John Talbott's Paris

Table in the 12th: A Bruno Verjus* success.

6.3 Table aka La Table de Bruno Verjus, 3, Rue de Prague in the 12th, 01.43.43.12.26, closed weekends, has been open a bare month and already garnered much press.  Bruno Verjus, it's creator and chef de cuisine (with 3 others) was described in Le Fooding as a "Critique gastronomique, blogueur, auteur, chroniqueur radio, consultant,.....homme-orchestre du gastrocosme" and in the spirit of full disclosure*, he is an old eating partner and friend of many years - so of course I want him to succeed and am unlikely to write a bad review unless the meal was disasterous, which it most certainly was not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The restaurant has been elegantly refurbished, has neat rotisseurs for the meat and (our day) pineapple and a menu that is long on good products and spare on choices. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For firsts, Madame M. chose a rabbit terrine with pieces of rabbit liver therein and wonderful big cornichons which she considered "not to her taste" but the rest of us thought was quite good; and the men had what was essentially a carpaccio of very good (raw) rumsteak with anchovies and a nice salad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains, the ladies shared a rouget for two, which they deemed undercooked twice (and the men thought perfect) and we had the rotissed loin of pork with sophistocated beets which we thought was the cat's meow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Desserts were shared by all: a slice of 2-hour rotissed pineapple with three vanilla ice cream and a chocolate mousse with a sorrel anglaise sauce.  Again, the men thought all was well in the world and the women demurred.

With two bottles of reasonably-priced wine (the first list we got was eye-popping), no bottled water and three coffees, our bill came to 117.25 E a couple.

Go?  Me and my pal, you bet; the ladies - never again.

Reviews of reviews: The week of April 22nd, 2013

Monday-Tuesday in A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinard reviewed and gave 3/5 dots to Cuistance, coordinates given before and Jerome Berger gave 3/5 to Edgar, ditto.

Tuesday, Yves Nespoilous, in Le Fooding, reviewed Thierry Breton’s third (after Chez Michel & Chez Casimir) called the Restaurant La Pointe du Grouin, 8, rue de Belzunce in the 10th, no telephone, open 7/7, non-stop 8h to 2 h, costing less than 15 E for 4 E sandwichie-type stuff at lunch (andouille, ham, smoked salmon) and 4 E hors-d’œuvre stuff at dinner (tuna, pigeon) plus 2 E desserts such as kumquat tarts, yogurt and pots of chocolate (glasses of wine from a magnum run 2-4 E.)

In Figaroscope this week, Emmanuel Rubin rewarded the new chef at Antoine (coordinates well known) in the 16th with three hearts for his 90-140 E a la carte offerings of items such as langoustines, rouget and pistachio souffle.  He then gave the Marc Meneau-directed Saut du Loup, coordinates given before, two hearts, for the 25 E lunch menu (40-60 E a la carte in the evening) that contains ham and milk-fed lamb.  Single hearts went to the Italian Il Goto in the 12th ; the Chinese Nanchang in the 11th ; and the wine & cheese joint En Vrac in the 18th.

The Dossier this week by Colette Monsat, Alice Bosio, Lena Lutaud, Hugo de Saint Phalle and Francois Simon reviewed the “new brunch” restaurants:
Colorama
Auberge Flora
Epicerie Musicale
Le Bel ami
La Compagnie de Bretagne
Bozart Bistrot
Les Sardignac
Café Louise
Noglu
Le Castiglione

And Francois Simon went to the Italian Gustibus in the 11th.

This week’s L’Express had a review by Francois-Regis Gaudry of the Japanese-French Es, 91, rue de Grenelle in the 7th, 01-45-51-25-74, closed Sundays and Mondays, menus at 65 or 85 and 45 E at lunch starting in May, mentioning things like a caramelized Jerusalem artichoke and emulsion of anchovies; Charles Patin O’Coohoon of Chez Graff, 62, rue de Bellechasse in the 7th, 01-45-51-33-42, lunch formulas at 20 and 24 and a la carte 30-35 E, closed weekends, chef’d by a Japanese guy as well who serves items such as green aples, cucumber jelly and wild watercress; and Kathleen Bousiquier wrote up Bloempot in Lille.

