John Talbott's Paris

Sadarnac in the 20th: Oh boy, this cheffe, Lise Deveix, knows how to cook. No wonder, she came via Alain Solivérès and Akrame Benallal.

Pre: So I'm walking down the Rue St Blaise, number 17, right?

Wait a minute, the Croque d'Or, with lots of stickers going back years, but it says 17.  Enter, "is this Sadarnac?"  "No, next door" with a weary look like "why does this happen all the time?"

8.1 Sadarnac, 17, rue Saint-Blaise (on the right downhill from the Croque d'Or), in the 20th (Metro: Porte de Montreuil), closed Sunday and Monday, 01.72.60.72.06, has been open 8 months and by Jingo! it was pretty full today, so the word is out.  I have no idea where I'd heard about it, maybe Le Monde, but it was well worth the 15 E Uber ride.  I was going to order the 3 courses for 25 E, but the French friend I've known the longest, who lives walking distance away, said "Come on, let me order the 4 courses for 37 E and we'll test the kitchen."  I have smart friends.

The amuses were toasts with "champignons neige."  Huh?  Yup, Japanese and super delicious.  Then we had artichokes barigoule; then the 12 E treat - ceviche with petit pois - worth every centime.  Our meat course was pork belly with the crispiest and saltiest skin ever, followed by rice pudding and rhubarb - oh my! Oh my, oh my!

Our bill with a bottle and glass of wine, an Evian and two coffees, was 114 E.  dB's 80.8 even when asked to lower it.

Go?  Oh, my oh my!

Mr. Cubuto in the 20th: “it’s not that bad John, don’t worry” said my oldest French friend.

Pre: the first question I’m always asked is “why here?”  The second is “what’s the name mean?”  And the third is “what do I order, what are you ordering?”

Ok.  1. It’s May Day, except for hotel restaurants, almost everything is closed except places catering to their local populace.  2. Mr Culbuto is a tipover toy that goes back to the Middle Ages whose popularity is sort of like nested Russian dolls or dipping swans or waving cats or snow globes, they’re kind of cute for 5 seconds, and 3. “I have no frigging idea, but look for stuff that’s fresh, cannot come from Metro, and go for it.”

5.0 Mr. Culbuto, 294 rue des Pyrenees in the 20th, 01.47.97.32.02, open 7/7, is the sort of banal joint on every street corner in Paris that serves up the usual banal dishes at banal prices.  But, Emmanuel Rubin, my lodestar, in Le Figaroscope, wrote it up, so it must have some redeeming virtues, eh?  Maybe.

I entered to an almost full restaurant which had a mid-century football game and wouldn’t you know, got seated besides the only loud Yankees I’m sure, who have ever been here.  Yikes.  77-88 decibels and up just from them.

My great French friend who lives not far away entered and we both shrugged “who knows, it could surprise.”  She was seriously considering, discussing and conferring with the incredibly tattooed waitlady whether to have burrata vs asparagus, pork vs chicken; me I knew the safe way to go.

She started with green asparagus arrayed in a classical parallel manner froufrou'ed up with some cured ham I think and I had leeks in a most unparallel tangle with some sort of froufrou'ed up crumble on top, weird to say the least.

Then she had chicken breast on top of more asparagus, this time intermixed white and green and I had half a duck breast which I tried to order blue, “rose?” “no, blue” “no, Rose”, “no blue,” at this point my friend said “the most rose you can make it please”. “Ok.”  It was still overcooked, could we have been any clearer?

I insisted we share a dessert and we had a fine Metro chocy mousse with caramel beaten in and more crumble on top.  

(I was tempted by the Oreo tiramisu but resisted the impulse.) 

Our bill with a bottle and demi of wine and 2 coffees was 101€.

Go?  If you’re French, stuck in the darkest 20th with a poussette and screaming kid on Labor Day, and have forgotten the words to the Internationale, which the folks protesting up at the Place des Fetes, had not, sure.

Da rock in the 20th: as advertised, the place rocks.

6.2 Da rock, 17 rue de Bagnolet in the 20th, 01.56.06.97.85, closed Sundays and Monday, (Metro: Alexandre Dumas) is a place that caught my eye, quite frankly, because of its name.  We asked the peppy Italian front room guy about it and while rock n roll was part, it was also based on its rhyming with Rocco and Barocco.  The carte is brief (3-4-4) but reasonable, €22 for 3 courses with wines starting at €19.

My friend who lives but a 30 minutes walk away opted for the terrine of four gras and I had a modern (that is cusinarted) not gratineed, onion soup.  Both quite good.

