John Talbott's Paris

Milo T in the 20th; sometimes the feng shui doesn't persist.

5.5 Milo T, 6, rue Victor Letalle in the 20th (which inherited the space of the much beloved Chatomat) 01.47.97.25.77, closed Sundays and Mondays, (Metro: Menilmontant) has indications outside that it's got vegetarian inclinations and fresh produce and I cannot disagree.  I ate there with two friends who live not too far away who were almost as eager as I was to see if the Chatomat magic had rubbed off on the new team.  And the tomato gazpacho we had as an amuse certainly held great promise.

But the firsts we had, a spinach soup and a very dry pate perigordine were truly only so-so albeit complemented by nice bread.

Then we went different ways, one having the salmon, another a magret and I trying the raviolis of duck.  All three were ok, but just not much to write home about.

We shared a marquise of chocolate that was outstanding.

Our bill, with no bottled water, a bottle and a half if wine and three coffees was 128.50 € or 85.66€ a couple.  no dB's since we were the only customers and I asked for the music to be turned down.

Go back?  If around the corner, if only to see how it evolves, but not when it's this far away for me.

Le Petit Champerret in the 17th: after almost a decade, Gerard Castellani still reigns supreme over this new/old bistro.

5.5 Le Petit Champerret, 30, rue Vernier in the 17th, 01.43.80.01.39, closed weekends (Metro: Porte de Champerret) is a bistro I've been enjoying since Gerard Castellani took over almost 10 years ago.  My blogging co-diner made a reservation in her Mother's maiden name, but M. Castellani within minutes, came over and said the equivalent of "you used to write for that American guidebook, eh, I cannot recall the name......". I tried to help him out.  "Maybe it was Time Out?"

In any case, I was way early but he brought over a wonderful glass of Pouilly Fume and a platter of spicy, varied Corsican charcuteries (offered).  He looked over to me as I sipped, ate and read the glowing review in yesterday's A Nous Paris, and said "good, eh?"  "Corsican wild boar," ventured I?  He nodded.

My dining partner showed up and we got down to serious business.  After polishing off the charcuterie plate we were offered an intriguing amuse combo of cooked beef, pickle and celery/parsnip purée that I broke the French rule about, scooping the remainder up with my middle finger.  To begin she ordered a first of grilled encornet with beef and lots of vegetables.

Then as mains, she chose the Spanish Lomo which I found tasty but dry and I had the braised sweetbreads, as I like them, crisp on the outside, moist in the inside - both with an incredible array of vegetables, puréed, parcooked and fully cooked, depending.

We decided to share the finale, a cedrat (citron) tart.

Our bill, with a bottle and 2 glasses of wine and no bottled water but two coffees, was 127 €.  dB's = 79.0

Go?  My friend who lives it the 10th, found it a schlep, but if you're in the 17th you could do worse.

Le 122 in the 7th : there really is Feng shui; at least here.

7.0 Le 122, 122 rue de Grenelle in the 7th, 01.45.56.07.42, (Metro: Rue de Bac), closed weekends, was a place Colette and I frequented many times because of the superb management, staff and food, despite changes in chefs over the years.  I'd read about its new ownership and chef somewhere and wanted to see if the Feng shui held it up.  Short answer, Yes.

I entered and it looked pretty much the same except for the disappearance of the silver bead curtain on the interior of the central window.  They started us off with an amuse of a gaspacho-type soup of yellow tomatoes with a punch from some vinegar and maybe hot sauce.  "Terrific," my friend said. Only thing missing - a thin, small piece of crisp toast between sips.

Then he had the perfect egg, which I think I've run out of patience for this Spring, with a ton of veggies and I had a lovely piece of warm rouget on a separate but equal, sorry, spread of cool vegetables in a cool sauce with a lovely crisp burnt orange slice.

Then we both had the paleron of beef with a sauce that looked like squash.  Now the beef was fine, but I do prefer it in a dark black wine sauce.  The mashed/smashed potatoes with spicy chopped scallion rings was perfection itself.

