John Talbott's Paris

FAQ: When to walk out.

Earlier this week I was lunching with a new lunch partner and she mentioned a place she’d eaten at recently where the wait-staff told her various things were no longer available on the menu but she couldn’t request substitutes – so she walked out.  Which I would never do – well, not entirely. 

A few weeks ago, in an almost-empty restaurant, I waited 10 minutes (on my feet) to be seated, then 10 minutes until I flagged down one of the incredibly large number of waiters for only a few tables to get a menu, and 10 minutes for the wine list, only 10 minutes later to be told they were out of it (in the day of print your own in 10 minutes).  I figured this was not my or their day and certainly not “ours” and I exited. 

Now I understand that and maybe that of a couple who entered a well-known but very small place near my barber in the 4^th where one must reserve since there are only about 20 covers.  The couple gave their name, were seated directly and given menus which they couldn’t have perused more than 5 minute when they stood up and left.  I looked at the front-room lady whom I know from eating there rather well and she and I gave the universal but still Gallic shrug – “Go figure.” 

Too expensive? 

Too few choices (nah)? 

Too little they really hankered after?  Who knows?

Now the reverse of this occurred at the Maison de Charly when back in the days when we occasionally went out to dinner, I asked Colette to accompany me.  She wasn’t hungry and on scoping the menu said “I’ll just have some wine and watch you.”  “Sure?”  “Yes.”  So I ordered for myself and the wine and the guy looked at her and said “For you?”  “Nothing, I’ll have a little wine and watch him.”  “That’s impossible, you must order or we cannot serve him.”  (NB the restaurant was nigh-empty and there was no crowd on the street clamoring to get in.  So up we got and chastened ourselves off to a far more friendly place I had as a backup, as I always do in case of power-failures, chef walk-outs or ovens blowing up, all of which have happened to me.

I suppose there are a host of legit reasons for walking out, including an impossibly surly staff, water dripping on you from the A/C condenser, with no other tables free, inedible food, everything on the menu crossed off since it’s the day before the August holidays, etc., but I can count the number of times I have walked out on one hand. 

I tend to be able to rationalize a bad course; “Oh well, the next one cannot be this bad,” “Everyone else seems happy, I’ll just poach a bit of theirs,” “There’s always dessert, how can they screw up ice cream,” “We’ve already ordered and my back-up is a schlep,” or “How bad, expensive, small, etc., can it really be?”  “There are four of us, do I really want to move the circus?”  So I invariably throw good money after bad.

If the prices are mind-blowing, well; The venerable and largely loveable New York Times once wrote up a place in St Germain en Laye and Colette and I drove there for a Sunday lunch (on our way to Normandy) since the Times said the “lunch menu” was available weekends as well as week days.  Well, fact-checkers are long gone and we were staring at staggering prices.  Solution; order one dish and glass of wine each and repair to a café for coffee (standing.)

How to read a menu.

 
A loyal reader sent me this comment: “Your article on Zero de Conduite poses another worthwhile discussion:  how to read a menu.   Not problems in translation or understanding the fine points of garniture  but rather reading between the lines to extract the nuggets of joy or at least the edible.    

I have this gift.   My husband does not.   In Paris or Peoria, my husband can find and order the stinker on the menu.   He has, not infrequently, walked out of a restaurant and proclaimed, ‘I don't know why I just don't tell the waiter, I'll have what she's having.’

I am guessing that it was S. who ordered the scrambled eggs and steak-frites, minding the infallible old adage, "KISS" (keep it simple, stupid).    Look for local, seasonal, and anything that has to be cooked to order as she did or something that can sit on the back of the stove (or be frozen!) for ages, like a braise.   Never fish or shellfish.    Greens but not green vegetables.   And as you initially pointed out, considering what can sensibly be served at any price point.   As in, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.”

Now since this wonderful woman considers her relationship with me to be one of mutual “devil’s advocates,” I don’t think she’ll mind if I agree and disagree.

