John Talbott's Paris

Le Gaigne in the 4th: English is spoken, in fact not much else is.

Le Gaigne has become a favorite of ours and on this, our umpteenth visit, we were surprised by the number of English speakers, who Madame says now, since Mark Bittman gave away the secret in the NYT, far outnumber locals.  OK, so we were speaking English as well.

 

My lady and I entered and sat and awaited our Paris-based friend who got held up by lines in Monoprix and confusing directions (by Parisians, not us), whiling away the time with a wonderfully intense Bordeaux (which our friend, on arriving, declared quite the best she'd had this......)

I scoped the menu, Colette spying a 5-course menu degustation, said "no way!"   But hark, it was 39 E, while the usual 3 courses a la carte were 51 E.  So that was my lodestar.

I thus started with a verrine of coquillage in jelly and celery, while the Gagnaire-trained chef kindly provided the ladies with some lox and cream cheese; so far so good.

Then I got a timbale of endives (toasty-tasting) with ham of Paris and leaves of endives and other leafy things aside; OK.

All of us then proceeded to the main dishes: Madame our friend had the lotte with veggies, I had the colineau with salsifis and Colette the rable of rabbit stuffed with figs with 3 squashes which I later got a 1/2 portion of as my next course (thanks gods) and all were very happy.

Desserts were a rice pudding with raisins, a chocolate and banana moelleux and a fig special; all terrific.

Our bill with two bottles of wine, three coffees and no bottled water was 135 E.  You can do the math per couple.

A la Biche au Bois in the 12th: Many happy returns.

A la Biche au Bois is a place Colette and I loved in the 1990's, not the least for its 120 FF and then 128 FF four-course game menu in the fall and then it was sold and some of its soul semed gone.

Thus when one of our favorite food writers suggested we return today we were delighted but apprehensive: would it be great or a bit off?

We arrived early enough to scope the outside 20 € and inside printed 25.90 € one and note that three game dishes were on tap today: wild duck, biche stew and their traditional slab of biche.

Our pal started with eggs in sauce that he devoured with pleasure while I thought my terrine of sanglier on a tartly dressed salad was great.

Then Colette had the weakest plate of the day, salmon, while our friend had coq au vin (pleading game-avoidance at his editors' request that was about as good as I've had since Chez Rene's went south, and I reveled in the thickly sliced almost raw biche (cooked to my liking despite no instructions) with a rich sauce and a chestnut puree and a ton of (so so) frites.

The cheese selection was quite ample and my camembert, brie and Pt l'Eveque were very good.

Desserts consisted of two classics, both good; a floating island and creme caramel.

With a bottle and a half of Santenay, three coffees and an Armagnac (offered at the end by our host, as had been the custon 20 years ago), our bill was 119.20 €.

PS For those familiar with the resto, the photo above does not feature it but some game on my street.

Go?  During game season, you can't do better for price quality.

Le Petit Champerret in the 17th: For #3 OK for Colette and A., not for me.

Le Petit Champerret in the 17th is a place I loved two times in a row and Colette put on her RETURN list.  But as we walked there we passed, whoops - a new Subway - an omen, oh oh.  Le P. C. doesn't look like that, so

That's it.  Anyway we entered and installed ourselves and ordered.

I was the only person to have a first and the artichokes a la barigoule which came on a bed of wonderfully spicy minced veggies and strips of bacon on top made me sure we were on a roll.

Madame A., our favorite French neighbor from downstairs, ordered the colin which was the #1 of the meal; Colette had the cod which was #2, and I pulled up the rear with a dry canette in a cocotte full of fine figs, sun-dried tomato and huge white grapes.  It was dry, dry, dry.  That ruined the meal for me. 

The ladies had figs with ice cream and a chocolate tart with a tart clementine ice; both fine.

Our bill with one bottle, one extra glass of wine and one calva plus two coffees was 121.90 E.

 

 
 

Ze does Zit Again.

Ze Kitchen Galerie, I've often commented, runs smoothly whether Wiiliam Ledeuil is there or not (vide one day he had the flu and went home assuring us before leaving that things would be fine and they were).  Today he was off in Megeve doing who knows what and we were treated and fed as well as always.

We started off with a light apero of champagne, with the usual tart olives and nice bread.

