John Talbott's Paris

Wadja in the 6th: an archival* review

0.75 Wadja, 10, rue de la Grande Chaumiere in the 6th, 01.46.33.02.02, closed Sundays, has always had a warm spot in my heart, so when (1) I read that Thierry Coué, ex-Amogenes, a place I have mixed-feelings about, but that’s another story, had taken over at the piano (2) it got 2 hearts in that week’s Figaroscope and (3) my plane to the States was cancelled and I had 48 hours on my hands – it was a natural.

I entered a nearly empty place that looked identical to my last visit 8 years ago. There was a “menu” at 15 €; holy cow! But the choices on the “menu” were not to my liking: either one had taboulé with fresh mint or an egg over lentils for a starter; an onglet or lieu for a main; and plum tart or pain perdu for dessert - I demanded the menu, the carte.

I ordered the girolles, safe bet eh?, but they were devoid of butter, salt or garlic that would have given them some oomph.

Then the paleron of beef, advertised as crusty, which it was, but also undistinguished.

So I cut my losses and left. The bill = 53.15 €, ouch!

*Originally published in September 2006

Gaya par Pierre Gagnaire aka Gaya Rive Gauche: an archival review*.

Gaya par Pierre Gagnaire aka Gaya Rive Gauche, 44, rue du Bac in the 7th, 0145.44.73.73, still looks like the building it’s in is wrapped a la Christo under gauze, but the place itself is in full swing at long last. As someone who’s always liked GRG, in its various incarnations, I was delighted to see that the “lifting” had made it even lighter, brighter and bluer. Clients at this point seem to be a mixture of political & cinema celebs, local business-folk and functionaries, but dress is from ties to tees.

Seating is easy at lunch, but dinners are already fully booked. The boss was there the day we went and as far as I’m concerned it was all Gagniere with none of the old Gaya left over.

First, we had three amuse gueules; raw fish on a toothpick (I assume to show you he still can pick the product), anchovy paste on toasted bread and little, almost desserty-type cookies and flat breads.

We shared the courses: to start, we had a few Special #2 oysters; then our firsts were a “cocktail” glass of wasabied mango & grapefruit, then noodles, topped off with thinly sliced cod as well as an “egg mimosa,” what were really three lines of incredible fishy-food, a chopped herring thing, a chopped bulot thing and balls of egg yolks surrounded by cod (I think) and accompanied by a tiny bowl of the water the bulots were cooked it – very neutral but refreshing; mains were a deconstructed tempura-ized cuttlefish and haddock and coques on a bed of mixed grains (bulgar, quinoa and an ancient variety of wheat from Provence) – both exquisite; and desserts of a turinois (sour cherry sauce at the bottom of a glass, with a middle of pralines and other crunchy stuff, topped off with a chocolate wafer and a “chantilly” with green apples – really a rocket salad with whipped cream enhanced with pistachio and Izarra liquor on top.

The coffee was served with macaroons of different flavors, each sliced in the middle where delicious confiture stuff was layered.

The price – I notice no one else gives prices but I will – without liquid and oysters (which we ordered on a whim) would have been just about 100E/2 – not bad! (firsts are 6-32 E; mains are 22-65 E; and desserts 8.50-10; so it’s an elastic price-range.

Go back? you bet, soon.

*Originally published in September 2005.

Le Vieux Bistro in the 4th: An archival* review.

1.0 Le Vieux Bistro, 14, rue du Cloitre Notre Dame in the 4th, 01.43.54.18.95, open 7/7 – you know it, you’ve been by it 1,000 times, and if you’re an American, you’ve eaten there, and if you’re like me, you try it every 10 years because in your pigeon brain you recall something was good once long ago.

So when you read that it too had been taken over, this time by a veteran of the Paname bistro and got 2 hearts in Figaroscope, sucker that you are, you go. Emmanuel Rubin says “one has the thought that one has eaten here in 1972, 1966 or 1955.” M. Rubin - we think alike, alas.

