John Talbott's Paris

Le Parc aux Cerfs in the 6th: very nice for a rainy Sunday.

5.0 Le Parc aux Cerfs, 50, rue Vavin in the 6th, 01.43.54.87.83 (Metro: Vavin), open 7/7 was written up in L’Express Styles this week and I couldn’t figure out why it and Le Select around the corner were chosen to feature out of all the other possibilities; new Chef, owner, carte?  So when I greeted my French friend today I put him up to asking.  Nada!  Ok.  Neither of had been here in years and we regarded the carte as if for the first time.

It’s one of the rare places in town that still encourages one to draw on the place mats and some samples are posted over the coat rack.

Anyway both of us like the sound of the 30€ “menu” with a fennel and spinach leaf salad with fried calamari that had a batter than can only be described as adorable. Then we had weirdly shaped quenelles de brochet on top of chopped mushroom and tiny tough over cooked shrimp.  Finally we had the Corsican brebis (I’d read that the owner brings back Corsican products regularly).

Our bill, with a bottle of Iraty and two glasses of Corsican white to go with the cheese, no bottled water but two coffees, was 127€?

Go back?  Given the competition I doubt it.

Rivie in the 2nd: Best waitfolks but worst food of the year plus they cheated us 4 €. A shaggy dog review.

Pre: So, we’re facing Saturday in Paris for lunch, whoops, everything is closed for Armistice Day, 11-11-11.  The couple I laugh with the most and I scurry around to find a place with good food that’s open.  Thinking hotels got to have restaurants open, I book at the new Hoxton place called Rivie, whatever that means.  

I enter and am seated at their “quietest table” DB’s = 75.7 and look at the paper in front of me.  What? Brunch, wait a minute, I specifically asked if there was also a regular “carte,” and was reassured in French and English there was.  My delightful waitguy said, “oh you were dealing with the front desk of the hotel, they don’t know anything.”  Then he  pointed out the right side of the paper where there was coquelet, fish, burgers etc.  Ok, we’ll make do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So my friends enter and get the same response about brunch/lunch from our now female waitperson.  We order up, a Hox cheeseburger for M., a Hox Monsieur (aka Croque) for Madame, a coquelet for me, how bad can they be?  Ans: Pretty bad but like the old Catskill hotel joke, there was sure a lot. The cheeseburger ordered rare, was raw, and had to be replaced, the Monsieur was neither allez-retour nor unilaterale it was not cooked at all on either side and my coquelet was the most tasteless of the century.  My friends loved the fries however, so a point for that.  No points however, for their side salad of undressed leaves of spinach and maybe mustard.

After a new cheeseburger was prepared but no attention was paid to our other two uneaten dishes I insisted we have a chocolate Brownie, which was the weirdest Brownie presentation ever but tasted pretty good after what we'd just had.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine, a bottle of Badoit and 2 coffees, and awful bread, read 108.50€?  But wait, we didn’t have any peach rooibos, I don’t even know what that is.  So take that away and you’ve got 104.50 for 3 or 69.66€ a couple.

Go?  For the worst meal of the year?  And cheating us out of 4€! That’s insupportable.  Plus, the DB’s got to 86 before I stopped recording.

Carbon in the 3rd: exciting food in the Marais? Thank Buddha.

Prelude: one of my most challenging jobs is to find new and good restaurants to go to with my friend of mine of 64 years who lives and works in the Marais (yah, I know, if this is my toughest barrier, I’ve got it pretty easy).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.4 Carbon, 14, rue de Charlot (Is not named for Charlie Chaplin but some guy who executed another guy in 1626, there) in the 3rd, closed Sundays and Mondays, 01.42.72.49.12, (Metro: faggedaboudid) has a sign on the door that says “an ode to nature,” whatever that means.  When I entered I was welcomed warmly but quickly realized the horrible and incredibly loud American music would drown out any conversation, so I asked for it to be turned down, which it was .0001 decibels to the raised thumbs of my like aged co-diners (there was no one young in the place, so the usual excuse “the young people like it this way,” just didn’t hold water.  PS. We had to ask 4 times in English and French (they are bilingual as was the carte and clientele.)  The decor is what I call post-flood brute, unpainted concrete, with plants cleverly suspended on platforms 6 feet over our heads, in case of flooding I assume.

