John Talbott's Paris

Pirouette in the 1st forces me to break my pledge to never say "best."

Backstory: As loyal readers know, I have taken the "pledge", no, not that one about sex before marriage or no alcohol but to avoid ever naming any anything food/restaurant/bistro related the "best."  But today I must break my pledge because our meal at Pirouette was special, inventive, mind and palate expanding and fun.

Pirouette, 5, rue Mondetour in the 1st has surely the most wonderfully welcoming owners, staff and chef on the planet.  And it's not because they know who I am, they were always nice.  The 3-course meal for 40 E that Chef Tommy Gousset constantly changes is a bargain and a half, no wonder from a graduate of le Meurice, Taillevent and Daniel (Boulud).  Our group of four couldn't decide what to have.

Two of us had what was called bio trout with citron, hazelnuts and confited onions but was really a work of art that could be housed in a hip gallery and the others had squid slices, egg yolks, lomo and a parmesan soup surround that I would have been happy to die after eating.

 

Then our two friends both had the lieu jaune with celery, apple and coques, Colette had the Dandieu duck with asparagus, kumquat halves and pork ball and I had what our genial (English-speaking, no less,) host said was a perfect symphony or something like that - of ris de veau - and it was truly divine, but wait -

like in the Threepenny Opera, Victoria's messenger comes riding in with a bowl of incredible veal cheeks and black garlic - oh my!  Now I truly was in heaven.

Well I'd like to break the spell by saying the desserts were not up to the previous dishes but a lie detector would out me quickly - they were fabulous; a slice of Ossau-Iraty with black cherry confiture on top, rice pudding with caramel, a foam of orange blossom, lemon ice and pistachio and pineapple with an avocado paste. meringue and white chocolate.

Our bill with two bottles of wine, some suppliments and 3 coffees, was 233.50, thus 116.75 E a couple.

The Postiche Bistro in the 1st; another astonishing surprise (her rating = 9/10, mine = 6.1).

6.1 The Postiche Bistro, 62-64 Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau in the 1st, 01.42.36.14.90, closed weekends (Metro: hummmm, Etienne Marcel or Les Halles or the #85 Bus), has been open for a few months alongside the Beef and Fish Clubs and I'm always looking for a place downtown to meet the person I've known, who has lived and worked nearby for longer than anyone else, so she can return to her patients soon after lunch.  The outside is Zen, cool, understated; the inside, well, to eat with Elvis, what could be better; and to listen to Louis Armstrong, even at 83.1 dB and sip a nice Saumur Champigny, while waiting, even better.

We both looked at the ardoise and declared that we wanted the mushroom salad and veal onglet -
"wait" she said "we shouldn't order the same thing" (unspoken, in case we bomb, we want an escape route.)  So she ordered the mushrooms with a poached egg and salad greens and I had the beet gaspacho with a few greens atop - both were truly fresh products, well-prepared and refreshing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains, she had the veal onglet with an incredible array of veggies - which she generously shared with me - and I had the lieu jaune with another incredible array of veggies, which I shared with her and while I started to peel off the crispy skin (as I do with stuff believing that I'll live two days longer without its fat, Omega 3 or no) I took a bite and By George, it was fabulous.  We passed on the desserts.

Our bill, with the wine, no bottled water and 2 coffees, was 62 E.

Go back?  Just like General Douglas MacArthur.

Le Saut du Loup in the 1st: SNAFU = Situation normal, all f****d up.

