John Talbott's Paris

Reviews of reviews: the Week of October 12th, 2015 - in progress

 

Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger reviewed and gave 3 dots to the aforementioned Italian Faggio in the 9th and Philippe Toinard awarded the same to Bon Vivant, 7, rue des Ecoles in the 5th, 01.43.26.51.34, open 7/7, which for 35-60 E serves items such as beef, risotto and chocolate tart. 

Tuesday in Le Fooding, there was a review of Salt, 6, rue Rochebrune in the 11th, 01.73.71.58.98, closed Sundays and Mondays, where for 41-66 E a la carte (but a lunch formula at 19E and menu at 23E) one can have items such as lieu noir, crab bouillion and other seafood treats. 

Wednesday, in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed and gave 3 hearts to the Japanese Teppanyaki Ginza Onodera in the 6^th and 2 hearts to the Thai Street Bangkok in the 10th.  On the other hand another Thai place Mr. K in the 2nd only merited 1 heart and both the Swedish Njutbar andthe Italian-leaning La Gazette earned his broken heart.

And in his Hache Menu, Rubin wrote up J-F Piege’s new Le Grand Restaurant, mentioned previously in the 8^th which he advises one to go to. 

The Dossier this week by Alice Bosio, Colette Monsat & Hugo de Saint Phalle covered sweets, mentioning: Gout de Brioche, Michalak, Le Cake Shop, Profiterole Cherie, Gilles Marchal, Mad'leine and also Choux d'Enfer by Ducasse-Michalak, Macarons Gourmands and Mon Éclair with Yann Couvreur and Cyril Lignac to come.

Also on Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in Paris Update reviewed the aforementioned Coretta. 

Thursday in L’Express, François-Régis Gaudry reviewed the new yam’Tcha in the 1^st.

Paris Pix: Look closely.

Paris Pix: Vendages 2015

Reviews of reviews: the Week of October 5th, 2015

Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger reviewed the Indian Desi Road in the 6th and the previously mentioned A Mere in the 10th.

Tuesday in Le Fooding, there was a review by Julie Gerbert of the Thai Street Bangkok in the 10th.

Wednesday, in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed his usual 5 restaurants, giving 3 hearts to the previously-mentioned Shang Palace in the 16th and two hearts to 3 places: Les Cocottes au Sofitel (an offshoot of Les Cocottes), 2, ave Bertie Albrecht in the 7th, 01.53.89.50.53, open 7/7 with menus at 28 and 32 (lunch weekdays) but a la carte 50 E serving items such as oeufs mimosa, tete de veau and chocolate tarts;  the NYC/USA Coffee Club in the 6th and Kraft Hot Dog in the 4th.  A single heart went to Les Frites A Maman in the 9th.

Rubin’s Hache Menu as part of a special issue focused on students, reviewed the Resto U Bullier in the 5th.  As a tag-on, Colette Monsat reviewed food items students can get for about 10 E.

The Dossier this week by Alice Bosio, Colette Monsat & Hugo de Saint Phalle covered the best hot dogs in Paris concluding that Frenchie to Go was #1 – an interview with Gregory Marchand follows.

Also on Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in Paris Update reviewed the aforementioned La Bourse et La Vie.

Thursday in L’Express, François-Régis Gaudry reviewed the previously mentioned La Bourse et La Vie.

Les Saisons in the 9th: This is simply solid food in a warm place; as always.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Les Saisons in the 9th remains/continues to be one of the warmest places to enter, no matter what the temperature outside: Keiko Lutz at the comptoir and Jonathan Lutz at the piano are both such nice folks that it's hard not to love the experience from zip-one.  The last photo shows the shot outside their etched windows of the Hotel Lamartine with a precious painting of Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine, chevalier de Pratz, cool, very cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lovely N. (my friend of the quarter) ordered the bagels and lox, except like Jack Nicolson's chicken in "Five Easy Pieces", it came without the bagel but with a tataki ("hit into pieces") of Scottish salmon; her husband and I had the sautéed cepes and parsley topped with an egg and surprise - a chunk of sautéed foie gras - now how did Chef Lutz know that was the thing I had missed all week?  He also was kind and generous in sending out a bowl of lobster bisque for Colette - Wow and Whoa!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains, Colette had the veal filet with veggies (that was so big that's also on the menu for dinner); N. had the Basque boudin noir atop mashed potatoes with espilette; and D. and I had the filet of pork lomo, thinly sliced with potatoes, (that I will also be seeing tonight).

