John Talbott's Paris

Racines des Pres in the 7th; "this is pretty OK, no?" said our guest.

Racines des Pres in the 7th is another place I was eager to go with Colette and a good expat friend of ours.  The photos are all hers but the first since my camera battery showed it was running on empty.  We were warmly welcomed and seated in the back farthest from the front which was a mistake since once the back room filled up, we three could hardly hear each other.  In any case we all ordered the 3-course 33€ menu, although we ordered 3 dishes that had supplements.  

We started with an entree of tomatoes, one of mixed vegetables and a third, tataki of tuna.  All went down easily.

Then we had merlu with coques, a veggie main and an Iberian pork chop, also very good.

We ended with desserts of a roasted pear, crumble with tapioca and a meringue with red fruits and sorbet.  Again superb.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine, fine bread and 3 coffees was 166€, thus 110€ a couple.

La Bonace in the 19th: a very disappointing second visit, weigh my two reports before going.

Preface: a few weeks ago I ate at La Bonace in the 19th and had a lovely, no, terrific meal. When Colette, my wife of 56 years comes to town, we go to the best of my last quarter's finds, usually those rated over 6.8/10.  I admire folks who go eight times, before writing places up, but the New York Times has never seen fit to reimburse my expenses the same way they did my great late friend Johnnie (R.W.) Apple's or even Sam Sifton's.  So here's my second take on a place I told my readers to go to last month.

1.0 La Bonace in the 19th was as welcoming this month as last but the carte looked suspiciously less adventuresome and more tilted to vegans.  Oh, oh.  In fact, very little spoke to me, a fat-loving carnivore, but with two lovely ladies out by the Canal d'Ourcq, what could I do?

Well, for firsts, between the salad of crudités and the tabouli with parsley and lime, there was no problem, I ate the bread and had a glass of wine while awaiting the main show.  The ladies unenthusiastically ate some of their tabouli.

Then Colette had the bland merlu with a ton of lentils, which she tried to improve with salt, pepper and lemon without success, my co-blogger friend had the grilled eggplant and polenta that she deemed overcooked, and I had the strips of echines de porc on somethings I'd rather forget, which could not be improved by salt, pepper or appeals to Buddha.

For dessert, Colette and I had melon, strawberries and Greek yogurt, and our friend the coco tart, neither exciting to the palate or bone.

Our bill, with two bottles of decanted Moisset and 3 coffees, was 109€ or 74€ a couple.

Go back?  No, and let me count the ways; blah, veggie food, lack of sound-baffling, and no cushions on the designer furniture to buffer one's aching spine from hard wood.

L'Escudella in the 7th: another inventive, unusual meal.

L'Escudella in the 7th has become a consistently great place for us since a loyal reader pointed me to it earlier this year.  Today, only one table for two was not reserved, and I suspect between folks at UNESCO and the Ministry of Health, this has become a very popular place (with a lunch plat du jour costing 15€, how can it not be?)

Madame greeted us warmly and indicated several people had come on recommendation of my blog and very quickly delivered amuses which when I was 7 years old I called codfish balls, that came with an intriguing sauce.  Colette had two starters; green tomato gazpacho with verbena sorbet followed by a perfect egg with chorizo; and I had a langoustine ravioli with fluff, followed by a divine pigeon breast and foie gras crom'equis.

Then, surely having overheard Colette talk about how she wished she had room for the Brillat-Savarin on cherries, the chef sent out a dish, delicious, followed by two orders of Paris-Carcassone (a version of Paris-Brest), when only one had been ordered.

Our bill with a bottle and glass of wine, terrific bread and 2 Illy coffees, with very tasty mignardises) was 106.50 € for an unpredictably innovative meal that hit all the right high notes.

Le Saint-Joseph in La Garenne-Colombes: superb food at great prices despite a schlep.

7.5 Le Saint-Joseph, 100 boulevard de la Republique in La Garenne-Colombes, 92250, 01.42.42.64.49, closed Saturday noon, Sundays and Monday nights, has been written up so positively by the "big boys" that I hesitated to go with Colette and two dear friends, one of whom teaches cooking classes in Paris and America, without having tried it myself.  Plus, because it's way outside the peripherique, although it is on the Tramway-2 and RER and buses 163 and 164, readers are not likely to go.

Anyway, Colette and I had trouble getting a Chauffeur Privee and called to say we'd be late and the chef's wife, he having been at La Regalade, said in perfect English, "That won't be a problem.  Your guests just arrived, I'll tell them."  The first thing out of the cooking teacher's mouth when we arrived was "I can't decide what to have, it all looks so good."

But of course, we did decide, to start with 4 different entrees, a soup of petit pois, eggplant (unpictured) boudin noir with calamari strips, and a giant egg with corn sauce.  I didn't finish all my boudin noir and they wanted to know what was wrong.  "Nothing," I said, "I need to save room."  

