John Talbott's Paris

Moulin de la Galette : The old Le Chamarré gang, up to their old tricks again. An archival* review.

2.3 Le Moulin de la Galette, 83, rue Lepic in the 18th, 01.46.06.84.77, {supposedly} open 7/7, had a lunch formula (2 courses) for 17 and lunch menu (3) for 25, one at dinner at 42 and a degustation one for 60, a la carte running 51-75 €.

Let’s start with the disclaimer; (1) I’ve had incredibly uneven experiences with what comes out of the kitchens of French chef Jérôme Bodereau and Mauritian chef Antoine Heerah; (2) Jean-Claude Ribault in August warned that in their new venue the food was both clever and a bit coarse/cheap; and finally (3) that I’ve had uneven experiences at this site for 20 years, no matter whose hand or what food (Italian, French, Mauritian) was put in front of me.

That said, I think I and my sophisticated eating pal went with an open mind. The carte was out of reach of both our budgets so we looked hard at the “menu,” each taking one of the two entrees, mains & desserts.

The good news: the desserts were fabulous (a parfait glacé with Grand Marnier and a chocolate Opera with sorbet – first class). The mains were blah and made with “cheap” products – a tasteless pink trout with a ‘hollandaise sauce” made with gelatin and awful Basmati rice and an annoying fricassee of turkey bits with chestnuts.

But with the firsts we grasped the problem: her two brochettes of raw shrimp (one with a fluffy tumeric sauce) were wonderful, but my soup of coco beans was again chintzy and blah – so here, it’s either heaven or hell, there’s no purgatory. Bill 81 € for two.

Go? Not until they decide which way to go in Dante’s Inferno

Lee Miller at the Jeu de Paume (Concorde) – Very revealing.

 

The Lee Miller photography show at the Jeu de Paume is revealing in more ways than one. The first photo you see is of a beautiful nude girl seated on a stool, not necessarily erotic or pornographic but when you realize it was of her and taken by her father, something is revealed, and later you learn she was raped at 7 by the friend of a friend and he’s taken photos of her nude since age 8.

Some of the photos are iconographic; those (solarisation) made with her lover/etc Man Ray, of Pablo Picasso, by David E. Scherman of her nude in Hitler’s bathtub, etc.

Unfortunately, I missed the great number she published in Life Magazine that I recall during and after WWII, but it’s still a pretty good show.

It’ll be open until January 4th.

Of the two other “video” shows, the Jordi Colomer film showing a man rolling a tire across a dessert has successfully displaced Andy Warhol’s movie “Sleep” as the most boring movie since cinema was invented.

Memere Paulette in the 2nd - Americans would love this place, why haven’t they flooded it?

 

5.0 Memere Paulette, 3, rue Paul Lelong in the 2nd, 01.40.26.12.36, 2 courses for 15 and 3 for 17 € (that’s correct, it’s not a misprint), closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday, has TMK really only been touted by Francois Simon in his blog of September 9th, although there are all the appropriate stickers of guidebooks in the windows.

 

It is a hole in the wall, decorated in 1920 bistro style (Lebey says 1960) and has a staggering wine list, a staggering menu and serves staggering portions of each item. It was #3 on my hit list for October so when a staggeringly wonderful food critic suggested it for today, I was on.

 

We both had Pastis 51 aperitifs (3 €): they put the bottle on the table to help yourself; I was in love immediately. I had the museau starter and my friend the roasted paté with mustard; both classic, huge and good.

 

Then I had an incredible portion of ox tail in red wine with carrots and potatoes and he an entire box of warm vacherin Mont d’Or with ham and potatoes. We both will enjoy our spirited away leftovers for dinner tonight, it was that much.

 

I ended with a classic baba and he a big lemon tart, again they left the rum bottle on the table so digestifs were unnecessary. With a bottle of fine red and two coffees plus the aforementioned aperitifs, our bill was 73 €.

Go? As Simon says (sort of) “Tired of frou-frou; this is the real thing.”

 

The Orsay - Picasso (Part I) Manet & Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe; Pastels and Cezanne/Ellsworth Kelly

What a bad idea to go to the Orsay on a Tuesday even with the Laissez Passer awarded to me by the President of the Republique for culinary bravery.  It was tourist central and don't tell me Americans aren't coming to France any more.

Once inside, though I was blown away by the show of Picasso's take on Manet's Dejeuner sur l'herbe.  There were so many sketches, painting and cutouts doe between 1932 and 1962 that I stopped counting. 

I think this show, despite all the shows I've seen on Picasso, since the dynamite one at the MOMA in 1980, was simply wonderful and not to be missed before February 1st.

I was less enchanted by the show of pastels, whose title "Mystery and Glitter" didn't quite capture the sense of its French title "Le mystere et l'eclat."  But neither title captured the essence of the show which was that pastels too can be boring when executed by second-rate folk. Funnily enough I prefered the modern ones, except for the Degas dazzlers.