With 1.5 bottles of wine and 3 coffees, no bottled water, good bread and butter but no dessert, our bill was 160.40 E or 80.20 E a couple.

Wonderful hosts; wonderful companions; wonderful meal!

Coretta in the 17th: A vastly better meal and upgraded opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coretta in the 17th is a place I visited in January 2014 and rated slightly above average (5.3/10) summarizing that I hoped Beatriz Gonzales of Neva Cuisine (which I loved) would up the level on this, her outpost, and hoped to hear reports of such.  And indeed I did; many, from friends, frenemies and unknown sources.  So I entered today with a positive attitude; looking out over the multi-colored trees in the MLK Park but avoiding as did several others, sitting in the blinding sunlight by their stunning windows.  The amuse of mackerel, wasabi and radish was a great start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The carte and menu were as interesting as before and we went in different directions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We started off with what I thought was a great Languedoc but Colette didn't like (we'll come back to that) and my fellow-blogger, who was having the "menu" at 29.50 E had "green meat" (actually not meat but a green emulsion of vegetables), oysters and blackberries - whoa! this was serious stuff - and I had pumpkin trumpets stuffed with smoked eel, yogurt and toasted aveine (avena sativa = oats) on top - again, a surprisingly complex dish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains: Colette had the fish of the day, at first advertised as cod, then pollack, beautifully cooked with artichokes, brocoletti, granny smith bits and zippy small green peppers; our friend the poitrine de porc (with a perfectly crisped skin), parsnips and tiny perfectly cooked potatoes; and I had the colvert (duck breast and leg) with pear slices covered with mashed red carrots that were flavored with star anise and cinnamon - just terrific and endives and sliced red carrots - all were inventive and healthy folks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At some point Colette decided we should switch to a Shiraz, which she found more to her liking.  For dessert we shared a (huge) brioche with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce,  while our friend had the vacherin with raspberries and chips of white chocolate.

Our bill with 2 bottles of wine, no bottled water, fine bread and butter and 3 coffees, was 154.50 or 103 E a couple. 

Go?  I'm revising my grade up to 6.9 into serious Laidback territory, so yes.

Les Climats in the 7th: spectacular in the terrace room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Les Climats in the 7th remains one of our favorites any time of year.  I forgot to specify the terrace room facing the garden but the staff quickly managed to make my request happen so I wasn't faced with sitting in those huge red chairs in the main room.  The terrace has the most wonderful view out to the garden and both tiles and stained glass that give the impression of sitting in Tiffany & Co.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the cheese puff amuses, I had the wild tuna with a lovely cream sauce and then one of our guests had the lamb with polenta while the other three of us had the encornets with mushrooms and cheesy risotto - all very good, as usual.  As dessert the three others had a poached pear with ice cream while I contented myself with wine.

Nice mignardises topped off the meal.

Our bill with lovely bread and butter, a bottle and glass of wine (Beaujolais Villages Old Vines), no bottled water but 4 coffees, was 98 E a couple.

Bonus points go to Les Climats for the excellent staff, especially our friendly head waiter and good-natured serving waiter who translated everything for the one of us who didn't speak French.

Au 41 Penthievre in the 8th: One that Figaro-Figaroscope-etc. missed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.1 Au 41 Penthievre, as you'd expect - at 41 rue de Penthievre in the 8th, 01.43.59.23.99, closed weekends (Metro: St Philippe or Miromesnil) is the big one that got away from the big boys and girls.  It opened a good year ago under the direction of two ex-Violin d'Ingres folks (Alexandre Lallemode in the front room and Alain Carriere in the kitchen).  As you approach it, it looks like a pretty fancy place, suitable for the 8th, with cool outside chairs, a menu that appears in the window in multiple parts (better seen on their website) and is chockablock full of ministerial types.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started off with a nice bottle of Chat. Haut-Bajac and were perusing the menu when presented with what was almost a terrarium of pleurotes offered to accompany the gigantic cotes de boeuf, two of which were displayed nearby the 'terrarium".  We passed those opportunities up and instead started with a fricassee of girolles with slices of lomo Ibèrique, a combination we really liked.

