John Talbott's Paris

John's Tops in 2019

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.

8.2 L'Office, Anona

8.1 ERH, Sadarnac

8.0 Le Cellier, Fleur de Pave

7.9 Bouillon 47, Marcore, Bicyclette

7.8 Rooster, Picotte, Petit Boutary

7.7 St Sebastien, Vermillion, Willette, Fabrique de Boutons

7.6 Chameleon

7.5 Substance, Democratie

7.3 Joia, Clown Bar

7.2 Oyster Club

7.1 Nord Nord

7.0 Fulgurances, Yoshinori

8.2 L'Office, Anona

8.1 ERH, Sadarnac

8.0 Le Cellier, Fleur de Pave

7.9 Bouillon 47, Marcore, Bicyclette

7.8 Rooster, Picotte, Petit Boutary

7.7 St Sebastien, Vermillion, Willette, Fabrique de Boutons

7.6 Chameleon

7.5 Substance, Democratie

7.3 Joia, Clown Bar

7.2 Oyster Club

7.1 Nord Nord

7.0 Fulgurances, Yoshinori

8.1 ERH, Sadarnac

8.0 Le Cellier, Fleur de Pave

7.9 Bouillon 47, Marcore, Bicyclette

7.8 Rooster, Picotte, Petit Boutary

7.7 St Sebastien, Vermillion, Willette, Fabrique de Boutons

7.6 Chameleon

7.5 Substance, Democratie

7.3 Joia, Clown Bar

7.2 Oyster Club

7.1 Nord Nord

7.0 Fulgurances, Yoshinori

Anona in the 17th: The best meal of the summer?

Anona, 80 Blvd des Batignolles in the 17th, 01.84.79.01.15, closed Sunday and Monday (Metro: Rome) opened a bit back and for some reason I put off going until today.  Chef Thibaut Spiwack has landed in this lovely setting and promises to serve up eco-gastronomic food, all well-sourced and well-prepared.  It's another one of those places where descriptions of the dishes are woefully inadequate, so again let me roll out the photos:

The bread and butter deserve mention as do the amuses of rice crackers and potato, celery and nuts.  For starters we had rolled-up rabbit together with a hollow zucchini stuffed with with rabbit forcemeat and  the other first included potatoes, celery and olives.  Mains were merlu on top of mushrooms cooked with a Japanese-type clementine covered with smoked potato and a poitrine of veal with carrots raw and cooked 3-4 ways.  My delicious dessert from the chariot consisted of layers of Breton gavotte stuffed with chopped mango and its mousse; our Costa Rican coffee came with "cookies."  a memorable lunch!

Our bill with a bottle of wine was 124 E; decibels = 70's average.

Go?  Absolutely fantastic.

La Democratie in the 7th: A clever cool cuisine as if in the country.

La Democratie in the 7th was a terrific choice to eat at a couple of months ago but today the garden was in full swing and it was perfect.

We started out with what were described as cold vegetable soups but tasted all the world to me like perfectly spiced gazpacho, sliced cooked but chilled poulpe (not shown but in my photos of the last visit) and tomato and mozzarella. We moved on to a perfectly sourced and cooked bar and a shrimp tartare with a huge side dish of assorted summer vegetables.  Finally we shared a millefeuille from Hugo & Victor next door and a chocolate mousse made with Paul Bocuse's recipe (it said and who am I to dispute that).

Our bill, with that bottle of nicely chilled wine, a Chateldon and 3 coffees, was 168 or 112 E a couple.

 

Bicyclette in the 19th: A great team in tandem.

 

Bicyclette in the 19th was a great little place I fell upon a while back and is totally full of young local folk. The host is quite proud of his wines and he encouraged me to photo the wine chalkboard since distance vision was not so good. 

For firsts we had the bokchoi with a lovely cool sesame sauce and slices of pressed boudin noir with salad.

Then the table split between the roast vegetables with wild rice and perfect egg and 7 hour lamb with cauliflower and chickpeas.

Desserts were a matcha cake and mousse of fromage blanc which Colette decided really went best together, although then what does one do with the roast apricot?

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine and three coffees, was 90 or 60 E a couple.

Le Fleur de Pavé, in the 2nd: Asafumi Yamashita is Sylvain Sendra's co-pilot here.