Then we both liked the sound of the apple of sweetbreads, the apple being a part closer to the neck than shoulder.  I thought the chef laid a little too heavy on the rosemany but it was beautifully cooked.

For dessert we shared a poached pear with warm caramel sauce and a cappuccino that was augmented by cream and coffee jelly.

Our bill, with a bottle of wine, no bottled water and 2 “Italian” espressos, was €69.  Noise lol was so sensible I didn’t even record it.

Go?  If I lived over in this part of town, I think so, but it’s a long schlep for me.  But not for my friend who is already planning to return with its new carte next week.

La Condesa in the 9th: My #1 new restaurant in Paris in 2017, maybe in 2018 as well.

La Condesa, 17, rue Rodier in the 9th, 01.53.20.94.90, closed Sundays and Mondays (Metro: Cadet) has been open 4 months to the day, the Chef, Indra Carrillo told us and it clearly has a loyal following already.  The team is so polished that they take orders, cook, serve and clear with an efficiency that’s awe-inspiring.  Once again the quatre or penta-lingual Chef spent time with us and our famous cookbook author friend explaining dishes and preparations which were again, terribly inventive.  And once again, the display was more than I can easily explain but rolled out as:

- coupes of champagne
- an assortment of appetizers that focused on eel, sea urchins and sunflower seeds
- corn and lard
- langoustines, greens and spicy broth
- "duck, no it was pork, no chicken" actually with broccoli and veggies
- Japanese pearls, mandarine, mango and sorbet
- other stuff

With 2 bottles of wine, one of house water and one Badoit and 3 Ethiopian coffees (that our Professor friend declared “real coffee”) our bill came to 119€ a couple.

As I said, this was my #1 new restaurant in Paris in 2017 and I suspect will be for quite a while.  Bravo Chef!

 

 

Coretta in the 17th: once again, a pleasure to eat here.

 

 

 
Coretta, 151 bis, rue Cardinet, closed almost never, 01.42.26.55.55 (Metro: Brochant) provided its usual delightful warm welcome, but with the New Year's addition of coupes of champagne as well as small warming soups.

One of our friends started off with a ravioli with razor clams while the rest of us were most content with their terrific crusty bread and sweet butter. Then one of us had the lamb which fell off the fork while rest of us had superb scallops a la plancha.

Finally, all of us shared two of their gigantic brioches with caramel and ice cream.

Our bill with a bottle of wine, no bottled water but 5 coffees, amounted to 93.50€ a couple.

Les Canailles Menilmontant in the 20th: “Pleasant,”my friend from the 20th said, “if I lived nearer, I’d return.”

6.5 Les Canailles Menilmontant, 15,rue des Panoyaux in the 20th, (Metro: Menilmontant), closed weekends, 01.43.58.45.45 is a recently opened offshoot of les Canailles in the 9th which my respected friends all rated more highly than I, but when several good reviewers in town, touted this new "scoundrels", and I wanted a place to eat near my most longstanding French friend, I seized the opportunity.  Given its location, and today’s commemoration of the Bataclan etc. murders, I tried to steer clear of that area, forgetting the need for grieving survivors and relatives, celebrities and security forces to have access to and from.  So I was late.

She had already been served water and an amuse bread of Provençal persuasion that was quite impressive.

For firsts she had an unusual preparation of a usual classic dish of tete de veau while I had a slice of terrine of wild boar that was not puckeringly dry like most in Corsica but quite acceptable.

Then she a delightful quail on a bed of chestnut purée while I proceeded to dig into two pretty thick slices of almost perfectly undercooked veal liver with (I’m told) good mashed potatoes.

We wound up sharing a moelleux of chocolate after a pre-dessert of chocolate truffles.

Our bill, with no bottled water, decent (she said great) bread, a bottle and glass of wine and two coffees, was 107€?  DB’s = 80.7

Go back?  Twer it around the corner for either of us quite definitely.

Desnoyez in the 20th: mixed opinions this visit.

Desnoyez in the 20th us another place I had a great meal at last quarter when Colette was back working in the US.  Today, as apparently every day, they had a new carte, so we and our friend from the same Arr., plunged in.

First, they offered a roasted cauliflower and broccoli with long green beans, too healthy for me, and eggs mayo, which came with superb pickled veggies, which I thought were heavenly.

Then it was choice between cod with fregola or an onglet of beef, cooked perfectly "bleu" for me and saignant for our pal, with incredibly good potatoes and nicely dressed lettuce leaves.

