John Talbott's Paris

Pirouette: "This goes on my top three list" said a denizen of this great culinary city.

"What's good on this menu?" asked my friend from the 15th.  "Everything I said." And it was, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started off with the entree du jour- a toasty fried piece of cod with pepper mousse; eggs cooked on a plancha with a puree of asparagus, bacon and salad; and white cuttlefish and artichoke hearts both topped with slices of very wonderfully spiced chorizo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For our mains we had the sweetbreads with petits pois; grilled bar with onions and chorizo; pigeon breast with its roasted parts and white asparagus; and the 7-hour lamb with violet carrots.  My 15th friend said some were better than others but I thought everyone did very well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Desserts were a soft brebis with black cherries; gariguette strawberries and rhubarb in a rhubarb sauce with pistachio financier; and a praline tart with speculos ice cream and caramel sauce.

With the equivalent of three bottles of wine, no bottled water and three coffees, our bill per couple amounted to 94 E.

Lobster Bar in the 1st: 4 Weddings and a funeral - no 4 circumstances and a disclosure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.5 (The) Lobster Bar, 41, rue Coquilliere in the 1st, 08.99.02.45.54 (Metro: Louvre-Rivoli) opens April 2nd and today (disclosure) was open to the press which included American bloggers.  It's not large - 20 covers, has a startling mural and mirror showing the rapport between Cape Cod (upper center left) and Brittany.  The concept is that of Mathieu Mercier who has been chasing lobster rolls up & down the American East Coast and figured, I figure, since Paris has gone nuts over burgers, food trucks and brownies, why not lobster rolls.

Circumstances: 1. The PR firm clearly invited too many guests and in 45 minutes the staff was overwhelmed and invitees were shoving to stand at the bar and the decibel level exceeded 75.7.       2.  I have spent or mis-spent my summers in Maine for over 70 years so think I know more about lobster rolls than is safe.  3. I love American bottled mayonnaise and ballpark rolls, and 4. No matter what the erudite folks on websites say about being the same species - homarus - the US variety - Americanus is different from the Breton one - gammarus.  M. Mercier states that "Brittany lobster.....has a softer and more refined flesh, with a sweeter and more intense flavor...."  OK to the food:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The menu couldn't be simpler and the spread of 3 taramas, 2 rillettes and anchovies spread over terrific bread - most delicious.  The urchin and crab ones were especially magnificent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lobster roll itself is not huge, for 26 E, it's about 6 inches long; the roll part is sweet not neutral; the lobster in bigger chunks than usually served Down East; the sauce very hard to discern; the fries nice but ours were served semicold due to the crush I fear; but the lettuces had a terrific sauce.  At this point we were asked to move to the counter so those there could sit - cool - and there we had the spice cake and brownie with ice cream and coffee that I thought were great but my guest said she can do better.

The bill (if we had been charged and had two rolls and 2 glasses of wine each) would have been about 104 E plus whatever the coffee runs.

Go?  If you're from New England, I think not, but if French or from west of the Hudson and are into novelty Yankee food, why not?  (I'll be interested in what my expat pals who were there will write - all had different reactions verbally to me).

Willi's Wine Bar in the 1st: I guess so, but then.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.0 Willi's Wine Bar, 13 rue des Petits-Champs in the 1st, 01.42.61.05.09 (Metro:Pyramides) declares on its front window that it's been open for 30 years and Mr. Williamson (disclosure) wrote me a nice note many years ago inviting me to drop by.  I read somewhere recently that it had a new chef so I used that as an excuse to inveigle one of my seeming 100 friends from San Francisco who lives here to go today.  It's a great looking place with goofy pastel lettering sitting smack across from the Bibliothèque nationale de France and featuring (Pudlo says) 200 wines.   Well a lot of them were crossed off and the number under 30 E was pretty slim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started off with two hard-to-screw-up firsts: sliced artichoke hearts with salad and an egg on top and three gambas on top of minced vegetables half of which (on one side) were warm and half were cold (a most strange sensation).  Then we made the classic error of both ordering the same main course, which meant that we really didn't test the chef and kitchen's mettle; the pintade was nice enough although not classicly prepared but more like a cabbage stew, the wild mushrooms were there but the aftertaste was entirely one of cabbage, cabbage and more cabbage.

It was filling, however, and we declined dessert.  Our bill, with a bottle of Spanish Penedes Tempranillo, one coffee, OK bread and no bottled water, was 87.20 E. 

Go?  Boy, you've got me there.  Everybody, especially the posters on English-language food websites, loves it and maybe we hit it on an off day, but I can't be as enthusiastic.

Spring: A reward for the moving team.

