John Talbott's Paris

Reviews of reviews: the week of January 23rd, 2017

Monday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger gave 4/5 dots to the Italian Pacchio in the 9th; and Alexis Chenu reviewed Crabe Royal, already mentioned, in the 8th.

Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Dante Nolleau reviewed Au Bistrot in Bordeaux.

Wednesday in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed new restaurants: giving 3/5 hearts to the Japanese Ennyaa in the 1st; and 2 hearts to the previously mentioned Grand Bain in the 2nd. Others reviewed were one hearts to Les Petits Rolls de Paris, 112, rue Montmartre in the 2nd, 06.59.79.54.76, closed Sundays, open 8:30-6:30 PM, serving for 9.50-18.50 E rolls with pork, cheese and bacon brioche with chocolate; and the Rotisserie d’Argent (ex-Beaujolais) besides the Tour d’Argent, 19, quai de la Tournelle in the 5th, 01.43.54,17.47, open 7/7, where for about 50 E one can dine (with tourists) on items such as escargots, veal kidneys and roast pigeon.  A busted heart went to the steakhouse Incarné, 33, place de la Bourse in the 2nd, 01.42.60.07.06, closed weekends, serving for 40-50 E items such as os a moelle, bavette gratin and red tuna

His Hache Menu was devoted to Cyril Lignac’s newest – the Bar de la Croix Rouge with the Dossier devoted to an interview with him.

Thursday, in L’Express Styles, Francois-Regis Guidry reviewed the previously mentioned Petits Princes in Suresnes.

Reviews of reviews – The week of January 16th, 2017

Monday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger gave 3 dots to Polissons, 35 rue Ramey in the 18th, closed Sundays and Mondays, 06.46.63.57.50, where for 17 and 21 E at lunch and a la carte 40 at dinner one can dine on items such as celery remoulade, pot-au-feu and a chocolate biscuit and Philippe Toinard reviewed and gave 3/5 dots to the previously mentioned Loiseau Rive Gauche in the 7th.

Wednesday in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed new restaurants; most either mentioned before or non-French:  giving 3 hearts to the Japanese Kaiseki Saint-Honore in the 1st and the previously mentioned Les Petits Princes in Suresnes. Two hearts went to the Chinese 890 in the 2nd and 1 heart only to Le grand Bol and Frou Frou.

Emmanuel Rubin also went (in his Hache Menu) to the previously mentioned Danish Copenhague in the 8th.

Figaroscope’s Dossier by Alice Bosio , Colette Monsat and Hugo de Saint-Phalle concerned places to have one great dish:
Chez Rainettes -  Frogs' legs
Chez Passerini - Tripes
Chez Sardegna a Tavola - Horsemeat
La Cevicheria - Raw fish
Au Baratin - Ris de Veau
Au Villaret - Gibier
Chez Wild & the Moon - Vegan

, and Colette Monsat listed all the new places that serve dishes to be shared by two: Elmer, Thioumieux, Passerini, Mamma Primi, Antoine, Hugo Desnoyer, Gallina & Bouillon.

Wednesday as well, Heidi Ellision in Paris Update went to the previously mentioned Montée.

Thursday, in L’Express Styles, Mina Soundiram reviewed Julien Deboué  (A Noste)’s new corn-centered place, Corn-r, 21 rue des Pyrenees in the 1st, 07.50.15.93.17, closed weekends where for 13 and 16 E at lunch one can have “maisotto”, salad and corn desserts and Francois-Regis Guidry reviewed the previously mentioned 6 Paul Bert in the 11th.

Reviews of reviews – The week of January 9th, 2017

Monday, in A Nous Paris, Alexis Chenu reviewed without rating the previously mentioned Bonhomie in the 10th and Philippe Toinard reviewed and gave 3/5 dots to Les Petits Princes, 26, rue du Val d’Or in Suresnes, 01.41.47.87.61 closed Saturday lunch, Sunday and Monday nights where for 36 a la carte or 22 and 29 E at lunch one has items such as tete de veau, merlu and chocolate mousse.

