John Talbott's Paris

110 Taillevent: "Very nice,...a place to send American friends to," my friend of 56 years said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

110 Taillevent, is as my old friend says, "a very nice place" - cool decor, placemat sidebar to note Tastings and wines from 25 E to the stratophere.  They have a menu, lunch and dinner, for 39 E which the guys took while the three ladies, whom I've known a bit less than 56 years, picked off the carte.

Said "menu" started us off with a piece of mackerel on top of a circle of eggplant with a tomato topping; all "quite nice."

Then, for mains, our wives both had the bar with various vegetables and mushrooms, our French pal of longstanding had the vol ay vent with extra portions of mushrooms and salad and the two old male geezers had the menu's so-called brandade, "so-called" because it was cod indeed, but adorned with mussels, coques, squid and who knows what other seafood - quite original.

 

For desserts we chose the caramelized figs (delicious), chocolate "dome" with chocolate (like Neva serves), a chocolate and raspberry coupe and scoops of ice cream and sorbets - quite nice.

Our bill, with 2 bottles of wine, no bottled water and 4 coffees (5 E each) was 256 E thus 102.40 E a couple for a "very nice meal......to send American friends to."

Reviews of reviews: The week of September 23rd, 2013.

Monday-Tuesday, Philippe Toinard, in A Nous Paris, reviewed and gave 3/5 dots to Lazare, coordinates given before; while Jerome Berger gave 3/5 to the aforementioned Allard.

Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Gilles Dupuis reviewed Buvette (which reproduces dishes from Buvette New York in the Village), 28, rue Henri-Monnier in the 9th, 01. 44 63 41 71, but no reservations taken, closed Mondays, costing 15-40 E for items such as small plates of scones, pretzels, soups, confited rabbit and coq au vin.

In Wednesday’s Figaroscope, Emmanual Rubin awarded 2 hearts to two places; the aforementioned Encore in the 9th and similarly mentioned Bistrot Belhara in the 7th.  He awarded one heart each to the Prive de Dessert in the 9th, the Spanish Sandwich and ham place Les Grandes d’Espagne and the bar a vins Le Zag a Vin.

The Dossier this week was by Francois Simon and Hugo de Saint Phalle on Hugo Desnoyer and Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec respectively giving their clients:
Desnoyer: Conseil constutionnel, President of the Senate and Assrmblee Nationale, Cyril Lignac, Chardenoux-des-Pres, Passage 53, Gyoza Bar, L’Astrance, Aida, Pierre Gagnierre, L’Argpege, Le Bristol, Le Comptoir du Relais, L’Ami Louis Le Petit Verdot
Le Bourdonnec: Johnny Hallyday, Alain Ducasse, Joel Robuchon, Blend, Beef Club, Le Couteau d’Argent a Asnieres, La Boucherie Lamartine, Tim Sautereau) and their favorite restos:
Desnoyer: Geraud, La Rotonde Montparnasse, Aida, Pierre Gagnierre
Le Bourdonnec: Le Stella, Le Goupil, Le Braisenville, Le Saint-Joseph.

Finally, Francois Simon devoted his Hache Menu to the Café Trema, coordinates given before, where he says to go.

Thursday, Charles Patin O’Coohoon reviewed the South American tapas place Jesus Paradis in the 10th; Francois-Regis Gaudry reviewed Eric Frechon’s Lazare (“Attention Success”) and visited Le Galoubet in Arles; and Ulla Majoube reviewed Alain Ducasse’s food at the Meurice.

Friday in the Figaro, Blaise de Chabalier wrote an article about the 4th season of Masterchef which has on its jury this year a woman, Amandine Chaignot chef at the Raphael (an interesting factoid; this year about 25,000 persons via the internet applied to be on the show).

Saturday in Figaro, Stephane Durand-Souffland wrote about the Relais & Chateau in Honfleur – the Ferme Saint-Simeon and Francois Simon’s Croque-Notes was about the assault on his ears at the terribly trendy bistro Professore (I couldn’t find one word about the food).

Sunday in the JDD, Aurelie Chaigneau reviewed small plates and wine place run by an ex-pat – the Buvette Gastronomique (7/10),  in the 9th, see above; Belhara in the 7th – ditto; and the Sakebar in the 5th.  In addition, Francois Lemaire wrote up Professore in the 9th, coordinates given before and in the side-bar talked about 3 good reasons to go to Frenchie To Go, coordinates given before.

