John Talbott's Paris

Le Laborde in the 8th: A bar de Viandes that delivers the meat.

6.9 Le Laborde: Bar a Viandes, 44, rue de Laborde in the 8th, 01.53.04.08.92, closed weekends (Metro: Miromesnil) has been open since October but I only caught up with it today.  It doesn't have a large staff but they seem to be really efficient in serving the neighborhood's many office workers what they want.

I started off with three thick slices of gravlax that had just the right amount of dill and cream; then from among the cuts of beef from France, Argentina and Australia, etc., I chose the 180 onglet from Uruguay with a nice béarnaise sauce but frites that were fried in a weird-tasting oil; finishing up with a café gourmand that had two creams, a great one of pistachio and an average one with caramel sauce.

 

With 50 cl of Cahors, nice toast for the gravlax and house tap water, my bill was 59 E, which would be 110 E per couple.  dB's were 71.0.

Go? If in the area with a hankering for beef, yes.

Le Bistro Melrose in the 17th: A French oasis is a dessert of Tourism.

 

 

6.0 Le Bistro Melrose, 5, place de Clichy in the 17th (although the check says the 9th), 01.42.93.61.34, open 7/7 for lunch but closed Sunday nights (Metro: Clichy), is a place I've passed time after time on the bus going elsewhere and finally decided to try it.  It looks like every other red-tinged place on the place de Clichy, but inside is 99% French locals of my age, save for two Brits.

They have an extensive carte with several formulas and a handful of daily specials.  I went for the classics: snails in butter, bar cooked on the plancha with a butter and cream sauce and crepes Suzette.  All were what you'd expect, and my guess is that's what my neighbors eating here expected as well; no fooling around with what works.

My bill with tap water, two glasses of wine and one coffee, was 48 E.

Go?  It's not a destination but for a Sunday lunch with Mom and Pop, it'll do fine.

Les Parigots in the 10th; When the Resistants took my reservation and didn't show up I was crazed, but....

Prepost: I had reserved several days ago at Les Resistants in the 10th and my guest checked that they were open on Saturday, but there was no sign of life at 12h30 when he and I showed up.  No shutters up, no note saying "death in the family" or "Electricity off" or "Oven exploded", nothing.  I had no back-up, so I whipped out my iPhone, and saw there was a place I'd heard of (rated 5 hearts in Figaro) called Les Parigots, just up the street.  Parigots, yes that rang another bell, "Parisians" it rang to me, Parisians.  Ok.  Take the plunge.

7.5 Les Parigots, 5 rue Chateau d'Eau in the 10th, 01.42.00.22.26 (Metro: Republique), open 7/7, looks like a thousand other red-themed Paris bistros/brasseries that one passes by each day without noting.  But this one is different, you'll see.  First, the electricity kept failing then coming back, then failing again.  Normally if this happened 6 times, I'd getoutader, but remember, this was sort of Plan B, I had no Plan C.  So we sat and they flicked the breaker box, and life illuminated, went on.

 

We looked at the menu and decided easily on what we wanted; first, both of us had the encornets with parsley which were superb, really good, with a dense brown bread from the quarter than was way better than average.  Then my friend had the beef hache, really best of beef, cut by hand, with an egg on top to mix in with the Worchester, Tabasco and other condiments.  I had an equally great jarre de porc with fries, actually both of us had fries which were not much of a much.

Our bill, when it came after all the electricity outages, my electric-shocks of back pain, and 2 wines and coffees, was 105 E.

Go again?  Well, if caught short near Republique this is the place; plus look at their card - just like a Metro ticket - pretty cool eh?

Chez Jean in the 9th: Old venue, new owner and chef - Result; A superb meal.

8.0 Chez Jean aka Jean, 8, rue Saint-Lazare in the 9th, 01.48.78.62.73, (Metro: ND. de Lorette) closed weekends is that same old place you and I used to go to 10, 15 or how ever many years it was before its celebrated chef took off for the Ville D'Avray.  Well, it's been taken over by a team that has much experience at Taillevent, etc., Delphine and Frédéric Jean Guidoni and Mickael Poyault have made this old place really sing again.

