John Talbott's Paris

Le MaZenay in the 3rd: Spectacular, esp. desserts, although I shouldn’t be surprised after several visits.

Le MaZenay in the 3rd is a delightful experience from start to finish.  Sure, their lunch “menu” is 25€ for three courses, which is easy on the wallet, but the “zen” in MaZenay is evident in chef Denis Groison’s cooking and presentations.

We went with the French friend we’ve known the longest here (she and several of her other French friends painted the third floor in our West Side brownstone 50 years ago in trade for camping out a while shortly after I’d returned from Viet Nam.)

Anyway, our friend from the 20th, started out with the “menu” entree, a perfect egg with sliced coppa and Jerusalem artichokes in their sauce, a terrific beginning.

Then she had the sauvage escargots, Colette had farm chicken with a tarragon sauce and I reveled in a paleron of beef with divine baby onions.  My my!

For dessert, the perfect ending to any meal here, we had the millefeuille of the day, a moelleux of chocolate and a crusty dessert of pecans and other nuts.

Our bill, with a bottle and pot of wine and three coffees, was 151.50 or 101.50€ a couple.

Bistrot du Maquis in the 18th: Why can't we have this level and variety of cooking in America?

Le Bistrot du Maquis in the 18th is on so many borders of Montmartre: between that of the tourists and plain folks, between the upper and lower hill, and between schlock and sheen.  Entering the world of Qin and André Le Letty, ex of the Tour d'Argent, is to enter what Sebastien Demorand coined in 2004 as the world of Bistronomie; yes a bistrot but a gastronomic one.

Examples: My French colleague-friend, abetted by me, started off with a fish tartare, moved to veal kidneys and ended with a creme brulee while I devoted myself mainly to a civet de lievre with onions.  OK.  Classic but contemporary; beautifully sourced and cooked and served. I feel truly fortunate to live near places like this that day in and day out demonstrate the melding of tradition and innovation.

Our bill (excepting 2 coffees which were offered by the house and 2 digestifs sent over by a fellow Viet Namese restaurateur; Lan Groison of Le MaZenay) with a bottle and glass of wine, was 97.00 E.

Le Bistrot de Madeleine in the 9th: A true bistro du coin/quartier.

Le Bistrot de Madeleine on the Avenue Trudaine in the 9th has been a great addition to our neighborhood and prides itself on its wine-list, exemplified by the pseudo-subway map of all the wine regions in France posted between the kitchen and bathroom.

On the "Partiger" list on the front of the menu was a jamon de boeuf, which I sort of flipped past, but our friend said "I'd be curious what it's like, are you willing to try it?" and I too was interested.  It was delicious and with their superb bread, hit the spot.

We then proceeded to our mains: a lovely stewed knuckle of lamb, confited salmon with mussels and faux-filets with potato churros, all first rate.

For desserts we shared a pear concoction and a clementine one; both better than fine.

Our bill, with a bottle of terrific dynamic Roc & Lune, a bottle of Orezza and 3 coffees, was 190.70E or 95.35 E a couple for mighty fine chow on a Saturday when many such are shuttered.

Sellae in the 13th: "How do you find these places; we've never been here; this is superb."

Sellae in the 13th, has more than outdone its sibling Mensae on the Right Bank, and now stands as one of our favorites no matter where.  The prices are also "right" with a three course "menu" at lunch at 36E.

For firsts we had astonishing raviolis with snails in a rich mushroom sauce with sliced raw mushrooms and a cream of potato/parmentier soup with lardons, dill and cilantro.

For mains we wavered between the bavette d'Aloyau and canette, both with vegetables and wound up sampling both.

Finally, we ran the table with their ile flottante, pears with chips of meringue and chocolate mousse, all simple but superb.

Our bill, with two bottles of Pinot Noir and one coffee, was 197.00 or 98.50 E a couple for a meal that was faultless.

L’Arcane in the 18th: How wonderful to have such a place nearby.

L’Arcane in the 18th is so reliably great that we had no hesitation in recommending it to 4 friends who asked to join us.  We ordered the 3 dish lunch which of course was double that:

 

 

 

 

- a seabass ceviche

- cod with passion, mango and other diced tropical fruit

- scallops for the one of us who doesn’t eat meat

- veal with a spicy sauce for the rest

- a cinnamon sorbet with pear and lemon

- a mango and other fruit soufflé 

Our bill, ah, once again, our friends, insisting my blogs and recs were instrumental in their successful stay in Paris, insisted on picking up the check.  I protested, but mildly.  Thanks.

 

Les Parigots in the 10th: Disappointing but cheap.

Les Parigots in the 10th is a place I'd been to a couple of times and my wife had vetted so when she suggested we eat near Republique, it seemed sensible.

The four of us ordered what seemed to me to be smart and diverse courses: a boeuf Bourguignon, chapon, beef tartare with frites and lamb shank.  The chapon de Bresse was way overcooked and dry; the fries with the beef were good but the lamb was not lamb but overthehill mutton, thus to me, awful.

For desserts we had: a Belle Helene pear, a lemon tart and a runny chocolate; all OK no better no worse.

Our bill was really really reasonable - with a bottle and glass of wine and 4 coffees it was 101.40 - Whoops - they forgot the desserts - thus 127.40 E or 63.70 E a couple - still quite cheap.  But because of the flat notes, its no longer on my list.

Le Train Bleu in the 12th: A better New Year's lamb I cannot imagine.

 

Le Train Bleu in the 12th in the Gare de Lyon met all the qualifications for a New Years' Day lunch, although we we warned there was a "special menu" today, but they would have the legs of lamb, which was all we needed to know.  We entered and were delighted that our friends had already ordered a Petit Chablis to herald 2019 and soon drank it with a lovely mousse of foie gras with spiced bread.

All 4 of us had the leg of lamb, cooked as little as possible, with garlic and a divine sauce, served as usual with a huge portion of potatoes.  For dessert we shared a baba and then had holiday-boxed mignardises and coffee.

Our bill with 3 bottles of wine and 2 coffees, was 313 E or 157 E a couple.