John Talbott's Paris

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.

Le Maquis in the 18th: A neighborhood bistro that I hope won't be ruined by its heralding in Le Fooding.

 

6.0 Le Maquis, 53, rue des Cloys in the 18th, (Metro: Jules Joffrin), 01.42.58.87.82, closed Sunday and Monday lunch, is just what everyone in my neighborhood here desires - a friendly place, serving decent food, at affordable prices (16-18 E at lunch) with no pesky Yankees - yet, although Le Fooding's rapturous review may change that.  The guys running it come from Chateaubriand, Le Verre Vole, Les Deux Amis and Il Brigante - impressive, no!

We split the 2-2-2 carte right down the middle, my blogger friend starting with a lentil salad while I had the cervelles de canut (it took us a minute to realize canut was not some exotic mammal but cheese curd.)  Quite ordinary but quite good.

Then my dining partner had the mussels with spring potatoes and I the poitrine de porc with string beans and spinach: again the best of the ordinary.

For dessert, my friend had slices of grapefruit and I had a chocolate cake, again, must I say it? the best of ordinary (now I know why another friend calls his resto the Bel Ordinaire.)

Our bill, with a bottle of Loire from a producer my pal knows, plus 2 coffees, was 71 E.  dB's= 83 when the kids out of school for the Ascension Day pont weren't screaming.

Go again?  Hey, it's in the nabe.

Au Fil du Temps in the 18th: Another astonishing place in the former food desert of the 18th.

6.9 Au Fil du Temps, 44 rue Joseph de Maistre in the 18th (Metro: Place de Clichy) 09.86.31.21.19, closed Mondays, is a place I regularly pass on the 95 bus on my way elsewhere but it looked inviting, young and hopeful, so on a rainy Sunday what have I got to lose?

There were three of us and we really tested the chef and carte: first having what looked like an oval pizza with tomato and mozzarella, a friand of goat cheese and spinach and a fine terrine de campagne.

Then we further tested the chef's range with a tartare of house-cut beef and fries, falafel with tabouli and peas and green beans and two brochettes of rumsteak cooked bleu to my taste which came with a perfectly splendid shallot sauce as well as not bad fries at all.

We topped the meal off with a nice chocolate cake with creme fraiche and orange peelings.

Our bill, with a bottle of Moonseng (whoever heard of such a thing?) and three coffees, was 80.30 or 53.53 E a couple - let that sink in - 53.53 Euros a couple.  For a terrific meal on a dreary rainy cold Sunday.  Wow!

Go?  Anytime, but especially if you're up on Montmartre.

Nord Nord in the 18th: What a pleasant surprise: Best price-quality of the year for sure; but you'll never go.

Pre: You remember when the 11th was the end of the world?  Or the Canal St. Martin? Now it's its culinary center.  Well, this area may well be on the way to yuppie/Bobo food heaven.

7.1 Nord Nord, 80, rue Riquet in the 18th, open 7/7 from breakfast to night-owl stuff, (Metro: Marx Dormoy) 01.42.41.12.95 (but unless you're 5+ persns, forget about reserving and because it's jam-packed, you've got to get there before the 20-30 year old Parisians eat), is in a former culinary dead zone that now seems bursting with poussettes and preggers.  The avant-garde arrived a bit ago with the appearance of the Lomi Café, En Vrac, Les Petites Gouttes and Bob’s Bake Shop.  I went pretty much expecting the sort of offerings that this team had put together at Sunset and the Café Pimpin which are nearer to my digs, and was not disappointed.  The menu is brief (9 items), all food fait maison and prices completely affordable.

My oldest granddaughter, who has been eating with me in Paris since she was 3, is game for pretty much everything and today we ran the table as it were:

• starting with parcooked (really raw) white asparagus
• moving on to beef tataki with noodles and bouillon, all Thai-influenced
• and daurade perfectly sourced and crisped with an amazing aioli and a ton of Spring veggies
• finishing with a chou with praline/pear sauce.

With a bottle of bio/organic Morgan and 2 coffees, our bill was 63.90 E -WAIT A MINUTE!- yup, 63.90 Euros.  dB's = 66.5 despite energetic kids.   A special thanks for having Thierry Breton's superb boules.

Go?  To the restaurant others deem "le nouveau hot spot gourmand à découvrir de toute urgence!" You betcha.

Les Fines Lames in the 18th: Steak frites on a Sunday anyone?

5.9 Les Fines Lames, 35, rue Lepic in the 18th, (Metro: Abbesses) 01.42.55.95.95, open 7/7 is an incredibly cool place in the midst of a very hot spot - Tourist Central of Montmartre: knives stuck through the tables, bottles of wine on the wall, wine barrels on the ceiling - someone put a lot of thought into this decor of what could have been just another steakhouse.