 

 

-1.0 Le Saut du Loup, 107, rue de Rivoli in the 1st, 01.42.25.49.55, open 7/7, (Metro: Palais Royal/Louvre) is a place whose outside terrace/garden tables cannot be beat, especially in nice weather (today it reached the high '60's).  I had come a couple of times when it opened in 2007 and really wanted to come back when I heard that Marc Meneau (of L'Espérance fame) had taken over its direction last April.  But M. Meneau clearly didn't have his hand on the tiller today, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I entered about 11h50, way early for my 12h30 reservation because I'd taken the morning off and gone to a movie (Dallas Buyers Club) and the Dries Van Noten Show in the Arts Decoratif, where the Saut is located.  To pass the time until my lunch companion showed up, I ordered a bottle of Chinon, thinking it was perfect for a warm Spring day - "No more Chinon, Monsieur."  "Ok, the Brouilly."  OK, but not the Chinon.

She entered right on the dot and it didn't take us long to decide that we both wanted the beignets of crevettes and veal Milanese; but she thinking maybe we should split our options ended up ordering the Caesar Salad.  Cool.  We started chatting.

15 minutes - no food
30 minutes - no food
45 minutes - no food
at this point we're gesticulating, muttering, complaining to no avail
60 minutes - finally food arrives but they were our main courses not our entrees.

The veal Milanese clearly had been thawed out and was watery (not crisply sauteed) and thick (not beaten thin) and the spaghetti had a sauce that only Chef Boyardee could come up with.

Plus, Madame had no knife despite our waving, searching the room and asking nicely 3 times; and we had no salt and pepper to "help" the veal, despite asking nicely 3 times.

Nothing redeeming here John?  Actually yes, the bread roll was excellent.

Our bill (they took off the two starters we never got and two coffees we miraculously did get) with a bottle and 2 glasses of wine, and no bottled water, was 86 E.

Go?  Are you kidding?  As my old friend the cellist would say after an orchestral mess "That was really a train wreck."

Balm in the 1st: Ministers vs. Visitors 20-1.

5.5 Balm, 6, rue de Valois in the 1st, 01.42.60.38.81, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays (Metro: Palais-Royal once it opens again) was described by Emmanuel Rubin almost a year ago as having prices "sur une autre planete."  He gave it one measly heart but his readers gave it three and as I passed it several times en route to Le Lulli and the Valois I thought it looked cool.  And it does have a reasonably-priced formula.  So.....

I invited a wonderful friend who just arrived for a sabbatical and who needed a break from installing a new front door, getting new VISA cards and rehooking up her electronic eqpt in her Left Bank flat.  We settled on a nice Chardonnay and settled back - and in poured guys in suits, waves of guys in suits - from the Palais Royal's Government Offices - Wow, they must earn more than I thought.  And the decibel level shot up past 78.8 dB.

My guest and I puzzled over the differently colored but extremely cool menus of the lunch formula and carte and she settled on two starters (41 E) and I the 37 E "formula".  Her first first was a beautiful layered millefeuille of veggies where the eggplant really soared over the other (carrot, zucchini, etc) flavors and I had the mini-gnocchi with Paris ham that she declared "flat" until I added some salt.

Then she had some overcooked (IMHO) scallops in a lovely sauce and I had a terrific piece of merlu with blettes and herbs in an equally lovely sauce.

And then we shared what was called a baba au rhum but looked suspiciously like either the Gateway to the West Arch in St. Louis (my reaction) or McDo's Arch (hers).  In any case, once knocked over it was OK.

Our bill, with all the above plus very, very good bread and very good coffee, would have been 106.50 E had we not dwelled over dessert with a bit more wine.  But let's call it 106.50 E for a couple, if, if, one sticks to the formula and firsts.

Go?  Because of the "other planet" prices, not knock-you-down food and proximity to Le Lulli, I'd say no.

Franck Enee in the 1st: High dining at an affordable price without a Michelin star.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Franck Enee in the 1st is an ideal example of what a poster on Chowhound requested today, that is: "High dining at an affordable price" but I would add "without a Michelin star." Enee has three "menus" from 35 - 65 E and the offerings are interesting, creative and never the same week to week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

M. Enee started us off with an amuse (see "high dining") of what I think was a carrot puree and coque and something else and then we proceeded to an oursin fluff with trumpets of death and eperlans with tiny diced potimarron bits - both generously augmented with edible flowers and edible leaves.

