John Talbott's Paris

Candide in the 10th: A Le Fooding epitome: Fabulous servers, hip customers, farm to table, easy prices.

Pre: All the way to lunch I kept thinking of Bernstein and Hellman’s songs from the Boston version of Candide, wondering if lunch would be “glitter and be gay” (ironic for Lenny eh?), “the best of all possible worlds” or “make our garden grow” until I read their statement of purpose and realized the translation was either “innocent, candid, uncomplex” or a reference to the chef himself - Alessandro Candido. Aah ha.

6.1 Candide, 35 rue de Sambre et Meuse in the 10th, 01.83.87.99.93, (Metro: Colonel Fabian), closed Sundays and Mondays is located in the heart of Boboland and from the time I entered until I left every hipster-manque, some aging with pony-tails, others nursing toddlers, within miles, flooded in.  The menu is an ultra simple 2-3-2 but from the huge rotisseries you sense that to have anything but chicken would be folly.

And so I skipped a starter of pumpkin soup, despite its being Halloween, or a cabbage salad and went straight to said chicken, today prepared Cajun style, although you could’ha fooled me, with great crisp skin and blah potatoes and then a mousse of fromage frais with honey, which was quite decent. 

My bill, including 2 glasses of Italian wine, fine bread with Italian olive oil from chef Candido’s family and a coffee, was 34€ - thus 68€ a couple.

Go?  A tough question.  For me, it was a day I wanted to eat alone, with fun food, served by friendly folks, where I could kick back and enjoy simple stuff without pressure - but for the food cognoscenti, I dunno.

Contraste in the 8th: Elegant, suave, intriguing food, superb service.

7.0 Contraste, 18, rue d’Anjou in the 8th, (Metro: Madeleine) 01.42.65.08.36, closed weekends is the second restaurant of Stephane Manigold (after Substance) and is equally as impressive.  It is beautiful inside and the leather-aproned waitstaff is friendly, eager and helpful. It is pricey, but 35€ for two courses on the lunch menu and 39€ for three and wines start in the 40’s.

I debated ordering two courses on the interesting carte (the two chefs are from Brittany and Catalonia) but really liked the sound of the menu, which it turned out, my former website cohost, did as well.  After a couple of amuses, one amazing slice of marinated cuke with roquefort and presentation of delicious bread on a strip of cork bark, we had eggs from the farm and sea, colored with beets with smoked eel, topped with sliced poutargue - wow!  The main course, beef cheeks with carrots two ways, were less wowful after that beginning and a bit tough but fine.  Finally we had a complex dessert consisting of caramel, chocolate and peanuts and some mignardises.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine, bottled water (7€) and two coffees, was 152€.  Db’s = 80.3

Go?  For the 8th, amidst all the ‘wicheries, sushi joints, etc this is exciting and serious food.

Pouliche in the 10th: Invisible steps; no choice menu; cheap; pretty but slow ponies serving: "Maybe its their zeitgeist John."

Pre: I'd like to believe I come to new restaurants with an open mind but since this place was so hyped and touted as one of the great openings of the rentree along with Maison and Fleur de Pave, and the cheffe, Amandine Chaignot, so celebrated for her stints at the Raphael in Paris and Rosewood in London, I couldn't help but be influenced.

5.4 Pouliche (which one translation site cites as “My Little Pony”) 11, rue d’Enghein in the 10th, 01.45.89.07.56, open 7/7, Wednesday veggies, Sunday no brunch but family food (Metro: Chateau D’Eau) certainly identifies itself brightly on the outside but on the inside is all raw grey concrete, forcing my co-diner and I to trip over steps in the dining area, “oh well, she said, maybe that’s the zeitgeist.”

Then they gave us the the menus: starters to share, choice of entree among fish (sea bass but I couldn’t hear what it was because of the noise - "must be the zeitgeist"), meat (duck with risotto - ditto) or veggies, dessert.  Starters to share arrive: creamy soup, raw Brussels sprout salad and tiny mussels - we look at each other “maybe it’s the zeitgeist, let’s see if she can do better.”  Then we both had strips of overcooked duck on top of creamy risotto with mushrooms “ok, no more, no less.” Finally the dessert, a hazelnut cake with an ice, only half of which we could eat, BUT they offered to provide a Tupperware box to home it.

Our bill (which had to be paid at a stand-in-line stand, I guess “it’s the zeitgeist,” with a Badoit and lovely wine, chosen by my wine-food writer friend, plus two coffees was 92.50€.  Db’s were higher than the boo’s Trump got.

Go?  If you believe the other sure-to-be glowing reviews, go for the 28€ no choice lunch, “zeitgeist” and all.

