John Talbott's Paris

Louis in the 9th: Very nice food from an incredibly warm, nice guy.

Louis in the 9th has become a predictably solid place for us to eat and we returned today with a couple who are almost as equally enchanted.  As usual we had the three course market menu which rolled out as follows:

• 3 small amuses of cheese, jam and rice crackers
• another amuse of a jelly with an intense garlic sauce with a truffle flavored cigarette/pastry
• a waffle appearing eggplant with peanuts
• a lovely piece of Reine fish with parsnip purée and broccolini
• a slice of divine chocolate tart
• chocolate truffles and pistachio pastries, not pictured

Our bill, with 2 bottles of fine wine chosen by our wine expert friend, a bottle of Evian, unordered, three coffees and vieille prunes (both offered) was 245€ for 4 or 122.50€ a couple.

Massale in the 11th: Nicest staff, happiest customers and best price-quality of 2018.

6.0 Massale, 5, rue Guillaume Bertrand in the 11th, 01.73.79.87.90, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, Metro: Rue St Maur, has been getting a lot of press and internet chatter and with very good reason.  We went with one of our oldest expat friends, circa 1953, and were greeted royally by Thomas Chapelle and Arthur Chiapello, ex of Pirouette and Zebulon. The menu is an eye-popping 22€ for three courses and their bio/natural/etc wines start at 23€.

Colette started with a vegetarian canneloni smothered with a great Parmesan sauce and my old friend and I had some fresh sardines covered with (?) cabbage leaves, with a fromage blanc and a citrus sauce.  The bread was also excellent.

For mains, Colette had the cod with Swiss chard and fennel and we others had succulent chicken with a crispy skin, spinach and pickled cabbage.

To finish, we shared the chocolate/caramel special.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of “Fatal” wine, no bottled water (not one bottle of which was seen on the tables of these 30 year olds, it’s not that kind of a place), and three coffees, was 85€ or 56.66€ a couple.

Go?  For the bargain lunch of the year, are you kidding?  Chef Snellman (a Finn from Frenchie) is in a groove.

Problems John?  Well the dB level reached 91.4 which is between a law mower and Boeing 787 but then, as I implied, we were definitely double the age of most of the energetic customers.

Grive in the 11th: My, my, I didn’t think of having oysters last time, but.... what a great idea.

 

Grive in the 11th is a place I really liked recently and Colette and I returned with two dear friends, one of whom is a fellow blogger, and his verdict was that “this is very good.”  But back to the sequence.  We entered and were greeted most warmly and our friends came in soon after.  The carte looked pretty much the same as before but for some reason the oysters #2 and #3 Saint Vaast’s Huegue leapt out at me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To start, JJ had delicious rillettes of mackerel, my fellow blogger had 3 lovely almost raw pieces of green asparagus with a terrific sauce and Colette and I both had the warm coques in fresh green salad which were also terrific.

Then my writer pal had a huge piece of pork that was just right cooked inside and just right crispy on the outside, JJ and Colette had lieu jaune which they liked and I finally had some oysters which were simply the best.

For dessert, we shared a creme brulee and coffee and nut tart, the latter of which my friend who evaluates the “total experience” deemed too grey, but I, ignorant of such signals, thought was very good.

Our bill, with two bottles of wine, one a white Sylvie, the other a red Tango Atlantico, three coffees (offered) and a green tea, was 213.50€ or 106.75€ a couple.

Le 122 in the 7th: new owners, new decor, new chef but not so great results.

5.3 Le 122 has been a steadfast old reliable place in the center of Minister-land in the 7th for years. But Fiad Saidi has gone and with him the fengshui.  While today’s hosts are warm and charming and the menu is much like it always was, the results are simply not captivating.

We went with one of our oldest French friends and started with a pleasant albeit sweet asparagus soup.  Then we had foie gras covered in cacao dust with pear chutney, so-so, green asparagus with a perfect egg, ok, and the hit of all, carpaccio of bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then Colette had the roasted scallops which she would not recommend to others and our friend and I had 7-hour lamb, which while spoonable, my friend and I agreed needed some oomph, but didn’t have the guts to ask Chef Isabelle Ricci to pep it up with Harissa, mustard or salt/pepper, silly us.