Colette then moved onto veal nuggets with mashed  potatoes and a sauce with coques that I found jarring on the veal but alone, each was OK. I had the lamb chops, cooked almost as blue as I like, with a pathetic (remember, it's October) grilled tomato "crumble" (like English B&B's serve, topped though with good fresh goat cheese.  Then we shared a deconstructed sable Breton with lemon (as in a lemon tart) and meringue dots.  It was very good.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine, no bottled water great bread and butter and 2 coffees (plus a dB level of 69.3 even when the Minister-types were shouting) was 127.00 E.

Go?  We're most grateful to Laidback for steering us here and hope they'll polish up a few things  (such  as ceasing the scraping of plates at the table and  re-thinking the juxtaposition of mains and their sauces) so we can return without worry.

Le Balcon in the 19th: Ars longa, vita brevis or Life is short. Eat dessert first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.5 Le Balcon (6th floor of the Philharmonie de Paris), 221 ave Jean Jaures in the 19th, open Tuesday-Saturday and some other times when there are performances (Tramway: Porte de Pantin) 01.40.32.30.01 is a stunningly spectacular space (think Windows on the World) in a building that comes out of the ground like a vision (think Frank Gehry's Louis Vuitton Building).  Colette and friend wanted to go hear some Beethoven (not on Mezzo, Mezzo HD or Brava) and inveigled our long-time friend, the sister of a highup Minster of Culture guy,  to snare the last 3 tickets in the Hall.  After schlepping around forever with my cane, we eventually found the elevator and walked into blinding sun on the 6th floor where the chairs were made up like Papageno's usual outfits in the Magic Flute.  The vista is stunning and on a warm day or evening one can go outside to take pictures (some were out there to smoke, alas).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We four took a long look at the carte and all decided that a full meal at 7 PM after big lunches was not in the cards.  Our wait-guy was theatrically appalled - how could we not have some of their great charcuterie? - he was persuasive, very persuasive - he should work for the start-up - but he failed to sell that Edsel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, Colette ordered todays quiche (salmon which she loves) and the other three of us had the Fish n Chips (I know, I know, never order the same things, especially away from their native habitats.)  All were disappointing -.25 points are deducted for having no vinegar for the chips.  Ach, who's the chef - research shows it's Karil Lopez who at Le Cristal de Sel fooled me once; I guess I deserved him fooling me twice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then dessert time and the ladies let loose - a chocolate craquant with nut ice cream, an aspic of agrumes and (what our wily, great salesman, but subtle waiter insisted on) a macaronade that was truly outstanding.

Any problems John?   oh yes, just as we were seated at our table by the window,  loud jazz music assaulted us.  We asked to have it turned down, our fine waiter fixed the problem.  BUT later the same noise came out of the loud speaker. 

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine, no bottled water, good bread and 2 espressos, was 139.50 or 69.75 E a couple.

Go?  For ars, for dessert, for our waiter, for the setting but for the food, nah.

Pirouette in the 1st: Tommy Gousset delivers once again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pirouette in the 1st got a rave review from Ptipois on Chowhound France that jogged us into going back today after an absence of a year Chef Tommy Gousset figured.  The carte was as inspiring as always and we settled right in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to start off with marinated mackerel with crispy slices of pleurotes (like chips) and a spectacular dill mayo that we posited had a dash of horse-radish as well.  With our usual VinSobres we were on a good start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains, Colette had the lovely sourced and cooked maigre and our friend and I had the tough to chew young red partridge with fermented sauerkraut and a standout base of smashed potatoes.

Colette finished up with a ris au lait with caramel sauce that she declared was better than ever.

Our bill with a bottle and 2 glasses of wine, 2 coffees, their usual good bread and no bottled water was 132 E for 3; or 88 E a couple.