Ok.  The carte is not exciting, but wait.  The stuffed encornet with veggies and croquettes with the best mayonaisse I’ve had in years we’re outstanding.

Then my great friend who bicycled with me down the Loire in 1953 had the lieu jaune, which seems to be all the rage these days, and I had pork with roasted apples that while classic and perhaps trite, was just right for a chilly afternoon.

My friend wanted to hurry off to her cabinet but I insisted on a chocolate dessert with a merengue wafer and I was so right to insist - Ab Fab!

With fine bread, no bottled water, a bottle of Ardeche and one espresso, our bill was 106.50€?

Go? Without hesitation!  Despite the goddamn music at 73.8 DB’s plus.

 

Comice in the 16th: A wonderful blowout birthday present.

7.8 Comice, 31, avenue de Versailles in the 16th, 01.42.15.55.70, closed (Metro: ) was opened by the husband and wife, Chef/Som pair Noam Gedalof and Etheliya Hananova, a few weeks ago, after they'd done stints in California, New York, Montréal and Paris (at Sergent Recruteur).  Anyway, my dear friends suggested we go here 24 hours after arriving back in France and I consulted a time chart and figured like the British Flag, it was my birthday somewhere.

My friends were waiting when I arrived and they suggested we start with some specialty sausage, which we enjoyed with the house's own great bread and composed butter, after which they gave us each a soup bowl of fall vegetables and herbs.  Then Madame and I had a veloute of wild mushrooms while M. had the foie gras.  Boy, was that a start.

For us all there was a veggie treat of cauliflower, broccolini and other greens with a Grenoblois sauce.  For mains, Madame had the lobster which was the best I've ever had here (better than Daniel Rose's even), M. had a perfect piece of veal and I had an astonishing platter of sliced chicken.

Our bill, I cannot lie, was yuge, and graciously picked up by my friends.  But you can do the math; but 2 dishes and coffee and wine comes to something over 100 E each, that's without the Badoit, sausage and whatever else.  dB's a gentle 75.8.

Go?  For a celebration, like my Birthday, sure, I'll go.  Oh and it turns out the design was from one of my dear friends from Le Fooding: Anna, "you done good."

Clover Grill in the 1st: “about as good a steak frites as I’ve ever had.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.2 The Clover Grill, 6,rue Bailleul in the 1st (sound familiar?, that’s because it’s in the old space next to the now sadly shuttered but fully equipped Spring), 01.40.41.59.59, open 7/7 (Metro: Louvre Rivoli) is the latest in Jean-Francois Piege’s ventures and its prices were so eye-popping when it opened I couldn’t find an excuse for having a cotes de boeuf or spring leg of lamb at 88€ and up.  But my 82nd Birthday loomed and my dear friends from SF offered to join me at (their words) a “nice place.”

For firsts we shared two dishes among the three of us: what was called “like a pizza” with cold sashimi, warm chorizo bits and other stuff in a warm thin pastry shell - well, despite the name, it was very nice - and a liberal portion of braised duck foie gras with grape halves - so far so good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then one of us had one of the two fish of the day from small boats, he chose the merlan, a whole huge merlan, which he finished to his credit.  Those of us on the banquette had steak frites with two sauces, one of which, the Bearnaise, we loved so much we ordered more - the steaks were large and cooked perfectly - his rare, mine blue - and much as I insist the French cannot do fries like in Belgium, these were damn good.

Desserts were out of the question after so much food but the cookies were great.

Our bill, with two bottles and glasses of wine, principally a Vaucluse, terrific bread and good coffee plus 2 bottles of water (despite my ordering a carafe, which by law they’re supposed to serve) costing 6.50€, came to 235€ or 156.66€ a couple.  Db’s got really loud (80) but then cooled down (70).

