John Talbott's Paris

Yard in the 11th: My overworked word of the summer - refreshing - comes in again.

Yard in the 11th; Colette and I were horrendously late for our lunch date with two new friends (blame it on Delanoye's hairbrained traffic scheme that has delivery trucks, cars making turns and taxis unloading passengers in the bus lane so the buses cannot make better time than dump trucks) - but luckily our friends had proceeded with some wine and water and we joined in.

There were three starters and Colette, ever challenging the social order, ordered all three and raved about them.  The coques with lovage were intense; the beets and cherries subtle and the gaspacho so good that I had a bowl of it for my dessert.

For mains we had the white tuna with salicorns, cucumbers and smoked apricots and lamb sweetbreads with peas and buttermilk with warm whole radishes (that really didn't work for me.)  At this point we'd turned to a red Gamay which went nicely with it all.

For desserts, in addition to my gaspacho, the others had grilled peach and fresh cheese, a Kate Mousse (ha ha) and fromage blanc with honey and pistachio bits.

With some rose to end the meal, one bottled water and two coffees, our bill woulnd up being 82.50 E a couple.

Oh wait, that's for dinner.

Restaurant A.T. (Atsushi Tanaka) in the 5th: Another blow-out experience.

The Restaurant A.T. (Atsushi Tanaka) in the 5th is another place I ate at earlier this summer that Colette marked on her list of "musts" and we went with two wonderful long-time colleagues in town for a few days.  The menu this time was spelled out and totally different from last time excepting the charbon chip amuse starter.

To begin with we had cubes of salmon, halves of tiny potatoes and juniper; then veal with yellow beets and rosemary - both with a bottle of light Alsatian Riesling - a wonderful start.

Then we had chichard (a mackerel-like fish) in a cherry-tomato gaspacho with dribs of avocado; some foccacio (much better than it was last time) with olive oil from Seville; and lieu jaune (pollack) with pdt puree and safran - with another slightly more assertive Alsatian wine.

As it came time to serve our double-lamb chops (wonderfully underdone) the head-guy who was most attentive to our wine-needs whispered "would you like some red wine with the lamb?" - I asked the table and on we went with another bottle which worked out well with the tonka/chocolate dessert as well.  "Oh," you say, "what are those green dots?" - "well they're camouflage."  "Huh?" Sure, pureed broccoli, zucchini and parsley." "Ah, ha."

Our bill; arr, hem, haw, shucks, our friends picked it up although I put up a weak fight to share it.  But if you figure that each couple had two 45 E menus, water (2 E), coffee (?) and let's say one bottle of wine at 37 E, one could get out for about 135E.

"Problems John?"  "Well, actually yes."  The noise level was intolerable and the peskies weren't fellow Yankees or fellow Parisians but Asians who constituted 50% of their custom.

The Hidden Philippine Kitchen in Paris: A special 14th of July tradition celebrating amity between France and the Philippines.

The Hidden Philippine Kitchen in the 14th is hidden, as well it should be, from peskies of all nations, deep in the 14th, but Colette and I were invited by its chef and his husband to celebrate the fete national and the third Pacte de Famille that kept France and the Philippines friends forever.  You remember that from History 101, no?  In 1761?  No?  So check out wiki.

In any case, we were greeted with crispy "dim sum" with lettuce leaves, mint and cilantro and a spicy sauce with radishes and peanuts along with a glass of rose from Provence.  This was followed by an incredibly spicy/tasty salad (like Colette's Thai salad), crispy fried spring rolls with lettuce leaves, mint and cilantro and a sweet sauce, followed by a plate of chicken adobo - the Philippine national dish - and topped off with a tapioca dessert with strawberries, pineapple and papaya.

Our bill, after many bottles of wine and cups of coffee?  Walang anuman; we were their guests.

Go back? Next July 14.

The Clown Bar in the 11th: Another Japanese-chef'd Asian-influenced but very French place.

The Clown Bar in the 11th was one of my favorites earlier this summer and Colette and a friend in the biz were eager to go.  The pix above of the tiles are courtesy of the Clown Bar and Colette.

The menu was totally different than that a month ago except that it had the same sort of interesting combinations.  We ordered up a bottle of red Loire and settled in.

For firsts, I chose the beignets of bulots with spicy aioli and lemon; our friend had the white tuna wrapped in yellow beets; and Colette had the green beans with peaches and shredded feta cheese.

