John Talbott's Paris

Les Tablettes de Jean-Louis Nomicos: Another outstanding meal at an astonishing price.

We returned to Les Tablettes de Jean-Louis Nomicos with the parents of a chef we know and when pere tried the amuse of a lemon gel bottom, a creamy middle, fennel and a tomato sauce on top, he, three hours off a plane said the likes of "I've never had anything like this before, it's very good."  The four of us went with the 42 E 3 course "menu"' with wine from the carte versus the 58 E 4-course one with coffee and 37.5 cl of wine.  Smart Euro-wise?  I'm not so sure.

 

For firsts, the rest of the table chose the langoustine emulsion with foie gras raviolis and tiny, minced bits of raw green asparagus and I decided to try to bouillabaisse jelly with squid, rouget, fava beans rouille and basil oil .  Both were fabulous despite the fact that my prevailing theory is that French chefs use fluff like salt to cover up their sins, here the fluff was fab.

 

For mains, in descending order, we had the artisinal pasta, morilles, asparagus and sot l'y laisse of chicken; crispy skinned lieu (of the cod family) with marjorum, smoked eggplant and piquillos; and a jarret of veal with a ginger sauce, raw carrot slices and terrific (I assume Noirmoutier) potatoes).

 

 

 

 Desserts were a fondant of chocolate with cocoa sorbet and mascarpone and various "wood" fruits with fromage blanc and raspberry sorbet.

With two bottles of nice Bordeaux, 3 coffees and no bottled water our bill was 116.50 E per couple which our guests picked up in a terribly nice gesture.  Disclosure: the head guy gave us all glasses of a wonderful fortified red wine from Ukraine that had echoes of cassis, prune and other fruits.  Another nice gesture.

Ze Kitchen Galerie: Never ceases to amaze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opening the carte at Ze Kitchen Galerie is always a surprise; what will William Ledeuil have "cooked up" today", because he never is stuck in a repetitive rut -  always moving, always innovating, always shocking the taste buds, in the nicest of ways.  And today was no different - the amuses were his usual fine olives, OK, love'em; and then something I don't recall being served before, microtomed beets and split radishes and celery with a sesame/sardine cream - yum.  We were "offered" and yes, Colette and I accepted, a coupe while we awaited our former downstairs neighbors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paga started with the trofie pasta with mustard, parmesan and carpaccio of beef; Colette had the oysters, urchins, white asparagus condiment in a green apple juice with ginger and I (unpictured) had a deevine special of lukewarm but previously sauteed foie gras with shaved veggies on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then the ladies both had the young rabbit with a curry sauce and artichoke/wasabi condiment while the gents feasted on confited pigeon with more foie gras with a mustard/rhubarb condiment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the finale two of us chose the strawberries and rhubarb with rhubarb sorbet, Colette had the mango, marinated pineapple, coco "soupe" and vanilla and the staff, not wanting me to feel left out brought out a small portion of almost mousse textured chocolate with crumble sort of stuff (which I think they overheard me talking about loving.)

With their house-bottled water and coffee (both coming with the meal) our bill came to 123.70 E a couple.  Fabulous! Yet! Again! 

Comme Chez Maman: Our new Sunday lunch "go-to" place since Atao stopped it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this place; they initially started by serving only double dishes - Cotes de Boeuf, Cotes de veau, Giant fish, etc. - and had the dreaded brunch on Sundays - but now have asked themselves "What would JT do?" and come back with single portions and no brunch.   Bravo folks!

All three of the four of us from the 18th ordered one of the daily entrees - the morilles in cream - OMG GTH!

Then we went on to have veal kidneys, a pot-au-feu of sea-stuff, duck with orange sauce and a "piece" of veal with teeny-tiny, delicious enoki mushrooms, all served with a huge platter of mashies - Colette deemed her duck the weakest of the lot, but I disagree - All Were Winners!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The desserts we chose were a moelleux of chocolate, a vacherin mound and a baba for which our genial wait-man, Miguel, deposed a bottle of rum which he warned was only to be used by me (ah French humor.)  Needless to say, all were quite good, indeed very good, if the truth be known as exemplary as the rest of the meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With two bottles of a very good Sancerre red, no bottled water and four coffees, our bill was 123.50 E a couple - with mind you, four vielle prunes (and they didn't know who I or our food book/cooking class/tour leader friend was/were).

Go?  The new formula works; they've got it right; GO!

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.

Le Gagnage: a gainful go-back.

I returned today with Colette and two recent friends to Le Gagnage, the restaurant of Aurelie and Jerome and we were pleased.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The firsts were intriguing and beautiful - a terrine de Campagne with nuts and trumpets of death; a feuillete of snails with garlic and tomato coulis; and the aumoniere of mushrooms with Chaource sauce.

 

 

For mains we had the lieu jaune with risotto; a filet of bar with sweet-potatoes and seafood fluff; and yellow Vendee chicken with pilaf rice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For desserts we chose the pear tart with vanilla ice cream and the bananas with flamed rum and coconut sorbet.

With two bottles of Bourgeuil, no bottled water, three coffees and a calva our bill was 85.70 E a couple.

Les Premices is as promising as my first visit.

 

 

 

 

 

I had been so taken by Les Premices and its wonderful chef last month that when to friend-diners suggested we go back I jumped.  We had two amuses: a mint cream with celery and what I swear was monkfish but without a scream from Colette must have been cod.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For firsts M. Anonymous had the asparagus four ways and I had a delicate Thai soup with rolled-up almost Japanesey wrapped bits of lobster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The women then had the Landes farm chicken and the guys the daily special - crispy outside sweetbread with artichoke hearts and peas that were in between ptit and gross - all just fine, thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished up with a cheese platter and two rice puddings with caramel (Colette declared hers "one of the best ever."

