John Talbott's Paris

La Maison de l'Amerique Latine in the 7th: Thoroughly delightful and in Charcot's old digs.

Pre: A couple of months ago a psychiatrist/psychoanalyst/historian pal asked me where he should take his bride for a "big" anniversary (she's French, they summer in Normandy, they're asking me?) so I say "La Maison de l'Amerique Lantine, don't worry about the name, it's not anything but French-French food."  Spoiler: there are subconscious devils dwelling in our psyche.

La Maison de l'Amerique Lantine, 217 blvd St-Germain in the 7th (Metro: Solferino), 01.49.54.75.00, remains one of the greatest places to go for a celebration, or just a fine meal.  With its decor, nappery and gorgeous garden it hits all the high spots.  A few days ago, wonderful friends asked where we should go to lunch - La Maison de l'Amerique Lantine, I suggested, "Right" they replied.  And right it was.

They started us off with the most wonderful (am I using that description too much? Too bad) soup of creamy, curried squash, followed by eggs with mushrooms of Paris and a weirdly colored but great tasting piece of cooked but cold salmon.

For main dishes we had the daurade, seche and 7 hour lamb with rich sauces all, yum!

For desserts we had a stack of cheese topped with something and caramel moelleux with ice cream that was extra special.  

Our bill, ah, well, ah, with two bottles of red and two glasses of white and two calvas and three coffees our bill was picked up by our friends who insisted that Southern hospitality over-ruled Yankee aggression.  I put up minimal resistance.

"Charcot" OK.  After he caught Colette looking out the window a couple of years ago, the maitre d asked if we'd like to see the garden while it was not set up for dining.  We said "Sure," sure that he'd just let us wander around.  Unh unh!  He took us outside and proudly explained that the main house was that of the famous French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, describer of the modern neurological exam, elaborator of 15 or 16 syndromes, populariser of hypnosis, and mentor of Sigmund Freud who named a son after him, and the two houses beside it added later.  Who knew?  I should have, since the journal I now edit, the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, published one of Charcot's last articles.

Caius in the 17th: Delicious lunch and excellent service.

Caius in the 17th is a place I revisited a few weeks ago after a makeover and loved it.  So it was a natural to go back when Colette was back in town.

She started with a soup of butternut, chestnuts and scallops and I had creamy fegola sarda (Sardinian pasta) with great coques, what a beginning!

Then Colette had a fine piece of rouget with orange sections and an orange tasting sauce while I had a rarity on a “French” menu, cabbage stuffed with sausage, both delicious.

Finally, she had excellent poached apples and I had their fine chocolate mousse.

Our bill with a bottle of wine and two coffees (with childhood candies) and great bread, was 127€

Fusain in the 18th: Lafayette we are here.

Fusain in the 18th, yes on the tourist golden alley between Pigalle and Caulincourt, where the Rue Lepic boasts some of the best food shopping destinations in the city, there’s been nary a great restaurant since le Miroir went downhill, so to speak.  But Fusain has saved the day.  Run by two pleasingly thin and very welcoming front folks, one redhaired and one blond, backed up by an excellent kitchen team (one man and one woman).  The restaurant, with about  20 seats, was chock a block full with French speaking Yankees in abundance. While the lunch “menu” of butternut soup and canette is a steal at 15€, Colette and I ordered off the carte, spoiler alert, at not much more.

I started off with 5 oysters which I dreamt about last night, then moved on to noisettes of biche with a purée of parsnips and Colette had 4 meltinyourmouth scallops with a Jerusalem artichoke purée followed by one hellova millefeuille of hazelnuts, creme and caramel, recommended by our host.

Our bill, with a half-bottle of equally well-recommended bio Merlot and a glass of white wine with two coffees (offered), our bill was 67.40€.  What a delightful way to begin Colette's stay in Paris.

Reviews of reviews: The week of November 12th, 2018

Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinard rereviewed La Pascade, same coordinates, because Bruno Doucet has taken over its management from Alexandre Bourdas; and Jerome Berger rereviewed Gaya in its new address, the ex-La Ferme Saint-Simon site.

Tuesday in Le Fooding, they announced their annual awards, honoring the following ones in Paris: Le Rigmarole, Sauvage, Le Cadoret, Deviant, Cafe du Coin, Racines, Le Servan, Double Dragon, Panache, Cravan.

Wednesday, in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed his traditional 5 new restaurants, giving 3 hearts to Variations, 15, Rue Trousseau in the 11th, (Metro: Ledru-Rollin), 01.70.69.25.41, closed Sundays and Mondays, where for 19 and 25 at lunch and 60€ at dinner, one dines on items such as crab with seaweed, venison and chocolate.  Garnering 1 heart only were Canard Street in the 2nd, the cave-epicerie Origines in St Germain en Laye, Les Chartons in the 3rd and the Le Post Paradis in the 10th.  His Hache Menu dealt with the world-food Beef Bar in the 8th where he says to go if you warn your bank in advance.