Then our guest had two very generous chunks of perfectly undercooked veal with a thin trebon onion; Colette had snails and mushrooms with an egg yolk; and I had brains with peas and palourdes.

For dessert we split the terrific lemon tart.

Our bill with two bottles of wine, no bottled water and three coffees, was 140 E, thus about 93.33 E a couple.

Les Deserteurs in the 11th: The incredible lightness of being, eating and pricing.

Les Deserteurs, as everyone knows by now, was founded by some guys from Le Sergent Recruteur and as we entered we were warmly greeted by chef Daniel Baratier and Alexandre Céret, who has transfered his sommelier know-how here.  The garden in the back was quite lovely today and we were on our way with their no-choice menu.

The first "course" was a lemonaide with elderflower - "huh?," you say - well into a glass our host spritzed (as with a seltzer bottle) this foam (I'm sure molecular/etc/etc) that looked like a lemon mousse but slowly reduced itself to 5 swallows of intensely flavored (with sureau=eldertree) aide; then trumpet zucchinis (long thin with some yellow flower) sauteed in another intensely flavored sauce with purple basil; a chunk of tuna cooked on the outside, raw on the inside with a puree of beans and ginger; and what I'd call a clafoutis (but they called a tart) of wild prunes with elderflower ice cream.

Our bill, now realize that a four course lunch with one glass of wine and a coffee is 35 E, so our bill for three of us with another bottle of wine, was 127 E or 84.66 E a couple.  This is great food from great people at great prices.

Le Rubis in the 2nd not the 1st: Fabulous food, marvellous menu, pleasing prices but snailish service.

7.0 Le Rubis, 14, rue Leopold-Bellan (the old l'Hédoniste space) in the 2nd (Metro: Sentier, Bus: 85 and 3 others), 09.84.39.42.49, closed weekends has not gotten much respect since it opened in April, I suspect for two reasons: (1) most folks think of Le Rubis as the bar a vins/resto in the 1st and (2) Emmanuel Rubin trashed it, although Figaro readers subsequently lauded it.  In any case, two chef-pals, having vetted it several times, suggested we go today.  I looked at the menu in the window and started drooling - veal brains - oh my oh my! 

But hold on, that was Thursday's menu,  not today's (ie Friday's).  Drats.  Put on my most supplicanty face and tugging my forelock I plead my case - "Madame, the chef (whom I'd recognized, and she - I) wouldn't perhaps have one portion available for someone who has his heart set on veal brains."  "I'll ask."  "Success!!!!"

So out come the cavalcade of firsts:
- a brochette of razor clams
- tuna belly
- tuna tartare
and - tah dah
- three huge slices of sauteed veal brains - incredible, as was it all.

For mains, the ladies had the mackerel in a papillote with black rice (which I thought would have been better fried in a thick batter but they loved with the juice produced) and the guys had pork ribs "Underwood" (which as it turns out were not named for the typewriter but Kevin Spacey's character in the House of Cards) with steamed zucchini and a spicy rub.  Again all fabulous.

For dessert we had the burrata/tomato/eggplant "sandwich" which was a first but worked very well indeed as a dessert and poached apricot halves.

Our bill, with two bottles of fine Rhone wine, one bottle of fizzy water and two coffees, was 169.30 E so rounding it up, about 86 E a couple.

Go?  Definitely, but hope by then they've either hired one more front-room person or weaned the waitstaff from cigarettes so plates arrive promptly.

And BTW, despite being packed with pesky fellow Parisians, the decibel level was 80.5 dB.

Will in the 12th: Wonderfully refreshing food.

Will, the restaurant in the 12th, was wonderful fun a few weeks ago and when a couple who are food aficianados indicated they were going, Colette and I eagerly signed on.  And, it was every bit as refreshing as before.  It's located by the Marche d'Aligre near the district where household furnishings are sold and some of the items in windows make one want to renovate.

For firsts we had three different cold fish preparations that each had a burst of flavor from lemon grass, cilantro or Thai spices - a carpaccio of maigre with raddishes, crab meat with papaya and a tuna ceviche with lime.  All were so refreshing and perfect for summer.

For mains, we had the confited salmon with fresh almonds and ginger, the fish of the day (merlu) and gambas with eggplant, tomatoes, Granny Smiths and citronelle.

For dessert we had the panna cotta, Eton mess and tout choco, all of which were also refreshing and delightful.