Go back?  Well, there are meat places like Le Comptoir de Canailles, Nicolas Arnaud, L'Amarante and Les Oreilles et la Queue serving the same quality meat at much more reasonable prices.  But hey, you only go around once.  And you have to admit that the butcher blocks and meat racks are pretty cool.

 

La Scene Thelme in the 17th: You think you know curried mussels, blanquettes of veau or baba with quince?

OK the usual predescription stuff: I made a note 3 pages into my famous "list" of the Scene Theleme which was co-located with/in a theater and thought it looked nice and with a 39 E two course or 49 E 3 course lunch thought it was within reach of my budget but in no way did I expect our meal today.  Spoiler Alert: since then it got a Michelin Star.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.9 La Scene Thelme, 18, rue Troyon in the 17th, 01.77.37.60.99, closed Saturday noon (for Armistice Day 11-11-11 ?), Sundays and Mondays, (Metro: CdeG Etoile) should have a warning sign outside saying "Enter All Ye, who will be served dishes you don't expect: otherwise - take a hike!"  I went with a relatively new friend who says I only take him to great places (boy he doesn't know the trouble I've seen.)  The lunch "menu" sounds normal, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First, they came out with three or was it four types of bread with composed butter, then an amuse of foie gras and cheese bits sitting atop a variety of chestnut I've never seen, then leeks and shallots in an incredible presentation, then my friend's first of curried mussels on top of winter squash and spaghetti squash.  All were unusual, delicate and mind-blowing.  Where did this Dude come from?  Answer: Chef Julien Roucheteau was at Le Cinq and Lancaster before: that makes sense.

Now look at these two mains: the mackerel with lemon, beets and tonka leaves looks like something you've seen but never tasted the likes of which before - but the so-called blanquette de veau with grilled onions, mushrooms and coffee moved us to a different planet.  It was a strip of the best poitrine of pork in my life, wonderfully crisp with ZERO fat, really outstanding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ordered the baba with quince, chantilly of green anice and creme which was unlike any Baba I've ever had and so my dining partner wouldn't feel left out they brought him some treats as well (I forget what).  Finally we had fine mignardises with our coffees.

Our bill, get ready for this, with a bottle of Causse Toujours, a Languedoc-Rouissillon, their filtered water, great bread as I said, and superb coffee, was 118 E.

Go?  Well, 100% for lunch, but the dinner a la carte prices are scary.  However, their logo alone shows the attention they've paid to make this place great.

 

 

Brute in the 8th: Well, this is complicated: great welcome, English, products, cooking but a bit too busy, I'll explain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.5-7.? Le Bistro Brute, 36 rue de Berri in the 8th, 01.42.25.02.76, (Metro: St Philippe du Roule), has been on my famous "list" for a while and when a fellow blogger suggested it, I leapt.  It's smaller than the photos suggest, 20 covers upstairs, a dozen down.  The "menu" is 2-2-2 and right off we were warned that the scallops were not available, apparently due to pollution but the haddock and ham would be doubled in recompense.  Sounded cool to me.  After mulling over the choices we decided to have all 6 of the 2-2-2 and share 50-50.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After an amuse bouche of soup of butternut squash with a spicy aftertaste zip to it, we had the cucumber soup with chevre and pickled coriander seeds that my notes say was "bleh," and incredibly wonderful rounds of ham with haddock and cauliflower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's where things went South.  The fish of the day was cod, but you've got to pep up this fish and the sauce, red cabbage, artichokes and carrots didn't do the trick.  The duck was a bit better, but tough as leather, although the mushrooms and salsify helped a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So now we get to the root of the problem: the "Jack be little" mini-pumpkin with grapefruit, kiwi and watercress ice was throwing away good ingredients to achieve what?  Complexity, Innovation, Creativity?  Didn't work.  But the chocolate (almost an ice cream bar), clementines and coffee ice cream was the hit of the meal.  Worth the chauffeur prive.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine, good bread and terrific Ethiopian Wallaga coffees was 109 E.  dB's were a horrible 77.5.

Go?  Well, it's in the 8th, and the chefs and front staff are really trying, perhaps the chefs too much.  Id like to hear what others think before answering.  Maybe.