The Dossier by the food team of Colette Monsat, Alice Bosio and Hugo de Saint Phalle, this week covered the best roast chicken places in Paris and included: Le Coq Rico, Lazaro, l’AmuLouis, Chez Flottes, Les Provinces, La Rotisserie d’Argent, Atelier Maitre-Albert, Poule de Luxe, Relais Plaza, Le Select and the others: Bien Ficele, Jeanne A. & Le Pere Claude.

Also Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in Paris Update, related her disappointment in the up-pricing of her and her guests meals at Baieta.

Thursday in L’Express Styles, they reviewed the previously mentioned Balls in the 11th and L’Invitee in the 5th.

Review of reviews: The week of November 5th, 2018

Monday-Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Alexis Chenu reviewed places that serve food, drink, dance, etc: Chez Oim, Roxo au Bains, Frou Frou and Edern.

Tuesday, in Le Fooding, Victoire Vollot covered Faggio Salumeria.

Wednesday in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed his usual 5 restaurants, awarding 3/5 hearts to the well known Gaya by Pierre Gagnaire, which moved to 6. Rue Saint-Simon.  Then he gave 2 hearts to the previously mentioned Bistrot Brune in the 10^th and the Middle Eastern Saul’s in the 9^th.  Getting one apiece were the crepes-centered Cantine Bretonne in the 19^th and the brunch oriented Café Mimosa in the 9^th.  His Hache Menu discussed Alleno’s new super sushi place on the ground floor of the well known Ledoyen in the 8^th.

Also Alice Bosio, Colette Monsat and Hugo de Saint Phalle’s Dossier rounded up all the usual suspects along the Rue de Bretagne: Pierre Herme, Bellota Bellota, Jean Paul Hevin, Scoop Me Cookie, Café Charlot, Les Enfants du Marche, Marche des Enfants Rouges, Araku, Iovines, Chez Omar, Bontemps, Mmmozza and soon – Laduree & Maison Verot.

Thursday, in L’Express Styles, Francois-Regis Gaudry reviewed and gave 2/4 to the previously mentioned Train Bleu in the 12^th.

Le Rougemont in the 9th: Hopping, Loud, Young, The essence of a modern bistrot.

7.1 Le Rougemont, 10, rue de Rougemont in the 9th, 01.55.32.02.39, (Metro: Bonne Nouvelle/Grands Boulevards), closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, is one of those places on my famous “list” that keeps popping up but never breaks the surface of the pond until today.  What have I been missing?

I entered at 12:30 and there were but a few tables occupied - within minutes the place was jam-packed and they were turning folks away, Wow, what’s going down here?

Before my pal arrived they served me one, then a second plate of terrifically spicy charcuterie and decent bread.

The place has a 16€ entree-plat 2-2 formule that clearly sings to all the 20-30 year olds working in the nabe and to my blogger friend who had the Jerusalem artichoke soup on it, but also a much huger carte with more choices at very reasonable prices (I ordered terrific spicy cepes with an egg and strings of pancetta for 10€, much in contrast to the 40€ I paid but a few days ago.)

Then we both had the wild boar stew, which was very good but should have sat on a purée rather than pasta - why is everyone serving pasta? - its so unnecessary.  Btw, after serving each dish they dribbled a few drops of EVOO on each which was a nice touch.

For dessert we settled on a Paris-Brest that was as good as they get.

Our bill, with a bottle of supremely drinkable Petite Syrah, and one coffee, was 80.50€.  Db’s, oh oh, here’s the bad news, from 82.8-90 dB, that’s a lawnmower or jet engine, deafening for two old farts trying to talk.

Go?  If I can convince Colette we don’t need to talk, yes.

Nous 4 in the 12th: Boiled duck leg? Who ever heard of such a thing? Yuck!

3.0 Nous 4, 3 rue Beccaria in the 12th, 01.75.57.77.48, closed Sundays and Mondays (Metro: Gare de Lyon) is a place I’ve read about that sounded like it had “innovative chef’s cooking” and when my great friend/pal/colleague who knows more about cuisine than Buddha couldn’t come up with anything more interesting, I suggested Nous 4.  Yie, yie, yie!

I entered a bit earlier than she, so had a Birthday celebratory glass of quite drinkable white wine.  So far so good.  Then she arrived and after perusal of the chalkboard, we both settled on having a poached egg on lentils that was pretty good although she suggested it would be better with two eggs.  Ok.

She, having authored and won awards for wine books, chose the wine, which she deemed correctly too warm.  The waitguy immediately surrounded it with a really cool looking cooler truc.  Ok.

Then the trouble got worse.  As she began eating her daurade, she started telling me about a fresh fish caught off Brittany she cooked and fresh eel she’d recently eaten and you don’t need to be a psychoanalyst to figure out what she was having was not up to those, plus her fish was on a bed of soggy chopped endives swimming in water.  To make matters worse, my civet de canette had seemingly been “stewed” in water as well and the paparadelles it sat on were pathetic.

For dessert they served us each a half a toasted banana with - “are these raisins burned?” and nuts.  She ate one bite and left it.

Our bill, which she made me doublecheck, I suspect because she felt cheated at any price, with a bottle (of correctly named Antidote) and glass of wine and two coffees was 83€.  Db’s were 71.2

Go?  If this is one of Gault/Millau’s young talents, Buddha forbid trying the others.

