John Talbott's Paris

La Condesa in the 9th: My #1 new restaurant in Paris in 2017, maybe in 2018 as well.

La Condesa, 17, rue Rodier in the 9th, 01.53.20.94.90, closed Sundays and Mondays (Metro: Cadet) has been open 4 months to the day, the Chef, Indra Carrillo told us and it clearly has a loyal following already.  The team is so polished that they take orders, cook, serve and clear with an efficiency that’s awe-inspiring.  Once again the quatre or penta-lingual Chef spent time with us and our famous cookbook author friend explaining dishes and preparations which were again, terribly inventive.  And once again, the display was more than I can easily explain but rolled out as:

- coupes of champagne
- an assortment of appetizers that focused on eel, sea urchins and sunflower seeds
- corn and lard
- langoustines, greens and spicy broth
- "duck, no it was pork, no chicken" actually with broccoli and veggies
- Japanese pearls, mandarine, mango and sorbet
- other stuff

With 2 bottles of wine, one of house water and one Badoit and 3 Ethiopian coffees (that our Professor friend declared “real coffee”) our bill came to 119€ a couple.

As I said, this was my #1 new restaurant in Paris in 2017 and I suspect will be for quite a while.  Bravo Chef!

 

 

Baltard au Louvre in the 1st: an incredible meal for 30€.

The Baltard au Louvre, 9, rue Coquilliere in the 1st, 09.83.32.01.29, closed Sunday nights (Metro: Les Halles) is as dazzling on a rainy windy days as it was in nice weather.  We ate with the expat friend I’ve known since biking down the Loire 55 years ago and we enjoyed it very much although Colette seemed less enthusiastic.

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Our friend chose to start with a purple carrot soup while I went with the menu’s other starter, herring and potatoes with a most appealing sauce.

Then both she and Colette chose the scallops off the carte while I got the menu’s offering of lamb sweetbreads with Jerusalem artichokes and another fine sauce.

Finally our friend had the dessert of the moment, which consisted of two cigar-shaped chocolate covered ice cream bars and I had the menu’s baba with whiskey.

With a bottle and glass of wine, no bottled water, but three coffees, our bill was 135€ or 90€ a couple.

Bouillon Pigalle in the 9th: 7 of us for all the classics.

The Bouillon Pigalle, 22, Blvd de Clichy in the 9th, 01.42.59.69.31, never closed it seems (Metro: Pigalle) takes no reservations but is so huge and accommodating that the line waiting outside at noon and inside at 14h00 was easily seated and served efficiently.  We hosted our oldest granddaughter and her “team” en route to the “Model EU” in Brussels and it was the perfect place.

We started with escargots, poireaux vinaigrette, mushrooms and herring and boiled potatoes.

Then we went more classical, with boeuf bourguignon, 7 hour lamb with beans,  heirloom vegetables mimolette, and steak frites.

Desserts were a chocolate eclair, chocolate mousse, rice pudding, and Belle Helene pear with a huge mound of cream.

Out bill for 7, with a liter and a half of Cotes du Rhône, no bottled water and 6 coffees, was 154.10€ or44€ a couple.  And the food was not half bad at all.

Coretta in the 17th: once again, a pleasure to eat here.

 

 

 
Coretta, 151 bis, rue Cardinet, closed almost never, 01.42.26.55.55 (Metro: Brochant) provided its usual delightful warm welcome, but with the New Year's addition of coupes of champagne as well as small warming soups.

One of our friends started off with a ravioli with razor clams while the rest of us were most content with their terrific crusty bread and sweet butter. Then one of us had the lamb which fell off the fork while rest of us had superb scallops a la plancha.

Finally, all of us shared two of their gigantic brioches with caramel and ice cream.

Our bill with a bottle of wine, no bottled water but 5 coffees, amounted to 93.50€ a couple.

Au Pied de Cochon in the 1st: 70 years and still running strong.

5.5 Au Pied de Cochon, 6, rue Coquilliere in the 1st, 01.40.13.77.00 (Metro: Les Halles) always open, thus today, New Years Day, when damn near everything, except Chinese restaurants, is closed, it beckoned to me from across the years when I toured the Belly of Paris as a student, breakfasting on onion soup afterwards.  It and it’s menu look much as they must have in 1947.

 

Colette went with the daurade with spinach and I had to have the classic Pied de Cochon which overflowed over the plate with a nice salad and ok fries.

 

For dessert she and I shared the crepes flambeed with Grand Marnier that were as good as they come.

Our bill with a bottle of wine, no bottled water but two coffees, with adorable little piggy macarons, was 97.50€?

Go back?  Every 30 years I do.

John's Top Ten or so in 2017

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

8.5 Condesa

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., Café du Coin

7.4 Savarin, Bel Ordinaire, Zebulon, Carbon

7.3 Arnaud Nicolas

7.2 Alan Geaan, RadioEat, Clover Grill, Baltard

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

8.5 Condesa

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., Café du Coin

7.4 Savarin, Bel Ordinaire, Zebulon, Carbon

7.3 Arnaud Nicolas

7.2 Alan Geaan, RadioEat, Clover Grill, Baltard

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

Review of reviews – the weeks of December 18th and 25th, 2017

Tuesday, Le Fooding’s Matthieu Jaunier-Dallier reviewed the restaurant Buffet, 8, rue de la Main d’Or, in the 11th, closed Sundays and Mondays, 01.83.89.63.82, where for 16-35E one has items such as a terrine de campagne, bavette and moelleux chocolate-marron glace noir.

Wednesday Emmanuel Rubin reviewed his best 20 restaurants of the year with alternatives in parens:
Bouillon Pigalle (Brasserie Wepler)
Racines des Pres (Anima)
Popolaire (Pink Mamma)
Tavline (Salatim)
Kitchen Ter(re) (Yoshinori)
Les Grands Verres (Spoon II)
Drugstore Publicis (Little Italy)
Maloka Fogo & Brasa (Brutos)
La Condesa (Niebe)
Detour (l’Aligot)
Comice (Savarin)
Sourire (Montee)
eels (Capitaine)
Orties (L’Abbatoir Vegetal)
Two Stories (Jah Jah)
L’Ecrin du Crillon (la Brasserie d’Aumont)
Wim a Table (Bel Ordinaire)
BMK Paris-Bamako (l’Hotel Grand Amour)
Yaya (Bistrot de Paris)
Ristorante National (l’Hotel Horton)

Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in Paris Update reviewed the previously mentioned Yacht Club in the 9th.

Thursday in L’Express Styles, Francois Regis Gaudry reviewed Boullion Pigalle in the 18th.  The following week the team reviewed five 2017 fish restaurants already mentioned here : Fichon, Bistrot de Marius, l’Epuisette, les Maquereaux and Crabe-royal.