving so-so food, eg duck with orange sauce but a fine Morgon; and the La Ferrandaise, 8, rue de Vaugirard in the 6th, 01.43.26.36.36, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays with a menu-carte of 30 €, also serving so-so food like a terrine of ham and foie gras, langoustines with veggies but good, reasonably-priced bio wines.

I’m not quite sure why Jean-Luc Petitrenaud of L'Express returned to {one of my old favorites,} Bernard Loiseau’s Tante places, Tante Marguerite, coordinates in the guidebooks, but his description of multiple dishes sounds terrific and the 34 E menu still sounds reasonable. He also reviewed the efforts of the new team at Au Pied de Fouet, coordinates in the guidebooks, serving confit de canard, veal kidney and home-made sausage – all for 18 E.

Thursday/Friday, Jean-Claude Ribaut in Le Monde wrote up a restaurant in Chinon – Au Plaisir gourmand along with an article on Chinon wines.

Friday, in Le Point Gilles Pudlowski has his usual mix of recipes, culinary artists and restaurants; three in or near Biarritz – Arostéguy, Philippe + 1746/Hégia the latter in Hasparren, run by the young Daugins; two in Paris “to follow:” A Casaluna + l’Assiette the former at 6, rue de Beaujolais in the 1st, 01.42.60.05.11, menu = 20, a la carte 45 E ; the latter at 181, rue du Château in the 14th, 01.43.22.64.86 a la carte = 90 E; and two in Paris that are in good shape: l’Espadon + le Copenhague, coordinates well-known.

Friday, also, in Les Echos, Jean-Louis Galesne presented six new places {although the head says five}: Le Pergolèse, 40, rue Pergolèse in the 16th, 01.45.00.21.40, closed weekends, menu at 38, a la carte 80-90 E, serving “Classic Lyonnais” cuisine such as raviolis of langoustines, truffle salad, farm guinea-fowl; the charming but pricey retro bistrot Benoît, par Alain Ducasse, coordinates above, for leg of lamb, cassoulet, profiteroles for about 90 E (lunch menu = 38); Carte Blanche, 6, rue Lamartine in the 9th, 01.48.78.12.20, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, formula at 25, menu = 31 E for Basque coldcuts and cheeses, duck foie gras, Portugese-type scallops, etc.; Le Bar des Artistes, 10, rue Saulnier in the 9th, 01.47.70.50.88 closed Sunday and Monday, about 25-35 E for honest bistrot fare like andouillette AAAAA and other items on the blackboard; La Gazetta see above; and a Thai place Thabthim Siam in the 8th.

Saturday/Sunday, John Talbott had a piece in Bonjour Paris called “You want me to go out where?” about restaurants a bit away from the center of Paris and Margaret Kemp had a piece on What’s New (this fall) in which she mentions: Citrus Etoile, Stella Maris, Benoit, Senso Compagnie des Comptoirs, 23, rue de Ponthieu in the 8th, 01.42.25.95.00, a Pourcel brothers’ offshoot, Le Jardin d’Hiver, Yannick Alleno’s bar-resto at the Meurice and the French-Asiatic place Chez Ly, 95, avenue Niel in the 17th, 01.40.53.88.38.

Sunday’s New York Times featured an article by Ann Morrison “My Chateau is Your Chateau” that recommends several restaurants in the Burgundy wine country: Le Bon Acceuil, l’Alambic, La Buissonniere, Domaine Comte Senard + Olivier Leflaive.

November’s Gourmet, says they will be making a reservation at Le Puits de Tresor in Lastours; also writes up the Daguin’s Hegia outside Biarritz; reviews the English translation of La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange: The Original Companion for French Home Cooking, Ten Speed Press, $40 and {bucking the trend} listed Liza as providing “superb” Lebanese food.