For mains all three of us chose the crousillant rabbit (which, since he came from Monsieur Lapin he knows from), with dry fruits and wild mushrooms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For dessert we had a lemon tart and apple/Calvados souffle, which followed by mignardises and coffee, was another index of "high dining."

The bill, with terrific bread, no bottled water, 1.5 bottles of Medoc and three coffees, was 160 E or 106.66 E a couple.  "High dining at an affordable price without a Michelin star."

Le Lulli in the Grand Hotel du Palais Royal in the 1st: Chef Jean-Yves Bournot pulled out all the stops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Le Lulli was one of the highlights of my Fall but my visit fell between those of Colette so we went today with two long time friends from the neighborhood.  The menu is a 2-2-2 costing 35 E for 2 courses and 42 for three.  But to start us off Chef Jean-Yves Bournot (8 years at the Meurice with Yannick Alléno and 2 years with Thierry Marx, as well as time spent with the Pourcels and at the Cheval Blanc in Courcheval) produced two superb amuses - the first a sort of puff-pastry with foie gras and the second a mini-quenelle type piece of bar with soup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For firsts, our friends ordered the gnocchi with potatoes, wild rocket and egg, at least I think they did, because two portions appeared plus one the chef wanted Colette to have.  Me, I got the huge tourte of grouse with sweetbreads and a rich dark sauce that beat the one I had yesterday by a mile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains, Colette and one of our pals had the poularde Souvaroff, the other had a huge ball of sweetbreads with fresh chestnuts and I had the scallops with a light citrus sauce; all were top-top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had two pre-desserts; the first a vanilla mousse and the second some mascarpone; then among us we also shared some chocolate tart and profiteroles, which again were all simply marvellous.

At some point the chef came out and over and we tried to thank him for a wonderful meal and more than that - a wonderful experience- we were warmly welcomed and enjoyed the elegant setting.

The bill was 105 E a couple which doesn't compute, so I think a lot was comp'd, but since I've already judged the place in my top 20 of the year it doesn't change my already very high opinion of the chef and this restaurant.

Pirouette in the 1st: the front and back of the house were ripping.

Pirouette in the 1st is one of those really feel good and eat good places where you feel equally well-treated by the front room guys and chefs in back.  The menu always seems interesting and doesn't repeat much, so everytime is like the first time for us.

We started with a grilled leek topped with chips of dried grison beef, faiselle cheese and nasturtium oil.  It was truly astonishing; light, flavorful and unexpected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains, my wife for half a century ordered what she's been having much of that time - scallops - but this time with grapefruit of all things - and I had chevreuil with sauteed foie gras with a rich dark sauce - that was almost like a lievre royale, scrumptious.

To top this off, she had a rice pudding with just enough caramel sauce to make it come alive in a really tasty manner.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine, OK bread for a weekend and two coffees, was 93 E.  a bargain and a half give the quality of the food.

Le Bistrot Valois in the 1st: A genuine, real, down-to-earth bistro with a great staff near the louvre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 5.7 Le Bistrot Valois, 1 bis, place de Valois in the 1st (across from Le Lulli), 01,42.61.35.04, closed Sundays, was described in A Nous Paris as a cantine for the Ministry of Culture 50 feet away, and Backstory: an old friend of mine works there and when hired as the third person in the Hollande government was given a choice of two offices - a big, huge suite facing the Rue de Valois or a teeny, tiny telephone box facing the Gardens of the Palais Royal - guess what?  Anyway, a cantine for the artsy bunch sounded good for me and my culturati friend who sings operas you've never heard of, restores houses you cannot afford and teaches MIT and Harvard graduate students stuff too esoteric to be mentioned in polite society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got there first and from my welcome you'd have thought I was the Minister of Culture (it's a she by the way); hearty hellos and welcomes and "let's move the table so you have more room, M. Talbott."  My friend, in training for his trip to India next week, ordered two entrees, the first smashed avocados with terrific ecrevisses and I the classic gratinated onion soup that I thought used onions that were too sweet when cooked and skimped on the melted cheese.  The bread (Poliane supposedly, but we know what that means) both in the soup and on the table looked terrific but was not up to what our fellow Cantabrigian, Appolonia, can turn out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The polymath's salad with dried tomatoes arrived and he was most happy; I, having asked "Is the liver thick?" was told "No," "Thin?", "No", "So between?" "Yes."  OK.  And it was, but with a great burnt exterior and pink interior that made the day.

