John Talbott's Paris

Pilgrim in the 15th: “Perfect, too perfect,” now where did I see that before?

So, I never, well hardly ever, read my reviews of restaurants and chefs who have moved on elsewhere because who knows whether they swept the floor for a week or truly cooked the food for 10 years.  Thus I entered Pilgrim with no preconceptions about Hideki Nishi and his service at the Neige d’Ete. As you will see, my inclination was pretty silly. 

When I saw that Pilgrim had opened a couple of months ago, my thought was not about whether it referred to Plymouth Rock or Compostela but recalled “Whoa, take’er easy there Pilgrim,” uttered famously 18 tImes by the John Wayne character in “Who Shot Liberty Valence.”

7.1 Pilgrim, 8, rue Nicolas Charlet in the 15th, 01.40.29.09.71, closed Sundays and Mondays (Metro: Pasteur) is in a site that has very bad feng shui or karma or whatever, the last time I was here for the dumplings and caramel ice cream, the seats were ripped, the dishes overpriced and the chef (Philippe Detourbe) too full of himself to realize it (On the other hand to his credit, he resuscitated himself in Yerres).  Anyway, today, it’s totally redone with untorn seats and an open kitchen with 5 chefs, three of them Japanese.

 

At lunch it’s supposed to be 40€ for 4 courses but of course, four turns into seven, of which the first two were green and light; a petit pois soup with rice crackers in a wasabi/mustardy sauce and a perfect egg in green sauce that also was spicy.

My friend, who has lived all over the world, including Japan, and I, split the 3-2-2 menu, starting with asparagus and a tataki of mackerel, quite nice.

Then he had the chicken cooked two ways and I had the peche du jour, an undercooked daurade.  At this point my friend said “Excellent, John, good choice.”

 

Our desserts were a deconstructed swirl of lemon tart and wild strawberries wrapped in a pistachio thing.  Then of course came the mignardises, mini macaroons and mini madeleines. 

 

Our bill with a bottle and glass of wine, a carafe of house-filtered water (2.50€, which I thought was gilding the lily) and 2 coffees (again charging 1€+ for the noisette seemed to be pushing their luck.)

Go?  Well, it was perfect, how can I find fault?  Precisely because it was too perfect, no guts, no soul, no comfort.  On my way home, I looked up where and when I’d said that before - bingo - December 2, 2014 “Perfect, too perfect” at the Neige d’Ete. Gotta start reading my own utterances.

The Big Fernand: “John, you ate at a fast food burger joint in Paris? Are you ok?”

So I had planned to eat at the place not far from Montparnasse but when I showed up there was a handwritten sign in the window saying they were closed “exceptionnellement.”  As always, I had a backup, the Big Fernand, which gets mentioned in every list of hamburger/meat places, so what did I have to lose?

6.5 The Big Fernand, l’Atelier du Hamburge, 86, blvd du Montparnasse, open 7/7, has a small front out of which spilled a line of young folks and 2 Deliveroo guys.  I entered like it was a real restaurant, asking a waitguy if I could sit at a table and he helped with my coat and cane.  He asked if I knew how it worked and I quickly saw that folks lined up at the 5-Chef counter, ordered, paid, got their burgers and sat down or took out.

Both the main Chef and the waitguy equally quickly realized I was over my head and took my order and credit card acting like it was Le Cinq not Burger King.  I thought I’d pick a beef hamburger with a raclette of mountain cheese, no, it came with everything, including their own (quite delicious) sauce thus not necessitating catsup or Tabasco on the table.  In fact the burger was quite good and the fries, which I’m easy to criticize in France, were terrific.

My bill, with a half-bottle of Crozes-Hermitage and no other liquids, was 26€.  The dB level wasn’t bad, 84.6, despite the hustle-bustle madhouse atmosphere.

Go?  You know, if caught in a similar fix again, I would, but I’d do it the “right way” rather than act as a grandee.

La Villa Corse in the 15th: Pretty much what you'd expect from a new chef in an established place.

6.0 La Villa Corse, 164 Blvd de Grenelle in the 15th, 01.53.86.70.81, closed Sundays (Metro: La Motte Piquet/Grenelle) is a place I haven't been to since it changed chefs years ago, but hearing that Damien Nardecchia who had an Italian grandmother but grew up on the Loire, had taken over, I convinced a dear to see what's up.

They started us off with black and green olives (not pictured) and two large amuses of tapenade on black bread.  Then my eating partner had calamari strips with a poached egg and loads of garlic (unpictured) and I had the brouillard of eggs with the first green asparagus of the season I've seen and figatelle; both were pretty good.  Then she had cold cold shrimp around a mound of warm/hot linguine with tomato sauce, very bizarre, someone must have forgotten to rewarm the shrimp.  I had a decent piece of merlu on more sprigs of green asparagus and creamy polenta.  And finally, we both shared a dessert that was supposed to be a moelleux of chestnut, maybe, OK, but no shooting stars here.