For mains, the ladies had a lovely rascasse and the gents 8-hour poitrine of pork slices with carrots, delicious.  

Finally two folks had very good rice pudding, with me eating all the caramel sauce, and our friend, the panna cotta which she loved.  Then came their version of blueberry mini-muffins with coffee.

Our bill, with two bottles of water, two bottles of wine, great bread and 4 coffees, was 93.00€ a couple.

Go back?  Oh yes, despite the trip and dripping airconditioner..

Arnaud Nicolas: this guy, and his eponymous place, is a treasure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arnaud Nicolas in the 7th is a place I left very happy a few weeks ago and was eager to repeat it with Colette and a friend who after a lifetime in journalism around the globe has settled in Paris with his wife, who unfortunately couldn't join us today.  In any case, we were greeted with a nice spot of white wine which put us in a very good mood.

I was so taken by the entrecôte last time I wanted to try it again but the beef/veal gods were on strike today so we all three settled on the magret de canard with cherries, which was a special as the beef had been.  Before that, Colette and I had the smoked salmon with a cucumber sauce that was superb and our friend was equally impressed by his terrine.

Our bill, with no bottled water but good bread and 3 coffees plus a bottle and glass of Cahors, was 116 € a couple.

 

Coretta in the 17th: with Beatriz Gonzales and Matthieu Marcant in full flower.

So, because of the uncertainty of our # 31 bus to Coretta every Sunday, we tend to go a bit early and inevitably sit for a few minutes on the nice benches outside, which today had a cool ice cream cart outside.  At 12:30 sharp, Matthieu Marcant opened the door and in English, said "Mr. Talbott, come in, how are you?"  Wow, who can  not love that warm welcome?

Coretta, 151 bis rue du Cardinet in the 17th, open 7/7, (Metro: Brochant) has become our go-to place on Sundays.  The staff is lovely, the setting ideal and the food consistently superior.  Today we had a plus, because its owner/chef Beatriz Gonzales, of Mexican origin, after passing thru the houses of Bocuse, Lucas Carton and the Grand Cascade, whose first place, Neva Cuisine, was itself terrific, was herself clearing tables, delivering food and acting just like a "normal" person, not the Queen Bee.

 

 

 

We were with my most loyal longstanding Franco-American friend and we didn't take long to decide what to have after an intriguing amuse soup.  The ladies started with a nice gaspacho and a ceviche, while I had the heart-clogging fried pied de cochon, yummy, fatty bad for you and good for me. Then Colette had generous portion of superb cod with delicious vegetables, including artichoke hearts, and an accompanying sauce.  My old biking pal and I had the best in my life, except for Daniel Rose's, pigeon - tender, yummy and out of this world, with cherries.  To wind up, we all plunged into the brioche, which is a cross between a kouing-aman/cinnamon bun and a heavenly caramel pastry.

 Our bill, with no bottled water, but great bread and coffee and a bottle and a half of wine, was 106.66 € a couple.

Reviews of reviews – The week of June 19, 2017

Monday-Tuesday in A Nous Paris, they reviewed two places: Jerome Berger gave 3/5 dots to the previously mentioned Bistrot du 11 in Versailles, which moved successfully to 10, rue de Satory and the restaurant Fulgurances has set up a bar a manger across the street which serves small plates.

In Le Fooding, they reviewed Providence in Guethary.

This week's Figaroscope was the last until September 6th and had its traditional end of year roundup of places by Emmanuel Rubin that featured (with alternatives in parens):
La Demesure sue Seine (les Oreilles et la Queue Eiffel)
Le Bel Ordinaire (Le Depot Legal, Maison de Savoie)
Orties (Le Greenhouse)
Roberta (Il Cuoco Galante, Populare)
Polissons (l'abbatoir Vegetal)
Two stories (Nola in the same building)
Saint-Joseph (Le bistro du 11)
Maison Maison (rooftop of Monsieur Mouche)
Yafo (Tavline)
Pertinence (Sourire)
Detour (Les Fauves)
Estimated (little Mana)
Crane Royale (Le Noto)
Brutus (Maloka Fogo e Brasa, Anahi)
Racines des Pres (Arnaud Nicolas)
Drugstore Publicis (Flora Danica)
Niebe (Street Bangkok Canteen)
Balagan (les Resistants)
Sea Bar Ostrea (Clover Grill)
Iratze (aux Plumes)

Wednesday as well, Heidi Ellison of Paris Update went to the previously mentioned Detour.

Thursday, in l’Express Styles, Charles O’Coohoon Patin wrote up the aforementioned Les Orielles et la Queue in the 7th and Francois Regis Gaudry reviewed Izumi in the 8th.

Sunday in the jdd Aurelie Chaigneau reported on the Mob Hotel in Saint-Ouen (6.5/10), the Greek deli Ikio in the 9th (7) and Jarasse (7.5) in Neuilly.

Les Fauves in the14th: A wonderful eatery before or after the train.

 

Ok. So let's play a little word game here.