I was totally put off, however, by the Ellsworth Kelly correspondance with Cezanne's "l'Estaque."  But I'm cynic enough to think that putting it at the end of the 5th floor Impressionism alley keeps the crowds moving.

Photos of the elderly in the Marais: Sculpture in the Tuileries

The deconsecrated church marked Billettes (on my map) on the Rue des Archives in the 4th is multi-functional; we bought a rug there two years ago and today it's home to a photo exhibition of old folk, largely in nursing/retirement homes.  OK but as usual, the photo on the poster is the best of the lot.

The Tuileries is hosting yet another exhibition of contemporary sculpture, some of which (above by Richard Deacon) I "get" and many I do not.  But it's a good excuse to walk through the gardens.

Le Dos de la Baleine in the 4th - An interesting place but totally local.

5.0 Le Dos de la Baleine, 40, rue des Blancs Manteaux in the 4th, 01.42.72.38.98, closed Saturday lunch, Sundays and Mondays, with a 20 €, 3-course limited choice (3-3-2) menu at lunch, but 40-50 € at night with pricey wines by the bottle, but a bargain by carafe at lunch (7 € for a ½ liter of Merlot).

It was recommended to me by a critic friend whom I trust and I went with mixed expectations, since my meal there under the last management was quite disappointing and I’m never sure if the curse or karma gets exorcised.

There is no regular carte at lunch just the 3-3-2 choices but I was happy nonetheless. I started with an excellent slice of terrine de campagne with a large portion of rocket nicely dressed.

Then I had what was called an onglé, not an onglet mind you, of beef, cooked to perfection and accompanied by the best darn sautéed halved finger potatoes I recall (and I’m no potato man).

Dessert was/were simply microtomed slices of pineapple – perfect as well.

With said wine, no bottled water, a superb Illy coffee and not bad bread at all = 29 €. Goes on my cheap eats list immediately.

Go? As I said, it’s no destination for eGullet experts, but if you’re a local, go!

Paris mid-range restos empty: has the market hit bottom?

My friend Atar has numerous theories which he shares with me, most of which are somewhat plausible. There was the one about solving the “Middle East problem” and another about mass migration of warring factions in civil wars to opposite nations. As I say, they’re plausible.

But today, at lunch at L’Accolade in the 17th he looked around and noted that half the tables were empty just as 90% of them had been yesterday elsewhere. The place is in full businessman territory, so having been well-reviewed and well-received when it opened almost two years ago, it should be full. Oh sure, he added, the eGullet effect (that is, that the food cognicenti have come and after 6-9 months, gone) could be the reason but he said the times he’s been there, the latest this summer, was not so desolate.

So, given the state of the economy, which seems to have hit here more strongly than the US, although the news implies the markets are all responding to America’s probable recession-depression, he wondered aloud if the market was driving folks away from the midrange restaurants. Note: the big starred guys and lowly cafes seem just as full as ever although a chef well-plugged into the chef network said yesterday he thought everybody was hurting.

I recalled that the invention of the secondary bistrots, the Bistros d’a Cote in a collective way, as it were, of the great chefs (Robuchon, Savoy and Loiseau, for example), usually occurred during tough times, if not recessions. So maybe we’ll see some sort of shake out of the upper middle and mid range places.

It’s kind of too bad, because a place like l’Accolade deserves our patronage, it is really quite good – hitting a fair number of home runs that day with its amuse bouche mushroom soup, bass tartare, veal onglet, pear with crumble and crunchy bananas.

It did hit a few grounders, however, with the starter of seafood nems with a spicy Asian sauce, scallops with potatoes and over-toasted calamari with an odd sauce, albeit aside a super risotto.
 
And, our bill for three persons with a half-bottle of wine each was 137 Euros.

So where can you go when the market hits bottom?
l’Accolade
23, rue Guillaume-Tell, 17th (Metro:Pereire)
T: 01.42.67.12.67
Closed Saturday night and Sundays
Lunch menu = 24, a la carte 25-30 €

Mantegna at the Louvre - what can one say?

The huge Mantegna show at the Louvre is a must, for sure.  It has not only more works by the artist, just from the Louvre, than exist elsewhere outside Italy but many by his masters, contemporaries and followers.

Being a lover of works on paper I found his and brother-in-law Bellini's drawings the highlight of the show with just one too many Saint Sebastiens for my stomach.

If you go, don't miss the stunning Leonardo Da Vinci near the end - it would be tough, but you might have leg fatigue.  It closes January 5th.

Cavesteve - Wine great, food less so.

5.0-2.0 Cavesteve, 15, rue de Longchamp in the 16th, 01 47 04 01 45, closed Sundays, running one 30-50 € a la carte, with wines from the racks at price, plus 10 € corkage. I’d heard about this place from an inveterate wine maven and he, I and a chef about town had lunch (on a Monday mind you) at two adjacent tables.