The amuse came and went and my dining partners' chorizo and cream came and went easily as well; but my quail was out of the solar system - it was the quail of one's dreams, who cares what came with it.

I don't mean to brag, Lord knows we've enough of that out of Washington, but my partners' haddock with rutabaga and our shared triple-dessert were great but my rabbit was once more beyond any I've had in eons; moist, red and crispy and the kale and broccoli were a perfect side.

Our bill, with a bottle of San Pellegrino, 2 coffees and a bottle of Burgundy amounted to 105.32E a couple.

Go Back?  It's on Colette's list.

Sourire in the 13th: Very good food but no shooting stars.

6.5 Sourire, 15, rue de la Sante in the 13th, 01.47.07.07.45, closed Sunday and Mondays (RER: Port Royal) got a 3-heart rating from Figaroscope this week and that caused me to dash there as soon as possible.

They started us off with two lovely amuses - a small piece of rare lamb and a tiny tempered carrot.  Then one of us went with the rare veal and the other two had a nice chunk of bar de ligne, nicely offset by a Meyer lemon sauce.  For desserts we all has a chocolate round topped with ice cream.  Everything was proper, correct and nicely prepared, but there were no shooting stars.

 

Our bill, with a bottle of Chinon, fair to middling bread and 3 coffees was 85.32 E a couple.  dB's = 79.8

Go back?   I'm not really in a hurry.

Tous in the 9th: John, three great meals in a row - a trifecta?

8.1 Tous in the 9th is a gem, hardly hidden since the place was packed today. It's modern, with inventive cooking and a superb staff who gave a stake in its success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A friend and I went and were struck by the menu, 14 dishes and 4 desserts, every item had two of, thus two  chorizo dishes, two beef ones, etc. There are also two plats du jour.

My friend went for the daily ones, starting with razor clams, of which I've grown tired but he loved.

Then he had the sausage on creamy polenta while I had the paleron of beef. I don't know what they put in it but the onions and other stuff was wonderfully spicy and tasty as was the beef.

I convinced him to split a dessert (from the chariot) and instead of one, our genial host offered a taste of all four a Breton sable, chocolate mousse and a baba with rum.

With a fine bottle and glass of Bordeaux, ok bread and two coffees our bill came to 93€.

Go back? Geez, why not?

Accents (table bourse) in the 2nd: Pretty close to the perfect "total experience.'

Preface: My friend R. the blogger insists we judge restaurants on not just the food but the welcome, décor, place setting, presentation, service, etc.

8.1 Accents, 24, rue Feydeau in the 2nd, 01.40.39.92.88, closed weekends (Metro: Bourse) has been open just 2 months and it's packed to the gills.  Its carte is 3-3-2 so you have plenty of choices.

The amuse bouche was an ethereal combination of things I welcomed with my palate which I have no recollection of their contents (this after our charming waitguy, who spent 2 years in Nottingham, overhearing us talking, explained it all in Englisgh and French).  Then my friend of longstanding here had a starter of celery rave, beaufort, ginger and pear and I had a terrine of gibiers with pickles and condiments.  Then I fell asleep at the camera, forgetting to snap a pix of the pink canette with a carrot puree, cumin, ginger and salsifis.  And I also missed the apple in apple mousse with cardamom and quince.  Then the chef and out waiter sprung a surprise - two slices of heavenly sponge-cake made by the Japanese pastry chef that were over the top.  I must note also that the bread was of the very best I've had.

 

It was Valentine's day so what better than a Saint-Amour which with one 2-course and one 3-course menu and 2 coffees, came to 104 E. dB level was 86 which was well dampened by some magic of interior design.

Part of the "total experience" was their logo which is very cool.

Go back?  In a second.

L'Escudella in the 7th: The best meal of 2017 (but we have 320 days of eating left).

Backstory:  A month or so ago two of my loyal followers wrote to note to me that they had just had a superb meal at L'Escudella and I should go.  I was taken aback - how could I have missed it.  Quickly I researched it; it opened a year plus ago, I reread the Figaro review and recalled that it sounded from the name and items offered to be Spanish (tapas, Catalan, etc.) and wrote it off.  But I went when they reassured me that it was French, albeit influenced by border-cuisine.