Saturday in Le Figaro, Francois Simon reviewed Maxim’s, coordinates well-known where for 400 E a couple one can dine pleasantly.

And Sunday, in the JDD, Aurelie Chaigneau’s address of the week was the Daily Syrien in the 10th (7/10), her discovery was Edgar in the 2nd (5.5) and “return to” place La Mascotte in the 18th (6.5).  Francois Lemarie in version femina reviewed La Regalade Conservatoire in the 9th.

 

Edgar in the 2nd: When they're good, they're very very good, and when they're......

5.0 (6.0 for the food, 4.0 for the problems that persist) Edgar, 31, Rue d'Alexandrie in the 2nd (Strasbourg-St Denis) 01.40.41.05.69 (which on the bill is transmorgrified to 01.XX.XX.XX.XX like a Visa number) is still a work in progress or process.  I read in yesterday's JDD that Aurelie Chaigneau waited 30 minutes for a table, had a plate of (not cooked enough) langoustines spilled on her shoulder but thought the food of Xavier Thierry, ex-Petit Cheval de Manege, otherwise was "without fault."  So I went with Colette, our ex-downstairs' neighbors and my oldest friend living in France, with my eyes wide open.

Problem #1 - On entering we saw that there were a mixture of sofas, overstuffed chairs and spare seats; Madame M. needs cushioning on her bottom or her back hurts, I need a firm seat or mine rebels and everyone else is cool.  The very friendly staff offered us any table in the house, we dithered and finally the Maitre pulled up a firm chair for me at a table with soft chairs and a sofa and we were on our way. 

 

 

 

 

 

Problem #2: They were out of the eperlans that M. Paga and I wanted with no substituted fried starters.  Problem #3: They were out of the mackerel with a mer... family noir substitute.  Problem #4: All the items on the black chalkboard which had been mentioned by reviewers were only available at night and we had to scramble back to the white carte to order.  But Plus #1: They ladies gaspacho with watermelon chunks - very good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pluses and Problems: The fish products (from top-bottom: mer.... noir, cod and fish and chips) were all very good, but Colette gave me a piece of cod that was stone cold, the fries were equally cool and barely edible even with (asked-for) vinegar which was not tart offsetting Brit malt but cloyingly sweet).

The desserts, especially the ice creams within them, were disappointing: again from top to bottom, an ecume of two chocolates (bitter and caramel), Italian ices and a Baba au Rhum.

With 2 bottles of La Vista, no bottled water, reasonable bread, 4 coffees and 2 Calvas our bill came to the equivalent of 83.20 E a couple.

Go?  If you're a branche Bobo whose ears like 85 decibels, you dig exotic if not erotic photos in the loo and you can put up with imperfections in what could someday be a great place - be my guest.

Axuria: A bit off today but hey, who's complaining?

Axuria has been our "go-to" Sunday lunch place for quite some months but it didn't deliver today as strongly as before.  The amuse of a curried fish soup was terrific as a start.

Our friend "Boston B." was in town and he and I both started off with a super risotto with morilles with a mop-every-drop-up sauce and I thought we were onto another good 3 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colette had the bar, our pal the tuna with a caramelized glaze and I the St. Pierre.  None of us uttered words of praise, indeed, Colette said "Let's give it a rest," B. "Let me be frank and specific" and I thought to myself  "How can a fish place fall off the high cliff so badly?" (Colette wondered if there were both a new front room staff and a kitchen equipe.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had decided when our orders were taken to not have dessert but the two of them proceeded with a Grand Marnier souffle ("It was not as good as the last two times") and a "douceur" of agrumes from whose orderer no "ooh's or aah's" were uttered.

With a bottle of fine Languedoc, a big Badoit and 3 coffees, our bill was about 91.06 E a couple.

Felicity Lemon: "The best, inventive meal since we arrived," my buddy Paga said.