Goguette in the 11th: “John, what makes this place so special in the already astonishing 11th?”

 6.8 Goguette, 108, rue Amelot in the 11th, 09.54.74.16.36, closed Sundays, Saturday and Monday lunch (Metro: Filles du Calvaire) has been open 3 weeks and is already packed, why?  “Why John?  How does it differ from all the other exciting new places opening every day in the 11th? And why aren’t these sort of places opening in the center city?, why John?”

Ok.  Breaking with my usual reviews I’ll put out some thoughts.

First though, I have to admit that the 11th is where food is happening in Paris.  Oh sure, you’ve got Ducasse opening in a boat on the Seine, Gagnaire moving Gaya 4 blocks away, Alleno all over the place, etc., but for the cuisine d’auteurs, it’s the 11th.

Just in 2018, we’ve had the outstanding Cafe du Coin, another two chefs at Fulgurances, Automne, Buffet, Maison Brequet, Grive, Massale, aux Bons Crus, Pianovins, Petit Panisse, Reine Mer, 6 Paul Bert recheffed, Robert, Yard renewed, Auberge P-C, recheffed, Korus, Bien Ficele and Beau Marche - tell me what other area has experienced such an influx of talent? 

And now, Goguette.

So why is it different?

1. So welcoming
2. Decor without pretension
3. Wine list wide and at all price points
4. Interesting carte with 2 dishes @ 18 and 3 @ 23€
5. Hustling, attentive service
6. Locals packing it who love it
7. Great food
8. Fantastic bread
9. And a nice Calvados to end it (offered).

My friend, the ex-Reuters journalist started off having the passatelli soup while I had a most pleasant terrine of pig with pickles and pickled cauliflower.

Then he had a nice piece of cod with smoked Jerusalem artichoke and pumpkin while I luxuriated in a slice of superb canette with corn (why?) and kale (double why?).

To end, we shared an incredible chocolate with savory and green tea leaves.

With a bottle and glass of wine and two coffees, our bill was 80€.  Db’s = 84.2 sometimes intrusive.

Go?  Certainly.

Le Beau Marche in the 11th: Best pleurottes (6.5/10) and worst service (-1) ever.

5.5 Le Beau Marché, 90 boulevard Beaumarchais (not to be confused with Le Beaumarchais, 21 boulevard Beaumarchais) in the 11th, 09.83.60.41.26, closed Sundays and Mondays, (Metro: St Sebastien Froissart) is a place my dining companion had had a very nice post cinema meal at a while back.  It looks like a hundred other places along this street, “happyhours,” “made it in house food,” “2 dishes 19€, 3 = 22€.”  I was a bit puzzled when no one helped me negotiate the heavy metal door or took my coat or cane, but I let it slide.

When my friend arrived we both settled on dishes of their sautéed pleurottes, which may have been the best I’ve ever had.  But it took multiple waves of both our hands to get bread, salt, the music turned down and any sense of attentiveness.  And she’s a local, living/working but a few blocks away - not some visitor from space with a Yankees cap.

Then she had the salmon trout on a bed of cooked leeks, that she enjoyed very much and I had a slice of gigot of lamb that looked like it had been sliced while rare but either kept too long under the heat lamp or quickly tossed on the plancha, because its exterior was overcooked.  The broad beans and green beans and roasted garlic underneath, however, were perfect.

At this point she realized she would be late for an appointment at her office and started asking for some coffee with milk and the check, several times.  She finally got our coffees, but no milk or sugar or check, so she tossed some bills on the table and ran off.

I sat finishing my wine and coffee and suddenly two guys appeared, one with a toque and the other in a black apron and the service improved dramatically.

Our bill, with a bottle of wine and two coffees but no desserts because it was too late, was 65€.

Go?  Yikes, no.  Plus the American music was intrusive at 80 some decibels.

To continue the silliness of the day, as I was sitting at the bus stop, I stared at the store's name across the street (apologies to stealing David Jaggard's idea in C'est Ironique.)

Caius in the 17th: very pretty, terrific service, not bad food either.

6.6 Caius, 6 rue d’Armaille in the 17th, 01.42.27.19.20, closed weekends (Metro: Ternes) is a place I last visited over a decade ago although I loved its offshoot Zinc Caius afterwards and when a trusted source reported the mothership had a makeover, it prompted a repeat. It is truly a stunning setting and the staff were super-helpful and the carte was most appealing with two seasonal/game dishes “I had to have.”

After an amuse of cooling dill creme fraiche on very fine bread, my friend had the coques and I a large portion of cepes sautéed with fresh walnuts.  Delish.

Then she had a most unusual combo of veal, sort of hache, with encornets (it worked fine) and I had two rolls of chevreuil in a rich wine sauce with a purée.

We finished by splitting (actually instead of giving us two spoons, they gave us two dishes) an order of chocolate mousse.  Excellent!  That's obviously not pictured, instead its a huge tin can full of candy from our childhood.

Our bill, with a bottle of wine and two coffees, was 143€ Including 27€ supplements for my fall indulgences.  Db’s not even measurable.

Go?  It’s a fine place which unfortunately is a trek for me, but not for most.