8.0 L'Escudella, 41, ave de Segur in the 7th, 09.82.28.70.70 (Metro: Segur or 28 bus), closed weekends.

I entered way early, (nowadays I can't tell if I'll be early or late) and perused the wine list, knowing that one of my guests always has white wine, his husband red, and immediately saw "Pourquoi Pas" - how can you not order that - and it was quite good).

After we'd ordered, they set down three rolls of crab rolled in seaweed with chop-sticks - heavenly!

They do have tapas in addition to entrees, and one us craved the Waguy beef chorizo - ever heard of such a thing? - well it itself wasn't spicy but with some hot green peppers it was terrific; my other friend had sliced beets with crumbled hard egg on top which normally I'd avoid as blah, but this was super yummy.

One of us had the poitrine de porc which usually I find too fatty but this was "best of show" and my other friend and I had the special of the day - pintade that was simply scrumptious and came with mashed potatoes which normally I find take'm or leave'm - these were special.

All of us were satiated at this point but agreed to shared a Paris-Carcassonne which was one of the best takes on Paris-Brest I've ever had.

With another bottle of wine and three coffees our bill was142.50 E or 95 E a couple.  dB's = 82.2

Go? Reserve now, the place is Spring-size tiny.

 

Reviews of reviews – The week of February 6th, 2017

 Monday, in A Nous Paris, the issue was devoted to Valentine’s Day with a feature story on African restaurants. 

Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Matthieu Jaunian-Pellier reviewed the Italian restaurant Li Cuoco Galante. 

Wednesday in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed 5 new restaurants: giving 3 hearts to the previously mentioned Aux Plumes in the 14^th; and two hearts to Brutos, a South American place in the 11^th; and the French Taurus, 6 place du Marechal-Juin in the 17^th, 01.45.74.71.42 closed Sunday at dinner, where for 25 and 30 at lunch or 45 E at dinner one eats items such as snails, entrecote and profiteroles. One heart only went to B. Bell in the 3^rd and John Circus in the 10^th. 

His Hache Menu was on the restaurant Il Cottage, a pizza and fondue place. 

Figaroscope’s Dossier was on all the cafes/tea salons frequented by Parisians, including:

The Armani Caffe

Nanashi

Rose Bakery

Manufacture Michel Cluizel

Le Salon du Pantheon

Biglove Caffe

Miss Marple

Bonhomie

Bambou

Servan 

In addition the team covered several Meat (L’Avant-Comptoir du Marche, Bien Eleve, La Table de Marie-Jeanne, Melt and Flesh) and Fish ones (Istr, Belle Maison, Homies del Mar, Mersea and also Haddock & Co.) 

Heidi Ellison in Paris Update went to the previously mentioned Etoile du Nord in the 10^th. 

Thursday, in L’Express Styles, Charles Patin O’Coohoon reviewed the well-known Simone in the 13^th, that has a new chef, ex-Savoy who for 18-22 at lunch or 40 E at dinner, serves items such as encornets, bar de ligne and pigeon; other restaurants covered were the previously mentioned Pacchio in the 9^th and the Korean Jium in the 15^th. 

Sunday, in the jdd, Aurelie Chaigneau reviewed the previously mentioned Grade-Manger (7/10; the Portugese Tasca (6.5) and Caillebotte (8/10).

Taurus in the 17th: A big step up from the Buffalo Grill

 

5.2 Taurus, 6 place du Marechal-Juin in the 17th, (Metro: Pereire), 0145.74.71.42, closed Sunday nights, was a place I chose at the last minute instead of Melt, an American BBQ place I decided I could do just as well in the US. It's very plush inside and when I entered I was alone except for two young Americans having coffee.

The beignets of escargot sounded interesting as a starter but I did not warm to the black garlic sauce that came with it despite really nice toasts.  Then rather than go with the plentiful beef, I chose the blanquette de veau which was disappointing - too dry, not enough flavor and accompanied by onions and mushrooms that couldn't bring the dish to life.

My bill with two glasses of Saumur Champigny and a very decent roll and Illy coffee, was 42.70E.

Go?  I think not; it's better than the Buffalo Grill that used to be here, but not by that much.

Mid meal a group of soldiers came by and for some reason I felt reassured they were up this far North.