John Talbott's Paris: Le (not La) Chemise in the 11th; Presque parfait.

6.5 Le Chemise, 42, rue de Malte in the 11th, 01.49.29.98.77, closed Saturday and Monday lunches and Sundays (Metro: Republique) makes a big impression from start to finish. Look at that fascade; cool eh?

Then you enter and they've stripped the walls down and put in startling new furniture and settings.

The menu arrives; really good looking stuff which runs about 35 E a la carte but they also have a "menu" for 15 or 19 E, today, a soup, parmentier with beef and moelleux.

We three had a tough time deciding but two of us ordered the os a moelle on toast and shrimp raviolis; one could argue which was better; me, I thought the raviolis with a spicy sauce and juliened veggies was the tops, best in class.

Then Monsieur had the parmentier which was good for what it is/was and Madame had the crispily fried encornets with piquillos (sorry for the blurring, new camera, in/on trial after old one died). I had the canette with gentle spices which I failed to capture on film because I was busy answering a translational query about canette (a wonderful plus in this place is that the two young guys who run/cook in it are both likeable, informative, not bashful and speak better English than we - I know this because my friends think they don't speak French and arriving earlier than I, had already engaged the front-room guy, who advised them to try a very reasonably priced and not funky tasting Voignier (as some are)). In fact, every wine of the three he advised us to have was less expensive that what I/we had in mind.

For enders, two of us had the moelleux, which I found not quite runny enough but quite tasty.

Our bill, with the moral equivalent of two bottles of wine, no bottled water and one mediocre Nespresso coffee (but good bread) was 119.50 E thus about 80 E a couple.

Go? Oh my, yes, and quickly, because Elaine Sciolino is sure to write it up as the place to go if you can't get into Frenchie; innovative food, English speaking staff, yet no Anglanders or Yanks there, and very cool. How cool? See below.