November’s Conde Nast Traveler discussed new items created by Paris bakers: specifically the religieuse at Stohrer, the madeleine at Fauchon, the tarte tatin at Lenotre, the macaron at Laduree + Pierre Herme and the éclair at Sadaharu Aoki; published an article by Joseph Ward on champagne – “They’re the Top” {it will be posted sooner or later on their website}, in it were several restaurant recommendations: Royal Champagne, Hostellerie La Briqueterie + Millenaire; and in their special section on “100 Bests,” Paris is listed at the 5th top European city and the Four Seasons George V , is 10th on the list of best hotels worldwide but 2nd in Europe.

This month (November’s) Paris Notes’s “Paris Bites” features reviews by Rosa Jackson of two places covered by others but with a different twist. She really panned Le Refectoire, calling it gimmicky cafeteria food {EN: she’s the only person I know besides myself who hasn’t liked it} and Goupil le Bistro which she liked and termed as good bistrot food.

I missed it when it was posted on October 3rd, but Julie Baker of Paris Voice listed her favorites for the fall as: Stella Maris, Aux Crus de Bourgogne, Cap Vernet, Le Vauban, 7 pl Vauban in the 7th, 01.47.05.52.67, open daily with a menu at 34 E including gizzards and foie gras, terrine of rabbit and magret of duck {which is in no guidebook I have}.

Recently Time Out Paris put a review of Gaya up on its site.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Edited November 11, 2005 by John Talbott (log)

[John Talbott]

The Week of October 31st, 2005

In his ”Croque Notes” in Le Figaro, Saturday, in a piece called “La Bluff de la Truffe” Francois Simon visited the well-known restaurant Guy Savoy where he had his signature artichoke soup with black truffle(s) for 78 E and some game for a total 500 E for two (a sum that he notes could have fed 10 persons at a stunning Paris bistrot.) Simon’s moral: when top places are good, they're great; if not, they're sad.

Monday in “A Nous Paris,” the staff wrote about places that feature brunch. Their ten preferred places are: La Ferme, Scoop, B. Tea’s, Le Murano, La Foret Noire, Le Flora Danica, Trema, Le Kiosque, Cinnamon + Troubadour Coffee House. I missed “digesting” the restos in the issue of 17-23 October, so here they are: Philippe Toinard gave 3/5 blocks to Le Pergolese coordinates already given, where he had a good 38 E menu serving bourgeois food. Less successful was Jerome Berger who gave only 2/5 blocks to the Italian restaurant Sole in the 9th.

Sebastien Demorand, in this Wednesday’s Zurban reviewed two Chinese restos specializing in the cuisine of the teochew region: La Mer de Chine + Li Ka Fo, which because of my rules, I’ll not detail, {EN: which is almost unfair because he loved them so}. In his Casseroles section he covered a bar-resto-piano jazz place - Ternes 43, 43, avenue des Ternes in the 17th, 01.43.80.19.28, closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday lunch with formulas and menus at lunch from 22-28€; a la carte = 38-40€, serving nems and too spicy but impeccable wild duck; Maxan, 37, rue de Miromesnil in the 8th, (in the old Poele d’Or space), 01.42.65.78.60, closed Saturday lunch, Sunday and Monday nights with a luncheon formula at 30€ and a la carte : 50-60€, serving “serious” good solid classic food such as giant snails with parsley, a beautiful duckling with black olives and mussels with coco beans; and the beautiful but lacking neo-bistrot - Le Café noir, 15, rue Saint-Blaise in the 20th, 01.40.09.75.80, a la carte about 30€, serving blinis with potatoes and haddock, saddle of lamb and rice pudding with pistachios.

In Figaroscope's "Dossier," Rubin et al discussed Tea Places. They were:

Classic

Les cakes de Bertrand

L’Artisan de Saveurs

Cristal Room Baccarat

Food in Shop

Maxim’s Salon de Thé

Café Ventilo

Japanese

Kilali

Chajin

Commerce Equitable

India Kala

All bio

La Pharmacie

Chinese

La Maison de la Chine

Miss China Tea Bazar

Esprit Souk

Marhaba

In the same vein, Francois Simon’s “Hache Menu reviewed Bong, 25, rue de la Pompe in the 16th, 01.40.72.70.00, closed weekends, where for 24 E he had a not warm enough tea (61 °C), which was OK because he came for the ambiance anyway.