Finally we had their fine selection of cheeses with their excellent bread, followed by a frozen yogurt with peaches and crumbled cookies (unpictured).

Our bill with no bottled water but two bottles of wine (their wines, as opposed to those in most places, comes from all over), was 130€ for 3, thus 86.66€ a couple that I thought was right up there but Colette, ordering sensibly, found wanting.

Milo T in the 20th; sometimes the feng shui doesn't persist.

5.5 Milo T, 6, rue Victor Letalle in the 20th (which inherited the space of the much beloved Chatomat) 01.47.97.25.77, closed Sundays and Mondays, (Metro: Menilmontant) has indications outside that it's got vegetarian inclinations and fresh produce and I cannot disagree.  I ate there with two friends who live not too far away who were almost as eager as I was to see if the Chatomat magic had rubbed off on the new team.  And the tomato gazpacho we had as an amuse certainly held great promise.

But the firsts we had, a spinach soup and a very dry pate perigordine were truly only so-so albeit complemented by nice bread.

Then we went different ways, one having the salmon, another a magret and I trying the raviolis of duck.  All three were ok, but just not much to write home about.

We shared a marquise of chocolate that was outstanding.

Our bill, with no bottled water, a bottle and a half if wine and three coffees was 128.50 € or 85.66€ a couple.  no dB's since we were the only customers and I asked for the music to be turned down.

Go back?  If around the corner, if only to see how it evolves, but not when it's this far away for me.

Jourdain in the 20th: my goodness, what were they thinking?

 

 

3.0 Jourdain, 101 rue des Couronnes in the 20th, 01.43.66.29.10, (Metro: Jourdain), closed Sunday and Monday, looked to me to be a neat new neighborhood bistro in a culinary desert (a key to the Food Biz formula for success) but sad to say the other key element, a talented chef, did not seem apparent.  I invited a dear friend on a stopover between New York and Provence and she's always game to try my crazy ideas.  Alas!

 

The chalkboard (note reflection of old guy leaning over to photo like Bill Cunningham, boy do I miss him!) had a 2-2-3 deal for a very reasonable price (17.30) but none of the choices looked really appealing (as they had in Le Fooding) and there was no carte.  My pal started with a zucchini and chevre soup and I with a sweet potato salmon egg galette with peas, ach, at this point I knew we were in trouble.

Then she had a piece of chicken and I, one of lieu noir, both with accompaniments of tiny potatoes and a quinoa with radishes, etc., now we were really put out.

Finally we both had the cafe gourmand, where the brownie saved the meal from a total blowout.

Our bill with a bottle of wine, so-so bread and no bottled water, was 62.60 €.  dB's= 74.4

Go back?  Not on your or my life.  Yet the place was packed.  And the place was planned with care, take a gander at their own soap dispenser.

Grand Bain in the 20th: Pretty good grub for a hipster place in the 20th on the street of many graffiti.

Backstory: when searching for a place neither a fellow blogger nor I had been to I suggested the Grand Bain in the 20th, "no, she reported, not open for lunch except Sundays," "when they probably serve dastardly brunch," said I, "no, roasts" she said.  So there we go.

7.5 Le Grand Bain, 14, rue Denoyez (aka the street of many graffiti) in the 20th, 09.83.02.72.02 (Metro: Belleville) is open 7/7 for dinner but Sundays for lunch.  I approached with some trepidation having been warned by a Chowhound expert that the music was deafeningly loud, something I hate.  But the British chef did well at Au Passage so I felt in good hands.

But what the hell?  They have a sort of unique menu for 27€, a soup, roast pig or lamb and dessert, but for 8€ more you got three oysters.  Sounded good to me.

The oysters were the right way to start the meal and the bread with them and butter were better than average.  Then they brought over the white asparagus with peas soup, my oh my, really good but too much, so I backed off.  The two very thin slices of lamb, not mutton thank Buddha, were excellent, especially with a superb compote of apples, and a huge three sided Wellington, yummy roasted/fried potatoes, ok undercooked broccoli and peas, as well as mustard.  I finished up with quote "strawberries and cream" unquote - the charming waitress spoke English to the couple beside me and the chef in English, so - while her companion, when focused, was nice but when occupied with chatting up a pal, was oblivious to hand-waving.

With a half bottle of wine, no bottled water and a extraordinarily good coffee, my bill was 53.50€ or 107€ a couple.  DB's=84.6.

Go?  Hummmm.  While the music was, as my friend said, too loud, it was the American songbook plus Janis Ian, so if you're 25-35, en route to old age hipsterism, gay or just in the mood for good affordable food and wine, this place is for you.