I returned to Felicity Lemon (a half block down from the Belleville Metro) with Colette, our two ex-downstairs' neighbors and my oldest French friend, furiously tugging my forelock and pre-apologizing for what I thought might be the culinary equivalent of the "Sophomore slump" - that is, a disasterous second meal after an astonishing first a few weeks ago.  Not to worry.

First, the mistress of the salle came out and asked if we were aware of their new policy of small plates, then chef Sylvia François thanked me for writing her and it up so well a bit back and while nothing was comp'd or putting-on-the-dog stuff, we once again had a wonderfully creative meal.  We just ordered away and among the five of us had almost everything offered.

 

 

 From top to bottom, each more interesting than the previous:
Carottes rapees and Burrata
White asparagus with a pear and lemon-horse-raddish sauce - whoa!
Tuna in a boullion with ginger and yuzu
Arancini (Sicilian squid ink rice balls) and salad
Calamari with red peppers
Thai pork salad
Scallops with passion fruit, sliced ginger and passion fruit
Duck breast with an apricot sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we were dithering over the desserts I said - "one of each" and so it was - a grenache of chocolate, apple tart and cocoa a lemon cakey thing.  As Liberace would say - "Wunnerful, wunnerful!"

With three bottles of Jeff's Languedoc, no bottled water and 3 coffees (I said we weren't comp'd but I don't see the coffees on the bill so, we maybe were) - the bill was the equivalent of 68.80 E a couple.

Le Petit Champerret: I did fine, but others........

I brought Colette and 4 friends today to Le Petit Champerret in the 17th, a place that, on February 20th, I famously boasted might be the "Best meal/dishes of 2013" and I'll tell you what all six of us  thought right now - the other 5 had problems with a lot of food and ambiance elements but again I ate very well - but I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started off well, with rillettes of sardines on toasts and a bottle of the Cotes be Bordeaux I'd had before.  However, soon the resto began to fill and by 13h41 was so full and loud no one could hear anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For firsts, Chef P. had the asparagus soup with an egg, her sculptor husband had the glass of crab, guacamole and a red pepper ball on top, M. Paga had the wolf (fish not quadriped) with unidentifiable and (he said) tasteless mini-balls of something and I had a mushroom looking composition of a bone with its marrow on top and besides it on slices of potato - I thought all was well.

Then we waited, it got louder, we waited, it got louder, we started shouting, and waited, too long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then M. Rodin-manque had superb scallops with asparagus; the ladies all had veal ordered rosé (we'll come back to that) and I thought it was just fine - with asparagus; M. Paga had the confited lamb aka mutton which I, a mutton-hater, thought quite crispy and tasty as did he, a mutton-lover; and I had goat with its various organs and I thought it was about as good as it gets even though some thought the "sauce" was straight out of the Maille can and veggies not much of a much.  But returning to the veal.  As I said the ladies ordered it rosé, indeed Chef P. said rosé-rosé, and while hers was to her taste, the others were most unhappy with their over-cooked versions and on their behalf, Chef P. remonstrated and M. Castellani took two off our bill.

Only Colette had room for dessert but all shared in the brioche perdu.

With 2 1/2 wines, a Coke and two coffees the bill should have been 96.53 E a couple.

The Café Figué: Seems more worldy than before and no wonder.

Colette and I and two very old dear friends from New York returned today to the Café Figué and the menu was quite different from last time, much more food with influences of Italy, the Cribbean and Asia; a quick look at her resume hows why,  after graduating from l’École Supérieure de Cuisine Française in  Paris she worked in Providence, Cotonou, Miami and Hong-Kong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 For firsts, our friends had the sauteed (yes sauteed) melon with lettuces, Colette had had the chicken samosas and I had the salmon rillettes; all quite interesting and different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then all three had the dorade cooked in its skin while I went for the intruigingly named tiger tears which turned out to be a sort of carpaccio of beef marinated in spices on top of wheat noodles with cilantro and basil.  Fetching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, in sum we had the mango tart with mango ice cream, watermelon sorbet with strawberries and a sable, and microtomed pineapple with white chocolate and crumble bits (and for me a crumble-hater, it was wonderful).