This week’s l’Express had a mix of articles, reviews and book reviews. The big piece by François-Régis Gaudry was about Hélène Darroze, talking of her history, restaurants, recipes and book. The two reviews were by Jean-Luc Petitrenaud: the first, the wine bar/resto Le Vin dans les Voiles, coordinates given before {that took over Les Ormes old space} whose menu = 28 E and Benoit, ditto for coordinates given before, with a menu at 38 E. Finally, Guillaume Crouze and François-Régis Gaudry reviewed Guy Martin’s (of the restaurant Grand Vefour) new book Les Pâtes, Editions Chêne, 40 €.

Gilles Pudlowski, in his usual mix of products, restos and other food related items went to Breve-la-Gaillarde and wrote up a recipe and review of the resto – Les Arums; wrote a piece about the “whiskey of the North,” a juniper concoction made by the Distillerie de Wambrechies in Wambrechies; and some reviews of restaurants: the Le Coq Gadby, entitled the “Great Gatsby” in Rennes, Lard et Bouchons in St-Emilion; and places in Paris - the first – a place to watch - Le Gorille blanc, 11 bis, rue Chomel in the 7th, {the ex-Cigale space}, 01.45.49.04.54, a la carte : 35-40 euro for the rouget salad, escargots with pesto, sautéed chipirons and nougat glace, all prepared by a chef trained by Detournier; then two established ones that are still good – Le Duc + Georgette, and finally a disappointment – the newly-redecorated {and taken over by les Freres Blanc of Au Pied de Cochon fame} brasserie Lorraine.

Thursday-Friday, in his “Toques en Pointe” in Le Monde, Jean-Claude Ribaut revisited three bistrots, all of whose coordinates can be found here or elsewhere: La Bastide Odeon for its well-priced lunch formulas : 26 € for either three plates (starter, main & dessert) or two plates, a glass of wine and coffee {sounds just terrific as it always has}; the Bistrot de Breteuil for its inclusive menu (aperitif, starter, main, dessert, coffee and ½ bottle of wine) for 33 € which he calls a “windfall;” and La Pibale which has a new décor in this {what I think is great} Basque place where the lunch formula is 19 €, the lunch menu = 22 € and the dinner menu-carte : 30 €. {They all sound like they are holding up just fine.}

Friday in Les Echos, Jean-Louis Galesne wrote a piece on his return to three “M” places Marcel, Murano & Market saying that while Marcel was not great, it’s gotten better, while the other two have kept their standards up, {although with 100 covers, Murano stretches}.

Saturday, Francois Simon’s “Croque Notes” dealt with one place in Sens – La Madeleine and two in Dole – La Chaumiere de Joel Cesari + Le Bec Fin. The rest of the page was devoted to articles and ratings of macaroon places by Alexandra Michot, Alexandra Bardini, Floriane Ravard and M. Simon. The three top places at 15 points were: Jean-Paul Hevin, Pierre Herme + Laduree; close behind at 13.5 were Fauchon + Paul. I have been remiss in digesting some prior weeks’ GoutResto pages on Saturday/Sunday; for instance, 22-23 October, Francois Simon salutes seven of the “old guard” without whom cooking in France would be lukewarm - Paul Bocuse, Gerard Ryngel, Lucette Rousseau, Louis Grondard, Bobosse, Jacques Maximin + Gerard Besson. Simon and Michot also announced some changes: Jean-Andre Charial of l’Oustau will be turning over his piano to Sylvestre Wahid whilst coping with some legal difficulties; the Hyatt will henceforth have a “Chef’s table” for 1300 E for two; and the Pourcel brothers have opened a new resto this month in the old Tanjia space, 23, rue de Ponthieu.

