John Talbott's Paris

Coup d’Oeil in the 11th: some very inventive twists on very some very old favorites.

Disclosure:  Monday, eating at the Cafe du Coin a couple of blocks away, I met David Rougier, who with his chef friends offered us coups of Champagne and today comp’d us to a bottle of wonderful Beaujolais.  Thus this review may tilted toward the positive, but my Parisian codiner friend who had no such introduction thought it was an equally impressive meal.

6.3 The Coup d’Oeil, 80 rue Sedaine in the 11thhas 01.43.57.59.68, closed weekends and Mondays (Metro: Voltaire) has been open about a month and already has a loyal following and astounding food in a designer designed cave a manger with a most amiable host.  When I entered and saw all stools, I thought I was in for much worse back pain, but somehow it worked out.  It has a menu unique of three dishes for 18€ and they looked absolutely ordinary if not banal, but, but, but.......

The starter was described as oeufs mayo but the mayo was spread out on the plate and the eggs placed on top.  Most inventive.  Then come hachis parmentier, boring eh?  Not so.  He gets all his meats from Ah la Vache in Le Perche, where my companion has a Country house, so he’s sure to visit this bio producer.  It was coarsely chopped meat (delicious) on which were the mashies, topped with various chives, radishes and other miniveggies.  Then for dessert, our host provided an updated chocolate mousse with sweet-sour salt-mustard overtones. Once again, very inventive.

Our bill was distorted by the comp’d bottle of wine, but given the examples on Le Fooding, my guess is that an ordinary couple would pay 75€ or so with coffee.

Go?  If looking for something completely different, as Monty Python would say, in a wine bar, yes indeed.

Le Cadoret in the 19th: “Not a place for culinary discovery” my oldest French friend concluded.

5.6 Le Cadoret, 1, rue Pradier in the 19th, 01.53.21.92.13, closed Sundays and Mondays, was described by Aitor Alfonso in yesterday’s Le Fooding as “retrofoodisme” and that’s pretty accurate.  I entered to a room half full of folks who were clearly locals and by 13h00 it was fully full.  It’s a 2-2-1 deal so we agreed to split the offerings.

My friend started with eggs Mimosa that I thought were fabulous and I had a very good terrine de campagne with toasts, both of which were also good.

For mains, she had a tender onglet of beef with not bad fries and sauce that I didn’t like, while I had two pieces of carrelet sautéed in butter that were better than ok with carrots and a cousin of Jerusalem artichoke.

We finished up with two lovely pear Fontainebleaus.

Our bill, with a bottle of terrific Pinot Noir and two coffees was 60.40€?  Noise level 81.6dB. PS they had real cloth napkins.

Go?  If I lived in the area for sure, but it’s a long way from home.  But those Thai fish are tempting and they had real cloth napkins.

The Big Fernand: “John, you ate at a fast food burger joint in Paris? Are you ok?”

So I had planned to eat at the place not far from Montparnasse but when I showed up there was a handwritten sign in the window saying they were closed “exceptionnellement.”  As always, I had a backup, the Big Fernand, which gets mentioned in every list of hamburger/meat places, so what did I have to lose?

6.5 The Big Fernand, l’Atelier du Hamburge, 86, blvd du Montparnasse, open 7/7, has a small front out of which spilled a line of young folks and 2 Deliveroo guys.  I entered like it was a real restaurant, asking a waitguy if I could sit at a table and he helped with my coat and cane.  He asked if I knew how it worked and I quickly saw that folks lined up at the 5-Chef counter, ordered, paid, got their burgers and sat down or took out.

Both the main Chef and the waitguy equally quickly realized I was over my head and took my order and credit card acting like it was Le Cinq not Burger King.  I thought I’d pick a beef hamburger with a raclette of mountain cheese, no, it came with everything, including their own (quite delicious) sauce thus not necessitating catsup or Tabasco on the table.  In fact the burger was quite good and the fries, which I’m easy to criticize in France, were terrific.

My bill, with a half-bottle of Crozes-Hermitage and no other liquids, was 26€.  The dB level wasn’t bad, 84.6, despite the hustle-bustle madhouse atmosphere.

Go?  You know, if caught in a similar fix again, I would, but I’d do it the “right way” rather than act as a grandee.

Review of reviews – the week of November 20th 2017

Monday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger gave 4/5 dots to the Café du Coin, 9, rue Camille Desmoulins in the 11th, 01.48.04.82.46, closed weekends with lunch formulas at 15.50 and 19 E, a la carte dinner items 7-9 and pizzettes 5 & 8 E for chinchard, confited lamb and chocolate and Philippe Toinard gave 3/5 to the previously mentioned Reciproque.  In a mini-review they also covered the new cave a manger of Elmer, already mentioned.