It is indeed the same place, not a poster or bottle changed – charming, reassuring and yet frightening. Sit down at the jammed tables. Why jammed? Who knows, there never are more than 6 customers, all locals, puzzling, eh?

The “menu” is cheap, two dishes for 20, three for 26 €, but you soon find out why. I had the salmon tartare and started off thinking it was pretty good, on a par with the Bistro du Dome, my gold standard, and the dressing on the fresh well-chosen greens tartly offset the Omega3 fats, but like brandade is to my buddy P., after a few bites it was simply too much.

Then the confit de canard – standard test – can I do better cooking that I get at Galeries Lafayette? Yup. And the potatoes, which should be gloriously greasy and garlicky and evil – were inedible.

Finally the chocolate mi-cuit (moelleux really, with a nasty spin) – again, get out the ruler – can my daughter, the one we didn’t send to cooking school, do better? Right again. So there we go.

Except the bill arrives – 82 €, did I mention I was bowling alone? yes, my erstwhile friends had abandoned me, smart folks they. 82 €, now Rubin had prepared me for an inflated bill, but not for resuscitation. But happily, just like in the US when they lose your hotel reservation, the waitperson explained that it “was the computer.”

Airplane and train phobics stop reading here. “The computer?” Pilot error, I’d say.

*Originally published in September 2006.

 

Petrus in the 17th: An archival* review

8.0 Petrus, 12, place du Marechal Juin in the 17th, 0.43.80.15.95, open everyday (it says).

Figaroscope gave it 2 hearts and said it had a new team, so despite the warning of a steep price (50-60 € without beverages,) I figured that on a Sunday, it would suit my needs.

And, oh my, did it. It looks the same as always on that great circle of Marechal Juin which is especially quiet and nice on Sundays but the quite large young chef looked new and friendly and welcoming.

There is a very impressive carte with 20-30 items, of which 12-15 were market specials; the prices were not shocking and there were lots of wines by glass, ¼ and 45 cl (a Bordeaux or Cheverny for 10 €, for example.)

I ordered supions with chorizo and piment d’Espelette – that was properly spicy, not too little, not too much. Then, tails of langoustines that were tiede on top of fresh par-cooked veggies (asparagus, carrots, mange-touts and haricots verts) with a sauce that would have made Fernand Point or Georges Blanc proud; simply delicious, all those dead critters.

I had no dessert but did have the Illy coffee.

The bill = 51.60 €.

The downsides: oh I hate sinking into banquettes so far up my chin just reaches the table; the bread was a bit soggy; the frizzy red-haired ex-Music Hall beauty with the germ phobia did carry her cleaning operations on a little bit too openly; and the woman smoking those thin long cigarettes made up for their “lightness” by never letting up.

*Originally published in Sept 06

 

Et dans mon coeur il y a…., an archival* review.

6.0 Et dans mon coeur il y a…., 56, rue de Lancry in the 10th, 01.42.38.07.37, open everyday, occupies what was once the charming old restaurant, the Bouledogue Bistrot; they have retained the wooden paneling, added lots to tsotskes to the ledges but new edgy chairs to the traditional tables; there are several formulas, some including wine or water, there’s wine by the glass or by the reasonably priced pitcher.

I started with two perfectly sautéed and not too buttery slices of foie gras (for 8 €, beat that), moved on to a huge cocotte of lamb (not mutton) with Magrebian spices (or one can have the fish of the day, that day a pasta with coques) and polenta with white raisins that was incredible (and I detest most polenta) and finally a dessert of pureed bananas under a fluffy banana whip, very tasty = 46 €.

The neighborhood is delightful, lots of young families; no tattoos or piercings here.

They get extra credit for the nifty miniature whisk sugar stirrers and super bread. This is a place that cares; it’s why we come to Paris and try new places; inventive, imaginative and fun.

*Originally published in September 2006.