Christophe in the 5th: "Good solid food," "and he holds the prices down."

Christophe in the 5th has earned its way to my "favorites list" and we went with a most delightful 16 month old and her equally delightful parents.

We started off with three classics; foie gras, brains and a croustillant boudin; all were comme il faut.

Then three of us had the sublime sweetbreads on mashed potatoes that even I swooned over, and Colette had some beautiful veal cooked to perfection.

All of us shared in two chocolate mousses which were again classic and superb.

With the equivalent of two bottles of wine, no bottled water and four coffees offered (our dining partners were well-known by the house) our bill amounted to 114.50 E a couple.  As we were leaving I said "Good solid food," and our friend replied, "I know the price of products and he holds the prices down."

Lazare in the 8th: Eric Frechon like never before.

8.1 Lazare, Parvis de la Gare Saint Lazare (exterior) and -2 Rue Interieure (interior), 01.44.90.80.80 (but right now reservations are about 7-8 days out for lunch), open 7/7 from 7h00 to midnight, is a mad-house - but a nice mad-house. The design and decor are fantastic, it has an open kitchen with two huge windows, a table d'hote, bar with many stools (all occupied so don't count on plotzing down on impulse), hustling, bustling, loud (87.8 dB), slow between courses, sloppy (well, it's only been open 17 days) and fun, really fun.

High above the North wall are two chalkboards, one like a railway Departure Sign with times of the day and stuff served then; one with the recipe for their signature dessert - a Paris-Deauville cake; and the menu is like one might have found in a rail station cafe 50 years ago.  Except it's Eric Frechon's food - and not the food you recall from the Eric Frechon of La Verriere, Le Restaurant d'Eric Frechon, Eric Frechon, le Bristol, le Crillon, or le Mini-Palais - it was in Monty Python's term's totally different; part-bar, part-restaurant, part-cafe, part-neobrasserie, part-well-Eric Frechon.

Colette and our friend from across the River Seine ordered the haricots and artichoke and green lettuce salads which I though was nutz - but the freshness of both and dressing, especially on the later, made me regret my nasty thoughts.  Others had the fried gambas with EF's own concoction of catsup - they were above the Greenwich Mean Standard.

Then two of our eating pals had the 7-hour lamb with bulgar which all three ladies went gaga over; Colette had the gambas; and I had the sole Dieppoise (with teeny tiny mushrooms and teeny tiny shrimp), whose order prompted my dear companion of 54 years to say "John, are you sure?  Sole, not the horse meat, are you OK?"  "Don't tell me what to order," snapped I, 'I'm a free man."  Glad I did too.  Horse meat next time.  As an afterthought, after seeing portion after portion of great looking shoe-string fried potatoes go by i ordered "frites" and they were the US type but undercooked, not crispy, ergo a 2 E loss.

Then the table ordered and shared the signature dessert - the Paris-Deauville cake and an aumoniere de crepe, pommes, caramel, etc.  Quite fine as was the Waldo wine.

The bill, with two bottles of said Rasteau, no bottled water and 4 coffees, was 267 E ÷ 4 = about 67 E thus about 134 E a couple.

Go?  Call 7-8 days ahead for lunch and enjoy because I'll bet a cookie that in 6 months the curse of the New York Times will have killed it.

Hieronymous Cock (gravure to Bosch) and Irma Boom's books.

Hieronymous Cock was a painter and printmaker to the stars of his day - Breugel, Bosch, etc.  It is almost too much, overwhelming you with his prints, some familiar, some less so.

The exhibition of Irma Boom is harder to describe; the website says it's a "biography in books by Dutch graphic designer" Boom, but it's really a display of hundreds of pages of her small books with images of everything from Warhol to the famous Obama Hope poster.

This is worth three wows; until December 15th.

Les Climats in the 7th: How Green can you get? (The pix, umbrellas and garden that is.)

Les Climats is the perfect place to take a group of five when it's 75 degrees and pretty sunny; you sit in the garden, have great food, drink one of their zillion bottles (actually 8,500) of Burgundy (for 15-5388 €) and chill out.  Heaven it is.