Saturday/Sunday, Margaret Kemp had a review in Bonjour Paris of Music Hall, coordinates given already and John Talbott had a piece called “Who do you trust?” {for restaurant reviews.}

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of November 7th, 2005

Monday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger gave 3/5 blocks to La Boulangerie, coordinates given before, speaking especially warmly about the large portion of the side of pork but less enthusiastically about the promptness of delivery of the food {Ed Note: my reaction can be found here}; while in the next column, his colleague Philippe Toinard awarded 3/5 to Carte Blanche, 6, rue Lamartine in the 9th, 01.48.78.12.20, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, menus 23-31 E where he loved the individual barbequed chicken but regretted that the firemen had to help a patron who’d passed out {my review will be posted next week}.

Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand in Zurban devoted his major space to Kai a good but Japanese place and thus outside my scope of digesting. His “Casseroles” though covered the French “neogastro” Carte Blanche, coordinates above, where he liked the carpaccio of scallops, duck and famous bar-b-q’d chicken; a nice neighborhood bistrot with OK food - Le 20e Art, 46, rue des Vignoles in the 20th, 01.43.67.22.29, closed Sundays, lunch formula = 12.50 E, a la carte 28-30E for the tartare of tuna, lamb with cumin, good cod and small but good wines; and a Spanish place serving a gazillion inexpensive tapas – Lizarran in the 8th.

Not surprisingly, the same day’s Figaroscope’s Emmanuel Rubin’s “C’est nouveau” also featured Kai with three hearts, the photo and essay and gave a weak one heart to Lizarran – see just above. However three French places merited 2 hearts each: Le Gorille Blanc, 11 bis, rue Chomel in the 7th, 01.45.49.04.54, closed weekends (in the old Cigale space) costing 30-40 E for a tarte of snails, herring, sautéed girolles, biche, and fig tart {again, you’ll get my take on it next week}; Cote 9e, 5, rue Henri-Monnier in the 9th, 01.45.26.26.30, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays where for 30-35 E one gets country pate, pork and apple tarte; and La Cave est Restaurant, 45, rue de Paris in Montreuil, 01.42.87.09.48, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, with menus at 12.5-14.5 E at lunch and a la carte 30 E for Spanish cold cuts, beef and crepes well-made {for my review see here}.

Figaroscope’s “Dossier” covered exotic/rare restaurants featuring food from non-typical countries, that is:

Bulgaria La Thrace

Columbia Mi Ranchito Paisa

Reunion Restaurant de la Reunion

Malasia Chez Fung

Mali Les Trois Caimans

Manchuria Jardins de Mandchourie

Polynesia Fare Tahiti

Seychelles Au Coco de Mer

Syria-Palestine Om’zaki

Yugoslavia Il etait une fois la Yougoslavie

Belgium Graindorge

Austria Le Stubli

Argentina Anahi

Ireland Carr’s

Quebec l’Envoi Quebecois

Indonesia Djakarta Bali

Chile Santa Sed

Peru El Picaflor

And, as usual, Francois Simon goes to one in his “Hache Menu” – the Iranian place Mazeh in the 15th which if you live nearby, you should go to.

Thursday, this week, Gilles Pudlowski in Le Point has his usual mix of stuff, He discusses la Taverne de Safranier in Antibes; La Place in Maussane; and the Maison Parret in Sens. He has a long piece on the successful revival of L'Oustau de Baumanière in Les Baux-de-Provence. Then he gets to Paris and reviews a new place, the Boucherie Rouliere, 24, rue des Canettes in the 6th, 01.43.26.25.70, a la carte about 50 E, chef’d by Jean-Jacques Roulière ex of la Brasserie Fernand, who serves beef from Ireland, Spain, etc; then says two places remain in good shape – Romain + Alcazar, coordinates well-known; and ends by noting that there is one place in trouble – Le Wepler. He also gives a recipe for bar au sel and tells where to get Sel de Guerande there.

This Thursday’s Paris Vendu had a two-page piece on new addresses that included: Citrus, La Lilote, BHV, Flora, Carte Blanche, Vin Chai Moi, Café Ventilo, Le Montecristo Orient, Eugene, Kiwi Corner, Vinos, Le Diaspason, Bon, Charlie Birdy + Naked, a long piece on le Sot l’y laisse and a recommendation for cooking classes at Classe Cuisine, more info here. The one place unreviewed by others and whose coordinates are not to be found above is Le Diaspason which opened in the Terrass Hotel in the 18th recently.