We ended up by sharing a baba and were offered two rums, whatdye do?, I'm used to the St James and it worked out very well.

Our bill, with a bottle of Bordeaux, no bottled water but one coffee, comes to 107.50€ after a very nice 20% reduction on meal items due to my reserving via La Fourchette.  DB's never tested due to the discrete voices of our ministerial neighbors.

Go?  Absolutely.  Feng shui rules.

Reviews of reviews – The week of May 22, 2017

Monday-Tuesday in A Nous Paris, the restaurant page was devoted to gifts for Mothers’ Day.

In Le Fooding, Goulven Le Pollès reviewed the American Top Chef’s Andrew D’Ambrosi place in Savennières.

Wednesday, in Figaroscope, the gastro-team briefly reviewed all the places with terraces, almost all of “ethnic” food which my readership is not looking for.

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

Francois-Regis Gaudry in L’Express Styles reviewed the aforementioned Alan Geaam and Bel Ordinaire.

Sunday, in the jdd, Aurelie Chaigneau wrote up her usual 3 places: the third location for Les Pinces Pigalle, 28, rue de Douai in the 9th, 09.86.26.86.56,  no reservations for less than 6 persons, closed Sunday nights and Monday lunch, weekly lunch at 18 E, other dishes 25 E (7/10); La Scene, 33 avenue George-V in the Prince des Galles, in the 8th, 01.53.23.78.50, open everyday except brunch on Sundays and no dinner, lunch menus at 50 and 65 E, dinner 165 and 195 E for sweetbreads and fraises des bois (9); and Bagnard, 7, rue Saint-Augustin in the 2nd, closed Sundays, serving the Nicois specialty bagnrds with everything from burrata to speck, each costing from 8-11 E (7).

 

Les Oreilles et la Queue in the 7th: great beef, grand prices, gracious service.

So there's a pre-story here.  Two great friends from Manhattan, who know every place on the planet, wrote that it would be hot today so I should pick an air-conditioned place instead of my desire to sit by the Seine at Maison Maison so I reserved at the Swann on Daumesnil and la Fourchette immediately confirmed it.  Ah, ah, ah, they quickly reversed themselves (it is the 4 day Ascension weekend after all) and suggested several highly rated places at a huge discount, the implication being, "sorry we screwed you, we'll make it up."  I have never in my life done this before, but I accepted their apologies and advice and discounts and we three showed up at

6.3 Les Oreilles et La Queue, 81, avenue Bosquet in the 7th, 09.82.99.01.27, open 7/7, (Metro : Ecole Militaire) open for 2 months which boldly states what you're going to get here is meat, meat, meat.  Luckily when my pals showed up, they said, essentially, we've had enough fish, bring on the meat.  The carte is 5 pages worth of various kinds of beef, some sauces and I guess some desserts (to tell the truth go to their website rather than try to read what's in my photo.

My male blogger friend had a casserole of Galice beef with shallots, if memory serves me, his wife had a huge burger with layers of fresh lettuce and tomatoes sealed in a blanket of melted cheese in a bun that appeared to me to be between an onion bagel and a brioche (she loved it), but I must give its description from the carte - a "BIG MEC Bun & ketchup maison, moutarde à l’ancienne et Saint-Marcellin AOC, béarnaise, oignons frits et lard croustillant" and a had the "beef surprise" which our waitguy described as a piece of the most tender beef from under the cows neck, no, not thyroid or sweetbreads. All were terrific, served with ok frites for Paris, a sauce of morilles and decent not mind blowing bread.

We all sort of shared 2 scoops of sorbet.

Our bill, mind you with all the apologetic discounts, with a bottle and glass of a fine Rhone and a zero coke, but not bottled water, and one coffee, was 94.05€ for three, that's right, so 62.70€ a couple.  Decibel meter not necessary, it was full but calm.

