John Talbott's Paris

Reviews of reviews – The week of October 10th, 2016

Monday, in A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinard reviewed and gave 3/5 dots to Chouette, 87, rue des Pyrenees in the 20th, 09.86.44.93.58, closed Sundays and Mondays where for 28 & 32 a la carte or 15 and 18 E at lunch, one dines on items such as pea gazpacho, a bavette with pepper sauce and a lemon meringue tart.  They also mention Bien Elevé, 47, Rue Richer in the 9th which celebrates meats of quality beginning at 17 E and the Italian Osteria Ferrara in the 11th..

Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Matthieu Jauniau-Dallier reviewed Quinsou, 33, rue de l’abbé Gregoire in the 6th, 01.42.22.66.09, closed Sundays and Mondays, where for 36-50 E or a 35 E menu at lunch, one dines on items such as paigre de line, nettle soup or figs with honey.

Wednesday, in Figaroscope, Alice Bosio listed the best places to go for fondues:
La Fruitiere
Le Chalet Savoyard
Les Fondus de la Raclette
Le Chalet de Neuilly
Pain Vin Fromage
Heureux Comme Alexandre St Michel
Le Chalet d’Avron

And she, Colette Monsat and Hugo de Saint Phalle listed places to go for a single dish each day of the week:

Monday Cassoulet at Chez Allard

Tuesday Coq au Vin at Coq Rico

Wednesday Encornets a la Setoise at the Brasserie Barbes

Thursday Blanquette de Veau at Champeaux

Friday Brandade de Morue at Lazare

Saturday Roast Chicken at Flottes

Sunday Sunday Roast at Floyd’s

Emmanuel Rubin reviewed his usual 5 new restaurants; awarding 3 hearts to the “New York Oyster Bar-esque Istr, 41, rue Notre Dame de Nazareth (yes, the old Jeune Rue), 01.43.56.81.25, closed Saturday at lunch, Sundays and Mondays, where for 23 at lunch or 40+ E at dinner one fines on such items as a cassolette of curried shellfish, magret de canard and crepes Suzette.  He then awarded 2 hearts each to Anouk, 34, rue Jean-Mermoz in the 8th, 01.49.52.99.71, open 7/7, costing one 30 E for 2 plates without liquids; things like smoked ham and rabbit pappardelle;  the above mentioned Bien Elevé in the 9th 01.45.81.44.35 closed Sundays and Mondays; the Thai, Chef Thai in the 3rd; and the burger place Ellis Gourmet Burger in the 12th.

For his Hache Menu he went to the frog-oriented Rainettes in the 4th, 09.86.59.63.85, closed Mondays, open Tues-Thurs for dinner and Fri, Sat & Sun for lunch and dinner.

Wednesday as well, Heidi Ellision in Paris Update enthusiastically reviewed Cézembre which I’ve mention before.

Thursday, in L'Express Styles, Francois-Regis Gaudry reviewed the L’Arcane, 19 rue Lamarck in the 18th, 01.46.06.86.00, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, where the chef (ex-Crissier) Laurent Manin and pastry chef (Elise Guiroy) provide dishes such as vitello tonnato, risotto with ecrevisses and a nut dessert for 29 at lunch and 39-65 E at dinner depending on the number of dishes one has; and Charles Patin O'Coohoon reviewed the previously mentioned Sequana in the 1st.

Paris Pix: Huh?

Paris Pix: Confusion Food?

Reviews of reviews – The week of October 3rd, 2016

Monday, in A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinard reviewed and gave 3/5 dots to L’Archeste, 79, rue de la Tour in the 16th, 01.40.71.69.68, closed Saturday lunch, Sundays and Mondays, serves items such as a tartare of veal, barbue and figs with mascarpone for 39 E at lunch (56 and 96 E at dinner) .

Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Gilles Dupuis reviewed the Japanese Bal Peco Peco, in the 18th.

Wednesday, in Figaroscope, Alice Bosio, Colette Monsat and Hugo de Saint Phalle graded many places for their entrecote and deemed the best to be Hugo Desnoyer’s, with Terroir Parisien 2nd.

Emmanuel Rubin reviewed his usual 5 new restaurants; awarding 3 hearts to the previously mentioned Tomy & Co. in the 7th.  Then he gave 2 hearts to the previously mentioned soba-oriented Abri Soba in the 9th; the Thai place Kapunka Panoramas in the 2nd; and the Yankee Fitzgerald in the 7th.  Garnering a broken heart was another Yankee place - Bedford in the 10th.

For his Hache Menu he went to the piggy-oriented Au Cochon Gaulois, 185, rue Marcadet in the 18th, 09.80.92.35.07, where the lunch menu is 17 E but a la carte is 40-50 E for items such as pigs’ feet, andouillette and baba au rhum.

Botanique in the 11th: Only my second time here but the food, welcome and total experience were the best.

Botanique Restaurant in the 11th is a place I not only visited in January but indicated I wanted to go back to but somehow didn't get around to until our good friends from over the Mont suggested it.  When I entered and installed myself, one of the wait-guys asked if I was French, flattered I said "No, American;" "Ah," he said "I'm Canadian" and after we'd established our Upper and Lower Canada familial ties and Colette had ascertained he was here originally to perfect his wine knowledge, we got down to business. 

At about this point, as I ordered the wine, another wait-guy indicated he'd remembered me from last time and where I'd sat and what wine I'd ordered - what an incredible memory!  Anyway, the chef one, Sugio Yamaguchi, set us up with an amuse of gougères with a cream of camembert - simply divine.