To finish our pal had a fancy lemon tart, Colette the moelleux of chocolate and I the Baba with vanilla/passion flavored rum, all “so what.”

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine, no bottled water, but 3 coffees, was 161.10€ for 3 or 107.40€ a couple.

Reviews of reviews: The week of April 2, 2018

Monday-Tuesday in A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinard gave 3/5 dots to Levain, 3, rue Aguesseau in Boulogne-Billancourt, closed Sundays and Mondays, 01.42.37.43.45, with a formula at 25 and menu at 38, a la carte up to 50 E for items such as a paleron of beef, confited veal and lemon cream; while Jerome Berger gave 4/5 to the previously mentioned Café lai’tcha in the 1st.

On Tuesday in Le Fooding, Aitor Alonso wrote up Terra, 21 rue des Gravilliers in the 3rd, 01.45.30.02.58, open evenings except Sundays and Mondays, running one 36-50 E for items such as daurade carpaccio, cod and a chocolate-bourbon tart.

Wednesday, Emmanuel Rubin in Figaroscope, reviewed his traditional five new restaurants, giving 5 places 2 hearts each:  Nous 4, 3, rue Beccaria in the 12th, 01.75.57.77.48, closed Sundays and Mondays with menus at 20 and 25 at lunch and 30, 37 and 65 E at dinner for items such as Jerusalem artichoke salad, merlu and caramelized bananas;  the South American Patchanka; the previously mentioned Chez Justine in the 11th; Rambo, 17, rue de Rambouillet in the 12th, 09.50.73.22.47, closed Saturday and Sundays with menus at 18 and 23 E for items such as barley and radishes, turkey and a financier with chocolate; and the bibimbap-oriented BAP in the 17th.  His Hache Menu reviewed the previously mentioned Pilgrim in the 15th.

The Dossier this week by Alice Boston and Colette Monsat rated Kouign-Amanns stating that the best was that at Cyril Lignac’s Patisserie.

Also on Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in Paris Update reviewed the previously reviewed Condesa in the 9th, judging it fit for royalty.

Thursday in L’Express Styles, Charles Patin O’Coohoon reviewed and awarded 3/4 to the previously mentioned Enfants du Marche in the 3rd.

Sunday, in the jdd, Aurelie Chaigneau gave 7/10 to the Japanese Okomusu in the 3rd; and Pointe du Grouin in the 9th and 6.5 to Le Dix-Huit in the 17th.  Also in the version femina they wrote of Mathieu Moity ‘s latest stage at Les Residents in the 17th and the previously mentioned and reviewed 14Paradis in the 10th.  In addition Julie Simon realized a page of neobistrots comprising: the previously mentioned Maison Maison in the 1st, Le Mermoz in the 8th, Capitaine in the 4th and Massasle in the 11th.

Coretta in the 17th: Beatriz Gonzalez keeps innovating with every meal.

First off, a disclaimer. The chef-owner, the brilliant Beatriz Gonzalez, and staff know us, but except for the Champagne offered and extra amuses, I don’t think the treatment of or food served to us was any different from the rest of the house.

Coretta, in the 17th, next to Dr. MLK, Jr Park, has been on our "Sunday To Go" list for quite a while and we were hosting a dear friend from the 14th, so it seemed a logical choice.

As I implied, they started us off with Champagne, a cream amuse and then another of thick raw green asparagus slices with spicy sauces and herbs and flowers.

All of us were inclined to have the langoustines, palourdes, pickled sliced veggies and butternut with a lemon grass sauce.  A more inventive dish I cannot imagine.

Then Colette and our friend had the monkfish and I had what I always have, the sweetbreads, slightly undercooked inside and crispy outside with more asparagus.

To finish up we shared the divine brioche with ice cream and caramel sauce.

Our bill, with a bottle of Evian, 3 champagnes, a bottle and glass of red wine and 3 coffees, was 187€ for three which translates to 124.66€ I think.