The place (and its Bastille twin) are really sleek and trim and not named after an American named Steve but a French guy yclept Jean Christophe Esteve.

They only have about 10 covers upstairs, 8 downstairs at a common table and 4 outside, so go early (they open at 11). The firsts are wine bar usuals: Spanish ham and terrines but they had about five hot daily special mains.

We started with terrines of foie gras and lapereau that, with a tart salad, were really great. But I thought the mains of lievre a la royale and beef cheeks were made off the premises and underheated before serving. The bread was blah but the coffee superb.

Our first wine, the server-guy’s rec, was an OK Rully but when the wine guy arrived, he ordered a Pernand-Vergelesses that was supreme.

Our bill for two was 116 € but the wine poobah’s musta been much more.

Go? Sure. Why Not? At least to their dazzling website http://www.cavesteve.com/

Reviews of reviews - The Week of October 13th, 2008

Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger reviewed and gave 3/5 dots to Aux Petits Panisse, (in the ex-Vache Acrobate space,) 35, rue de Montreuil in the 11th, 01.43.71.37.90, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays with formulas at 10, 12 and 15 at lunch and 24 and 30 € at dinner for chicken and celery soup,veal and green beans and chocolate tart; while Philippe Toinard gave 3/5 dots to Miroir, coordinates below, serving a paleron and joue de boeuf, eggplant puree with marinated salmon, echine of pork, chanterelles, pumpkin and a cream pot.

Tuesday, in Le Fooding Andrea Petrini reviewed the wine bar Georges Five, in Lyon.

Wednesday, Emmanuel Rubin in Figaroscope gave two hearts to 4 places: the picture and lead review to Agapes, address ex-l’Equitable, {beloved by the NYT and many of us}, now closed Sunday for dinner (brunch Sunday noon) and Monday, formulas at 16, 18 & 22, menus at 28, 30 & 33, tasting menu = 56 €, for crunchy tete de veau, veal kidneys and rice pudding that lacks binding; then Miroir, 94, rue des Martyrs in the 18th, 01.46.06.50.73, closed Sunday dinner and Mondays, with a formula at 18 for lunch and menus at 25 & 32 € serving a mushroom and andouillete soup, pork loin and a vanilla cream and confited apples with a sable; l’Hydrophobe, 53 bis, blvd Arago in the 13th, the ex-Pearl space, 01.45.35.53.42, closed Sundays and Mondays, 16 lunch formula, 30 and 34 € menus, serving lamb sweetbreads with trumpets of death, rumsteak with a Bercy sauce and a fondant of chocolate; and the Italian Barocco instead of the Pourcel Bros Sens in Levallois. Finally, he gave one heart to {the most appealing name of a place in years} Des Gars Dans La Cuisine, 72, rue Vielle du Temple in the 3rd, 01.42.74.88.26, closed Sunday night (brunch Sunday noon) and Mondays, costing 40-50 € but with 16 lunch formula, serving a beef salad with soy and cucumbers, daurade and “a Guy’s hamburger.”

Wednesday in the “Dossier” Colette Monsat et al presented a list of 23 of the best oeufs mayo:
1. Le Voltaire
2. La Closerie des Lilas
3. Café de l’Epoque
4. Petites Sorcieres, Chez Flottes, Café Max
23. l’Oeuf Mayo.

And Francois Simon in his “Hache Menu” reviewed the #1 - Le Voltaire, especially for its oeuf mayo; verdict – it’s good, exorbitant (123.10 € for dinner for two without wine and sharing a dessert altho' it's only 90 cents for the oeuf); thus only go if someone takes you.

Wednesday-Thursday, in Le Monde, Jean Claude Ribaut wrote two articles, the first about the sauces ravigote, gribiche and poulette as accompaniments to tete de veau and pieds de cochon, the second about the best tripes in Paris, which are at Ribouldingue, but he also recommends: the African Lounge, Moissonnier, Petit Mâchon, Au Quincy, Benoît, Bastide Odéon + Bistrot d'à côté as well as the tripe-maker Maurice Vadorin.

Saturday in Le Figaro Francois Simon, in his ”Croque Notes,” wrote of the relaunching of the Mere Brazier in Lyon.

Saturday/Sunday, in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp wrote about “Constant, L'Arome, Petrossian” and John Talbott wrote an essay on “Travel is so broadening: Part II: Romania!”

Sunday, Seth Sherwood in the NYT spent 24 hours in Paris and recommends Julien, Usagi, L’As du Fallafel + La Belle Hortense wine bar and the ethnic places around the Enfants Rouges market.

Sunday in JDD, Astrid De T' Serclaes reviewed Le Gorgeon in Boulogne-Billancourt.