 

Two of the firsts were nothing like one would suppose: escargots in the Les Climats style and mozzarella and summer veggies - unh, unh, Chef Chi Tam Phan (V.N.) produced these tapestries of flavors, colors and ingredients that beat anything we've had here since it reopened.

For mains we had the wild daurade, salmon and roasted piggie, all with the chef's own sauces which were splendid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The desserts, essentially shared by all, were a Langres crémeux, etc.; a mousse-like chocolate concoction; and a raspberry creme mousseline.  No complaints from around the table.

Complaints however about the slowness of delivery of plates.

Our bill, with the equivalent of two bottles of Bernard Dubois Pinot Noir wine, no bottled water, good bread, wonderful cheese puffs and mignardises as well as four coffees amounted to 94.66 E a couple.

Spring always has interesting stuff going on on the quiet Rue Bailleul; last year it was the Sean Penn look-alike in a back-hoe, today a photo shoot with a Velib and a guy with the world's biggest hair.  But inside it's all business and rather than try to describe the 10 dishes, I'll give you a photo-gastro-journey through culinary heaven:

 

 

Our bill, with two bottles of red Jura (decanted, ergo no pix), no bottled water, his great rolls and butters (whatever happened though to the old algae one?) was 113 E a couple (2 coffees and 2 glasses of Echezeaux were offered).

Au Bon Coin the the 5th: "You've scored again Johnnie" said my French culinary mentor.

Au Bon Coin can hardly be described as “my find”; for that one has to nod to the CH contributors – omgili and Parnassien, t1910, Arago and my friend Delucacheesemonger.  In any case, after a 24-hour delay and detour, we found ourselves there today.  The tiled walls and 1930’s signs for Esso and Suze, etc, give it the recycled butcher-shop look.

The menu didn’t look much different than a few weeks ago which is to say there was something for everyone.  My old downstairs neighbor ordered the celery remoulade with crab and shrimp that I thought was the tops, but the table was equally enthusiastic about my chunky tartare of salmon on a bed of algae and creamy cheese on top – now if only I’d had a bagel.

Then our two guests and friends for 56 some years had the magret de canard with a veggie side; Colette had a very very nice piece of bar with microtomed green and yellow squash and I had what I did last time – the thick foie de veau – cooked bleu, which was like butter, with chunky potatoes that the group devoured happily as I watched.

Colette ordered a fruit salad and my pal a moelleux of chocolate but all of us shared in enjoying them. We had two bottles of wine – one labeled “Halfway There” – the other “The time has come”, Lord knows what their vintners had in mind, but they, with carafes of water and four coffees, and pretty good bread, resulted in a bill of 74.50 E a couple

Reviews of reviews: The week of September 16th, 2013.

Monday-Tuesday, Philippe Toinard, in A Nous Paris, reviewed and gave 4/5 dots to the Bistrot Belhara, 23, rue Duvivier in the 7th, 01.45.51.41.77, closed Sundays and Mondays, with lunch menus at 22 and 30 and a la carte at dinner 35-50 E for “basquetude” items such as rabbit shoulder, chicken fricassee and a vanilla sable; while Jerome Berger gave 3/5 to the aforementioned Sunken Chip.

Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Yves Nespoulous reviewed Christian Echebest’s new venture, La Cantine de la Cigale, 124, blvd de Rochechouart in the 18th, 01.55.79.10.10, closed Sundays, which for 16-35 E serves up big sardines, razor clams, beef with red wine and a mirabelle tart.

In Wednesday’s Figaroscope, Emmanual Rubin awarded 3 hearts to the aforementioned Eric Frechon’s Lazare in the Gare of the same name.  He also rated as worthy of 2 hearts – Le Perchoir, 14, rue Crespin-du-Gast in the 11th, 01.48.06.18.48, closed Mondays and Tuesdays, with 42 and 48 E menus serving squid salad, shoulder of lamb and a red fruit daquoise; Le Cette, coordinates given before and the Japanese Ito.  Getting one heart was the previously mentioned Sunken Chip.