So anyway, we ordered and ate and shared three starters: a bulot salad, an eggplant salad and a fricassee of mushrooms; all were good but the mushrooms were the first among first.

Then we plunged into the entrecote, 7-hour lamb, raie and dos de cerf with cabbage stuffed with tete de veau and a pepper sauce; as good as the other three dishes were, the venison was worth the extra charge (10 E more than the other mains) 

If it's possible to pile superlatives on superlatives I do believe the four desserts topped off the whole meal beautifully; with a fine tart of chocolate, citrus jelly with verbena, riz au lait and fresh figs on top of a panna cotta - there were really Wow! items.

Our bill, with a bottle of Badoit, 1.5 bottles of wine and three coffees, not to mention superb bread, was 304 E for 4 or 152 E a couple.  (But remember, this was a Saturday and the "menu" prices are off; in comparison, during the week, my last bill was under 100 E for 2).

Louis in the 9th: Stephane Pitre scores again and again and again......

Louis in the 9th is one of those places where the chef and staff never disappoint even with their no-choice "menus."  Today, our friends from across town and we all ordered the "Louis en 3 temps" meal for 32 E (psst: it was more like 9 times but that counts one dish he threw in).

So let me roll them out as they came:
- 3 amuses, one peppery/spicy, one mild and a teeny tiny brioche piece with EVOO
- a "tempura" ball with a terrific sauce
- raviolis of duck and shrimp and fennel slices (whoops no photo, so you get 2 of....)
- a piece of lieu jaune (pollack) with parsnip and warm chestnuts
- an arlette (caramelized cinnamon-flavored mini-palmier) with lemon cream and riz au lait
- 2 mignardises

Our bill for such a tremendously good meal, with two bottles of wine, no bottled water, great bread and 3 coffees was 198 E for 4, thus 99 E a couple.

Magritte at the Pompidou: It's not necessarily new but it's such a complete show.

The Magritte exhibition at the Pompidou will not have any surprises for anyone who has not been asleep for the past 80 years but it's well worth revisiting his startling juxtapositions and drolleries.  And afterwards, see the contemporary street art nearby, much like my great grand-daughter V. does.

 

Le MaZenay in the 3rd: First grouse of the game season and nobody was grousing, that's for sure.

 

So I found Le MaZenay in the 3rd thoroughly delightful a few weeks ago and was eager to return with Colette - but I didn't expect to see grouse on the menu, albeit with a 18 E supplement (PS lieve a la royale comes in next week).

But let's start with our first - a sable with a creamy cheese and a half dozen escargots on top with a salad all around - I ordered one but shared with Colette and our friend JJ of the 15th.  All agreed it was inventive and terribly good.

Colette read that the chicken was prepared as in Hanoi, which we're leaving for in 69 days, and where the chef worked, so she was off and running with what was essentially a pot-au-feu with coriander/cilantro and a ton of vegetables; and JJ and I both had the grouse which was perfectly under-cooked with a squash puree - oh Boy oh Boy!  This may have been my first grouse/game of the Fall, but it's not my last.

To end this fabulous meal we shared figs with a cookie and sabayon and a gratin of Mirabelles, the latter being the most outstanding dish.

Our bill, with wonderful bread, two bottles of Cahors, no bottled water but 3 coffees, was 178.80 E for 3 or 119.20 E a couple.

Any advice John?  Yes, book now, the place has been chock-a-block both my times.

Leonardo in France: A wonderful exhibition in the dazzkling Italian Embassy.

I knew Leonardo had a home on the Loire where are housed a large number of his machines and mechanical realizations but not what painting he did while in France.  This show has only a few Leonardos but they are housed in the Italian Embassy, the Hôtel de Boisgelin, a.k.a. Hôtel de La Rochefoucauld-Doudeauville at 47, rue de Varenne in the 7th, which is a stunning hôtel particulier with a lovely garden out back.  The show is on until November 20th and admission is free - 11-5.

Loiseau Rive Gauche (ex-Tante Marguerite) in the 7th: A lot of really good food at reasonable prices (if....)

Loiseau Rive Gauche in the 7th used to be Tante Marguerite and Colette and I had warned our former downstairs' neighbor in Paris that the lunch "menu" of 3 courses was 39 E but as she often orders but one course, she should blast away at 58-78 E and we'd understand.  Nope, she had sticker shock so all three of us went with the "menu" - (a good decision).

First we had (as with last time) 2 amuses: the first of smoked haddock in a Japanese-type wafer with a dollop of something like crème fraiche and the second tiny strips of marinated beets, they too served with a creamy white something.  The first course which fell right into this groove, was/were warm ecrevisses on top of another beet preparation, these warm, little columns like Daniel Buren did at the Palais Royale, with a drizzled watercress sauce.

Our main courses were beautiful pieces of duck of Challans, each cooked Rose, with a wonderful puree of parsnips together with a few very small whole parsnips - delicious!

For dessert, we had fresh figs with an ice; followed by chocolate truffle balls with crushed walnuts and sublime madeleines cooked with an  dollop of chocolate inside - and they were served warm.

Our bill, with a bottle and 3 glasses of wine (too long a story to write here), terrific house made bread, no bottled water but 3 coffees was 225 E or 150 E a couple.

Oh yah, why did I write "if...?"  The prices are reasonable if you 1. eat at lunch, 2. have the "menu", and 3. order reasonably priced wines.