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Update: As several of my loyal readers have pointed out another Madame Shawn opened here (its 4th site in Paris) and thus Et dans mon coeur il y a…. no longer exists, except in our memories.

Le Jardinier in the 9th: An archival* review.

5.0 Le Jardinier, 5, rue Richer in the 9th, 01.48.24.79.79, 01.48.24.79.79, closed Sundays, is located in a charming hotel (the Peyrus) in the center of the 9th – as I was walking there, an American said to his female companion – “there are so many restaurant choices here” – and it’s true but alas not so many good ones.

Le Jardinier, though, qualifies; 2 courses at lunch are 17; three are 21 €. The craft-fair-type napery and flowery paintings are all in keeping with the garden theme as is the vegetable-dominated menu (which was what I wanted, since I was eating out again that night).

I had a langoustine bisque (super), raie with capers and cabbage (the raie was great, the cabbage less successful) and finished with an OK crepe with fresh but not ripe (unfortunately) fruits.

With wine (which they had by the glass, ¼ and ½ liter carafes, full and half bottles) and very good coffee it was 32 €.

They get an extra mark for having a young waitress who delivered a replacement fork to a nearby table on a napkin-covered plate rather than bare-handed as the uninitiated are prone to do.

*Originally published in September 2006.

L'Orangerie in the 4th: a decidedly archival review* of another Del Burgo abandonment..

3.0 l’Orangerie, 28 rue St Louis en l’Ile in the 4th, 01.46.33.93.98, is in a newly plastered and painted place (one can still smell it, not unpleasantly) taken over by Michel Del Burgo ex-Taillevent + Negresco.

It was the second week after it opened so the kinks should have been worked out. I ate with a notable eGullet member and we made a classic mistake, we ordered the same thing: rougets pissaladiere (so called) that had a quite complex series of flavors that was pretty good but also veal a la plancha for two that we immediately agreed was not only tough but dry and tasteless, accompanied by tiny potatoes and mushrooms and a sauce whose quality about which we disagreed.

The roll was pretty ordinary as were mignardises and coffee; but oddly enough, the amuse-bouche of a blancmange was super.

We had a bottle of one of the least expensive wines, no dessert, one coffee and no bottled water and our check was still 164 € that I must regretfully say was one of the worse price-quality places of the rentrée; my friend made sure M. del Burgo was there that day and then wished them good luck – they’ll need it.

*Once and only time and published in September 2006.

La Plancha in Maisons Laffitte: An archival* review.

1.0 La Plancha, 5, ave de St Germain in Maisons Laffitte (78) 01.39.12.03.75, closed Sunday and Tuesday nights and Wednesday. You know the dilemma: it’s Sunday morning and you’ve gotta eat; this place got 2 hearts a few weeks ago in Figaroscope and is near a nifty chateau – why not?

It’s jammed into a space almost lost amidst a pizza joint, creperie and cafes across from the RER A5, looks pretty nice inside and had a most interesting menu (a French twist to Spanish stuff). It’s got a 28 € menu and wines starting at 14 € for full bottles; although a la carte will run at least 50 €.

The amuse gueules were a good start; a tiny tasty pizzetta and a croquette of melted cheese and ham.

The wine was delivered promptly and promptly chilled. Good start, except for the fussy kid across the room.

First course: tapas gourmands: great display of gazpacho, fried eperlans, marinated sardines, brochettes of shrimp and peppers, and chorizo and manchego cheese – but the chef was not up to the task of actually cooking them. Some of my readers have suggested I provide more detail and less telegraphic criticism, so here goes: some of the eperlans were over the hill (e.g., fishy-smelling and old) and could not be improved with salt and the teeny slice of lemon provided; the sardines had no zip and were too cold; the gazpacho was as pallid as it was at Fish earlier this week {is there a message there?}; the chorizo did have salt, indeed too much, and was clearly industrial; and the shrimp was OK but the peppers again lacked character (I couldn’t help thinking that they were the exact contrary of Richard Gere’s great delivery of the Chicago song about that old dazzle-dazzle.)