Tuesday, Le Fooding also reviewed the above-mentioned Café du Coin

Wednesday in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed his usual 5 new places, giving 3/5 hearts to the pizza-world food place Anima in the 6th and 2 hearts to Friends & Family, 18, cite Bergere in the 9th, 01.45.23.33.33, closed Saturday lunch, Sunday and Mondays where for 17 at lunch and 25 & 33 E at dinner one has items such as a perfect egg, cote de veau and chocolate mousse, the previously mentioned L’Epuisette in the 9th and Le Coup d’Oeil, 80 rue Sedaine in the 11th, 01.43.57.59.68, closed Saturday lunch, Sunday lunch and Mondays with 15 and 18 E formulas at lunch and about 25 E at dinner for items such as herring, hachis parmentier and caramelized pear.  One heart went to the “light, light” Café Plume in the 1st.  His Hache Menu reviewed the Italian La Cantina in the 8th

Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in Paris Update reviewed the previously mentioned Brute in the 8th.

Thursday in L’Express Syles, they reviewed the previously mentioned Brutos and Les Oreilles et La Queue and 3 other meat places : Anahi, Bidoche and Pedzouille.

Sunday in the jdd, Aurelie Chaigneau reviewed the Italian Epoca in the 7th, the already mentioned Spoon 2 in the 2nd and Mensae in the 19th.  The version femina mentioned that the Grand Amour in the 10th had a new chef.

Cafe du Coin in the 11th: best quality/price of the decade plus it was inventive.

Three chefs walk into a bar, no, it’s not a joke.  One says “I think I know that dottering geezer over there (from Jouvence),” the second says “ah maybe from Akrame Substance,” but the third draws a blank.  After their kind gift of some champagne, while I’m in the loo, my fellow blogger gets their current locations - Jouvence, which (phew) I loved and the Coup d’Oeil and Breton, where I’m about to go.

7.5 The Cafe du Coin, 9, rue Camille Desmoulins, 01.48.04.82.46, closed weekends, has been open but a brief time and already has a loyal following of young folks eagerly scarfing down its inventive 19€ 3-course meals.  When I arrived the place was almost full and despite the world record 91 decibels, my blogging pal and I were able to talk.

We decided to go 50-50 on their 2-2-2 menu, which was a good decision, although one couldn’t go wrong.  We started with a large pizzette with guanciale and a smaller white pizza with an almost cream cheesy yogurt topped with chicken livers - both superb.

Then we moved on to several generous and perfectly cooked slices of pintade with polenta (which I, a polenta-hater, loved) mushrooms of death and mustard seeds as well as encornets with blettes which I found to be the weakest sister of the day.

Desserts were spectacular - a chocolate and something else ice and pear tart.  Wow!

Our bill with a bottle of wine (they have glasses starting at 3€!), no bottled water and two coffees, was 72.60€.

Go?  Certainly.  And I’m not too worried about pesky folks flooding the place, it’s too far from the center, too funky, too young and too outre to interest them.

Baltard au Louvre in the 1st: A wonderfully surprising addition to the still rebuilding quartier.

Background:  When I'd read there was a new restaurant called Baltard au Louvre I thought, "another restaurant at the Louvre?" and "how cheeky to name a restaurant Baltard which is probably lacking the spirit of the great man."  Well, I was wrong on both counts.  Baltard, of course, was Victor Baltard, best known, to me anyway, as the architect of the 10 pavilions at Les Halles, which unless you're over 60, you're lying like Trump, if you say you saw them (or unless you've been out to Les Magnolias in Le Perreux sur Marne and walked back to the city through Nogent sur Marne and seen remnants of the last pavilion which now serve as a reception-party-event place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.2 Baltard au Louvre, 9 rue Coquilliere in the 1st, 09.83.32.20.01.29, closed Sunday dinner is in a portion of the CIC Bank on the corner of the Rue du Louvre, hence the name, it’s no where near the Musee du Louvre.  At present to the south is the Bourse de Commerce, currently under major construction for Pinault’s new museum.  But it was Sunday, so no jackhammers were heard, although the peskies inside the glorious Baltard-like mini-pavilion dining area did raise up a 81.5 dB ruckus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have on Sundays a 29€ lamb dinner with a starter and rice pudding and about 12 firsts and second with about 5 desserts, all in the 12-19 € range.  We started with a portion of sautéed scallops and beets, roasted varied-colored carrots and a huge serving bowl of minestrone.  Everyone seemed most content.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then Madame repeated the scallops as a main, M. Had the lamb special, which came with mashed potatoes and salad and I swear 5 different sauces, and I had a lovely lobe of sautéed foie gras.

To end, we had some wonderful Camembert house-cured, the rice pudding with caramel and a baba with whiskey that had a kick.

Our bill, with a bottle and 2 glasses of wine, no bottled water but a coffee, was 169 or 112.66€ a couple.

Go?  Absolutely, no reservations at all.  When the Pirouette/Zebulon/etc. gang do something, they do it right!

Review of reviews – the week of November 13th 2017

Monday, in A Nous Paris, Alexis Chenu wrote of the aforementioned nudist restaurant O Naturel in the 12th.

Tuesday, Le Fooding announced its awards of the year, in Paris mentioning the following French restaurants: Le Bar des Pres, Vivant, Eels, Les Grands Verres and Combat.