Our bill with two bottles and two glasses of wine, no bottled water and 2 coffees, was 241 E, thus 120.50 E a couple.

Pirouette in the 1st: Loiseau and Ledeuil have nothing on Tomy Gousset*; what innovation!

Pirouette in the 1st is another place with both astonishing food and wonderful service, decor and welcome; not to mention great prices.  We went today with a same-age (as we) couple from the homeland and an Anglo-Syrian family with two 7 year olds.  On entering Thomas Chaput gave us a warm hello and chef Tomy Gousset (ex-Le Meurice, Taillevent and Daniel in NYC) came over to chat, indicating that he could and would whip up special kids' meals - Colette of course insisted on seeing pix of his month-old son Hugo.  And he sent over an unexpected amuse - a sort of rice cracker with guacamole/avacado mousse and fish eggs and other mout-watering things that I forget.  With a white and red Loire, our meal was off to a great start.

One of us started with the poached egg with lentils, yellow grapes and chives in a bacon/lard sauce while the rest of us had lovely fried mackerel on big slices of tomato with a horseradish sauce and salicorns.  So as not to let us feel neglected, the Chef sent us out 8 portions of gnocchi, girolles and at least one toasted mint leaf.

Then my friend from home had the beef with potatoes, two of us had the wonderful pigeon with liver on toast and white under-cooked asparagus and black garlic, one had the turbot and two others loved the  Iberian pork - all were splendid, interestingly garnished and perfectly cooked.

To finish, Colette convinced almost everyone to go for the rice pudding with caramel which she has deemed the "best in town" since I demur on going back with my begging bowl to L'Ebouchoir, the prior reigning champion.  One of our group had the red fruits and I had a Calva)

Our bill for 8, was 344.50 E, thus 86.16 E a couple.

*Now, up above I said that Bernard Loiseau (RIP) and William Ledeuil had or have nothing on Tomy Gousset; all three did or do innovate, push and move the ballon up the field constantly.  As evidence, I had not only our fine meal, but as I was leaving I found the chef busily reading Niki Segnit's "Le repetoire des saveurs" (FR) aka "The Favour Thesaurus." (ENG) and found him busily at work figuring out the next interesting combos.

 

 

Le Servan in the 11th: Just as good as a month ago or better.

Le Servan in the 11th is a place I really enjoyed a month ago or so, thus I was delighted to return with Colette and two of our French/Romanian friends today.  As we walked in we saw a wait-person deliver a chunk of magret de canard and we all swooned.

Colette chose to have the beet, cheese and blueberry salad with some zippy cilantro while the guys all had the fresh sardines in a sorrel sauce with some zippy greens.

Colette then had the merlu (hake) which had a nice crust and zucchini and celery (uncooked) and the rest all had that incredible looking and tasting duck breast with sliced big and whole baby carrots and a sauce that had a zippy aftertaste.

Desserts were a fromage blanc with berries and crumble and an apricot tart with apricot sauce (I liked, Colette did not).

Our bill with two bottles of wine, no bottled water and 4 coffees should have been about 80 E a couple but one of our friends snagged the bill insisting that he's searched unsuccessfully for a present for Colette's Birthday and this would have to do.

Ze Kitchen Galerie: What more can be said? Ever-changing, ever-new, ever-refreshing.

Ze Kitchen Galerie in the 6th is our idea of how to re-enter Paris after two weeks in Tuscany, no matter how great that was.  On entering we were not greeted by our usual host Cedric who was out sick, nor the Chef who is probably doing one of those food demos in aspen; indeed most of the front of the house and kitchen staff were unknown to us.  So we were slightly worried that the food might suffer - no need to fret.  The amuse gueule was another surprising delight to the taste buds, the "new" 48 E 3-course menu full of new items and the wine, very pleasant.

Colette started with an entree special of the day, several preparations of tomatoes that was intense and surprising while I had a shock to the palate sauce on my squid and veggies.

For a main, she had the cod (fish of the day) on the plancha with delicious dill and I had Iberian pork (crusty, crunchy outside, near-raw inside - perfect) with veggies and teeny tiny mushrooms and another "scrape-up-with-a-spoon-or-bread" sauce.

For dessert, Colette had the wonderful rhubarb strawberry concoction and I the white chocolate with wasabi ice cream.

With a bottle and a glass of wine, 2 coffees and water (both on the "menu") our bill was 139.50 E.