Pre's: Well so many pre's: Sylvain Sendra of Temps Au Temps and Itineraires fame is back from a 2-year exploration of cuisine worldwide, his new restaurant is beautiful with touches of his travels including a variety of serving bowls and plates that were stunning. His vegetable supplier is the incredible Asafumi Yamashita whom we spent much of a day with 9 years ago - https://johntalbottsparis.typepad.com/john_talbotts_paris/2010/07/asafumi-tamashita-and-knowing-where-your-food-is-from.html

8.0 Fleur de Pavé, 5 rue Paul Lelong in the 2nd, 01.40.26.38.87, closed Sundays and Mondays (Metro: Bourse) has been a long time coming, but it was well worth the wait.  For his 45 E supposedly 4-course lunch he has teamed up with master vegetable grower Yamashita and the results are simply dazzling:

My goodness: everything from shaved and pureed cauliflower to caviar d'aubergines, from daikon, carrots, cucumber and parmesan to 2 types of basil on top of beets and other root vegetables with a kicky curry sauce to edamame and petit pois with chives to cheese (goat, St Nectaire & comte) with three condiments and desserts, ices and mignardises.  Phew!  AND the bread and olive oil were wonderful.  

The chef and his sommelier made sure we didn't go thirsty and offered us generous pours of champagne and a Loire naturally bubbly desert wine as well as a very reasonably priced Languedoc.- all out of Zalto glasses.

With the wine, their filtered water and 2 coffees, our bill was 182 or 121.32 E a couple.  dB's were so low I didn't measure them.

Go? If you're willing to put yourself in the chef and his co-pilot's very competent hands at a very reasonable price, you bet.  If you insist on ordering a la carte, you're on your own.

Les Fables de la Fontaine in the 7th: Slowest dish delivery; best dessert; something is missing.

Les Fables de la Fontaine in the 7th was, once upon a time, a terrific place with reasonable prices and no frigging Michelin Star.  Now it's the opposite.  Why did I go after my disastrous meal about a year ago?  Largely because I kept reading glowing reviews by people I usually trust.  No more!

Colette started with ceviche with onion and raspberries; I had weird tasting crab with sweet jelly and seeds; then we both had merlu with apricots and what were described in French as morels and English as chanterelles but so lacking in flavor one had to pile on the salt (just like last year); and after the world's longest wait between courses, she had the rice pudding souffle of her life and I had a weird tasting meringue cup filled with pineapple and nuts.

With a bottle of wine and 4 supplements as well as 2 coffees (superb bread and butter), our bill was 153 E.

Lesson learned: Trust yourself not 'trusted friends."

Vava in the 18th: You remember when one "off" dish spoils the meal? Yup.

Vava in the 18th has been a trustworthy lunch place for us since it opened and when we went on a Sunday, despite the blockage of streets and menu saying "brunch" we were heartened when our wait-guy said "You've not been here on Sunday, right?"  "And it's not really 'brunch' right?".  "Right." For 28 E.

So off we go!  Firsts were a spectacular spicy remoulade (remoulade! I'm not kidding) and very tasty pieces of grilled mackerel on top of fennel and mango - yum!  Then the ladies had a very good bass with spring veggies and baby tomatoes and I had veal with mushrooms and potatoes; that's when the meal went South - over-cooked scraps of gristley veal, over-cooked mushrooms and over-cooked potatoes - nope!  For dessert we had calissons with orange, pain perdu and waffle slices with chocolate and strawberries - all OK, but nothing to write home about.

Our bill with a bottle and two glasses of wine and 2 coffees, was 130 E or 86.66 E a couple.

Vermillion in the 9th: Best price-quality Paris meal of 2019?

Vermillion in the 9th is a place that three of us liked so much last month we returned today, with Colette in tow.  On spying the chalkboard, we all said "ceviche of chinchard, oh yes, 90°F., oh yes."  Oh no, only thing they didn't have.

But, in the end it didn't matter.  We started off with a cool and cooling artichoke dip with cumin and coriander and a cold avocado soup with cucumber and mint; pivoted to the perfectly cooked cod with a ratatouille of olives, tomatoes and celery as well as beef tataki ans sweet potato puree; and finished with a beurre sale chocolate cake (that everyone loved) and homemade granola (unpictured that everyone hated).

Our bill, with a bottle of wine and 3 cans of Perrier plus 3 coffees, was 124.50 E or 62.25 E a couple. 

L'Office in the 9th: Once again, good grub with wonderful herbs and spices.

L'Office in the 9th may have turned over its owner, chef and waitress but it's kept its charm, quality and allure.