Spring is a place my daughters have only heard about and somewhere in the week of packing, moving and unpacking, they said "Dad, how about "springing" [sic] us free and taking us to your favorite place instead of forcing us to eat at these neighborhood joints?"  Fair enough; so off we went on the last day of move week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So let's see if we can reel off these lovely dishes: creme fraiche, Grannies, eel and onion; scallops and pears; a puree of foie gras with fried oysters; mackerel and oysters;  rouget with a sweet & sour sauce; chunks of veal with almond puree, spinach and foie gras pastry; passion fruit, vanilla ice cream, mango and pistachio, litchee and pineapple and chocolate tartes - whew!

The bill, with two bottles of wine, no bottled water and four coffees was 252 E or 126 E a couple.

Pirouette: Best prix-qualité meal of the Year 2012?

Pirouette in the 1st is a place that has pleased us since it opened this summer; it's inventive, seasonal and comprehensive while staying in reasonable price ranges.  Today Colette and I ate with a moderately new friend who's a French Medievil manuscript scholar and had a delightful meal all around.

 

 

 

 

 

Our friend started out with the egg in a trumpets of death mushroom/artichoke soup (see before and after) while I had the "porchetta" of rabbit and chorizo bits with espilette - spicy (to my taste) with slices of heirloom  radishes and beets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then Colette had the St Jacques (what else?) with potatoes, foie gras fennel seeds and shaved fennel stalks and mustard dresssing; our friend had the pigeon with salsifis; and I had sweetbreads with duxelles and a potatoe galette; all dishes were superior.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For dessert Colette had the rice pudding with yummy nut thingies and caramel sauce and our friend, the delightful grenache chocolate.  Our wine was a super Cotes du Rhone.

With two bottles of wine, two coffees and an 8 E well-deserved supplement but no bottled water, our bill turned out to be the equivalent of 104 E a couple.  Decibel level = 81.1 but strangely it was very pleasant.

Spring's Splendid Solstice Spread: a liberal interpretation of December 21st.

Today, four of us who have eaten at Spring a bit, returned for the offerings of December and they were, as usual, wide-ranging and magnanimous:

 

 

 

 

 

 

So among this bounty of treasures were: mackerel, eel, radishes and butter and bread; two bottles of Jura Poulsard Vieux Bourg; oysters, scallops and Granny strips and chestnut soup; pintade two ways, a puree with quince somewhere lurking; pear tarte, lemon cream pie, Armagnac ice cream with prunes, and a thyme and clementine citron concoction. 

As usual, we were impressed and thankful for a delicious meal with friends.  Daniel and his team know how to please folks!

Bill 249 for 4, thus 125 E a couple, decibel level max'ing at 82.

Au Rendez-vous des Camionneurs in the 1st: "John, maybe we ordered the wrong things."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.1 Au Rendez-vous des Camionneurs, 72, quai des Orfevres in the 1st, 01.43.29.78.81, open 7/7, looked like the ideal place for a calm Sunday lunch, since we don't do brunch, which seems to paralyse Paris restos on weekends.  It's right on the quai, bright light shining in on a very cold day and brightly colored inside as well.

While they have weekday formulas at lunch for 24 and 36 E for dinner, a la carte is a bit more and required on weekends, as is normal.  They started us off with some slices of beautiful salami, their very good warm bread and butter - we're all set.

Colette decides not to have a first but I go for the oysters which were terrific, especially with the 4 E Muscadet they suggested.

 

To start with, Colette had a scallop shell sealed with dough, within which were 20 pieces of sliced baked St. Jacques on a bed of leeks with a light curry sauce; great idea - ummmm execution.  And I had what was called a blanquette of joues of veal prepared as Commissairre Maigret (remember we're on the quai des Orfevres) would like it; lots of teeny-tiny veggie pieces and rice that needed salt and pepper - you;ve got it - great idea - ummmm execution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For dessert she had a tarte chocolat croustifond and I had an "omelette" norvegienne, really a baked Alaska, both quite nice but not outside the normal, except that Colette thought the latter was "very good." 

Our bill, with a bottle of fine Lirac Maby, no bottled water, that terrific bread and butter and two coffees, was 112 E.  Decibel level 78.4 max - acceptable I'd say,.

Go?  Well, on my way out I read an article in Le Parisien from 20 Sept that said this place was the brain-child of "Patrice Hardy, à la tete de la Truffe noire à Neuilly-sur-Seine, et avec le chef Helmi Delbal en cuisine," but I think they've got some work to do to execute the very good ideas they have.  Let me know what you think.

 

LaDamedePic in the 1st: Spots of brilliance in a sea of ordinary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.5 LaDamedePic aka La Dame de Pic, 20 rue du Louvre in the 1st, 01.42.60.40.40, closed Sundays (Metro: Louvre-Rivoli) is "the" restaurant of the rentree, garnering rave reviews, so even at menus of 49-120 E I had to see for myself; silly me!  The outside is cool grey - the ultimate understated fascade; the interior cooly red and white with Baccarat water glasses, her own knives and beautiful nappery; and there are perfumed-scented strips for the three pricy "menus" - vanilla, fish and flowers and sous-bois epices.