Le Bougainville in the 2nd: “Bistro Liberation Front” HQ, Yankees* not apparent.

Pre: Six weeks ago, Aitor Alfonso in Le Fooding wrote “If the Bistro Liberation Front existed, this would be its headquarters.”  Wow!  After that, how can one not go?

6.0 Le Bougainville, 5 rue de la Banque in the 2nd, 01.42.60.05.19, closed Sundays and Monday nights (Metro: hummm, Bourse maybe) is the kind of place only an omnivore with a big appetite and 45 minutes to eat, presented not with a check written but the table number written on the paper placemat, would love.  I’m sure I and you have been by it a thousand times, it’s right next to the great wine store LeGrand on the rue de la Banque and in the Galerie Vivienne on the inside.  The decor, the staff, the carte, etc., are straight from 1950.  No froufrou here, just real food, homemade.  Even the toaster looks ancient.

I was in the Auvergnat mood, so I started off with herring and potatoes, what could be more classic?; then in homage to Jacques Chirac, their tete de veau with a fabulous gribiche sauce, which my surgical skills allowed me to dissect and eat the brains and meat, leaving aside the fat and gristle; and finish with a pot of chocolate mousse.

My bill with a carafe of red Pinot D’Alsace and a coffee was 45.40€.  Db’s = 78.6 not bad.  Nor the bread.

Go?  If you’ve never been to a real 1950 French bistro and you’re bunking downtown, I’d say, this is the place.  

*Yankees, for my generation of French folks, refers to the Yanks who flooded France in 1918 and 1944 and includes gays from Key West, farmers from Iowa and booksellers from Seattle.

RIWI in the 18th: what a difference a gracious hostess makes!

Pre: (1) I make great fun of my dear friend and fellow blogger Randy de Paris for insisting that we judge restaurants by the ”total experience” not just the food and (2) I ate at RIWI’s big sister, Les Tantes Jeanne, run by the Kurdish (you remember them, our “allies” we let the Russians, Turks and Syrians go after) chef Octave Kasakolu with Randy and JJ and we had such different experiences I rated it 4-5.5.  Well, back to the future, except for our spectacular hostess.

6.7 RIWI (which means fox in Kurdish), 40 rue Veron in the 18th, 01.44.85.21.80, open 7/7 from 8-1:30 AM, (Metro: Abbesses), opened recently and despite my mixed experience next door at Les Tantes Jeanne, I was game to try it, although hesitant also because it touts its cocktails.  My friend and I were very warmly greeted coming in out of the rain and more than nicely relieved of my cane and our parkas by the only woman in the place. 

My friend started with razor clams, which were not drowned in garlic olive oil but beautifully cooked in butter and I had a tuna tartare on a very nicely dressed fresh green salad.

Then he had a pork rib with a honey sauce while I had grilled mackerel - BUT we both really enjoyed the white beans that sat conveniently between us much better than our “standard” dishes.

We ended up sharing an absolutely superb Paris-Brest with a crispy crust to die for.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass (offered) of Saumur picked by my codiner, a wine guy and 2 coffees was 112.80€ with not much music/noise and better than ok bread.  

Then I called a car, when that guy cancelled, I called another company, he cancelled. At this point Madame, the hostess/wait lady turned Manager and English speaking CEO, taking charge and my iPhone and got me a G7. Whew!

Go?  Randy-buddy, you’re right, it is the “total experience” and the impression the take-charge lady here  made on me moved this restaurant’s place in the firmament of Montmartre places way up.

Les Climats under new chef Emmanuel Kouri: Pas mal, pas mal du tout.

Pre: I have been several times to Les Climats since it opened 6 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it so when I learned a new chef Emmanuel Kouri had taken over I was eager to see what gave.  However, an article by star reporter Emmanuel Rubin 2 weeks ago scared the bejesus out of me; 693E for 4 diners and the fact that 60% of his review dwelt with the Art Nouveau decor.

7.5 Les Climats, 41 rue de Lille, in the 7th, 01.58.62.10.08, closed Sunday and Monday, (Metro: Rue du Bac), appears the same as before, from voiturier to 3000 bottle Burgundy wine list and they have a very nice choice of dishes on their 49E lunch menu.  Both of us wanted the same thing so we went for it:

They started us off with foccacia and amuses, one of which was a Japanesy ravioli like savoury of salmon eggs, tapioca and a cream of cauliflower; then terrific bread and butter, not housemade but seemingly so; followed by sauteed cepes tops with raw sliced mushrooms of Paris on a perfect egg with a rich bouillon; a civet of biche with another rich but peppery sauce; terminating with a chintzy portion of cheeses, a complex dessert of ice cream, mandarines and squash of all things, and mignardises.