Pirouette in the 1st: it cannot get any better, can it? I think so. Francois-Xavier Ferrol is the tops.

 

Colette and I went back to Pirouette today with one of our most trustworthy eating friends in town and were treated like royalty.

Champagne and an amuse bouche of Jerusalem artichoke with mushrooms greeted us.

Then we had two new (on their menu) items, spicy sea urchins, called sea chestnuts with chorizo and truffled chicken and Roscoff onions carbonera with a parmentiere sauce.-outstanding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains, among us, we had a huge chunk of spring lamb with algae juice, a rable of rabbit with gingered red cabbage and a ring of eel (unpictured) with parsley "sponge" and garlic - again all over the top.

Our desserts were a lime, meringue fluff and chocolate three ways.

The mignardises also registered as hits, canneles and jelly squares.

Our bill, for three, with their water, a bottle and glass of wine and three coffees, was 189€ for three or 126€ a couple.

L’Arcane in the 18th: how does he do it? Simply amazing food at reasonable prices.

I do not know how Laurent Magnin keeps rolling out these astonishing dishes and his wife Sophie Keller keeps on serving them with warmth, charm and grace.  They are simply amazing.

We went again today with a Franco-American friend couple and all ordered the supposed 3 course little dejeuner, one can only imagine what the big one would look like.

From clams (razor) to chocolate

Daurade to divine morels　

Pineapple to pears and

Ginger to glorious creams.

Our bill with their water, 2 bottles of Les Darons and 4 coffees, was 126€ a couple. 　My oh my.

My only concern: they’ll be tempted to move downtown, a serious loss for the 18th.

 

 

L’Empreinte in Lille: Great desserts along with architecture, history and slag heaps.

The most frequent question I’m asked is “where do you find these places?”  The answer is not so simple.  Sometimes, it’s a crazy friend on a motorcycle who passed an interesting looking new restaurant, sometimes a blogger’s side swipe comment, and sometimes it’s buzz, tomtoms or something in the air. And why go out of Paris when it’s so rich in new restaurant openings?

6.0 L'Empreinte in Lille (Lampersart) was the latter and I felt it was time to get out of Dodge.  So off to Lille, which since I summered as a student in nearby, has schred its grey, dank, and slag heap image and become a hopping place.  The restaurant is in a site, once a bar near the Hippodrome, that’s gone through many incarnations and now has one of the coolest designs possible. 

The lunch menu came in a cool leather thing and was 31€ for three dishes.  The three amuses were tantalizing, with a spicy piece of cauliflower, a shaved beet rondelle and a cheddar “cigarette.”  The bread and butter were exceptional. Then we had very tiny palourdes with celeriac and some intense purees followed by paleron of veal with carrots at least 3-4 ways.

Then the desserts, the highlight of the meal - poire de terre, mint, lime, sorbet and aged prune with a chocolate beignet on charcoal.  Weird sounding, eh? But terrific.

The bill, with house water, 2 bottles of wine and 3 coffees, was 114.50€ a couple.  The decibel level was pretty high, 87.6 dB.

Go?  Well, ahhh,ummm, when you add in the transportation costs 254€ a couple is out of my league.

The Table d’Eugene: the superb restaurant that started it all in the 18th.

Pre: when we first started looking for a pied a terre in Paris, people looked askance when we mentioned the 18th.  Nice markets, a bit too vivant and touristy but food wise, there was no there, there.

The Table D’Eugene was really the first serious food place to open within walking distance of our flat and popped to mind yesterday after I’d spent a horrible afternoon busing back from the 5th caught up in this seemingly endless strike.  To cut to the chase, now, decades later, it is as friendly, warm and lovely as when it opened.

Our amuse was a multi-flavored croquette/cromesqui that truly melted in our mouths followed by complex presentations of green asparagus and noirmoutier potatoes, salmon and teeny tiny coques.

Our mains were the crispy skinned merlan, the fish of the day and perfectly cooked pintade with new peas in a spicy sauce with terrific bread rolls.

We ended up sharing a sable of chocolate, nuts and coffee ice.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine, their water and 3 coffees, was 195.00€ for three, thus 130€ a couple.