Go? On a holiday Sunday, near the Eiffel Tower, in a swank district, for these prices, one could do worse.

Kult in the 7th: "Very nice," commented my friend, "plus we may be near where Lacan saw patients."

6.6 Kult, 5 rue du Pre Aux Clercs in the 7th, 01.42.96.65.43 (Metro : Rue de Bac) open 7/7 is so new-looking that I was astonished when we learned it had not just opened last week.  It's in a newly renovated hotel, Le Saint, and has plush and lovely details.  Both of us we're intrigued by the 29 € 3-course menu, especially on a Saturday, which had 3-3-3 very nice looking choices.

 

My friend started with the tartare of tuna and I with a hefty piece of perfectly cooked foie gras on a bed of sautéed pleurottes and some unnecessary fluff; both dishes well-executed and devoured.

 

Then he had a risotto with asparagus and parmesan, and I had the thigh/leg of duckling with different colored cauliflowers, a bit overcooked for me but also tasting like eau de foie gras had been injected between layers.  Again, good product, well-prepared and presented.

 

We both had what was described as a soup of strawberries, which it was, but in the center a scoop of green sorbet, "hummm" we both said "wonder what this is", after tossing around parsley, green tea, verbena, Unami and other far out ideas, we asked.  "Cactus" our wonderful waitress said, "cactus leaves." It's rare at my age to encounter a new flavor, but this was truly unusual.  This moved the chef (Julien Lacaille, not surprisingly from DB, Dominique Bouchet's stable), way up in our estimation, way up.  Decibels = 61.0

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of fine Bordeaux, ok bread and 2 coffees, was 97€. 

Go?  Yah, I want to see what other magic tricks this guy can pull out of his hat.

Divellec: The worst meal of 2017?; hard to say. Great sommelier, awful overcooked fish and astronomical prices?

So I've been here a couple of times in the last 40 years, first under M. Himself when it was fresh fish, beautifully cooked and reasonably priced, even for the 7th.  Then I ate a couple of times under the sign of Minchelli, with his jokey "don't disturb the sex lives of lobsters" and zillion € tin of sardines, thankfully paid for by other suckers.  And then today, I don't know why, because there were promising reports and reviews I went back with two dear discriminating friends thinking oh well, we'll get in and out with a decent meal on a holiday weekend.  But it was not to be.  Spoiler Alert: It's a Tourist Trap Rip-off.

1.0 Divellec, 18 rue Fabert in the 7th, 01.45.51.91.96, open 7/7, advertises itself as having menus from 49-90 € and a la carte 60-100€ without liquids of course, that's understood.  It also touts the new chef Mathieu Pacaud as a Michelin 2 star who has finally found his place.  Hummmm, maybe. 

I had warned my pals about the prices so we ordered carefully, my blogger friend and I starting with the soft boiled egg with ham and smoked eel on the lunch menu, that needed mucho salt before it was edible and was not on the table (in a fish restaurant?)  His husband had the razor clams with celery that was, how shall I say, underwhelming.

Next, JJ had the bar and we other two had merlu, I don't care if they were line caught or grenade-blasted from Vietnamese fish farms, they were without merit.  Awful product, awfully prepared and pretentiously presented, glass domes on top as if you were at Maxim's in 1953.

To finish off, my blogger friend had an assortment of cheeses which it's hard to screw up, JJ had raspberries on a meringue and I had fraises des bois, my first of the season, which redeeemed the meal, along with the wine which the sommelier discretely recommended, correctly as well, without a lot of "oaky, but not too fruity, bullshit."

So the damages were damaging. 236 € a couple, ok the bread was good, the wine was great and desserts fine, but this is a fish place.  I do hope M. Divellec is happy in his grave or urn or maybe still alive, because his treasure has been trashed.  Plus it was noisy (88.5) when our English-speaking-as a common language folks whooped it up.

Go?  If you are on an expense account, surrounded by English speakers who don't give a damn about food, no, not even then.  Il Vino is 20 steps away, Petrossian 30.  its a Tourist Trap, you get what you deserve.

