John Talbott's Paris

Le Saotico in the 2nd: A solid, solid meal by the team that made Le Reminet great.

5.5 Le Saotico, 96 rue Richelieu in the 2nd (Metro: Richelieu-Drouot), 01.42.96.03.20, currently open only weekdays 8 AM - 8 PM, has been open Madame Surcouf informed me for only three weeks and Alexander Lobrano has already written it up on his "Hungry for Paris" Diner's Journal.  In the article/review, he notes that Madame and M. used to run Le Reminet on the Left Bank, one of his and my favorite places.

That resto had maybe 30 covers and this two-story place has about double that number, in very commodious space.  We were supposed to be five and for that we needed to be able to communicate.  Even with the four that showed up, I'm glad we were on the second floor.

 
We chose to order off the ardoise rather than the carte or "menu."  Three of us had the Greek mushrooms topped with Spanish jamon which was very tasty and the other of us had the foie gras which with a glass of sweet Alsatian wine (I think I got that right) was terrific.

Then two of us had the confit de canard with garlicky potatoes (which were not crisp enough for me) and the two others had the salmon which was also quite good.

We divided up the special desserts: I had the figs in honey with coffee ice (above), one of my companions had a chocoate fondant and the third had a gratin of strawberries with zamblione; it's a toss-up which was better, they all were so good.

With 5 coffees, a bottle and extra glass of Bordeaux and no bottled water our bill was 141 Euros, thus 70 E a couple.

Go?  I'd say so.
 

Metro: Bourse or Richelieu-Drouot

Q-TEA restaurant in the 9th: Home-cooked Chinese.

 

Q-TEA restaurant, 19, rue Notre-Dame de Lorette in the 9th (Metro: ND de Lorette) is a place a Chinese/American woman who lives in Paris I know came across in her neighborhood and indicated that it had real "home" (that is from scratch) Chinese cooking.  I asked what area in China and she said all over.  Even though it seats only 14, 8 of us were able to sit at one table and share the food and wine (it's BYO).

 

 

While each dish takes about 20 minutes our hostess said, once they started appearing, they came in prompt succession and if I've got it right, we had a salad of bitter cucumber and some kind of sliced sweet pear, Shanghai spring rolls with bok choy, fish with slightly hot red pepper on cellophane noodles, a seafood, tofu and XO marmite, chicken croustillant (that I thought was the hit of the evening), turnips stuffed with shitakes, a whole fried bass (my #2), a mango/melon melange and a vanilla "milkshake."

Our bill for all this, with no wine or tea (self-supplied) and some white rice was 202.30 E for 8 persons, thus about 50 E per couple.

Go?  As long as this guy can stay in business here, yes.

  
 

La Terrasse at the Galeries Lafayette in the 9th: high prices, high quality.

4.5 La Terrasse on the 8th floor roof at the Galeries Lafayette, 40 blvd Haussmann in the 9th, 01.42.82.34.56 (but getting to them via phone is like dealing with american airlines), open only for lunch store days, thus closed Sunday, is open from March-Sept.  A friend who'd been asked me why I was going since it's just fancy soups and salads and I had no good answer, but today I needed a light place I could eat early at since I'm going to a Chinese banquet tonight.

I chose a seat with a view towards the side of Sacre Coeur I don't usually face and regarded the menu: expensive soups, salads, sandwiches and pastry and ices by Herme.  OK, I'm a big boy, I knew what I was into.

I chose a "gaspacho" of green veggies that had a pleasantly crisp, spicy, Asiatic twist to it (the chefesse Fumiko Kono, who splits her year between here and Tokyo came via l'Arpege and the House of Ducasse.)  I liked it a lot, offset as it was by a quartered tomato, slices of cukes and lettuce.

My main was/were three grosse crevettes that were simply deliciously fresh with undercooked vegetable slices in a bouillion, all three ingredients being cooked independently so their flavors were not premingled/homogenized, with an unnecessary side sauce of peanuty stuff and bread from Saturday I fear.

The bill (with two glasses of their cheapest Bordeaux) and coffee (not served as ordered but adjusted) but no Herme finishers, was 43.50 E.  Additional note, the 4 servers often seemed more akin to the ladies in the store downstairs who enjoy talking about last night's date, than hustling to serve 14 customers.

Go?  If it had been 33.50 E?  Maybe.  If it had been 23.50 E.  Yes, even though the view is available for free to anyone willing to come up.

 

Reviews of reviews: The week of August 23rd, 2010

Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Grégoire Maurel reviewed La Table Rouge, in Cancadoudal.

Friday, Francois Simon had a nice puff piece in Le Figaro on Yves Camdeborde, that for those who have followed the lives of the “Culinary Children of Christian Constant” [my title], is not new news, but is a good recapitulation of the evolution of reasonably priced Paris bistros over the last few decades.

Saturday, Francois Simon in Figaro, did a full-page spread on the return of the Tour d’Argent, stating that under the new chef, it is in good shape. Alongside is a “Croque-notes” piece on Allard, where after a 55 minute wait, he had a meal that prompted his companion to ask [my trans.] “How come eating with you is (always) so bad?”

