John Talbott's Paris

La Folle Avoine - No pretensions, no frou-frou, just good chow and great service.

5.5 La Folle Avoine, 91, rue de Grenelle in the 7th, 01.45.51.02.59, closed Sundays, opened to almost no acclaim, except for Emmanuel Rubin’s keen eye. I went expecting nothing and was pleasantly surprised. The exterior and interior are purple-tinged in a very soothing way.

But you look around and there are arty pix of Audrey Hepburn (from the “Breakfast at Tiffany” era) and the Brooklyn Bridge and music such as Johnny Cash/Joaquin Phoenix and Procol Harum, played non-obtrusively. Oh, and my wine from Alex Lichine’s son Sacha had a quote from the Rolling Stones.

The options are many: one dish plus 2 drinks for 20; 2 dishes plus one drink for 25; and 3 plus a drink are 30 € (and the glasses of wine are 20 cl = 7 ounces) and they also allow you to order a la carte.

I started with a terrific brochette of three grilled shrimp with sesame seeds and oil and salad and a shot-glass of gazpacho that was quite soothing as well.

My squid main was too salty and the artichoke halves were presented in a Ducasse/Aux Lyonnais/Ball jar but these are minor quibbles.

The chocolate moelleux with pistachio ice cream was as good as it gets.

A problem? – I worry about the charming chef’s tobacco addiction – he should live a long life – he’s does good stuff, but at the rate he puffing them down, who knows?

The bill, as I say, 3 dishes plus 2 glasses of wine and coffee run one 38 €.

Go? You bet, especially if you’re selling arms to Hervé Morin or blackboards to Xavier Darcos or are in the nabe.

How to avoid the lines at the Louvre - pssst don't pass it on.

Go to the Porte des Lions, there's never a line, but don't tell anybody.

Alain Dutournier at the Cafe Marly?

Alain Dutournier has arrived?  Not yet.

The Seine; not park nor garden, but.....

Not really a park but Colette would like the trees along the Seine.

Art - The Babylon Show at the Louvre

This show, consisting largely of treasures from the Pergamon Museum in (East) Berlin, such as the lion tiles from the Ishtar Gate, is quite stunning.  It has both the archeological traces and later fantastic representations of Babylon, but the heart of it consists of the Pergamon gems.

 

If you can go to the Louvre before June 2^nd, do; otherwise try to finagle a trip to Berlin to see it at “home,” where one can also see the most startling object of all, in my estimation – the Pergamon Altar, which is not easily moved.  The show there runs from June 26^th to October 5^th.   Enjoy it, at least that which the Russians have returned to Germany.

 

P.S. It’s hard to think well of Hitler and Stalin (after 6-7 million Jews and 51-66 million Russians, respectively, were slaughtered by them) and this show reveals how much they prized art over human lives.  Kind of scary.

Reviews of Reviews - The Week of May 19th, 2008

Tuesday, Philippe Toinard in A Nous Paris reviewed and gave 4/5 blocks to ETC…, coordinates given before, commenting on the liquid persillade, entrecote and strawberries and Jerome Berger reviewed and awarded 3/5 blocks to Itineraires, coordinates also given before, commenting on the potato and strawberries and rhubarb.

Wednesday, in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin awarded two hearts to two places: Le Gaigne, 12, rue Pecquay in the 4th, 0144.59.86.72, closed Tuesday with lunch menus at 16 and 22, a la carte 40-50 € for a bio egg, farm-raised chicken and strawberries and Le Telegraphe, 41, rue de Lille in the 7th, 01.58.62.10.08, open everyday for lunch only, with menus at 24.5 and 29.5, a la carte about 50-60 € for green bean salad, duck filet and homemade sorbet. He gave three other restaurants one heart: the nouvelle Thai place Lo’riginal in the 5th, the neo-brasserie Le Bis Repetita, 167, rue St-Honore in the 1st, 01.42.60.40.11, open 7/7 and running one 30-40 € for oeufs mayo, herring, pigs’ feet and crème brulee and the Italian Orisotto in the 17th.

This week, in Figaroscope’s Dossier, Colette Monsat et al described places to get Caesar salads:
8.5 Les Cocottes
7.5 Sens
7 Hotel Amour
Saint-M
6.5 Colette
6 Quai-quai
5.5 Bound
4 Coffee Parisien

And going along with the theme, Francois Simon went to the Ritz, where for 105 € he and a companion had a “Salad Ritzy and Cesar” chicken, water and two coffees. His verdict - go because it’s a living Titanic.

Wednesday, Richard Hesse in Paris Update reviewed ETC…, coordinates given before, where the dishes were good but the waiting and rushing not so.