 

 Carrying out the pretentious theme are two of her own prepared butters with wonderful split rolls; but then wines offered that actually don't break the bank (27 E); however the cheapest of the 4 forced choice menus is hardly a bargain at 49 E.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two of us had el cheapo dejeuner - ha ha - and J. the iode & fleurs.  Thus he started out with two dishes: shucked oysters in a bed of cauliflower soup and jasmine and sardines with wonderfully marinated leeks and green fluff and we had what was called a pumpkin soup but was congealed such floated on a bed of what my chef-friend called pannacotta/custard with bits of coffee grains on top - all three of us agreed it was the winner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then the high-roller among us had a farm chicken breast with spinach leaves and orange "flowers" and the two 47% moochers had the supions with - what? - gnocchi - well, it almost worked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally the big spender had a Poire Williams and violet/licorice fluff and we slackers the myrtilles encased in a shell with a wafer of pure sugar on top and green tea stuff underneath.

With two coffees, one glass of white wine and 1.5 bottles of red, no bottled water and really ordinary mignardises our bill was a  staggering 267 E.  However, to be fair, if one ordered two dejeuner "menus", one bottle of wine and two coffees the bill could come to just 134 E.

So John how did you get to 5.5?  Simple.
8.0 Outside
8.0 Decor
8.0 Nappery, glasses, knives
8.0 Welcome
8.0 Service
6.0 Wine price-quality ratio
4.0 Food
1.0 Noise level
1.0 Food price-quality ratio
1.0 Pretentiousness
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= 5.3 rounded up to 5.5 - you do the math, works for me.

Go?  My friend the free-wheeler said, "Ordinary food, that's all;" so Colette will not be visiting later on.

Spring: Fun, fun, fun.

Spring again yet; just as fresh as the first time in 2006.

 

 

 

 

We were offered (all of us that is) three starters - oysters with a grapefruit jelly, unbelievable pickled eggplant and slices of Iberic porky things on quartered figs.  We also started working on a wine marked simply Bourgogne and had a fantastic (unpictured) bouillon parmentier with smoked potatoes and coquillages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fish main was red mullet with Kalamata olives, olive oil and mint sauce; the meat was loin of lamb with pomegranate seeds, a puree of cepes with a cut cepe on top, raw squash and more pomegranate seeds.  The lamb was a standout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As tempting as the cheese offerings were, we went straight to desserts: a glorious flourless nutcake with white wine, blackberries with butter-cream and a lemon curd nummie.

With two bottles of wine, one bottle of fizzy water, and two coffees our bill was 240 E for four or 120 E a couple.

Pirouette in the 1st: "Now, this is truly inventive food," sayeth my food God.

Colette was throwing out suggestions for a perfect venue for a Birthday party for our downstairs' neighbor of 22 years, who is distraught that we will be moving sometime soon, and her across the hall neighbors who introduced us to this apartment, market-street, quartier and arrondissement 25 years ago and she said "I've got it; Pirouette!"  But I said, "we were just there, the menu probably hasn't changed and I'm not sure it'll be as great the 3rd time in for me in a month.

Well, we came in to many hand-shakes and "Bonjours" and a comment from our genial host that eating there was becoming a "bad habit of ours."  And at some point, one of the wait-guys said (propping up the ardoise) "here's the same menu"; "the same?" questioned I; "oh no, it's evolving."  And indeed it is and was.

 

 

 

 

 

Madame, the Food Goddess, had the artichokes poivrade with fondant gnocchi and perfectly spicy chorizo bits; Colette had the foie gras with figs several ways; and the Food God had monkfish cheeks with a super sauce.  Madame the Birthday Girl and I ate hand-outs like Charles Laughton's Henry VIII threw at his dogs - very pleasant scaps indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains, the FGess had the mulet a la plancha with a ton of veggies, the BGirl the lieu noir with various types of mushrooms, the veritable FG had what may have been the best dish of the day - "Pluma iberico" - a cut of pork from the tender part of the porcine neck and I had what was arguably as good - the pigeon royal, cooked to my exactitude (that is bloody interior/brown exterior) with a long leaf stuffed with chopped leeks or such and a slice of toasted bread covered with chopped abats and soaked in pigeon sauce.  Whew!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For finales, the BG had the millefeuille of raspberries and blackberries, Colette had her gold standard rice pudding and the FG and I shared the baba.

With 2 bottles of Vinsobres Altitude 420 Cotes du Rhone (boxes of which were conveniently piled besides us), no bottled water, good bread, 4 adequate coffees and 2 Eau de Vie Poire Williams, our bill was 239.00 for 5, or 95.60 E a couple.  A extra treat was a visit from the chef, one Tomy Gousset, on whom we showered our appreciation.