 

For firsts, the ladies had a velvety pumpkin soup and a velvety cheese sauce over poached eggs - delicious.

Then three of us had their picanha (sirloin tips), cooked every which way,, in my case blue with bearnaise sauce and one the bavette, with regular potato and sweet potato fries.  The beef was just fine but the fries were as they usually are in France, not what was served in Belgium eons ago.

For dessert we shared boules of sorbet and a giant brioche perdu - quite nice.

From their wonderful wine selection on the wall we had two bottles of the Faugeres and our bill with one Armagnac and 4 coffees was 161.40 or 80.70 E a couple.  dB's = 78.4

Go? 'It's not urgent" as the RFC would say, but it's a thought for steak/fries on the Mont on a cold, clammy Sunday.

Wepler in the 18th: Under new and not altogether management.

6.5 Wepler, 14 place de Clichy in the 18th, 01.45.22.53.24,open 7/7, has been under the "new" management of the Groupe Joulie, which runs Sebillon, Chartier, etc., for over a year and I finally had a craving for oysters and nearby.  It and its menu look pretty much the same but "management," ah, that's another matter.

Colette started with a traditional brasserie fish soup which had some texture and good taste and our art historian friend who lives nearby and I enjoyed oysters and bulots (unpictured).  

Colette finished with their traditional floating island which we all agreed was very good.

Our bill, well, ahem.  Just as I called for it, an older gent at a neighboring table got his bill and called the manager over to dispute it. Oh, oh.  So I inspected ours extra-carefully.  Wait!, we ordered portions of 6 and 9 oysters, but were billed for another 6.  There ensued a heated discussion between our native francophonic friend and the waitguy, ending with his stomping off and producing a new bill,  which with a bottle of wine and two coffees, was 106.50 or 71 E a couple.  dB's were 75.3 until the dispute.

Go back?  I figure I've been 3 times in 30 years; that's about right.

Vava in the 18th: a surprise visit where “all’s well that ends well.”

Vava in the 18th today had room for 4 of us who had intended to go elsewhere but thank whoever invented mobile phones, we quickly shifted and did very well, indeed.

 

Our friends started off having the gravlax with grapefruit and burrata and stuff.

Then two of us had the fish of the day - lieu jaune and two the meat of the day - a selle d’agneau.  Very nice all.

For dessert we shared the apple chausson and kiwi fruit and ice cream.

Our bill with the equivalent of a bit under two bottles of wine and 4 coffees “offered,” was 140€ or 70€ a couple.

Bistrot du Maquis in the 18th: Why can't we have this level and variety of cooking in America?

Le Bistrot du Maquis in the 18th is on so many borders of Montmartre: between that of the tourists and plain folks, between the upper and lower hill, and between schlock and sheen.  Entering the world of Qin and André Le Letty, ex of the Tour d'Argent, is to enter what Sebastien Demorand coined in 2004 as the world of Bistronomie; yes a bistrot but a gastronomic one.

Examples: My French colleague-friend, abetted by me, started off with a fish tartare, moved to veal kidneys and ended with a creme brulee while I devoted myself mainly to a civet de lievre with onions.  OK.  Classic but contemporary; beautifully sourced and cooked and served. I feel truly fortunate to live near places like this that day in and day out demonstrate the melding of tradition and innovation.

Our bill (excepting 2 coffees which were offered by the house and 2 digestifs sent over by a fellow Viet Namese restaurateur; Lan Groison of Le MaZenay) with a bottle and glass of wine, was 97.00 E.

L’Arcane in the 18th: How wonderful to have such a place nearby.

L’Arcane in the 18th is so reliably great that we had no hesitation in recommending it to 4 friends who asked to join us.  We ordered the 3 dish lunch which of course was double that:

 

 

 

 

- a seabass ceviche

- cod with passion, mango and other diced tropical fruit

- scallops for the one of us who doesn’t eat meat

- veal with a spicy sauce for the rest

- a cinnamon sorbet with pear and lemon

- a mango and other fruit soufflé 

Our bill, ah, once again, our friends, insisting my blogs and recs were instrumental in their successful stay in Paris, insisted on picking up the check.  I protested, but mildly.  Thanks.

 

Sens Unique in the 18th: Home food near home.

 

 

 

 

 

Sens Unique in the 18th near home is a place you don't come to, to be dazzled by but welcomed.

Its 2-2-3 lunch menu is super affordable (3 dishes for 20€) but not one you’d cross town for.  Colette held off an entree but I had some lovely slices of veal carpaccio in a mustardy sauce.  Then she had not greatly sourced cod with shredded zucchini and carrots and I had overcooked strips of chicken on a nice purée.

To finish up, she had mixed diced fruit and I the cafe gourmand that came with the same plus a mousse with chocolate sauce and myrtilles with cream.

Our bill with a decent bottle of Cotes de Rousillion and another coffee was 64€.