The Observer Food Monthly

[John Whiting]

...unless, of course, you didn't really want to leave home. It's all here - a celebrity-spotter's guide, with short zingy descriptions and no prices. I didn't even bother to download it. Nigel Slater leads his wrap-up with a hearty endorsement of the selection, beginning

The worst meal I ever ate in my life was in Paris.

It could well have been in one of these shop-worn recommendations.

EDIT: The same issue has a terrific feature article on the supermarket buy-out of UK local councils at the expense of traditional street markets. It's as if there were two editorial staffs in two parallel universes, each unconscious of the other's existence.

Edited April 30, 2006 by John Whiting (log)

[fresh_a]

Better than Pierre Rival's piece today, "80 Best Restaurants in Paris", which, among other glaring errors, cites the BarFly as one of the hottest places in town. They've been closed for months and are now called Bound...

Edited April 30, 2006 by fresh_a (log)

[John Whiting]

Better than Pierre Rival's  piece today, "80 Best Restaurants in Paris", which,  among other glaring errors, cites the BarFly as one of the hottest places in town.  They've been closed for months and are now called Bound...

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Aren't we talking about the same pair of articles in the Observer Food Monthly's Paris Special feature? Edited April 30, 2006 by John Whiting (log)

[fresh_a]

Yes. But you only mentionned the first piece.

[John Whiting]

Yes. But you only mentionned the first piece.

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My link was to the entire issue. Are we into quibble time?

[fresh_a]

Sorry, thought you mentionned only the celebrity piece, regardless of where the link went. Guess I'm totally wrong.

[John Whiting]

Sorry, thought you mentionned only the celebrity piece, regardless of where the link went. Guess I'm totally wrong.

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We seem to agree about the articles themselves; my apologies if I misinterpreted you.

The more I think about it, the more disgusted I am with the conception and execution of the whole Paris section. I'm not surprised they didn't include any links for further reading; it would have put their own glib carelessness and ignorance in embarrassing perspective.

[fresh_a]

This seems to be more and more current in the popular press. When I see some of the lists by Travel and Leisure, CN Traveller, etc , and especially their websites (almost never updated), it's obvious that they have no interest in presenting current, cutting-edge info. I mean, I write freelance myself, so I understand publication lag times , etc, but some of the info in these publications is YEARS old!

[John Whiting]

...some of the info in these publications is YEARS old!

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If you Google paris bistros, year after year RudyMaxa.com is close to the top with a page beginning,

Paris Bistros: Sublime Fare, Divine Prices

With the dollar fetching nearly eight francs, aren't you getting hungry?

I wish I could afford to keep my own site more up-to-date, but compared with most, including those with megabucks behind them, I'm hot off the press!

[fresh_a]

That IS pretty bad.

[John Whiting]

Issues are being raised here that deserve careful consideration. The most reliable and encyclopaedic coverage of the Paris restaurant scene comes from our own John Talbott, who comments in a recent Bonjour Paris column that

I’d be dead in the media markets where one has to sell papers or magazines or whatever and seemingly find something good about even the most dreaded experience.

John Hess said much the same thing a quarter-century ago after attempting to review restaurants for the New York Times. If you're a salesman, you must be prepared to sell whatever your boss hands you.

[fresh_a]

I've understood that for awhile. But freelancing does let me eat more in more places than I normally would!

[John Whiting]

The fact that John Talbott is writing from conviction rather than necessity poses an intriguing proposition. Charles Shere of Chez Panisse once guided me to The Gift, a book by Lewis Hyde which puts forward the intriguing premise that the most fertile developments in art and science grow out of a gift-based economy in which ideas are freely given, accepted, modified, and passed on. (That doesn't necessarily mean that the creator doesn't get paid for his work, only that he holds no "intellectual property".) Even the barter system, based on equal exchange, constitutes a barrier. By the time you arrive at a profit-based economy of ideas, in which you hold back a segment of whatever passes through your hands, you have set up a system in which creativity, like a desert stream, diminishes as it flows, and ultimately disappears.

You may disagree violently, but I didn't make it up. Go argue with Lewis Hyde. Is all this "on topic"? It strikes me as the central question behind all the postings on this topic.

[fresh_a]

Uhh.. okay

[Felice]

Here's New York Magazine's take on Paris's restaurant scene, which I came across earlier today. It's much more up to date...

ARTICLE HERE

[pirate]

John Hess said much the same thing a quarter-century ago after attempting to review restaurants for the New York Times. If you're a salesman, you must be prepared to sell whatever your boss hands you.

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I'm a great admirer of John Hess and reread "the Taste of America" every few years. I wonder what he and his wife Karen would think of Paris restaurants, which they knew well, today. A couple of weeks ago I stopped in Paris on my way back from Cairo and had one fine lunch at Le Meurice and a decent lunch at Drouant and a mediocre lunch at Senderens. The latter was particuliarly disappointing. The main of Pyrenees lamb did not come close to that of Alleno at Le Meurice. The entree was lightly smoked salmon mi-cuit. It was a heavily salted slab of ordinary smoked salmon clearly done well in advance.. The best rendition of lightly smoked salmon I've had was at the now closed 2 Michelin star restaurant of Dutournier in the seventh. Second best was in the French restaurant atop the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. In both cases the smoking was done while preparing the dishes.