We were eating with the friend from Paris I've known the longest - a connection of 66 years - wow!  We started with chilled  langoustines in tomato water jelly, gazpacho the way I like it - smooth but with chopped vegetables - and a tartare of cooling maigre with just the right amount of ooompf.  For mains, the ladies had 3 slices of wild bass with spinach in pasta cups and I had what I had before - a filet of beef wrapped Wellington-styles with forcemeat.  We finished up with what they call cheesecake but I call passion-mango mousse, strawberries and their sauce and three mini-babas with rum and whipped cream.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of Beaujolais and 3 coffees, was 198.80 or 132.52 E a couple.

Aux Crus de Bourgogne in the 2nd: In my head I'd written the subtitle ahead of time - "Trad food, what a......."

Pre 1: I'd read about Aux Crus de Bourgogne reopening and put it on my list to try, sometime, so when a blogger friend suggested she'd heard good things, I jumped at the offer to go with her.

Pre 2: Full disclosure: I've ticked the "Update" box because I have been here, but so many years ago in the last century that I have no memory of it, good or bad; and I realize it's gone through several renovations and owners, the latest being the gang who run Les Marches below the Palais de Tokyo which I love and Aux Bons Crus, which served serviceable "Old Boy, Old School" food to me about a year ago,

5.0 Aux Crus de Bourgogne, 3, rue Bachaumont in the 2nd and its carte looked pretty much like it did a century ago or whenever I was here last - with the exception that we were greeted a waiter who remembered my friend from years ago who wound up after her meal folding napkins, etc., late at night.

We started off with a half melon with ham, ample slice of foie gras and large salad frisee with terrific big chunks of lard.  So far so good.

Then Colette had a second entree, haricots with sliced mushrooms, whose green beans she found pathetic; our friend had quenelles  that she liked but I didn't take a shine to, and I had the thinnest slice of calf's liver possible, which thus was impossible to cook "bleu" as ordered.  Plus where were the girolles I ordered?

They appear after I'm almost done, smothered in a sauce of an undefinable variety; along with simply awful fries, even by Paris standards.

Then the desserts: Ile flottante, profiteroles and chocolate mousse; all ok, no more, except for crispy madeleines.

The wine was exactly what we had yesterday, which I ordered because Colette liked it,but when we ordered second glasses, the ladies turned up their noses and said "this is not the same."  No charge.  The bill, with that bottle and three coffees, was 153 E or 102 E a couple.

Return?: Nope, I've got better things to do.

5.0 Aux Crus de Bourgogne, 3, rue Bachaumont in the 2nd and its carte looked pretty much like it did a century ago or whenever I was here last - with the exception that we were greeted a waiter who remembered my friend from years ago who wound up after her meal folding napkins, etc., late at night.

We started off with a half melon with ham, ample slice of foie gras and large salad frisee with terrific big chunks of lard.  So far so good.

Then Colette had a second entree, haricots with sliced mushrooms, whose green beans she found pathetic; our friend had quenelles  that she liked but I didn't take a shine to, and I had the thinnest slice of calf's liver possible, which thus was impossible to cook "bleu" as ordered.  Plus where were the girolles I ordered?

They appear after I'm almost done, smothered in a sauce of an undefinable variety; along with simply awful fries, even by Paris standards.

Then the desserts: Ile flottante, profiteroles and chocolate mousse; all ok, no more, except for crispy madeleines.

The wine was exactly what we had yesterday, which I ordered because Colette liked it,but when we ordered second glasses, the ladies turned up their noses and said "this is not the same."  No charge.  The bill, with that bottle and three coffees, was 153 E or 102 E a couple.

Return?: Nope, I've got better things to do.

5.0 Aux Crus de Bourgogne, 3, rue Bachaumont in the 2nd and its carte looked pretty much like it did a century ago or whenever I was here last - with the exception that we were greeted a waiter who remembered my friend from years ago who wound up after her meal folding napkins, etc., late at night.

We started off with a half melon with ham, ample slice of foie gras and large salad frisee with terrific big chunks of lard.  So far so good.

Then Colette had a second entree, haricots with sliced mushrooms, whose green beans she found pathetic; our friend had quenelles  that she liked but I didn't take a shine to, and I had the thinnest slice of calf's liver possible, which thus was impossible to cook "bleu" as ordered.  Plus where were the girolles I ordered?

They appear after I'm almost done, smothered in a sauce of an undefinable variety; along with simply awful fries, even by Paris standards.

Then the desserts: Ile flottante, profiteroles and chocolate mousse; all ok, no more, except for crispy madeleines.

The wine was exactly what we had yesterday, which I ordered because Colette liked it,but when we ordered second glasses, the ladies turned up their noses and said "this is not the same."  No charge.  The bill, with that bottle and three coffees, was 153 E or 102 E a couple.

Return?: Nope, I've got better things to do.