Wednesday-Thursday, Jean Claude Ribaut was the latest to remember the riots of ’68 and their relationship with cooking, in particular, nouvelle cuisine. He recalls {as do I} the restaurants and innovators of that era: Le Pactole, Le Pot-au-Feu (Michel Guérard), L'Archestrate (Alain Senderens), Jean Troisgros, Alain Chapel, Paul Haeberlin, Jean Bardet, Roger Vergé, Gérard Cagna (then at Lucas Carton), André Guillot (Le Vieux Marly), Le Camélia (Jean Delaveyne), Jean Trémolières, Gérard Allemandou (La Cagouille), Marc Veyrat, Michel Trama, Jacques Megean, Jean-Jacques Jouteux, Olympe (Paul Minchelli) and of course their promoters and chroniclers , Henri Gault et Christian Millau, then journalists at Paris-Presse L'Intransigeant.

In Saturday’s Figaro Francois Simon wrote about Itineraires in article entitled “The Tyranny of the Exquisite” after a meal he termed his coup de coeur of this week.

Saturday/Sunday, in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp wrote up the “Grand Hotel Loreamar Basque” and John Talbott wrote a piece entitled “Food Great Service Sucked.”

Sunday in JDD, Alain Soliveres of Taillevent identified his two favorite places where one can eat for less than 35 €: Alain Ducasse’s boulangerie Be Boulangepicier, 73, bvd de Courcelles in the 8th and the Japanese place Benkay.

This month’s Where had Alexander Lobrano‘s traditional monthly picks: Le Ciel de Paris, Le Villaret + le Bistro Poulbot.

The Niki de Saint Phalle/Jean Tinguely/Stavinsky pool and sculptures in the 4th

One of Colette's faves.

Le Gaigne - A little gem, barely found, but for how long?

5.5 Le Gaigne, 12, rue Pecquay in the 4^th, 01.44.59.86.72, closed Tuesday – thus open Saturday, Sunday on Mondays, hooray!  Let me start with the young chef – Mickael Gaignon – who’s passed through the shops of the Pre Catalan, Gagnaire and Gaya; he may be young but he’s got it.  And his wife Aurelie is terrific in the front room. 

 

When I entered (coming off this dingy street in nowheresville to find tables decorated with young live herbs) and realized it was just the two of them (plus a kitchen aide/plongeur) for 20 covers, I worried that they could never get the food out promptly, but they did, meanwhile turning away people who drifted by and saw the reviews by E Rubin et al in the window. 

 

I was also worried about the “brunch on Sunday” note in Figaroscope, but the chef insisted that they served the full weekly menu too.  And they did with no cancellations or substitutions. 

 

For this tiny and new a place, they served an amuse-bouche - of real vichyssoise – I haven’t had it so good in years.  Then I had terrific small cromesquis morsels of morue, thankfully not called brandade, that were crisp outside and melting inside, with forceful watercress sprigs and puree. 

 

The bread is worth commenting on, not crusty, but dense with a moist wheaty flavor, quite, quite good. My main was/were a divine farm chicken served two ways; a sliced breast with a delicious herb/cream sauce and rollatine bits atop young green stuffed cabbage. 

 

I had no dessert but a terrific Molongo coffee with fine marshmallows. 

 

Coda: there’s a funky pink light in the bathroom and a funky tin milk pail instead of a wash basin (someone has a good sense of humor.) 

 

The bill = 42 € with two glasses of wine – but other days, the menus are 16 and 22 and wines begin at 14 €.

 

Go?  Yes, this guy knows what he’s doing.  He’ll be moving into bigger space eventually for sure, with higher prices, so go soon.

Louise Bourgeois & Les Traces du Sacre: 2 Pompidou Shows

For several years Colette and I have had a drill when thinking about seeing art exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou/Beaubourg; she goes into the bookstore to look at the catalogues while I go upstairs (free since M. Pompidou gave me a lifetime pass) and scout out the exhibits to see if she'd like them.  Today, I got two surprises. It's been quite a while since I've really liked a show here, far less two.

First, I saw the Bourgeois (now 96) show, expecting that I'd revisit what I thought I knew, things like the Spider sculptures and paintings familiar to those frequenting the New York art scene. But I was astonished by certain things I'd never seen - such as the Arch of Hysteria (1997) - many of which come from places other than the usual museums.

 

But then I went down the hall and was even more astonished by a show called "Les Traces du Sacre" that supposedly shows the relationship between art and religion from Carus (1820) to Bruce Nauman, passing by a hundred artists including Casper Frederich, De Chiraco and Barney Newman. I'm not sure that I "got" the theme, but the range of art and artists is well worth the visit.

N.B. Some "art" here pushes the envelope a bit for me - specifically, the goofy videos, the child beating and bloody leaking female genitalia; but the film of my old pal of a pal - Allan Ginsberg - reading "Howl" makes up for all that.

Political Note: Nice Nazis Ruling Us: I can't wait.

I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of these books and articles written by intellectuals in Britain and the US suggesting that we'd be better off if the Germans had won WWII.  Sure.  If you're white and not a black, brown, Jewish, gay, Gypsy, musician or artist type, you're safe.

Safe.  Think about it.  With today's DNA analyses and with our knowledge that almost all of us have some drops of Jewish and/or African blood in us, how long do you think it'd be before the number of Americans in death camps would exceed those outside.

Print publishers are struggling but enough is enough.