Our bill, with 2 coupes of champagne, 2 bottles and 2 glasses of wine, no bottled water but 3 coffees was 252 E, but taking away the champagne, it would have been more like 112 E a couple.

Axuria: A bit off today but hey, who's complaining?

Axuria has been our "go-to" Sunday lunch place for quite some months but it didn't deliver today as strongly as before.  The amuse of a curried fish soup was terrific as a start.

Our friend "Boston B." was in town and he and I both started off with a super risotto with morilles with a mop-every-drop-up sauce and I thought we were onto another good 3 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colette had the bar, our pal the tuna with a caramelized glaze and I the St. Pierre.  None of us uttered words of praise, indeed, Colette said "Let's give it a rest," B. "Let me be frank and specific" and I thought to myself  "How can a fish place fall off the high cliff so badly?" (Colette wondered if there were both a new front room staff and a kitchen equipe.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had decided when our orders were taken to not have dessert but the two of them proceeded with a Grand Marnier souffle ("It was not as good as the last two times") and a "douceur" of agrumes from whose orderer no "ooh's or aah's" were uttered.

With a bottle of fine Languedoc, a big Badoit and 3 coffees, our bill was about 91.06 E a couple.

Felicity Lemon: "The best, inventive meal since we arrived," my buddy Paga said.

I returned to Felicity Lemon (a half block down from the Belleville Metro) with Colette, our two ex-downstairs' neighbors and my oldest French friend, furiously tugging my forelock and pre-apologizing for what I thought might be the culinary equivalent of the "Sophomore slump" - that is, a disasterous second meal after an astonishing first a few weeks ago.  Not to worry.

First, the mistress of the salle came out and asked if we were aware of their new policy of small plates, then chef Sylvia François thanked me for writing her and it up so well a bit back and while nothing was comp'd or putting-on-the-dog stuff, we once again had a wonderfully creative meal.  We just ordered away and among the five of us had almost everything offered.

 

 

 From top to bottom, each more interesting than the previous:
Carottes rapees and Burrata
White asparagus with a pear and lemon-horse-raddish sauce - whoa!
Tuna in a boullion with ginger and yuzu
Arancini (Sicilian squid ink rice balls) and salad
Calamari with red peppers
Thai pork salad
Scallops with passion fruit, sliced ginger and passion fruit
Duck breast with an apricot sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we were dithering over the desserts I said - "one of each" and so it was - a grenache of chocolate, apple tart and cocoa a lemon cakey thing.  As Liberace would say - "Wunnerful, wunnerful!"

With three bottles of Jeff's Languedoc, no bottled water and 3 coffees (I said we weren't comp'd but I don't see the coffees on the bill so, we maybe were) - the bill was the equivalent of 68.80 E a couple.

Le Petit Champerret: I did fine, but others........

I brought Colette and 4 friends today to Le Petit Champerret in the 17th, a place that, on February 20th, I famously boasted might be the "Best meal/dishes of 2013" and I'll tell you what all six of us  thought right now - the other 5 had problems with a lot of food and ambiance elements but again I ate very well - but I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started off well, with rillettes of sardines on toasts and a bottle of the Cotes be Bordeaux I'd had before.  However, soon the resto began to fill and by 13h41 was so full and loud no one could hear anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For firsts, Chef P. had the asparagus soup with an egg, her sculptor husband had the glass of crab, guacamole and a red pepper ball on top, M. Paga had the wolf (fish not quadriped) with unidentifiable and (he said) tasteless mini-balls of something and I had a mushroom looking composition of a bone with its marrow on top and besides it on slices of potato - I thought all was well.

Then we waited, it got louder, we waited, it got louder, we started shouting, and waited, too long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then M. Rodin-manque had superb scallops with asparagus; the ladies all had veal ordered rosé (we'll come back to that) and I thought it was just fine - with asparagus; M. Paga had the confited lamb aka mutton which I, a mutton-hater, thought quite crispy and tasty as did he, a mutton-lover; and I had goat with its various organs and I thought it was about as good as it gets even though some thought the "sauce" was straight out of the Maille can and veggies not much of a much.  But returning to the veal.  As I said the ladies ordered it rosé, indeed Chef P. said rosé-rosé, and while hers was to her taste, the others were most unhappy with their over-cooked versions and on their behalf, Chef P. remonstrated and M. Castellani took two off our bill.

Only Colette had room for dessert but all shared in the brioche perdu.

With 2 1/2 wines, a Coke and two coffees the bill should have been 96.53 E a couple.

The Café Figué: Seems more worldy than before and no wonder.

Colette and I and two very old dear friends from New York returned today to the Café Figué and the menu was quite different from last time, much more food with influences of Italy, the Cribbean and Asia; a quick look at her resume hows why,  after graduating from l’École Supérieure de Cuisine Française in  Paris she worked in Providence, Cotonou, Miami and Hong-Kong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 For firsts, our friends had the sauteed (yes sauteed) melon with lettuces, Colette had had the chicken samosas and I had the salmon rillettes; all quite interesting and different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then all three had the dorade cooked in its skin while I went for the intruigingly named tiger tears which turned out to be a sort of carpaccio of beef marinated in spices on top of wheat noodles with cilantro and basil.  Fetching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, in sum we had the mango tart with mango ice cream, watermelon sorbet with strawberries and a sable, and microtomed pineapple with white chocolate and crumble bits (and for me a crumble-hater, it was wonderful).

With two bottles of Valencay, no bottled water, 4 coffees and fine bread, our bill came to 76.60 E a couple.