Colette then had a bouillon of mussels, squid and razor clams with a classic Ledeuil lemon grass sauce; and I had the bar de ligne marinated and with a daikon tartare and green mango.

Mains were the St Pierre special with tempured veggies and a delectable wasabi sauce and very tender morsels of veal jarret with a citrusy sauce; again Ledeuil bursting our palates. 

We sort of shared delicious figs in a red fruit sauce together with cironelle ice cream.

With a bottle of wine, water (part of the menu) and two coffees (ditto) = 100.10 E.

Go?  With this smooth-running a machine, you bet!

Le Marcab in the 15th: Another successful revisit

Le Marcab in the 15th: I've been a few times alone and with Colette and have never been disappointed.  I assumed on Sunday it would have no "menu" but only a la carte and was steeled for it, but no, there were two - one at 25 and the other at 35 €.

Colette despirately wanted scallops (out of season no?) and I loved the sound of the four (4) course 25 € menu.  So we ordered.

The first I got was a terrific cold (actually tiede) soup of winter squash with a dollop of creme atop and pumpkin seeds and I guess a hint of mace/nutmeg but not overpoweringly spiced by any means.  Then came some mi-fume, mi-cuit salmon with an "emulsion of cepes" with supposedly white truffle essences - terrific - or did I say that before?

My main of pork tenderloin rounds with a foie gras emulsion was terrific (I know) and Colette's salmon with veggies was just fine for a salmon expert (but she'd, or more accurately I'd, ordered the scallops); no matter, the Spanish cow'll get you every time.

For dessert we secretly shared the pear crumble (I hate crumble so she helped me out) with warm chocolate. 

With two coffees, great bread, jazz music (sorry, I'm not American) and attentive service, our bill came to 64.40 €.

Go?  Please, only the front room was full, a shame, for such food at such prices.

Au Petit Marguery in the 13th: 40 years of pleasure and again the game's afoot (sorry).

Au Petit Marguery, 9, Blvd de Port Royal, has been one of our favorites for game since we first came to do seriouis eating in France in (gasp) 1968. My glory, it's been a long time, and our cheery, long-suffering (from others) waiter (pictured) greeted us with a handshake (no H1N1 precautions here) and a warm welcome - nice!

We sat and reveled in what most Americans (including ourselves) must consider "the" quintessential French/Paris restaurant - red velvet banquettes, brass fixtures, waiters in black and white, champagne in a giant bucket by the door, etc.  Ahhhh, home!  Except for the American, indeed, the most American contribution to civilization, jazz music.

And it had a game menu. When I still worked at/for eGullet, I initiated a topic/thread called "Gibiers, or it's only a game" to which lots of folks contributed their favorites, but I think mine has always been Au Petit Marguery.  The other day, I saw grouse on the menu, traditionally the first game to hit the streets (so to speak) on the menu and we've seen hare hanging in our butcher markets on the street, so it seemed logical (with a tiny bit of prompting from Colette) to go.

They (Au Petit Marguery) had three kinds of game were offered today, including lievre royale and grouse, which is where I was headed for just a 10 E supplement to their 30 E 2-course menu.  I started with sauteed girolles with shallots which were most generous and most excellent.

Then I had the grouse which was really good:  dry, gamy and pink. It came with potatoes and girolles on the side.  Colette had dourade with a tomato/olive oil sauce and lots of green veggies - both suited  us just fine.

She finished with the Grand Marnier souffle which was terrific as well.

I must spend a moment on our wine - a Rousillion (OK), described as bioish/etc (fine), but it was grown by a collective of Thoreau nuts around a guy called Hervé Bizeul who calls it Walden and is proud of his and its heritage and with good reason.  Fun!

With two coffees and an extra glass of Graves for the Hiway our bill was 98 E.

Go?  Indeed! Tis the season to be gambolly.

The Jardin d'Ampere in the 17th; a most successful revisit.

The Jardin d'Ampere was a place I tested for Colette earlier this month and was eager to return to.   This time we sat in the interior garden itself where one had the feeling of being hundreds of miles out in the country.

I had the menu (28 for two dishes, 34 for three) while Colette had two off the carte (27 €), so price is really not the issue here between the forced choice menu and ordering a la carte.

The amuse gueule was a creamy emulsion with a dollop of beet that offset the could-have-been sweetish taste, making a nice contrast.