Our bill, with he cheapest bottle of Ajaccio wine (35 E), a small bottle of fizzy water (5 E) and 2 espressos, was 134 E.  dB's were decent = 62.8 but that's because in this huge space there were under a dozen clients.

Go back?  On balance, no, price-quality not up to snuff.

L'Accolade in the far 15th: "I'll be back" said a neighbor; "Me for dessert" thought I.

6.0 L'Accolade, 208, rue de la Croix-Nivert in the 15th, 01.45.57.73.20, closed Saturday lunch, Sundays and Monday dinners (Metro: Convention and a schlep) is sited in the space where Jadis pumped out some interesting food; as my review in 2008 said, chef Guillaume Delage "had an astounding idea – cook today’s best products in yesterday’s style" – well, something happened to that great idea and we'll await his reappearance. For the present, though, we arrived and ordered up one red and one white Gascogne, knowing our guests' predilections and got ready to order.

Two of us ordered the raviolis (don't take that literally) of beets with fresh goat cheese; my one buddy had petit pois, girolles and a perfect egg; and I had what I thought was the winner - a shrimp tartare with various veggies but delicious avocado. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains, the swordfish with a carrot puree was a standout, the 33 hour poitrine de porc was pretty good too; but my minute of lamb was cooked more than that despite my request it be cut in half so it would be blue.

For desserts we had the sable Breton with lemon cream and strawberries which was good but head and shoulders above everything else today was the millefeuille with vanilla and caramel beurre sale, Wow, 5 stars.  So good that Colette stole most of my caramel.

Our bill with two bottles and a glass of wine, no bottled water but 3 coffees, was 204.40 E for 4 or 102.20 E a couple.

Go back?  Well my friends in the nabe for sure but me, due to the schlep, I dunno.

Le Radis Beurre in the 15th: A perfect meal for me; some glitches for the ladies.

 

Le Radis Beurre in the 15th is a place I went to a few weeks ago and loved, so when a Birthday loomed for an exigent food-writer friend of ours, she picked this among the 3 possibilities I offered.  As we were walking to it, we noticed long lines of cars on the streets that looked strange - whoops - having taken our car back to the US it didn't occur to me that there was a gasoline strike that the government refuses to easily break by releasing the storage stocks - so - long lines.  But onto the food.

After a long wait for our order to be taken (Prob 1) we ordered and for firsts, Colette had a the soup of watercress, apples, perles fumes and herbs that I thought was the winning cold soup of the summer and our guest and I had tiny wraps of pigs feet with a green salad and another winner - the dressing, not to forget the crusty bread (which I assume came from down the street at Le Moulin de la Vierge where I bought more for dinner).

For mains, the Birthday Girl had a steak (10 E supplement) which she asked for rare (she's French, so its arrival as thin pieces of overcooked entrecote was not because of a language issue - Prob 2) (and which needed salt which it took forever to get - Prob 3), Colette had the rabbit leg with carrots which she did not find stellar - BUT BUT BUT I had what sounds simple but turned out divine - larger than petit, petit pois topped with sautéed to perfection duck livers and incredibly tasty girolles.  This one dish more than made up for any problems we had.

Finally, Colette had a "great, wonderful" rice pudding with caramel sauce, our friend had the strawberries "Charlotte" with crème cru, crème citron and noisette crumble and I had a better-than-good baba with "Diplomatico" rum.

Our bill (which our wonderful waiter took off the 10 E supplement for because of the over-cooked, under-salted beef), with a Chateldon, coffee and beautiful butter was 154 E for three, thus 102.66 a couple.

 

Le Radis Beurre in the 15th: "Exactly how do you rate these places, John?" "Ahhhh."

7.8 Le Radis Beurre, 51, Blvd Garibaldi in the 15th, 01.40.33.99.26, closed weekends, is a restaurant, the chef, Jerome Bonnet, a veteran of many fine houses in France, has clearly put his heart into.  The carte looks simple, similar to many places in town, but as the dishes roll out you realize the differences.

My dining partner and I ordered the same things, ordinarily a risky gamble at a new place but our confidence wasn't shaken.  First we had lovely little pats of pigs feet and foie gras, with a terrific sauce; but the chef didn't stop there - he added a perfectly offsetting salad.  Then we both had the most sublime entire squab (pigeon), perfectly cooked; but he didn't stop there - he put it on top of par-cooked peas on top of a pea puree.  And we finished up with two scoops of wonderful chocolate mousse with what I guess was praline ice cream although it was described as givré; but he didn't stop there, it had fantastic crumbled cookies.

I was dining with a wine guy, so he picked a very nice St Nicholas de Bourgeuil to start, but when it came time for dessert, our genial wine saavy wait-guy suggested a Bordeaux Superieur which matched perfectly as well.  With a bottle and two glasses of wine, a small bottled water and two coffees, our bill was 129 E.

Go?  To answer my friend's question, how did I rate this place?  Very high indeed; it had not a missed step from setting, décor, welcome, reasonably spaced seating, noise-level, through menu prices (25 for 2 courses, 34 E for 3), plate pacing, ambiance, and nice looking and age-spaced local clientele to nice good-bye.