Friday, Patricia Wells returned to the IHT with a glowing review of Chez Les Anges, coordinates given already, where she was impressed by the incredibly fresh product and the quality of everything she ordered.

Saturday, Francois Simon’s “Croque Notes” details his meal at le Grand Vefour, where he had what sounds like a magical experience; save for a “surprising” dessert (?) of veggies, celery, carrots and artichokes which disconcerted his companion; however, the bill was not surprising = 436 E. In addition, he and Alexandra Bardini wrote a piece on “destination” restos in the rest of Europe: The Fat Duck in Bray, UK, Amaya in London, Gambero Rosso in San Vincenzo, Italy, El Bulli in Roses, Spain, El Celler de Can Rosa in Gerona, Spain, Le Hof van Cleve in Waregem, Belgium and La Pinte des Mosettes in Cerniat, Switzerland.

Sunday, in their ongoing series of where great chefs eat at affordable prices in Paris, the JDD published Regis Marcon’s two: La Beurre Noisette + l’Ambassade d’Auvergne. In the Version Femina magazine, Astrid de T’Serclaes reviewed two places already covered; Meating + Gaya.

This week’s Time Out Paris has a piece on l’Angl’Opera.

And this month’s Where’s Alexander Lobrano touts Benoit, Senderens + l’Atelier des Chefs – more on it can be found here. Speaking of A.L., he also had an article in the print version of France Guide on “New Recipes” mentioning “Paris’s Buzzing Bistros” - l’Ourcine + Les Ormes, Southwest places Chapon Fin + Restaurant Jean-Luc Arnaud, one in the Rhone-Alps La Chamade and one in the Western Loire Les Plantagenets.

This month’s En Ville has some favorite shopping places of Bruno Doucet of La Regalade; plus those restaurants favored by five photographers, specifically Le Wepler, Le Hangar, Natacha, Ma Bougogne + Le 58 , 58, rue de Saintonge in the 3rd, 01.48.04.03.44, described as a true neighborhood bistot charging 12 E per person.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of November 14th, 2005

Monday, in A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinard did both reviews, giving 3/5 blocks to the Terre des Truffes, 21, rue Vignon in the 8th, 01.53.43.80.44, closed Sundays, with lunch menus at 65 E and 95, a la carte 62-70 E, serving truffles with everything from bread to ice cream and 2/5 blocks to Bound, coordinates given previously that is in the old Barfly space, serving everything from a club-sandwich to sushi.

Wednesday, it being the day before the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau, Sebastien Demorand in Zurban devoted his space to places serving the famous wine. Since most of their coordinates have already been reported, I’ll just list them. They include: Les Enfants Rouges, Les Coteaux, Jacques Mélac, La Cloche des Halles, Le Gavroche, Le Rubis, Vin chez moi, Le Comptoir du Relais, + Le Verre Volé, 67, rue de Lancry in the 10th, 01.48.03.17.34, that I’m singling out because it has a fantastic bargain – with a bottle of Beaujolais, costing 15 E, one can dine at the buffet à volonté, having everything from ham on the bone to cheese(s). The only downside of the celebration is its adoption of an English marketing slogan – “It’s beaujolais nouveau time.”