 

Review of reviews – the week of October 30th 2017

Monday, in A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinard reviewed two places already mentioned Mr. T to which he gave 4 dots and La Causerie in the 16th to which he gave 4.

Tuesday, Le Fooding reviewed the Franco-rician Robert Compagnon’s Rigmarole, 10 rue du Grand Prieure in the 11th, 01.71.24.58.44, closed Monday and Tuesday, where for 36-50 E one dines on items such as a tartare of daurade, squid and chicken livers plus pastries from a talented young Taiwanese.

Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in Paris Update reviewed the New Orleanate Nola in the 10th.

Thursday in L’Express Styles, Francois-Regis Gaudry reviewed the previously mentioned Le Cave Drouot in the 9th that has new decor; the aforementioned Spoon 2 in the 2nd; and Jordan Moilim reviewed the Cambodian Enkor in the 10th.

Sunday, jdd’s version femina covered the aforementioned Italian Epoca ; and Aurelie Chaigneaux in jdd gave 7.5/10 to the Greek Yaya, 7.5 to Le Bien Venu, in the hotel Bienvenu, 23, rue Buffault in the 9th, 01.48.78.32.18, closed Sundays and Mondays, with menus at lunch of 16 and 19 ; a la carte 20-25 E before drinks, serving items such as spring rolls and Japanese curry, and the new chef at Roca in the 17th (5.5).

Mr. T. in the 3rd: “I’m coming back with my partner next week.” (Excuse the bad photos)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.5 Mr. T., 38, rue Saintonge in the 3rd, 01.42.71.15.34, closed Mondays and Tuesdays (Metro: Filles du Calvaire) is a place one could be put off by, because of its name, its location and its reputation for cocktails, brunches and burgers - but don’t fall for all that.  Sure the name speaks to old Yankees my age but it’s for the Chef, Tsuyoshi Miyazaki, who with another ex-Passage 53 compatriot started this place to bring the young folks of the quarter something different.  As for the brunch on weekends, I called to confirm they had real food as well and was reassured they did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My friend who lives not far away and I both desired the same two starters and mains so we quickly agreed to order all four.  Our starters were sautéed mushrooms with a soft egg and a ceviche of bass, both outstanding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we had the lieu noir with a crispy skin and squid ink sauce and “burned” skin mackerel with nuts.

I really wanted to try their desserts so my friend agreed to split the tiramisu with cocoa crumble which was splendid.

Our bill, with superb bread and coffee, a bottle of wine, 2 aperos and 2 digestifs but no bottled water, was 120€. DB's = 86.9 when the place filled up and all the youngsters got talking.

Go? It’s always nice to find a place with no pretentions, but enormous potential and wonderful fresh food along with terrific service. Yes, indeed, go.  And enjoy the rollers.

Les Vins des Pyrenees in the 4th: it seemed like a good idea at the time, but....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, last Monday I read in “Do it in Paris” that the venerable Vins des Pyrenees which was 1. Jim Morrison’s haunt, had been renovated by 2. the creator behind Georges and the Marly 3. had a new chef from Saturne and the Terroir d’Avenir.  Sounded pretty good to me and I invited my wine expert friend to try it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.65 Les Vins des Pyrenees, 25 Rue des Beautreillis in the 4th, 01.42.72.64.94, open 7/7, (Metro: St. Paul) looks much like it must have 30 years ago when my dining companion first came since he was staying across the road and it was one of the rare places open Sunday evenings.  The street is quirky and the restaurant packed with locals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He started off with leeks vinaigrette with nuts that I thought were way above average and I had a ton of bulots with mayonaise that I considered almost as good as my preparation.

Then we both had giant cones of calamari stuffed with a most unFrench spicy pepper stuffing, with nice fennel pieces.

I insisted on a dessert and the brioche perdu with caramel was terrific.

With a bottle of Chinon (unpictured) and three glasses more, no bottled water but 3 coffees our bill was 129.10€.

Go?  Hummmm.  At the end I asked “so how do you rate this?”  He said, “using your scale, 5.8,” and I was at 5.5, so doing the math, it’s 5.65.  Above average but not spectacular.