I say "restaurant Edgar Quintet," and you say

"Ceriserie. Is this a trick question?"

"Yes, what else comes to mind?"

"Nothing." 

Exactly.  If you're looking for food around the Gare Montparnasse, excepting for the excellent Ceriserie, there is nothing, nada, nul.  You get produce from the grocery and eat on the train.  But no longer.

 

6.3 Les Fauves, 33, boulevard Edgar Quintet in the 14th, 01.72.38.58.92, open 7/7 has been open but 4 months to rather good reviews and was packed to the rafters today.  A lot of folks are either coming off or going to trains, but my genial host, the manager, said especially in the evening, the locals come out.  And with good reason.  I arrived an hour and 4 minutes late, having been dumped off my bus at Madeleine, because of Gay Pride Day, which I wholeheartedly support, but because the crazy right folks promised a counter demonstration, it prompted a police presence that harked back to 1968.  I leapt off the bus to get on the Metro, "sorry, closed."  No problem, Chauffeur Prive, aye yie yie, 30 minutes wait and when the charming and patient driver, a woman yet, showed up apologizing, she tried to cross the Seine and every point was policed off, maybe complicating things was Paris's attempt to show they were ready for the Olympic bid by running events along the Seine all day this weekend.  Finally we got to the Pont d'Austerlitz and across and I entered the restaurant full of explanations.  Sorry we gave your table away, well sure, but.  The place was decorated with raw wood that signaled "bio, farm to table."  Cool.

Finally I was seated by the window, more about that later.  I looked at the carte.  Ok, a tomato gaspacho, the first of my season, delicious and cooling. Next a duck magret cooked blue like I requested with a weird tasting sauce (something the chef from the La Maison du Danemark picked up there?). Finished with a cafe gourmand that had the best tiramisu of the year, an ok chocolate and passable fruit salad, nothing special.

My bill, with their house-filtered water, great bread, good coffee and a half-bottle of wine comes to 47€.  I also got a terrific digestif, offered, which I guessed was eau de vie de Prune, wrong, a rhum, wow!  DB's 66.6-80+.

Return?  If going to or coming from Montparnasse, you bet.

Problems?  Well yes,  there are three zones, outside, outside with the windows fully open and inside.  I was at the border of zones 2 and 3 and the cigarette smoke was relentless.

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L'Office in the 9th under the "new" chef, Benjamin Schmitt: holding steady.

Pre: so last week a great friend said "have you tried the new chef at L'Office?"  "There's another new one?, seems I just went to a new one yesterday."

L'Office, 3, Rue Richer in the 9th, 01.47.70.67.31, closed Weekends, (Metro: Poissonniere) has had a rotating series of chefs since the brilliant Kevin O'Donnell started off the trend.  So even though I'd eaten there in February, I was game to try the newest chef, except that he wasn't, it was the same Benjamin Schmitt who came around last January.  No matter, the food still holds up.

I went with one of my oldest friend's youngest children, no longer a kid, who is studying acting in Paris and her eyes lit up at the 27€ 3 course "menu"; cold cucumber soup with green curry, lieu noir with a fantastic ratatouille (the first of my season), and a deconstructed "cheesecake" with speculoos and yellow peach pieces.  I was content with the sweetbreads, which remain overcooked in the interior, though, with fregola and burnt lemon.

Our bill, with a bottle of wine, terrific bread and coffee, was 88.80€.

Go back?  I seem to be fated to come back periodically.  And for good reasons.

Zebulon in the 1st: its new chef just brought it back up to the top places in my book.

 

7.4 Zebulon, 10, rue de Richelieu in the 1st, 01.42.36.49.44, closed Sundays (Metro: Palais Royal) was fantastic when it opened several years ago, seemed to slip off the gastronomic radar lately, but is back in fine form, if today's meal is any example.  A fellow blogger-friend noted there was a new chef from Osaka named Takashi Aoki, and suggested we go - what a great idea!  They have a 28€ 3-course "menu" which cost the same as my single dish, so a bargain is awaiting you.

She started off with a cold soup of melon, cucumber, basil and goat cheese on a small toast, then we both got a fantastic piece of langoustine that melted in your mouth, along with grilled asparagus and grapefruit, then the confined lamb with grilled eggplant and finished with an intriguing dessert made with pound cake, cherry halves and purée and a melting lemon sorbet.  I was most content with my lamb, cooked 2 ways;  a piece of a gigot and one of the confited shoulder, with chopped lotus and Granny Smiths, but the thing that made this dish sing was the intense brown sauce.  With our coffees came tiny cups of chocolate with a vanilla cream and strawberries, anise jelly and chocolate rounds.

 

Our bill, with no bottled water but a glass and bottle of red Loire and two coffees, was 93€.  DB's = 88.6.

Go back?  Answer: Next week.

Oh an just so you don't think the Spiderman, Naked man, etc. are New York Times Square scams only, here he is hitting on tourists in the First ;