In the same day’s Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin’s “C’est nouveau” gave three hearts to Gaboriau-Le Pergolese, 40, rue Pergolese in the 16th, 01.45.00.21.40, open everyday, chef’d by another “best worker of the year,” serving “old school” ballottines of foie gras and duck, raviolis of langoustines and potato and ginger nems for 38 E at lunch and 50-70 E a la carte; two hearts, the photo and blurb to the Pourcel’s new Paris place Sens Par La Compagnie des Comptoirs, 23, rue de Pothieu in the 8th, 01.42.25.95.00, open everyday except Sundays and Mondays, for raw daurade, shrimp tempura and beef tartare for 50-70 E a la carte; two hearts each to the business resto R Café, 6, rue Chauveau-Lagarde in the 8th, 01.44.71.20.85, closed Sundays, serving chestnut raviolis, beef cheeks and a chocolate dessert that’s “pro,” with 28 and 38 E lunch menus and runs 40-45 E a la carte and Les Fernandises, 19, rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi in the 11th, open everyday except Saturday lunch and Sundays, where the truculent Normandy-influenced boss has departed and a pleasant pair now serve more Southwest-oriented food, such as foie gras, supions and crème catalan for 30-35 E a la carte; and finally one heart to La Mer a Boire, 1-3, rue des Envierges in the 20th, 01.43.58.29.43, closed Sundays, {Ed Note: the review sounds suspiciously like it’s a wine bar although it is not so stated}, serving cheese, tapas, terroir salad and a good selection of wines for 15-20 E.

Figaroscope’s “Dossier” covered oyster and shellfish places, such as:

Huitriere Garnier

Ballon et Coquillages

Chasse-Maree

Ocean Paris Bar

L’Ecaille de la Fontaine

La Cabane a huitres

Bar a huitres

Gare de l’Est

La Cabane

F. Landeau

And also l’Ecaillier du Bistrot, Uitr, l’Huitrier, l’Ecume Saint-Honore + Gildas de la Mer

And, in addition, they listed the great brasseries where one can also get oysters, etc. 7/7: Lorraine, Lutetia, Le Congres, Le Boeuf sur le Toit, Le Dome, Le Stella, Le Wepler + Le Zeyer.

In that vein, as usual, in his “Hache Menu”, Francois Simon went to one of them, l’Huitrerie: Chez Regis, 3, rue Monfaucon in the 6th, 01.44.41.10.07, closed Sundays and Mondays, where he had a “degustation” formula of a dozen number 3’s, a glass of Muscadet and coffee; “Should one go? Sure, if you’re in the area.”

Thursday, Gilles Pudlowski in Le Point has another of his mixed offerings, mentioning Lyon sausages and a recipe for sausage and potatoes, La Tour d’Argent in Lyon, Le Temps des Copains in Rennes, l’Escarbille in Meudon, the successfully-moved Fogon and newly-opened Cristina’s Tapas (coordinates above) in Paris as well as the following Parisian places that are holding up: the Tunisian Jewish resto La Boule Rouge + Dessirier.

Meanwhile, in L’Express, Jean-Luc Petitrenaud has two reviews: of Claude Sainlouis in the 6th and Chez Alphonse in Limoges.

Thursday/Friday, in an article in Le Monde, entitled “Beaujolais Spleen,” Jean-Claude Ribaut says that this year’s wine is better than those of preceding years.

Friday in Les Echos, Jean-Louis Galesne writes up four places in Monaco: Joël Robuchon Monte-Carlo Hôtel Métropole, Blue Bay Monte Carlo Bay Hôtel & Resort, Le Grill Hôtel de Paris + Beef Bar & Capitano.

In the weekend FT, Jancis Robinson suggests that we drink Pinot Noirs and other wines from the Rhone with roasts and game.

Margaret Kemp had a piece Sunday in Bonjour Paris on the ”Fooding” event going on next week as well as a review of Carte Blanche, coordinates given before.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

[John Talbott]

The Week of November 21st, 2005

In Figaro’s Gout section, there was an article by Franck Picard on the best steak-frites on Paris that listed the following:

La Bourse ou la Vie, Severo + Meating 14 (out of 20)

Le Voltaire + Le Bistrot Paul Bert 13.5 (the latter also judged possessing the best quality/prix ratio)

Relais de Venise 13

La Boucherie Roulière 12.5

Le Petit Vendôme + Chez Georges 12

La Mascotte, Le Gourmet des Ternes + Titi Parisien 11.5

Ascot 11

Devez, La Rotonde, Le Boeuf couronné + Le Boeuf sur le toit 10.5

Steak & Lobster + L'Opportun 10

Louchebem 9.5

Le Galvacher + La Maison de l'Aubrac 8.5

Hippopotamus 8

Buffalo Grill 7

Monday, A Nous Paris (courtesy of Felice) reviewed chocolate places, as follows:

4/5 – To drink Angelina’s

3/5 – To suck Jean-Paul Hevin

3/5 – To snack Fauchon

3/5 – To crunch more and more Pierre Marcolini

2/5 – To crunch La Maison du Chocolat

Wednesday in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin’s “C’est nouveau” reviewed its usual five places. It gave the blurb, photo and 2 hearts to Ralph Lauren’s Anglo-saxonish, cool “Friday-wear” place Steak & Lobster, 26, rue Jean-Mermoz in the 8th, 01.53.53.98.00, closed Sundays, where, in the ex-Ailleurs space, they serve a half-lobster a la plancha, entrecote and fried potatoes that are very, very good, for 40-70 E, lunch formula = 24 E. He also gave two hearts to the new proprietared Les Gourmands, 101, rue de l’Ouest in the 14th, 01.45.41.40.70, closed Sundays and Mondays, lunch menu = 17.5, and 25 and 32 E, for foie gras, daurade and profiteroles as well as two hearts to a “radical” Chinese place Les Delices du Shandong in the 8th. Finally one heart each went to a neo-brasserie in the ex-Tante Jeanne (B. Loiseau) space, called the Café Seraphin, 116, bvd Periere in the 17th, 01.43.80.86.68, closed Sunday lunch and Mondays where for 40 E one has a mozzarella tart, chicken breast and moelleux of chocolate and the “couscous-tajine” place Al-Nour in the 3rd.

Figaroscope’s “Dossier” concerned itself with Business Breakfast places that included in the following areas:

Louvre, Palais Royal

Café Marly, Fumoir + Le Nemours

Opera-Vendome

Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome, Hotel Costes, Le Westminster + Grand Hotel Intercontinental

Elysees-Concorde

Bristol, Crillon, Daloyau, Toraya + Fauchon

Georges-V

Fouquet’s, Laduree, George-V + Pershing Hall

Auteuil-Passy

Zebra Square, Hotel Sezz, Le Murat + Le Safran

Etoile

Le Vernet, Raphael + Rue Balzac

Republique-Bastille-Gare de Lyon

Le Murano, Train Bleu, Café Ké Sofitel Bercy + La Gazzetta

Montparnasse

Hotel Lutecia, la Closerie des Lilas, La Coupole + La Rotonde Montparnase

Saint-Germain, Odeon

Les Deux Magots, Café de Flore, Hotel Montalembert + Les Editeurs

In that same spirit, Francois Simon’s ”Hache Menu” covers l’Aventure, 4, avenue Victor-Hugo in the 16th, 01.45.00.45.11, open everyday, where he dissects the menu from the amuse-bouche to the pumpkin soup (12 E) to the entire roast chicken (60 E) to the dessert. As usual he asks; must one go, yes, with a Figaro colleague; but for a meal worth 70 E, it was 140 E; therefore, the moral of the experience – choose your dining friends carefully.

Sebastien Demorand of Zurban, did his major review this Wednesday of Benoit, 20, rue Saint-Martin in the 4th, 01.42.72.25.76, lunch menu = 38, a la carte count on 60-70€. Despite its revival under the wing of Ducasse et al, he found it over-priced (155 € for two without wine, 6 € for a coffee) for food that was banal at best and nul at worst. The other French resto he reviewed was the not-as-bad Le Gorille Blanc, 11 bis rue Chomel in the 7th, 01.45.49.04.54, closed Saturday and Sundays, lunch formula = 19 €, a la carte about 35 € where he liked the simple but good food such as a tarte of snails, perdreau, cheese and wines. (For my take on both the above, see here.) He also liked some parts of Luc Bessson’s (Taxi, Transporter, Danny the Dog, etc) Italian “cantine” located in his company open to the public called – Ante Prima, 137, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in the 8th, 01.45.63.43.43, a la carte 21 € for lunch and 36 € for dinner. However, he was negative about the Japanese-neo-fusion place Wa in the 1st.