 

Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Matthieu Jauniau-Dallier reviewed the British chef’d Le Grand Bain, 14 rue Denoyer in the 20th, 09.83.02.72.02, closed Tuesday and Wednesdays serving scallops, beef Wellington and floating island for 16-35 E.

 

Wednesday in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed his usual 5 new restaurants; giving 2 hearts to three: the previously mentioned Odette in the 1st, the previously mentioned Vantre in the 11th; and L'Huitrade du Chiberta, 3, rue Arsene-Houssaye in the 8th, 01.53.53.42.00, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, costing 68 E a la carte and 49 E for the lunch menu featuring a tartine, oysters and a brioche.  Garnering one heart was the Café Marlette in the 9th and getting a broken heart – Mio Posto in the 11th.

 

Emmanuel Rubin also went (in his Hache Menu) to the crab-focused Crabe Royal, 19, place de la Madeleine in the 8th, 01.81.69.96.70, closed Sundays, where for 45-60 E one gets every sort of preparation; from caramelized to decorticated.

 

Figaroscope’s Dossier by Alice Bosio, Colette Monsat and Hugo de Saint-Phalle listed all the new places around Les Halles: Chez La Veielle, Champeaux, AG Les Halles, The Fish Club, IppudoAu Pied de Cochon, Clover Grill and also Odette, Maison Kaiseki St-Honore & Les Artizans.

 

Wednesday as well, Heidi Ellision in Paris Update went back to Chatomat and liked it as before.

 

Thursday, in L’Express Styles, Francois-Regis Guidry reviewed Accents, 24, rue Feydeau in the 2nd, 01.40.39.92.88, closed weekends with menus at 28, 37 and 48 (lunch) and 68 E (dinner), serving items such as mushroom raviolis and a complicated deboned pork along with desserts prepared by a Japanese pastry chef.

Les Tablettes de Jean-Louis Nomicos in the 16th: A perfect pairing with the Chtchoukine at Louis Vuitton - two flawless shows.

Les Tablettes de Jean-Louis Nomicos is one of those "old reliables" that never lets one down, has a fabulous price-quality ratio, and has the service to match.  Colette and I had been to the Chtchoukine Exhibition at the Louis Vuitton and it was a quick Uber over to meet our friend who works nearby.

The chef started us off with superb bread rolls, EVOO and mall bowls of pumpkin soup; then Colette had a very generous portion of scallops with salad while the other two of us enjoyed the lobster raviolis.

For mains we had the cod, veal and confited lamb: all good but dark as you see, I being too lazy to Photoshop them brighter.

The desserts were equally good: a sort-of floating island, chocolate with ice cream and an assortment of mignardises.

Our bill with a bottle of wine, no bottled water but three coffees, was 172 E or 114.66 E a couple.

Alliance in the 5th: How a simple dish turned into a feast.

Alliance in the 5th is one of those places whose magical cooking draws you back for reasons you can't put your finger on; it's simple, complex, multilayered and elegant.  Neither Colette nor I were seeking a big meal so we ordered one dish each and a light dessert- yah sure.

Our light dishes were a piece of fish from the waters around one of our favorite places - Noirmoutier - and sweetbreads in butter and the dessert a vanilla mousse.  But around them were a flurry of vegetables, soups, desserts and chocolates that dazzled the palate.

Our bill for this feast with one bottle of wine, no bottled water, but 2 espressos was 136 E.

And as a treat I'll leave you with this bathroom art:

Le Petit Varenne in the 7th: Life is short, eat dessert first.

Le Petit Varenne has been open for a short time and it already has attracted a great following from the staff in the ministries that surround it.