Certainly KISS is a surefire motto, but since I enter most places with no idea about whether the chef’s apprentissage at the House of Robuchon or Constant or Bouchet was for a decade of sous-chefdom or 2 weeks of sweeping the floor and often I don’t know even his or her provenance, I expect to test the chef and the kitchen, not have to order defensively.  Sure at Quick or Courtepaille, the latter of which I did indeed once try, I go for that which cannot be screwed up.  But I do expect any place a step up to be able to dress a green salad without drowning it and source and sautée a lobe of foie gras.

The looking “for local, seasonal, and anything that has to be cooked to order” items is a good rule in some situations.  For instance, before a catered event at our house, Colette and I pressed one of our daughters, the one who graduated from a culinary institute, to select items for serving that could not be prepared and stored hours or days before, and the results were great. 

But getting back to going to new places in Paris.  It would be surefire to order oysters, an entrecote and a flan every day, but I don’t want to eat them every day.  I see brains, or pigs’ feet, or their grandmother’s mousse and I want to see if they can do it.

Now, this inevitably means disappointments some days; lifeless terrines, boring potatoes, over-cooked fish, banal fowl and cardboard-like desserts.   But it also means soaring surprises and innovative sauces and interesting ingredients, spices and herbs.

One further point which I’ve mentioned before.  When I first started my food samizdat, I had a special section for where to get the best seafood platter, bouillabaisse, fish soup, cotes de boeuf, cassoulet, coq au vin, couscous, etc. in Paris.  It took a long time for it to dawn on me that folks assumed that if they or their spouses or S.O.’s or kids didn’t want the sacred dish too, they wouldn’t go, so no more of that for me.

The other day I was present when a couple with a reservation, entered a restaurant, sat down, looked at the menu and departed.  It was a terrific restaurant; one of our favorites, with lots of choices.  I looked at the waitguy, put my puzzled-look face on, he shrugged the “I have no idea” shrug, and went about his business.  Was it the “menu”, the carte, the prices, the choices, the welcome, the décor, the clientele?  I had no idea either.  PS the meal was great.  But more about “walking out” later.

FAQ: What do you recommend as an old, classic restaurant in Paris today?

Just last week, at an  alumni reception, an old friend/colleague who has spent a lot of time, including sabbaticals in Paris came up and asked me “What do you recommend as a old, classic restaurant in Paris today?”

Hoo boy.  I started associating, spinning off three ideas immediately, then Colette added a fourth and he said where he was saying and I got it up to six.  I asked “classic places, classic dishes, old places, old dishes?” 

He answered “Yah.”  I asked if he had a card and quickly wrote them down, he grabbed for it, I spirited it away – “Nah” I said, “this is the stuff of an essay, I’ll send it to you before you leave.”

And am I glad I did because I’ve been coming up with more and more categories, subcategories and more and more places every time I think about it.

1. Oldest in age places.  Obviously, A La Petite Chaise, near Science-Po says it is since it started in 1680, but a friend and I ate there a while back and had a subpar meal.  The Café Procope in the 6th, that I’ve never taken a shine to, lays claim by stating that, while opened fourteen years after, it is “the oldest restaurant of Paris in continuous operation.”   Of course, the Tour d’Argent claims the right although it was an Inn as of 1582: but a recent meal there was quite over average albeit pricy as can be.  Finally, how does one date “old?”  For many folks, Les Halles was old, and the restaurants around it, represent antiquity; but indeed, the last remaining one, the Pied de Cochon has only been there since right after WWII, and it’s famous onion soup tastes like it comes from that 1946-7 pot, although much diluted over the years.

2. Old brass and red velvet.  Many Americans (at least) associate old with brasseries like the Terminus Nord, Bofinger or the Ballon de Ternes and if one has a hankering for oysters and choucroute, these may quality, although in fact the big exodus of Alsatians to Paris did not come til the Belle Epoque, 1895-1914, although Bofinger dates to 1864.