Last Thursday in l’Express, there was an article/interview/book advance entitled “Beyond the stars” {surely a double if not triple entendre} by Guillaume Crouzet of and about the 80 year old, triple heart bypass chef - Paul Bocuse tied to the publication December 6th of a bio-confessional, Le feu sacré , by Eve-Marie Zizza {who has known him since age 8 as the daughter of one of his 30-year companions.} You can find out about his three long-term relationships, three families, many angry explosions, audacity and, by the way, his cooking career, by plunking down 45 E for the éditions Glénat book.

Thursday, Jean-Claude Ribaut wrote about game with light sauces, mentioning about 20 French, American and Spanish chefs but singling out only three for coordinates: Gerard Besson, La Table de Joel Robuchon + Benoit for their sauces for plumed birds, venison, and civet for the first and hare for the second.

In Friday’s Les Echos Jean-Louis Galesne has a piece on the niceness of pot-au-feu {it was better in the French} and singles out the following places to go to for this “emblematic dish:” Le Meurice for a classic 4-service recipe of Dodin Bouffant’s, costing 300 Euros for two persons with wine {that looks and sounds terrific}, Chez la Vieille, for 23 Euros, the Café du Commerce for 15.80, Thursday to Sunday and l’Avant-Gout for a piggy pot-au-feu on the menu-carte of 32 E.

Saturday/Sunday, in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp features the well-known brasserie Mollard and there is also a piece by John Talbott on “Pushing the Envelope (Just a Bit Too Far).” In addition, Dan Heching suggests we rush off to a resto that may soon close that serves regular food weekday lunch for less than 10 E but is closed at night for private events, including a “Queer Food evening” the third Friday of the month – La Rotisserie, 4, rue Sainte Marthe in the 10th, 01.40.03.08.30.

December’s Gourmet features places people are talking about and reserving at in various cities; in Paris it’s Gaya par Pierre Gagnaire + Senderens. In addition, they announce the existence of the year-old Ecole de Cuisine d’Alain Ducasse, where classes are offered at $130/hour, with translators available at $180/person/class.

The December Conde Nast Traveler had two pieces of interest; the first heralded new wine bars in Paris, including: La Muse Vin, Le Cercle Rouge, Chapeau Melon + Taverne Henry IV. The second, accompanying a regular article on Nice, listed Nice dining opportunities considered good by Alexander Lobrano: Le Chantecler, Jouni, Sapore, Le Padouk, Kei’s Passion, La Meranda, La Petite Maison, l’Univers de Christian Plumail, Grand Café du Turin + Parcours, the latter in Falicon. Also listed are Chez Therese + Lou Pilha Leva for socca and Fennochio for ice cream.

The Fall Gastronomica, featured a book review by Jason Sholl of two tomes dedicated to “feasts;” not all of which occurred in France, specifically Charlemagne’s Tablecloth: A Piquant History of Feasting by Nichola Fletcher, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004 and Feast: A History of Grand Eating by Roy Strong, London, Jonathan Cape, 2002.

December’s Paris Notes had a review in “Paris Bites” by Rosa Jackson of Senderens where she was less than thrilled by the modern décor, “incompatible mix of alcohols” with the dishes served and “thin” gazpacho and lack of “pizzazz to her main, albeit “fun” desserts. She was much more enthusiastic about the 24 E two course or 28 E three course bistro, rotisserie menu at l’Atelier Maitre Albert where, while she had to send back the veal kidneys for further cooking, she liked the carrot soup and skate very much.

Amber Garrison, in Postcards from Paris mentions places in which to host 15 people: she suggests Les Portes, 15, rue de Charonne in the 11th, 01.40.21.70.61, about 20-30 E without wine, open everyday and the Chalet des Iles in the middle of a lake in the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th, 01.42.88.04.69, open every day.

Edited by John Talbott to correct error in Figaroscope Dossier subject - it was not business lunch places but business breakfast ones.

Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Edited by John Talbott to add prix/quality notation and correct source of steak-frites article.

Edited December 10, 2005 by John Talbott (log)