I was in the mood for some sausage and these razor-thin cuts accompanied by tiny picked veggies were just the thing; meanwhile our guest had the raviolis with coques and razor clams.  For mains, Colette had a delicious merlu with "venerable" black rice while our friend and I both had the "pore" of beef with red onion.  For dessert we all shared the chocolate three ways - called simply Le Chocolat - on the menu - delicious.

With a bottle of wine, no bottled water and 3 espressos, our bill was 145 E or 92.66 E a couple.

Tomy & Co.: Even without Tomy present, things keep rolling.

Tomy & Co is safely settled into the Rue Surcouf and my friends and Colette started off with tiny coques and bulots and chopped vegetables and a dish of gnocchis with black truffles, chestnuts and old comte.  Both dishes received high marks!

At this point we all expected our main courses to roll out but Tomy had a surprise, his house special that day of merlu with clementines and celery rabe - very nice.  Then our friends had the duck filets and we had the scallops; all of which were quite good.

For desserts we had the Ossau-Iraty and Tomy's espuma with mango and lime  his excellent signature dish we often enjoyed at Pirouette.

Our bill, with two bottles of wine, one bottle of water and three coffees was 126.25 E a couple.

L'Arcane in the 18th: dish after dish: each better than the last.

L'Arcane in the 18th is another place I loved that not only Colette but one of my readers picked out as a place worth going back to.  After settling that we had no allergies or violent dislikes (abats on our guests' part) the dishes rolled out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

- a langoustine and amuse bouche
- bar and baby coques
- varieties of lamb
- chocolate mousse
- a pre-dessert and
- desserts

 

Our bill for this 3 course turned into 6 course meal, with a bottle and a glass of wine, no bottled water and 3 coffees, was 209 E or 104.50 E a couple.

Reviews of reviews: the week of January 2nd, 2017

Monday in A Nous Paris Jerome Berger awarded the previously mentioned Chez la Vieille in the First 4/5 dots and Philippe Toinard gave 3/5 to the Mediterranean Avli in the 10th.

Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Deana Saukam reviewed le Grand Bol in the 11th.

Wednesday, in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed and rated 5 new restaurants, giving three 2 hearts to: the "Amerique du terroir" Melt in the 11th; the Brit Blindpig Pub in the 10th and Le Basilic, 2, rue Casimir-Perrier in the 7th, 01.44.18.94.64, open 7/7 where for about 50 E one can dine on an bio egg, steak au poivre and cod.  Garnering one heart only were the neo-gasthaus Saucette in the 3rd and the pasta-focused Sfizio in the 2nd.

His Hache Menu returned to the well-known but recently purchased LAmbassade d'Auverge in the 3rd.

The test/Dossier by Alice Bosio and Colette Monsat this week was for the best chocolate cookie in Paris.  Tops was Mokonuts.

Sunday, in the jdd, Aurelie Chaigneau covered three places: the Italian Livio in Neuilly (7/10); the well-known Robe et le Palais (6/10) in the 1st; and the previously mentioned Encore in the 9th (6/10).

 

Rainettes: Quick - Frogs' legs are about to disapear off the menus.

Rainettes in the 4th is a frog place, OK?  Let's get that out of the way; if you don't like frogs and/or frogs' legs stop reading now.  Even if you like them, stop reading now and go because given the crazy trends in Paris dining, they could be gone tomorrow.

So one needs a 1st before the main event - which is frogs' legs, remember? - our friend up the road chose the snails - vary Franch non? - and Colette and I had the onion soup - that did not sweep me back to 1953 but then I was anticipating.....

 

The frogs' legs and yes, they were every bit as good as last time here a month ago or in 1953 down at the old Halles.  My dining partners told me that the gratin of potatoes and butternut squash were equally as good.

Colette had a superb apple tart for dessert and my crème renversee, remember it from Chapter 24 in French in Action?, was up to Capretz standards.

Our bill, with no bottled water but two bottles of wine and two coffees, was 90 E a couple.

Oh yah, come hear for frogs' legs - right?