The Dossier by Colette Monsat, Alice Bosio and Hugo de St Phalle was entitled “Le Monopoly des Chefs” featuring Gregory Marchand (Frenchie, Frenchie bar a vins and Frenchie to go), Thierry Breton (Chez Michel, Chez Casimir and La Pointe du Grouin), Bertrand Auboyneau (Le Bistrot Paul Bert, L’Ecailler du Bistrot, Le 6 Paul-Bert), Juan Sanchez & Drew Harre (Cosi, Semilla, Fish La Boissonnerie), Christian Constant (Le Violin d’Ingres, Les Cocottes, Café Constant), Inaki Aizpitarte (Le Chateaubriand, Le Dauphin, Le Cave) and Bertrand Grebaut (Septime, Clamato [soon to come] & Septime Cave).

And following that, there is another article about said Bertrand Grebaut’s “picks” between Goncourt and Republique in which he says Le Baratin is the “best resto in the world!”

In addition, Francois Simon had his Hache Menu about Geraud in the 16th now under new management which he declares is “all new and frankly good.”

Thursday, Francois-Regis Gaudry visited Marc Veyrat’s new Maison de Bois as well as the Bisto Belhara, coordinates given above; Marie-Amal Bizalion reviewed Bo&Co in Marseille and Ulla Majoube interviewed Frederic Vardon of 39V on Tous Restaurant week.

Francois Simon on Saturday in his Croque Notes in Figaro reviewed the Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville in Crissier (Switzerland, Fredy Giradet’s old place) and Mlena Lutaud had an article on the pastry chefs coming from Alsace.

Sunday in the JDD, Aurelie Chaigneau reviewed the Italian Da Rosa (6.5/10), the Japanese Nanashi (6) and the Californian hamburger place Le Depanneur Pigalle, 27, rue Pierre-Fontaine in the 9th, open 7/7, 01.48.74.48.74 serving such like Tex Mex and Cali Classic burgers for 17 E (6).  In addition, Francois Lemaire wrote up Le Petit Pan, coordinates already given as well announcing the opening of a Korean take-out place Bibimbap in the 10th.

 

Restaurant Simone in the 13th: Roshomon, forgetitude and mixed results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roshomon: Version 1: Three weeks ago I ate at the Restaurant Simone with one of my game pals here and rated it a 5.1/10 concluding that "....I hope our meals aren't reflective of the average ones here - I'm an outlier when it comes to all the other reviewers."  So like a trained pigeon, when I got out of the Gobelins station, I headed straight here, only to realize halfway through the meal that I actually had reserved at the Bon Coin 200 meters away (a 6.5/10).

Roshomon: Version 2: Exactly four weeks ago, I ate at Le Bon Coin in the 13th and loved it so much (6.5/10) I reserved today for Colette and our pals from downstairs where we used to live 34 numbers down the street.  When I emerged from the Metro, I headed down the Blvd Arago, on autopilot and seeing this nice place of which I had a decent memory entered saying "M. Talbott, 4, I reserved."  They didn't bat an eye, steered us to a table, we ordered and only realized halfway through the meal that I actually reserved at the Bon Coin 200 meters away.

Resultion: Pull forelock, apologize, grovel, attribute to geezertude which led to a discussion of software to improve aging folks' aging memories, and enjoy what you have, instead of what you do not.

 

 Madame started with the mozzarella which she sort-of-liked albeit it was too bland for her and it came with sour confited tomatoes (at the height of fresh tomato season); M. had the mackerel tartare which we all thought was just fine; and I had cold lentils and two slices of rock-hard warm sausage.

Then Madame was served a gigot of lamb that she expressly insisted be rosé and came out decidedly well-done; quick negotiation, "no more," "but how about a tenderloin of veal" - hubby says yes, you like that - she didn't - we did - delicious, great piece of meat, perfectly cooked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile Colette was having a superb piece of merlu with fennel and other veggies and M. and I had super-tough pieces of beef with thick-cut potatoes that Madame loved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colette, not having had an entree (eg first) had the confiture du lait - a thick, outasight creamy caramel concoction.  we soldiered on with the wine.

Our bill, with 2 bottles of wine, 4 coffees and 2 Calvas offered, was 65 E a couple.

Go?  All the critics love it, the locals too, so much that they were turning people away even with outside tables but I'll never get my gang to return.  Sad.