This week in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp wrote about the Tour d’Argent and John Talbott wrote an essay entitled “The Perfect French ________ (fill in the blank.”)

More places open in August.

Two other articles supplement my post of July 19th giving more places open in August:

Margaret Kemp in Bonjour Paris has listed several: La Cour Jardin, Hotel Plaza Athénee, La Terrasse du Parc, Hotel Sofitel Le Parc, Citrus Etoile, Le Galvacher, Yohann Paran at Beauvilliers, Thoumieux, Les Ombres, La Table de Joel Robuchon, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Astier, + Le Chalet des Iles.

And Jean-Claude Ribaut in Le Monde July 24th noted that: Garnier, Citrus Etoile, l'Absinthe, Chez Andre (open 7/7), Zen Garden & Mori Venice Bar after a face-lift were.

Batofar in the 13th: An unusual place, an unusual experience, and an unusual result.

#* Batofar, Port de la Gare (or more descriptively, really down at Seine-side, Left Bank, alongside 6-8 other boats) in the 13th, 01.53.60.17.00 (but no reservations when they're serving outside), is open lunch and dinner except for dinner Sundays and Mondays.  It reopened earlier this year with a "new team, [new chef], new spirit, methodical cleaning" and positioning between jazz joint and restaurant (said Figaroscope at the time.)

#*Usually when I go to a place, I'm calculating a rating between 0 and 10 in my mind as I move through the meal, and this time, I realized there was no one "summative" one and instead I had to break it down into components.

The location - 6-8, because if you live within access to the #14 Metro, it's a cinch (a half hour for me from the deepest 18th), otherwise it's a schlep.

The setting - 8-9, beautiful situated as it is between the other such boat/soiree/restaurants, facing the lovely Gardens of Bercy rather than ugly towers of F. Mitterand's Library with the neat Beauvoir double-swooping bridge just West.

The decor - 6-8, the outside tables which are used in summer and in good weather are more like camp picnic tables but inside the boat, the rooms are wonderfully sparking and the bathrooms, real "heads."

The menu, i.e., carte - 4-6, rather ordinary, boring sounding but not just microwaved finger food as I was led to believe by a friend who'd been here for a wine and morsels and wine and music and wine evening.

Products 4-6, fresh, well provenanced, albeit not mind-poppingly dazzling.  My first was a Basque pate with a generous portion of fresh salad greens and an over-generous amount of cornichons that hit the spot.

Preparation - 5.5, simple but not inventive.  My Aubrac bavette was cooked to my liking (blue) but needed more than fresh ground pepper or mustard to come alive - ah, the garlicky potatoes did the trick.

Service - 2-8, at times friendly and prompt, at others, as if on another planet.  As an example, it took a long time for them to see that I'd finished the main and was reading the newspaper, whereas the creme catalane appeared promptly.

Cooking - 5, adequate but with the chef spending most time on the telephone, computer or smoking, one was not sure.

Price - 5, what one would expect.  In my case 43 E, with a lovely red a la ficelle.

Had fun - 8, yes indeed.

Anything else - 4 - A chipped wine glass and sparrows on the tables (they need a few of those fake owls).

Go back? - 2-7, for a soiree with 20 friends, indeed, for an intimate dinner with Colette, faggedaboudid.  On the other had, if we move to the Bercy Park, I might try the Charleston next door, which was bursting at the seams vs the 5 measly customers at the Batofar.

I Cugini: A bit of Italian in the 10th.

 
I Cugini, 33, rue de Paradis in the 10th (Metro: Chateau d'Eau), 01.48.01.65.34, closed Sunday and Monday is a place that fit my new boss's requirements: open Saturday, near enough to her place and quiet enough to be able to do some business.  It opened earlier this year and has the sparkling but genuine feel of a neighborhood trattoria.  Its menu is pretty representative of those in most major Italian cities, no surprises but no goofiness either.

The Boss-lady had pasta (tortiglioni) with gorgonzola (not pictured) which I thought was quite fine but she thought stuck a bit to the stomach; our collaborator/friend had the daily special - penne with porcini that was also quite good but my linguine with vongole was about the best I've ever had, even though it needed doctoring (massive amounts of freshly ground black pepper and parmesan [I know, I know, no cheese with seafood pasta for purists, but I'm not]) to bring out the maximal flavor.

For dessert we three shared a delicious tiramisu.

With 2 pichets of rosé and coffees our bill was 76.40 E, ergo 25.46 E pp.

Go?  If you're hankering for solid, genuine Italian food and Volare is on strike, sure!
 

Les Fines Gueules Redux: A new chef but the old formula still works.

6.0 Les Fines Gueules, 43, rue Croix des Petits Champs in the 1st, (Metro: Les Halles), 01.42.61.35.41, is open everyday (including in July and August) and has recently undergone a change in chefs to a Japanese guy (according to the last A Nous Paris before the Great Flight).  It seems totally unchanged - seamlessly transitioning from one chef to another; which is all to the good, since the original formula - good product, well cooked, presented in a pleasant manner by friendly staffers - worked well when it opened in April 2007 and has stood the test of time.