3. Old favorites of my countryfolk.  Hands-down it’s L’Ami Louis; from the brass to the waiters tossing coats on the racks with “old” dishes like foie gras, roast chicken and a potato galette.  Next I suppose are Ledoyen, Gagnaire and l’Ambrosie although I’ve never done a head-count.

4. Old breathtaking décor.  Now my friend/colleague didn’t give me this as a factor but I find a lot of people really want what my friend from Lake Tahoe and the 15th calls – the “Full Experience.”  And for that, the crowd pleasers are the Train Bleu, Bofinger and the Dome de Marais where a friend and I had an over-average meal last week much outshining the other two mentioned.

5. Classic dishes in old places.  If one is looking for everything classic from tete de veau to crepes, the vox pop says the champion here has to be Chez Denise/La Tour de Montlhéry, although Chez Georges, l’Ami Jean, Petit Marguery and the original (Rive Gauche) Regalade must run just behind.

6. Classic dishes in new places (relatively).  Surprisingly, I find that there are relatively new places that serve the old favorites very well indeed, places like Cerisaie, the Bistro Volnay and Le Grand Pan. 

7. And of course the meat and fish-focused places.  Here, I think nothing beats Severo and the Bis de Severo for a Cote de Boeuf or Rech for fish.

8. And finally, how about a place that has a young chef, with locavore produce and modern equipment who serves ancient recipes – well, Jadis fits that bill.

One should give a big nod of the head to Alain Ducasse, who not only highlights young chefs, bringing them to Paris to shine in the glory but saves “old relics,” like Benoit, Aux Lyonnais and Rech, investing his time, energy and money, albeit with mixed results.

By now you’re wondering what I told my friend/colleague the other night and wrote on his card; well, none of the above; instead in order of recall – the Brasserie de l’ile St Louis, Le Dernier Metro, Le Repaire de Cartouche, Le Cantine de Troquet, Dans Les Landes and Terroir Parisien.

Their coordinates are:

Le Brasserie de l'Isle/ile St. Louis
55, quai de Bourbon in the 4th (Metro: Cite or Pont-Marie)
T: 01.43.54.02.59
Closed Wednesdays,
35-40 E a la carte

Au Dernier Metro
70 blvd de Grenelle in the 15th, (Metro: Dupleix)
T: 01.45.75.01.23,
Open 7/7
30-35 E a la carte

Le Repaire de Cartouche
8 blvd des Filles du Calvaire, 11th  (Metro : Filles du Calvaire)
T : 01.47.00.25.86
Closed Sundays and Mondays
Lunch menus 13 & 24 €, a la carte 35-45 €.

La Cantine de Troquet Dupleix
53, blvd de Grenelle in the 15th (Metro: Dupleix)
T: 01.45.75.98.00 (but no reservations)
Open 7/7
Costing about 30 € a la carte.

Dans Les Landes
119 bis (not 119, as some have reported it) Rue Monge in the 5th, (Metro: Censier-Daubenton)
T: 01.45.87.06.00
Closed Sundays and Mondays
Costing 25-35 € a la carte.

Terroir Parisien (by Yannick Alleno)
24, rue rue St-Victor in the 5th, (Metro: Maubert-Mutualite)
T: 01.44.31.54.54
Open 7/7
A la carte 20-50 E

Craig Claiborne – Another memory.

Yesterday the New York Times had a once-in-a-lifetime tribute to Craig Claiborne, who should have been alive to read the pieces by Pete Wells, Brian Miller and Jacques Pepin (and a month ago Frank Bruni). 

Except for reading his reviews, my first contact with the great man, albeit second-hand, was when Colette and I decided to hold a Chinese New Year’s banquet with several of our friends.  I called my then best source for restaurants, be they in Keocuk or Chinatown, Johnny Apple, and he said in his growly voice “I’ll have to get back to you.”  I was puzzled; Apple knew everything about anything, especially when it came to politics or food and he knew it instantly – “get back to me” sounded serious. 