Wednesday, in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed his usual 5 new places, giving 2/5 hearts to the previously mentioned Vins des Pyrenees in the 4th. Two hearts went to the aforementioned Bistrot de Marius in the 8th and the offshoot of Astier called the Grill d’Astier in the 11th, 40, rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 01.43.55.57.00, closed Sundays and Mondays, running one about 40-50 E for items such as the beef tail nugget, veal cutlet and apple tart. 1 heart each went to the foreign Israeli Lemanja in the 11th and the Brazilian Mulko in the 10th.   His Hache Menu reviewed the Poulettes-Batignolles in the 17th running one 50-60 E.

Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in Paris Update reviewed the previously mentioned Brute in the 8th.

Thursday in L’Express Styles, they reviewed the previously mentioned Ristorante National in the 3rd and the above mentioned Mulko in the 10th.

John's Top Ten for 2017 as the Year ticks down.

As usual, the rules are, only in Paris and surrounds, only meals eaten at new places this year, only at lunch and only supplying total bill, usually with wine and coffee but not bottled water.

8.2 Desnoyez

8.0 Kitchen Ter(re)

8.1 Accents, Tous, Fulgurances (under Miller & Pham), Grandes Verres

8.0 L'Escudella, Chez Jean (9th, closed), Pierre Sang's Signature

7.9 Scene Thelme

7.8 Pirouette, Polissons, Detour, eels, Comice

next

7.7 Le Bistro d'Yves, Millesmes 62

7.6 Racines des Pres

7.5 Parigots, Pertinence, Grand Bain, Saint-Joseph, Vava, l'Epuisette, Mr. T.

7.4 Savarin, Bel Ordinaire, Zebulon, Carbon

7.3 Arnaud Nicolas

7.2 Alan Geaan, RadioEat, Clover Grill

7 Aux Deux Amis, Tresor, Le 122, Loiseau RG, Cazes

Les Canailles Menilmontant in the 20th: “Pleasant,”my friend from the 20th said, “if I lived nearer, I’d return.”

6.5 Les Canailles Menilmontant, 15,rue des Panoyaux in the 20th, (Metro: Menilmontant), closed weekends, 01.43.58.45.45 is a recently opened offshoot of les Canailles in the 9th which my respected friends all rated more highly than I, but when several good reviewers in town, touted this new "scoundrels", and I wanted a place to eat near my most longstanding French friend, I seized the opportunity.  Given its location, and today’s commemoration of the Bataclan etc. murders, I tried to steer clear of that area, forgetting the need for grieving survivors and relatives, celebrities and security forces to have access to and from.  So I was late.

She had already been served water and an amuse bread of Provençal persuasion that was quite impressive.

For firsts she had an unusual preparation of a usual classic dish of tete de veau while I had a slice of terrine of wild boar that was not puckeringly dry like most in Corsica but quite acceptable.

Then she a delightful quail on a bed of chestnut purée while I proceeded to dig into two pretty thick slices of almost perfectly undercooked veal liver with (I’m told) good mashed potatoes.

We wound up sharing a moelleux of chocolate after a pre-dessert of chocolate truffles.

Our bill, with no bottled water, decent (she said great) bread, a bottle and glass of wine and two coffees, was 107€?  DB’s = 80.7

Go back?  Twer it around the corner for either of us quite definitely.

Review of reviews – the week of November 6th 2017

Monday, in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger gave 4/5 dots to the previously mentioned Le Rigmarole in the 11th and Alexis Chenu mentioned a new offshoot of the Grand Epicerie this at 80, rue de Passy in the 16th which contains a 300 square meter restaurant open from 8:30-9 PM run by Beatriz Gonzales of Neva and Coretta.

Tuesday, Aitor Alfonso in Le Fooding reviewed Coup d’Oeil, 80, rue Sedaine  in the 11th, 01.43.57.59.68, closed Mondays as well as Saturday and Sunday for lunch, where menus at 15-18 E feature items such as hard-boiled eggs, sausage and cheese in this bar a vins.

Wednesday Emmanuel Rubin reviewed his usual 5 new places, giving 3/5 hearts to the previously mentioned Yoshinori in the 6th and Mr T in the 3rd.  Garnering 2 hearts is the newly acquired (by the Group Joulie) Wepler in the 18th which serves several dishes of the new season (octopus, entrecote but overcooked choucroute) that aren’t bad in addition to their classical raw bar. One heart each went to Feu in the 1st and Bravo in the 2nd.  His Hache Menu covered L’Ecrin at the Crillon the 8th where 7 dishes go for 195 and 12 for 260 E.

The Dossier by Colette Monsat, Alice Bosio, Agathe Moreaux and Pierre-Ivan D’Arfeuille rated chocolate bears, deeming those from Cyril Lignac the #1.

Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in Paris Update reviewed the previously mentioned Yoshinori where she was treated shabbily.

Thursday in L’Express Syles, they reviewed two well-known places around the corner from one another, in the 14th : Estelle Lenartowicz reviewed Le Select and Delphine Le Feuve reviewed Le Parc aux cerfs.

Sunday, jdd’s version femina covered the aforementioned Wim in the 17th; and Aurelie Chaigneaux in jdd reviewed three non-French places : the Afro-vegetarian Jah Jah in the 10th (7/10), the Lebanese Liza in the 2nd (7.5) and the Daily Syrien II in the 10th (7).