 

I started with beautifully-marinated ceviche of sardines with chopped tomatoes and lovely greens and then moved on to the chunk of cochon, crisp on the fatty outside and tender and tasty on the lean inside with a huge amount of sauteed girolles.  As with before, the bread and butter were first class, but I was less "in my face'd" by the labelling of where each and every product came from (now that everyone in town advertises origins, farms and butchers, it's reached overkill proportions.)

 

My bill with two glasses of fine Anjou and coffee amounted to 43.50 E.

 

Go?  If you liked it then, you'll like it now.  The formula works.

Le Trinquet in the 16th: Funny place, funky food, fine company.

5.0 Le Trinquet, 8, Quai Saint Exupery in the 16th, 01.40.5.09.25, closed Sundays and Mondays, is way to hell and gone (and Dear Readers and Dear Leaders, please don't write saying it's not) in the deepest/darkest 16th (and Dear Readers and Dear Leaders, please don't write saying it's not).  I looked up the translation of its name in my torn and tattered Robert and Collins and it said "foremast", well, you almost got it right guys.  It really means what we who have had parents in Florida or Connecticut call a jai alai or a Basque pelota court, not to be confused with the ham of a similar name.

In any case, I and a couple I'd bumped into on the internet and forced to come here, found out that it's a long schlep from the nearest Metro and one arrives by pushing aside a metal door hidden between meters and meters of wire mesh surrounding the various courts.  It really looks like a dump, the sort of place you wouldn't want to send friends to unless they like eating in locker rooms.  But hidden among the athletic stuff is a bar, restaurant and about 10 tables in the fresh air (which today was between 70 and 80o F.)

The males had the terrine of chorizo with a chunk of chorizo and hot peppers and cornichons and Madame had a Trinquet salad (greens, Basque cheese and (normally) Basque jamon); all of us were very, very pleased.

 

The I went full-bore with a veal kidney cooked a way I'd never had - grilled - two problems, I forgot to specify undercooked and had trouble understanding why it was Basque, it having no zip or zing to it, even after I added the un-understandably labeled spicy Basque sauce; my male friend had brochettes of veal with a divine looking tomato sauce - both of us declared that the fries were perhaps the soggiest, mushiest, most undercooked we'd ever had.  And the bread was really hopeless.
 

For dessert, what else?, a gateau Basque that was super, with pink Chantilly.

My host picked up the check so I have no idea of the freight but as a guide, one website says three dishes are 20 €.

Go?  If you need to grab a bite before a pelota, rugby or tennis match, on a really nice day, sure, but the trek out there is not for the food.

And now for something completely different - ready?  Tucked in that alley between Printemps and the Galeries are not one but two carts selling "genuine New York hot dogs," how do I, a 25 year former resident/escapee know?, because their umbrellas say so, but the junk they pile on top of the dogs sure looks to me as having come from an Iowan fat farm.

Comme A Savonnieres in the 6th: What a rentree to "The Rentree."

 

5.8 Comme A Savonnieres, 18, rue Guisarde in the 6th, 01.43.29.52.18, closed Sunday and Monday, opened a bit before everyone (but me) took off for climes South.  Between the first Bison Fute and hint of the Rentree, I keep a list of places that look promising to try on my re-emergence from the grand holidays.  And my late August strategy is to start telephoning on hitting the ground and see what's open.  Bingo! - in more ways than one.

The resto is called "Like in Savonnieres"  Why, because it's clearly in the heart of St Germain des Pres and this photo of a disorienting, sliced verson of Les Deux Magots and the church from a nearby gallery is better than a GPS in orienting you.  So why?  Ah, the patron hails from this town in the Indre-et-Loire, found among better known places such as Amboise, Azay-le-R, Chinon and Vouvray and is known for its andouillette and fouaces (thank you Wikipedia).

But I don't want to imply that the carte is restricted to Loirish dishes, it's pretty comprehensive and so full of choices that my oldest friend in Paris (in age, exactly mine) and I had a tough time choosing.  The amuse gueule was/were thick slices of charcuterie and radishes (my!).

She started off with a marinated chicken (which I wouldn't have chosen, it being too pure and healthy) with salad, and then had filets of pork with figs and cooked veggies that I thought were done exquisitely but she thought were undercooked (she was wrong of course.)

I started with divine rillons atop a salad that put the salad frisee at Aux Lyonnais to shame and proceded to mac'n cheese with cepes which had an economical but not gustatory ratio of pasta to cepes, but was, once depasta-ed, very good.

The dessert we shared was a panna cotta with a beurre sale sauce that was one of the best things I've had since childhood.  I should mention, too, that the bread was exceptonal and the coffee truly ristretto.

Our bill that included a bottle of Martal wine, was 85 E.

Go? It goes without saying.