Next course, a dorade royal cooked well but tasteless, whose accompaniments of spinach and mushroom couldn’t save the main product.

I’d ordered the “menu,” so I reluctantly ordered the dessert of chocolate mousse, caramel sauce with salt and coffee ice cream and while it didn’t redeem the meal, it certainly redeemed the husband-wife team who comprise the waiter and patisseur. The place gets extra points for the basil leaves in the finger bowl and cool curved-bottom carafes for the “young wines,” but loses points for the incredibly bad industrial bread and incredibly expensive and bad Segofredo coffee.

The bill = 42 €.

In contrast to Francois Simon’s query “Should one go?” I propose another - “Should one go even if you live upstairs?” Answer here – No! It’s horrible to say, but an enthusiastic staff just cannot overcome poor product and zestless cooking.

*Originally published in september 2006

Le Violin d'Ingres in the 7th: an archival* review.

8.5 Le Violin d’Ingres, coordinates well-known, I know, I know, it’s not new, but it has a new 45 € menu-carte (announced in Les Echos last Friday) with 5-5-5 dishes and 4-4 specials.

Three of us, all committed food nuts, ate there this week and it was, in the words of one of us, “bloody wonderful.” Pure back to the future: by that I mean old classic dishes brought up to 2006 standards.

We started with a blini with salmon and caviar, a millefeuille with foie gras and ox tongue, and fois gras with a divine gelée – great start with a great white Graves with which my companions were celebrating; then a palombe with lentils that was pure heaven (I had that), a tete de veau and pied de porc (classic dishes that were cooked modernly to perfection) with a wonderful Pic St Loup; and ending up with two of us having a vanilla soufflé with an incredible salted-caramel sauce and the other poor thing suffering with raspberries with mascarpone.

I am too discrete to mention who else was there that day but they included one three star food critic, one two star chef and several not so bad other food folk (identified by the most branché of us).

The bill I cannot reveal because of my partners’ exuberance and indiscretion but for normal human beings, the addition would be, for a couple - 45x2=90+22=102 €. You gotta problem wi dat for a one star who is simultaneously running three glorious places?

*Originally published in September 2006

Tradition in the 9th: Shush – A gem, despite the weird location – Don’t breathe a word. An archival* review.

6.9 La Tradition, 2, rue Budapest in the 9th, 01.48.74.37.33, closed Sundays, is on this funny sort of closed-off street/lane but serves anything but funny food. It was “discovered” by A Nous Paris a few days ago, I didn’t like the picture that just showed the comptoir, so I dropped by two hours after reading the review, et voila, there were tables too for 8-10 covers and I told the guy who looked astounded that I’d tumbled on the place about the A Nous Paris review – PS tonite there were several copies scattered about.

Anyway, despite its weird location, it’s a gem. Southwestern-oriented food and wine but not totally. The amuse-bouche was/were gougeres – light, flavorful but not overly cheesed, perfect.

Three of us went and unfortunately (not for us but for this report) were so entranced by two dishes that we all ordered them – 1st the sauteed foie gras with raviolis of mushrooms and white truffles (only problem, they forget to warm the plates) and the dessert – a so-called baba au rhum with the best raisin ice cream of the decade – really a deconstructed baba – which was divine (no probs at all.) In the middle we had (1) a “ragout” of veal sweetbreads and kidneys (the best! – guess who had it); (2) strips of duck on an apple “parmentier” not bad either; and (3) salmon, OK, OK. Each one of us thought his/hers was the best.

The bill = 167 €/3 and my pals took home a ½ bottle of wine too.

”Should one go?” Yes - If you can reserve for lunch enough in advance; at night - no sweat. These guys really know what they’re doing; go before they move uptown or downtown.

*Originally published in December 2006.