John Talbott's Paris

Paris Pix: Wall art.

Reviews of reviews: The week of December 8th, 2014

Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger reviewed and gave 3/5 dots to the cantine Scarlett & le cochon volant, 5, rue de Romainville in Les Lilas (93), (closed Sunday lunch and Mon-Weds dinner)  09.67.39.56.88, where on lunch formulas of 12 and 14 E and about 25 E a la carte dinner one can have items such as a sausage-apple tart, cod brandade and pineapple-coco-rum cake; while Philippe Toinard reviewed and gave 3/5 to trendy Saperlipopette, 9, place du Theatre, Puteaux (92) 01.41.37.00.00, open 7/7 where for 42 E (menu) and 55-65 E a la carte, one can have salmon with cream, daurade and a Carambar éclair.

This week in Le Fooding, Yves Nespoulous wrote up two places:  the bar a vins/cave a manger Sauvage, 60, rue du Cherche-Midi in the 6th, 06.88.88.48.23, open Sunday lunch, closed Mondays,  where for 20-25 E one can have Utah Beach oysters, smoked ham warm sausage, pork cheeks and rice pudding; and the café/neo-bistrot Dersou, 21, rue Saint-Nicolas in the 12th, 09.81.01.12.73, closed Sundays and Mondays, where for 36-50 E one eats cantine de quartier items at lunch (soups, croquettes and a treacle tart) and at night with electro pop one has cocktail pairings, smoked ham and apple sables.

Wednesday in Figaroscope, in Emmanuel Rubin’s Hache Menu he reviewed the well-known night spot Castel and he then reviewed his 5 new places, awarding 3 hearts to the previously mentioned Gare au Gorille in the 17th as well as 3 two-heart places:  the previously mentioned Le Timbre in the 6th and The Beast in the 3rd and the Sicilian Les Amis de Messina in the 2nd.  Getting a broken heart was L'Alsace in the 8th.

Figarocope’s Dossier by Colette Monsat, Alice Bosio and Hugo de Saint Phalle was about what’s happening around Oberkampf, mentioning:
Pierre Sang on Gambey
L’Acolyte
Chambelland
Café Chilango
L’1 K
Le Clown Bar

A second article by Alice Bosio was about the best frites in Paris at:
Maison F
De Clerq
Big Fernand
Frenchie to Go
The Sunken Chip

Wednesday, also, Heidi Ellison in Paris Update reviewed the aforementioned Le Verre Volé sur Mer in the 10th enthusiastically.

Thursday, in L’Express, François-Régis Gaudry reviewed the previously mentioned Gare au Gorille.

Paris Pix: And....

Paris Pix: Even more

Paris Pix: More wall art.

Paris Pix: Painted Lady

Reviews of reviews: The week of December 1st, 2014

Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinard reviewed and gave 3/5 to the Quinte in the 16th where there has been no new address, no new concept or new chef ; and his colleague Jerome Berger awarded 4/5 to the aforementioned Gare au Gorille in 17th.

Tuesday in Le Fooding, Yves Nespoulous wrote that Yam’cha had opened a take-out shop at 4, rue Sauval and reviewed an Italian sandwicherie La Petite Table in the 3rd.

Wednesday in Figaroscope, in Emmanuel Rubin’s Hache Menu he reviewed the Patisserie des Tuileries, 3, place des Pyramides in the 1st Sebastien Gaudard’s 2nd place after 3 years on the Rue des Martyrs and he then reviewed his 5 new places, awarding 3 hearts to the previously mentioned Nakatani in the 7th and 2 hearts to the previously mentioned Verre Vole Sur Mer in the 10th, the fondue place La Fruitiere in the 12th, and Le Beaumarchais, 21, blvd Beaumarchais in the 4th, 01.49.96.47.00, open 7/7, serving items such as crab/crevettes salad, duck breast and fresh fruits.  One heart went to ex-Top Chef Ruben Sarfatti’s Spontini 50 in the 2nd.

Figarocope’s Dossier was about the best oeufs Mayo in town and listed as the top 4: Le Voltaire, La Closerie de Lilas, La Fontaine de Mars and Flottes.

Wednesday, also, Heidi Ellison in Paris Update reviewed the aforementioned Dix Huit in the 17th.

Thursday, in L’Express, François-Régis Gaudry reviewed Plomodiern in the Finistère.

Saturday, Stephane Durand-Souffland in Minutes Gourmandes in Figaro reviewed well-known Les Souffles de Recamier in the 7th.

A. Noste's Tapas Bar Downstairs in the 2nd: Julien Duboué holds up very well indeed.

A. Noste's Tapas Bar Downstairs is a place we ate at a while back where Julien Duboué took care of five of us who came with my friend who knows more about food than anyone in the world (MFWKMAFTAITW) and we had a spectacular time.  So if I come without MFWKMAFTAITW, will I have as good a meal?  Silly question, silly boy!  There are 30 covers downstairs, a bit fewer upstairs - he cannot send the only 8 shrimp that are good to me - he's pumping out the products.

So we enter - at 12 noon sharp to be sure to get a table - with our two friends who split their time betwen the Bay and the Seine - by the great red truck under the Taloa 6.50 E ardoise as the working minions from the 'nabe pour in with their Tickets Restaurants - not a word of other than French.  First the wine, a fine white and then red Irouléguy, and then the carte - Yikes!  Too many choices:

Ohh la la:
- shrimp with a spicy curry sauce and green apple slices (Colette's "never can get enough of this" dish)
- raviolis of foie gras and ginger
- chevreuil with fresh pasta (my killer plate)
- (unexpectedly, our host arrives with a dish from the swank upstairs room) - risotto with corn and truffles and who knows what else
- lievre a la royale with pureed potatoes that had a kick
- crunchy nems with duck and a mild Thai sauce
- passion fruit pods filled with a creme brulee of which with saffron and
- madeleines with chocolate inside and a caramel beurre sale outside.

Our bill with 3 bottles of wine and a pichet more, no bottled water and 2 coffees came to 119.50 E a couple.

Go?  I've told you before, I'll tell you again, this place is a treasure.

Le (new) Timbre in the 6th: A very soft, successful landing in a cherished old spot.

7.5 Le Timbre, 3, rue Sainte-Beuve in te 6th (Metro: ND des Champs) closed Sundays and Mondays, has a new Francophone couple as chef-frontroom-owners and according to them, Chris Wright, has, after 13 years, gone on to other ventures.  I recall coming here shortly after it opened and despite its postage-stamp size, Wright put out some mighty fine chow.  Well, you won't be disappointed by the change.

While the 26 E "menu" is no-choice, the offerings were great:
- daurade (cooked not cru) with a cauiflower puree and black olives
- a Normand entrecote with kabotcha squash puree and
- an poached apple (that we all thought was a pear) with home-made panettone ice cream.

With 2 bottles of St Chinian, no bottled water and 6 coffees, our bill was 145 E for three, thus 96.66 E a couple.

Go?  Charming couple, great food, lovely prices - I cannot think of a reason why not.

As a teaser, here are the menus for tonight and the Reveillon:

Chaos in the GP Niki de Saint Phalle queue; calm at Mr. Turner and the National Gallery.

Niki de Saint Phalle at the Grand Palais:
The Good News: It's quite wonderful except for her horrible firing squad paint balloon nonsense
The Bad News: The staff minding the expedited line (Sesame, Groups, Press, etc.) was trained by United Airlines queuing experts.

But just in the nick of time, Timothy Spall/Mike Leigh and Frederick Wiseman demonstrate how a great painter works and how a great museum functions.  Two films open in Paris now worth the visit.

A lot of Wows!