But sure enough, a few hours later Apple’s on the phone; “Craig says go to xxxxxx, but you have to go down there to plan the menu yourself because they don’t speak English and you order the stuff that’s on the red ribbons hanging from the molding.  OK?” 

I did, we did, it was memorable and I called Apple and thanked him.  A day after that the growly voice says (without a hello) “Talbott, Craig is tickled pink, but don’t tell anyone where you were because he’s never written it up and wants to keep it ‘his’.” 

So the greatest source of information on quality dining in Manhattan for those of us interested in all that was good in New York kept some treasures in pectorum.  Interesting, eh?

FAQ: “Have you been back to Restaurant C. lately”

Just a while ago I was dining with one of my willing co-conspirators who mentioned that she had really liked a place I wrote up not too long ago and been back several times – had I?

No I hadn’t. She wanted to know why. I mumbled and stumbled without a good answer. Then I sat down one evening for an apero with someone we’ve been eating with here and in New York for over four decades and brainstormed all the places we used to like and no longer frequent.

Some we stopped going to for cause: because they kept bumping up the prices without any visible improvement in the quality of the products or food (see Thierry Burlot, Tante Marguerite); because they never changed their cartes (Les Jumeaux, C’Amelot); because they closed despite their apparent success (Grande Rue, Bistro Cote Mer, Table de Lucullus, La Timonerie); or because they changed their generous offerings (the Brasserie Lorraine, Goumard.)

But that doesn’t explain dozens of fine places we used to flock to season after season, places like:
Au Bon Acceuil
Biche au Bois
Chez Les Anges
Cinq Mars
Clos des Gourmets
Passage
Passiflore
Petit Marguery
Rech
Quincy
Senderens
Stella Maris
Violin d’Ingres and so many others.

Nothing wrong with them at all, not even the quote allegedly from Yogi Berra that “Nobody goes there anymore because it's too crowded.” No, we just stopped going and moved on.

However, a few weeks ago the above mentioned friend said, “You know I was walking past La Cerisaie and they’ve got stuff on the carte, like a civet of tripes, we should try again.” Why not?

Well, it was terrific.

So maybe, just like playing a “record” with ‘60’s or ‘70’s music every so often, we should occasionally try places we used to love 30 or 20 or 10 years ago.

Its coordinates are:
La Cerisaie
70, Boulevard Edgar Quinet, 14th (Metro : Montparnasse-Bienvenue)
T : 01.43.20.98.98
Closed Saturdays and Sundays
A la carte around 40 €

The Food blogger as concierge, Mr. Answer Man, punching bag and billboard.*

Concierge

“I cannot get through/am too lazy/don’t want to spend the money on the international telephone call, so would you call for me and reserve?”

“I arrive in the 6th at 11 PM and need a good, low-priced bistro where no one speaks English, that’s open late, within walking distance of my hotel.”

“So if I cannot get into Spring, Frenchie, Septime or (insert your favorite hotspot) where do I go if I’m looking for a good, low-priced bistro where no one speaks English, within walking distance of X Museum.”


Mr. Answer Man

“What are your top ten restaurants this year/ever?” [Have you read my categories?]

“Where do I go on Sundays?” [ditto]

“How far is it from my hotel to the restaurants in the Bois de Boulogne?” [Ah Mapquest is too hard to find?]

“Which is better, Restaurant X or Bistro Y?” [How many people did you ask?]

“My family wants to have the dégustation menu at Chez Blabla, but I don't eat seafood, and my wife is vegetarian except for chicken and egg whites, my boy eats only beef, my daughter eats only pasta. Do you think Chez Blabla would accommodate our issues and let us substitute this and that and that and that?