Then I had the big raviolis stuffed with what was almost a mushroom forcemeat with a most assertive, in the pleasant sense, taste.

For mains, I had the lamb shoulder, which I anticipated might be aged and/or over-cooked, but it was not. It was an exemplary piece of lamb accompanied by a pumpkin puree and two baby carrots. Colette's cod with turnips and a lemony sauce was very good.

Desserts were a caramelized sliced pear atop a biscuit with vanilla ice cream and an apple souffle, both delicious.

The coffees came in small cylinders and were perfect, the sugar was displayed in three rows of demi-spheres and the mignardises artistically arranged as well.

With a bottle of wine the bill came to 98 €.

Return?  Most certainly.

KGB=Ze Bis=Ze Kitchen Galerie Bis in the 6th: Better and better.

KGB aka Kitchen Galerie bis in the 6th has just gotten better from even my first visit three weeks ago.  Then, when my food-writer dining partner told M. Ledeuil how impressed he was that a place open only a few days functioned so smoothly.  He replied "well not totally smoothly."

Well today there wasn't a flaw and while I reserved judgment then on the mains, today I was overwhelmed by my stuffed rabbit on some weird pasta which was spicy to a "tee."  And Colette raved about her daurade and veggies which also had M. LeD's typically indescribable Asian herbs and spices.

The three great zors d'oeuvre were totally new (from last visit's six) so things are clearly ripping right along.  All again were spiced intriguingly (but I shuddered when a French guy at the next table doused his soup with ground pepper before tasting the spicy mix of mushrooms.)

We shared a dessert of poached figs and cherry ice cream.

Additions are the flags outside; continuing are the reasonably priced wines and their own bottled water.

Our bill today was 82.70 €.

Go again?  Yup we reserved for next Friday.

The Cartouche Cafe: Could it be the bistro of the year?

The Cartouche Cafe, coordinates in the 12th given August 31st, will never become a favorite of most of my American readers because they'll take one look at the map and figure it's halfway to Nancy.  But that would be dreadfully wrong; because on the slick, sleek #14 line, it's only minutes from St Lazare, the Madeleine and Pyramide.

I liked it at the rentree, I loved it today. 

Colette and I went and the ardoise was pretty much turned over from that only 3 weeks ago except that on weekdays now, 2 courses at lunch are now 14 and three 17 €, making that the bargain of the year.

I had said menu, choosing a gizzard salad first; it had soft, tasty gesiers atop crisp lettuce leaves with croutons soaked in the juices (the alternative was hummus).

Then I had the bavette with frites (that was a substitution for the rascasse that had run out) that was cooked to my perfection (almost raw) and the frites by French standards weren't half bad while Colette had the pintade with rissole potatoes, she declared the pintade superior.

For dessert I had poached prunes (sounds boring, eh?; unuhh) and Colette an apple gratin.

With a bottle of wine (Colette thought thin and rough), 2 coffees and pretty darn good bread, the bill was 53 €.

Could this be the Perfect Bistro American websiteers keep searching for?

La Table d'Eugene in the 18th: My place in the nabe has been "discovered."

 

The Table d'Eugene (Sue) which admittedly has been around for a year, was the place within 5 min walking from my place that Colette and I and our friends really found as a breath of fresh air in the otherwise culinarily-challenged quartier.

No more.  Not only have the food websites been heralding it as a great, traditional  Paris bistro, hotels are giving out its coordinates and tonight on our traditional last night out (after the house was cleaned) before leaving for the States, we went back.

The place is still 60% local, but two French guys came in a cab, a group of Japanese sat nearby (exiting regularly to smoke) and a threesome of Americans spoke only English (luckily both waitfolk do as well).

Colette chose the cod with chorizo shavings and an anchovy/tomato/pepper cup with fluff on top and I had the 7-hour mutton with rice with diced veggies.  Both were great for the area but not destination  stuff.  In fact, I would suggest the mutton be zipped up with harissa or confited lemon.

Colette had room for the deconstructed apricot crumble, which I sampled a bit of and thought was terrific.

With a bottle of wine, no coffee or water, our bill was 67 Euros.

PS.  If you want to come, reserve; we called 4 days ago and were told to show before 20h00, unheard of in Paris for a neighborhood place, and by then it was full and they were turning folks away.