With two bottles of Valencay, no bottled water, 4 coffees and fine bread, our bill came to 76.60 E a couple.

Le 6 Paul Bert: Oh I hope the New York Times doesn't find this find; it'll ruin it for the locals.

Le 6 Paul Bert in the 11th is yet another place I reconnoitered in Colette's absence and put on her "must go" list.  Today, 6 of went and despite our varying food tastes, all felt more than satisfied by what they/we ordered; indeed each of felt we had "scored" and while sharing everything, stuck to our beliefs that "we were the Champions."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

M. Paga had the razor clams, de-shelled and declared at the end of the meal that they were the one sour note of the lunch, but ironically, I liked them, although I normally don't ever order them, even in Venice; M. the Photo-Pro had the rollmops of very strong (that's good folks) herring with yogurt (like sour cream to you New Yorkers), scallions and beets, which we'll come back to later; and I felt I was the true winner, of course, with my assertive chicken livers with a soft-boiled egg (everyone is doing them these days) and al dente grilled leeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains we went various ways - towards the mignons of pork (undercooked) with lentils; the squid in black ink that were seductively spicy; and veal liver that the waiter inststed would come rose-squared and was.

For desserts, we sort-of shared the lemon ice cream, yogurt sorbet and a ginger sable; bitter chocolate with olive oil and cocoa crumble - AND another order of herring - Yummmm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With three bottles of red wine (one a Cheverny, the others Pitchounet Mouressipe), no bottled water, 2 Calvas and two coffees, our bill amounted to 70 E a couple.

Le Verre Moutarde: Please don't go: too far, too many locals, too reasonable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My friend M. of SF wrote elsewhere that we shouldn't write up our favorite local restos but hold them like the Pope, in pectore; moi, a blabbermouth, I spill out everything, but in this case, none of my readers will go to the far reaches of the 17th for great food at reasonable prices anyway because when the Dudes turn to the Dudesses and say "it's at the Rue de Saussure and the Blvd Berthier", I can see their faces and hear their voices "Where?"  Good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My cousin or something like that, ordered the lettuce soup with an egg - banal sounding, eh? - anything but, luscious; I had the rillettes of pork, banal sounding, eh? - anything but, delicious; foie gras and pressed chicken, banal sounding, eh? - anything but, voluptuous.  And clever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then Cuz had the leg of lamb with tiny roasted spring (almost Noirmoutier) potatoes and the rest of us had fresh (not frozen) gambas on a squid ink suffused risotto with parmesan, all "pas mal de tout!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For dessert two of us had the world's champion French toast with thyme-flavored caramel sauce and the losers had the moelleux which paled in comparison.  Tant pis!

With two bottles of a Cotes du Rhone, no bottled water and four coffees our bill was a tad over 82 E a couple.  Go?  I implore you, no.  Stay down in the 5th or 6th or wherever.

Wang Gilly @ Jin Xin Liu: You'll never go to the deepest 13th for French food in a Chinese/Viet Namese/Thai Take-out, so delete.

A Gagnaire-trained guy cooking in his folks' take-out joint almost besides the Parc Montsouris, sounds like the start of a bad joke, but no, it's for real and for 22.60 E for three courses.  Colette's and my favorite cousin and squeeze went for my second visit and it certainly held up as inventive, clever and interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our relatives both started out with purple eggs on a salad with Serano ham, very clever or did I say that? (N.B. the Asian condiments on the next table); and Colette and I had veloutes of leeks with small chunks of chicken liver and nice croutons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then Colette had the fish of the day (turbot) with black quinoa and the rest of us had beautifully sources and cooked chunks of veal with delicious vegetables including shitake mushrooms and a soft polenta with an almost American-type gravy - all superb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As desserts one of us ordered the gateau of fromage which he thought meant cheesecake but they heard only the cheese portio so out came a platter of cheeses which were more than acceptable and the rest of us indulged ourselves in soft white and dark chocolate mousseux cigars.

With 2 bottles of wine, no bottled water and four coffees our bill was 63.20 E a couple.  Despite the slow delivery of courses I think this place has really "got it."