PS. A friend notes that after they’ve been answered/helped, their feedback, if any, is that “all the advice is ignored and on their own they found ‘divine little places, that serve the best French food in Paris’…..which were the type of places they wanted to avoid in the first place and generally have lackluster reputations.”


Punching bag [posted with an untraceable screen name but traceable IP]

“You’ll never print this but I think you’re nothing but a self-righteous, rich geezer with a big ego.”

“It's the height of pretention and poor taste to compare yourself and your lofty standards to the poor kids who write or blog to make a living; shame on you.”

“I disagree with everything you say, you blithering idiot. I’ll never go to anyplace you recommend.”


And finally – billboard.

“Buy cheap (enter your favorite) running shoes, watches, apparel.”

“You must try my favorite place [which I happen to own/be the chef at].”

“Write A+ term papers.”

*With a little help from my friends (Thanks esp. to V.B., N.L., M.P. + S.B.)

The exception that proves the rule: A well-reviewed American chef at l'Office in the 9th.

I recently wrote and posted an essay substantiating some persons’ belief that Paris restaurants with North American chefs open to the sound of one hand clapping while every crummy pizzeria gets star treatment by the French critics.

But there is one exception that proves the rule and that is L’Office in the 9th. Opened several years ago and chef’d by French chefs it was not bad at all. In fact I called it the best value of the spring in 2007.

Then the chef/owner (Nicolas Scheidt, Gregory [Frenchie] Marchand’s brother-in-law departed for Belgium and it had a number of British chefs (at least one trained by Jamie Oliver), during which period I did not go. And I heard no buzz prompting me to revisit.

However, last October it was acquired by yet another French guy, Charles Compagnon, who Le Fooding says has worked at the James Beard Foundation in New York and he brought in two Yanks, Kevin O’Donnell and his compatriot Mike, both of whom trained at, among other places, Del Posto as well as other continental restos.

Get to the point Dad.

OK, in October the culinary world shifted its opinion about L’Office and I daresay of American chefs and it’s been garnering kudos ever since. I’ve only eaten there twice but have been mightily impressed.

If one looks up “The exception that proves the rule” various sources say that the phrase is really contradictory but that a small exception proves that the more general rule is valid. So while I rejoice that L’Office has been acclaimed, it remains a shame that places like Spring, Verjus and Catherine Reed remain underappreciated.

Coordinates:
L'Office
3 Rue Richer in the 9th (Metro: Cadet)
T: 01.47.70.67.31
Closed Saturday lunch and Sundays
A la carte 16-35 €

 

FAQ & Sunday Summary: Bio, vegetarian and all that jazz.

On most of the websites I’ve worked on/at, there have been the inevitable questions about where to get bio and vegetarian produce and meals and I must say, as when I’m asked what hotel to stay at in Paris, I come up short. But recently in A Nous Paris, Smael Bouaici wrote an invaluable guide to what Richard Gere in Chicago called “All that jazz.” So here, shamelessly stealing from M. Bouaici, is what I gleaned.

Markets:
Raspail is the oldest and open Sunday AM’s
Batignolles Saturday morning
Brancusi ditto
Richard Lenoir Sunday but only partly bio
Cours de Vincennes Saturday AM “
Rue St-Charles Friday AM “
Place de la Reunion Sunday AM’s “

Bio supermarkets:
Les Nouveaux Robinsons – 17 mainly outside the city
Biocoop a dozen of which are in Paris
Presto Fresco Italian
Carre des Simples

Vegetarian and Bio Restaurants etc:
Rose Bakery
Kloog Café
Bioburger
Vegan Folie’s
Cupcakes & Co.

Wines:
La Cave de l’Insolite
La Cave des Papilles
Les Caves Auge

Beer:
La Cave a Bulles

FAQ: “Don’t you ever eat out at high-end places?” Indeed a new friend just this month asked me this very question.

You Dear Reader may think I only go to restaurants that run a couple about or under 100 E.

“But” I say “Wait a minute, how about L’Abeille, La Tour d’Argent or 39V?  I went to them, gimme a break.”