Our bill with a perfectly fine bottle of Epineuil, was 40 some Euros, no where near Rubin's 218E; was 152E a couple.  I didn't measure the decibels,having commented on them before, bu it got pretty noisy, and that from, as far as I could tell, all French patrons.

Go back?  As my fellow blogger said "this goes on my list for a festive dining spot," to which I would add, "and I've loved eating in the garden on nice days" 

Solstice in the 5th: Very pleasant but a bridge too far for we North Right Bankers.

Solstice in the 5th is a place I visited a month ago with a friend who lives and works nearby and it was a treat for us both.

Today there were 4 of us, all from way North of the Right Bank.  After the amuse of mullet ceviche with chervil and a wonderful offsetting puff, we had corn purée with fine corn soup over it and marinated trout, which somehow my camera missed.  The choices for main courses were either maigre or leg of lamb, both very pleasant.  For dessert we all ordered slices of mandarins with its mousse.

The restaurant is very attractive and we appreciated the fact no intrusive music intruded on our conversation.  Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine and 4 coffees, was 238€ or 119€ a couple.

Abri in the 10th: Kicked, deafened, credit refused, shoved out. Except for that Mrs. Lincoln.......

Pre: I ate at Abri twice after it opened in the Fall of 2012 and liked it enough to rate it a 7.2, but have no record of ever going  since then so when friends suggested we go today I was more than willing.

Abri in the 10th still has that misleading sandwich shop sign outside and by 12:30 was full of locals and Asians and us. Four courses are 30€ with a choice of plat between fish or meat.

They started us off with a salad of crab, fennel and saffron which was OK.  Then we had a purée of sweet potato with Earl Grey fluff that was so subtle I left most of it. The rest of the table then had cod which they said was good product, properly cooked, but in my book it was also just OK; I had magret de canard, which I’ve been eating for 66 years and never had such tough and inedible pieces.  Dessert was an absolutely forgettable clafoutis of mirabelles.

The food was bad enough, but what went on aside from that was even worse: the music was intrusive, one of the waitladies spoke so softly as to be ununderstandable, we were jammed in so tightly that the amorous couple sitting at the comptoir kicked me every time they smooched, which was often. The last straw: the restaurant’s credit card machine had been broken since yesterday and they kicked us out of the table at 2 PM.  Turning a table at a supposedly good restaurant in Paris?  This was a first.

Our bill with a bottle of wine and one Chateldon was 164€ or 82€ a couple.

Go back?  Not if it were the only restaurant left in the world.

Anona in the 17th: “This is really good.......and up here.”

Anona, 80 Blvd des Batignolles in the 17th was the last of our eating experiences before we left in July for the holidays - today we returned with a hab of the 5th, bike helmet and wind cheater in hand, to see if it held up.  Spoiler: it did.

The very talented chef, Thibaut Spiwack, started us off with squares of duck sitting in a flavored mayonnaise and twists of smoked salmon and fennel and our guest had the “menu” starter, a beautifully creamy sauce over Parmesan-stuffed gnocchi.  Then he had the “menu” sausage while Colette and I both had pigeon in two parts with fall vegetables; the portion seemed small  but I found it  very filling.  We ended up sharing a lovely lemon tart and mignardises.

Our bill, with 1.5 bottles of fine Fitou and three coffees was 165€ or 110€ a couple.  NB. The bread and butter were again terrific; Colette appreciated the fact there was no audible music, but once again wished they would write out the day's "menu"/specials. 

Le Bistrot de Madeleine in the 9th: A neighborhood bistro: no more, no less for goodness sake!

Le Bistrot de Madeleine, 4 ave Trudaine in the 9th is a place a Saturday-open-for-lunch spotter pal pointed us to at the beginning of the year and we’ve been enjoying ever since.  Today I chanced upon one of those websites whose contributors seem to be either people who dropped down from Mars yesterday and found the food in this local bistro to be the best of their lives or grumpy tourists from Brooklyn who expect a 3* experience at a place serving 3 dishes for 22€.  Gimme a break.

I got there well before my dining companions and was captivated by two items, a chicken mousse and paleron of beef, and sipped at a glass of brisk Touraine while checking emails.  Wouldn’t'cha know, by the time we ordered, they were out of both.

So, then our friend ordered the celery soup, which I had a taste of - it was superb; then he and Colette had salmon with a nice sauce and I had pork mignon, equally good; and we terminated with a lemon meringue desert.

Our bill with a bottle and glass of wine and 2 coffees, was 86€ or 57.34€ a couple.  And it was packed with locals.  Take that aliens!