750 G La Table (aka 750 grammes) in the 15th: A very nice (Sunday) lunch.

 

 

 

6.1 750 G La Table (aka 750 grammes), 397, rue de Vaugirard in the 15th, 01.45.30.18.47, open 7/7 (Metro: Porte de Versailles) is a wonderful new space with great light across from the Soviet-type building nearly at the end of Paris's longest street - the rue de Vaugirard.

 

 

After some peanuts, which caused my dining partner to have a a suppressed culinary orgasm, he ordered a plate of charcuterie which he only realized after struggling to finish three quarters of which, that it was supposed to be shared and I had the sweetbreads and mushrooms - both were terrific cold day dishes.

 

 For mains, he had an onglet topped with sauteed foie gras and I the paleron, both of beef of course and they were as ordered.

 

We finished up with a chocolate liegois.

Our bill, with no bottled water, a bottle of a Rhone and 2 awful coffees, was 83.90 E.

Go?  It's a nice Sunday option.

 

 

41 Pasteur in the 15th: The Game was off.

6.5 41 Pasteur, 41 blvd Pasteur in the 15th (the old l'Epicuriste space), 01.47.34.15.50, closed Sundays and Mondays (Metro: Pasteur) opened this fall under chef Jean-Marie Burnet who has worked in many fine restaurants outside Paris and his kitchen was on our friend's and our list to try.  When our friend entered at the appointed time he felt a chilly reception from the start and he warned us when we arrived.  The carte was classic and he and I ordered the same things, which is dangerous, but we struck gold on the first and struck out on the main.

Said firsts were incredibly light soufflés of brochet with a mussel cream sauce, the combination of which was simply terrific; Colette then had the merlu with great white beans which did not 'wow' her; and my friend and I had the dry as a bone sanglier with an admittedly nice wine sauce and better than average pieces of parmesan polenta.  Now, in fairness, I ordered knowing that both civets and wild boar were dry but this was too, too dry.

For desserts we passed around a chibouste of chestnuts with dried fruits in whiskey, a clafoutis of pears with praline/rhubarb ice cream and chocolate two ways - in a crusty tart and as a creamy milk chocolate mousse - all quite nice but no more.

Our bill, with no bottled water, OK bread, a bottle and glass of wine and 2 coffees, was 129 E or 86 E a couple.

Go?  Oh boy, I was dreading answering this question.  Yes for the food, no for the welcome or lack thereof that our friend picked up correctly.

Le Vitis in the 15th: Seeking a traditional wine bistro; this falls just short.

4.9 Le Vitis, 8, rue Falguiere in the 15th, 01.42.73.07.02, closed Sundays and Mondays (Metro: Falguiere) has been written up with great vigor since the brothers Delacourcelle (pictured behind the bar) opened it a while back.  The carte looks traditional and we went with great hopes since we all had loved their prior joint - Le Pre Verre.

For firsts the two ladies chose the artichoke soup - which was "not to Colette's taste - our wine expert friend had the asparagus with a milk flan, which he declared was the best dish of, well, forever I guess and I had the hure (pig's head) on top of quartered baby lettuces, which I thought was the my dish of the meal, except for the date puree which was distracting and totally unnecessary.

For mains, Colette had the asparagus which she was not at all happy with, our wine friend had the cochon de lait fixed traditionally, his wife - the cuttlefish which she and I both thought was tough beyond belief, and I had veal kidneys which were overcooked (ordered rose), rough and tough.

For finales we had the rhubarb compote, pear with pralines and strawberries with a parsley mousse.  OK, not great!

With 2 bottles of wine, no bottled water, so-so bread and 3 coffees, our bill was 181.50 or 90.75 E a couple.

Go?  Unh unh; this ain't no Pre Verre.  dB level 88.3

Huiterie in the 15th: Great for oysters if you're nearby.

5.1 Huiterie, 2 rue Mademoiselle (I know the street well since my architect had his atelier there) in the 15th, 01.40.60.65.65 (Metro: Commerce but tons of buses too) closed Sunday nights and Mondays, was my destination today since I need an oyster fix.  It's a lovely new place, with a large shucking zone, captain's bell and seaman's cap and an enormous staff (5 upstairs alone) plus a big sign in the window announcing not "Happy Hours" but "Happy Huitres" with 6 oysters and a glass of wine for 12 Euros.  But I knew what I wanted, but first....

Not a "little Bobo" but some wonderful tiny shrimp and some Muscadet.

First I ordered some fish soup, which I always hope will equal that at the Brasserie Lorraine before it got taken over by the Frères Blanc, but no, it tasted Metro-pre-made, as did those silly perfectly round pseudo-croutons, the rouille and cheese.  Bummer!  But the Fines de Clares #3 were terrific as was the Vinegar Mignonette which had home/house diced shallots, no Metro here.

My bill, with no bottled water, quite nice bread and butter, a half-bottle of wine and a coffee, was 43 E.

Go?  As I said, if in the nabe, definitely; if as a destination, you can do the same or better nearer home.