Le Cafe de la Paix: "A nice meal" said my co-diner. She was being polite. It was a holiday after all.

6.6 Le Cafe de la Paix, 12, blvd des Capucines or 5, place de l'Opera, (Metro: Opera) in the 9th, 01.40.07.36.36, open all day, everyday, has had a new chef and every time they change chefs I gamely go, thinking it will get astonishingly better.  Sigh!

Ok.  So I enter and sit as far from the busloads of folks and din of screaming kids as I can.  The menu looks pretty unchanged.  I chose the 45 € 2 course menu, beginning with a cocotte of gnocchi with melted Comte and escargots, topped with parsley shoots.  Not bad but big.

Then my old downstair's neighbor had the quenelle de brochet which was also not bad and I had the special of the day, a too thin, too overcooked slice of veal liver with nice mashed potatoes and veggies.

Our bill, with superb rolls and butter, a nice Morgon and one espresso (6.50 € mind you, I chose to wait for mine at Nespresso across the way which comes after buying quite a few capsules of Ristretto) but no bottled water, was 130.50€.  DB= 83.3

Go? Not unless someone takes you after a ballet.

Jourdain in the 20th: my goodness, what were they thinking?

 

 

3.0 Jourdain, 101 rue des Couronnes in the 20th, 01.43.66.29.10, (Metro: Jourdain), closed Sunday and Monday, looked to me to be a neat new neighborhood bistro in a culinary desert (a key to the Food Biz formula for success) but sad to say the other key element, a talented chef, did not seem apparent.  I invited a dear friend on a stopover between New York and Provence and she's always game to try my crazy ideas.  Alas!

 

The chalkboard (note reflection of old guy leaning over to photo like Bill Cunningham, boy do I miss him!) had a 2-2-3 deal for a very reasonable price (17.30) but none of the choices looked really appealing (as they had in Le Fooding) and there was no carte.  My pal started with a zucchini and chevre soup and I with a sweet potato salmon egg galette with peas, ach, at this point I knew we were in trouble.

Then she had a piece of chicken and I, one of lieu noir, both with accompaniments of tiny potatoes and a quinoa with radishes, etc., now we were really put out.

Finally we both had the cafe gourmand, where the brownie saved the meal from a total blowout.

Our bill with a bottle of wine, so-so bread and no bottled water, was 62.60 €.  dB's= 74.4

Go back?  Not on your or my life.  Yet the place was packed.  And the place was planned with care, take a gander at their own soap dispenser.

Arnaud Nicolas in the 7th: Best piece of beef in my life?, well nearly and rest not bad at all.

7.3 Arnaud Nicolas, 46 avenue de la Bourdonnais in the 7th, 01.45.55.59.59, closed Sundays (Metro: Ecole Militaire) opened his boutique/restaurant after a successful run at the Boudoir in the 8th and the place is yuge but I suspect will soon fill up because he's got a winning combo - beautifully sourced products, correctly cooked and gorgeously presented.

I entered to find my friend safely ensconced about to be poured a glass of rose which I joined him in. We wrestled with the 2-2 menu for 32 or three course one for 35 € and he said if we're eating with a MOF charcutier, we've got to try that; I couldn't disagree.  So he had the incontournable pate with foie gras en croutes and I the crispy gambas on a bed of cold peas and cold pea soup, both nickel.

Then he had smoked salmon slices while I had the boneless entrecôte, ordered "bleu", which it came as, about a good a chunk of meat as I've ever had, lightly/perfectly salted with four strips of pasta that I didn't eat until my friend asked if he could try one and then I did and was I glad for the nudge.

We really didn't need dessert but the chef had listed a Snickers in his fashion and boy was that a deconstructed Snicker like you've never had.  My!

Our bill, with a bottle of Pinot noir, no bottled water, only mediocre bread and one good coffee, was 112.50 €.

Go?  Fast!  This guy is a find.