“Not that quick;” you say “Everybody and his uncle reviewed Arola (or Epicure or Le Shang Palace or the Opera Restaurant or L’Hotel or you name it, that runs over 70 E a person before liquids and they’ll soon be beating down the doors at Helen)? What’s your problem?”

Why aren’t I out there at the three stars every night?

Well, I confess, for the most part, I’m not and you are correct.

My polls, website meters, focus groups and consultants tell me that my demographic is/are 40-60 year olds interested in new, “undiscovered” (at least by the New York Times) places and because that’s where I like going as well, that’s where I gravitate to. I just keep on trying the new ones out.

A number of decades ago, my French food finder and mentor echoed the answer Peter Ustinov’s parody of Commendatore Ferrari gave when asked why his cars’ brakes failed approaching finishes, saying something like “Any idiot can make a car go slow, but it takes a genius to make one run fast.”

He said “Anyone can buy the Michelin for 20 bucks and go to three stars every night costing $300, it takes work to find a bistro that’s great and runs one180 Francs.” P.S. He’s the guy who “found” Eric Frechon toiling up atop the Buttes Chaumont for just that before he headed downstream to the Bristol.

I might add another story I tell too much. In 1990 when Colette and I resolved to spend every day of our 365 on French soil (even vacationing in Martinique), we were treated to the best and most expensive restaurants of that era by three folks with unlimited budgets - my Editor, Re-Insurance Manager and Tax/Accounting Wizard. And, after each meal, Colette and I would exit and turn to each other and say “good food but not worth $300 or $400 or in one case $700.”

But when you walk out of Le Bouclier de Bacchus, Alain Milliat, Terroir Parisien or Atao 60-100 E a couple lighter, that’s price-quality at its best.

If you like such price-quality, you’ll find it here:

Le Bouclier de Bacchus
18, rue Saint-Lazare in the 9th (Metro: ND de Lorette)
T: 01.48.74.94.99
Closed Sundays
Running one about 30-40 E a la carte depending on wine prices.

Alain Milliat
159, rue de Grenelle in the 7th, (Metro: Latour-Maubourg)
T: 01.45.55.63.86
Closed Sundays and Mondays
Lunch menus 22 and 28 E, 29 and 55 E dinner

Terroir Parisien (by Yannick Alleno)
24, rue rue St-Victor in the 5th, (Metro: Maubert-Mutualite)
T: 01.44.31.54.54
Open 7/7
A la carte 20-50 E

Atao : La Dame des Huitres
86, rue Lemercier in the 17th, (Metro:Brochant)
T: 01.46.27.81.12
Closed Sunday night and Mondays
About 50 E pp a la carte with wine.

 

John’s Top 20 Restos and Bistros for 2012 entering Springtime.

7.0 Sens Unique, Le 122
6.9 Les Saisons
6.6 Le Bouclier de Bacchus
6.5 L’Escient, Cantine de Troquet Dupleix, Le Chemise, Alain Milliat
6.1 Petit Broc
6.0 Clocher de Montmartre, Pierre au Palais Royale, l’Instant d’Or
5.9 La Classe
5.8 Pantruche
5.7 Dernier Metro, Catherine Reed
5.5 Coq Rico, Marie & Louise
5.2 Reparate
5.1 Mirama

For a contrasting view, here are Emmanuel Rubin’s top 22 ones:
8.5 Coq Rico
8.0 L'Arola
7.5 Alain Milliat
7.0 L'Instant d'Or
6.5 Albion, Cantine du Troquet, L'Escargot 1903, Cave Schmidt, L’Affable, Maxan, Les Saisons, Lengué
6.0 L'Escient, La Vieille, le Chemise, Au Clocher de Montmartre, La Coloniale, Pizzeria di Rebellato, Sassolini, L'Éclaireur, Le Vide Gousset, Top Chef à L'Alcazar