Edited April 30, 2006 by pirate (log)

[John Whiting]

It's annoying when an ordinary dish is overpriced; it's infuriating when it's a bad one!

[fresh_a]

Felice,

I agree that the NY article is more up to date, but it is written in a very sloppy way, with no regard to the facts. I mean, they classify SENDERENS as a bistro, and define bistronomique as:

"The global food- casualization movement has turned up here as bistronomique (a combination of bistro and economique, bien sûr)."

I'm sorry but that's total crap. Evidently bistronomique is the combination of bistro and gastronomique

To start off an article with like that shows little experience on the ground, and even less preparation...

And to think, the writer 'TI' (whoever that is) even dares suggest that the proper way of drinking absinthe is to burn the sugar!! Blaspehemy!

Edited May 1, 2006 by fresh_a (log)

[Felice]

Felice,

I agree that the NY article is more up to date, but it is written in a very sloppy way, with no regard to the facts.  I mean, they classify SENDERENS as a bistro, and define bistronomique as:

"The global food- casualization movement has turned up here as bistronomique (a combination of bistro and economique, bien sûr)."

I'm sorry but that's total crap. Evidently bistronomique is the combination of bistro and gastronomique

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You are absolutely right, it’s meant to be a contraction of “bistro and gastronomique” NOT économique.

I had saved the supplement from L’Express titled “ Le Phénomène Bistronomie” from February and they credit the term to Sebastien Demorand and quote him as saying “ …on cherchait une expression pour décrire un restaurant qui alliait la convivialité et la décontraction d’un bistro et le coté “grand restaurant” de la cuisine. A partir de “bistrot gastronomique” je me suis amusé à faire la contraction et ça à donné le néologisme ‘bistronomique’ ” .

Unfortunately, I think there are plenty of journalists who write about food that aren’t always very interested in it (I’m not saying this is the case for the New York Mag article though). I had a friend who was freelancing in Paris who often wrote stories about food because it was an easy sell. However, she didn’t know very much about the restaurant scene at all and would ask me for ideas of where to go. She was a great writer, but had little to no interest in food.

[fresh_a]

I know all this- funny , though that the person who wrote this article, Tina Isaac, is the Paris correspondent for Travel and Leisure magazine, a very reputable publication. She should know better, and I find it surprising that the NY editors didn't go further in correcting her article.

Edited May 1, 2006 by fresh_a (log)

[BigboyDan]

... and I find it surprising that the NY editors didn't go further in correcting her article.

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You do?

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As for, "Where not to eat in Paris"... hmmm... Well, for me, I don't go to certain Paris restaurants simply because of location.

[John Whiting]

I don't go to certain Paris restaurants simply because of location.

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I'm slightly biased in favor of bistros in unfashionable areas that have to survive on local patronage.

[BigboyDan]

Please tell me it's not fashionable to frequent "unfashionable" areas.

I was thinking more about the distance between my flat and the restaurant's location - I don't own a car when living in Paris. I fully agree with your sentiment to patronize local (one owner) bistros.

Edited May 1, 2006 by BigboyDan (log)

[bleudauvergne]

... and I find it surprising that the NY editors didn't go further in correcting her article.

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You do?

...

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I agree with fresh_a, it seems odd to me that something like that would be overlooked, yes. However I'd venture a guess that it was a 'slip on the part of the author that got by the edit and not necessarily lack of preparation or knowledge. Did you ever put down something completely different from the word you intended? It happens.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

The fact that John Talbott is writing from conviction rather than necessity poses an intriguing proposition. Charles Shere of Chez Panisse once guided me to The Gift, a book by Lewis Hyde which puts forward the intriguing premise that the most fertile developments in art and science grow out of a gift-based economy in which ideas are freely given, accepted, modified, and passed on. (That doesn't necessarily mean that the creator doesn't get paid for his work, only that he holds no "intellectual property".) Even the barter system, based on equal exchange, constitutes a barrier. By the time you arrive at a profit-based economy of ideas, in which you hold back a segment of whatever passes through your hands, you have set up a system in which creativity, like a desert stream, diminishes as it flows, and ultimately disappears.

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I couldn't agree more.

I know all this- funny , though that the person who wrote this article, Tina Isaac, is the Paris correspondent for Travel and Leisure magazine, a very reputable publication. She should know better, and I find it surprising that the NY editors didn't go further in correcting her article.

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Fact checking in today's press is a lost art. Pick up any issue of the WSJ, IHT and even NYT and you will be able to find some perhaps minor but glaring error, particularly in the areas of travel, leisure and, sadly, science.

  Please tell me it's not fashionable to frequent "unfashionable" areas.    I was thinking more about the distance between my flat and the restaurant's location - I don't own a car when living in Paris. I fully agree with your sentiment to patronize local (one owner) bistros.

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My husband and I are all over Paris 'like a tent' using our Carte d'Orange or Mobile to travel nightly from our hotel in the 7th to as far away as the 20th or even the inner banlieus. In fact, when I read of a great new place, he always asked what arrondisement it's in. You see, he doesn't eat in numbers 1 through 10, calling them, in Liebling's father's words, "bunko joints".