Having informed me that this was his breakfast, my pal needed some fruit, so he ordered a pear tart that we both thought was most excellent.

With one small bottled water (I told you, he's in training for India), the equivalent of a bottle of wine and two coffees, our bill was 84.15 E.

Go?  Now when I'm asked where to go after or between visiting the Louvre, I've got two places - this and Le Lulli (and maybe Balm next door which looks cool.)

Le Café des Abattoirs in the (can you believe it?) First: A winner and a half, albeit pricy.

 

6.7 Le Café des Abattoirs, 10 Rue Gomboust in the 1st (you know, just across from the Carte Postale), 01.76.21.77.60, open 7/7 in dense Bobo/Anglophone/chichi-land.  However, it has escaped the dreaded DSM-5 disease - pesky fellow Yankees and is merely full of pesky fellow Parisiens.  It's cool, clean, with unfinished, unvarnished, unsanded tables, a huge bar-comptoir with those awful bar-stools (folks, reserve a table, unless you've got a PT/personal trainer on call).

The menus, at 32, 38 and 45 E are awe(in the original sense)some; what to do?  Just had an entrecote chez moi last nite (Franprix's best, burned for 2 minutes on the grille, with A1 sauce, so, hummmm, maybe the Black Angus ribs of beef (stated so in clear English) and Michel Rostang & filles' 46 cl of Cotes du Rhone.  (Slight digession: remember when Papa opened the first Bistro d'a Cote?  No. You're so young.  1987, "I remember it well" as Maurice Chevalier sang, "Chevalier, who he?" - But Rostang has out-classed so many others, the Costes gang, Ducasse (saver of lost restos - bless him) and Robuchon (who?)

 

 

 

 

So I order the most interesting sounding main, Black Angus beef ribs (it said so in English, and among the many things I've lost, English alas is not one.  And "Monsieur, for the first?" say I innocently - "A surprise."  Cool.  Some surprise.  A bowl of divine cauliflower soup, some rocket with a piggy ear canaille mondian it says here and something my friendly wait-guys said was chevre but reading others' accounts sounds more like eggs with ham and tomatoes - who cares? It/they, were great.

Now, somewhere here, the wait-guy brought over the tray of condiments - look up folks - but the winners were the BBQ sauce for the ribs which were burnt on the outside and raw on the inside (without my ordering them such, mind-readers that they are) and the Guerlande salt with espilette for my frites.  As they say "Estra prima."

For dessert, in honor of my sacred, now nameless, wife of 52 years, I had the floating island, white isn't it, blindingly white? Quite good.

My bill, with a filette of Cotes du Rhone and coffee and bread that was not up to Rostang & filles standards (a bit old no?), was 63.90 E - but hold on.  If one ordered a less expensive "menu", say at 32 x 2= 64 plus a bottle of wine at 26 and two coffees at 5.80, the bill for two would be 107.80 E if I've not lost it again in the Bruce Dern/Woody Grant manner.

Go?  Ah ha.  If you're vegetarian, vegan, health-seeking, faggedaboudid.  If not, reserve now, they were chasing away more of those pesky fellow Parisiens at 2 PM.

Franck Enée in the 1st: Inventive, creative, envelope-pushing like Colliot, Aizpitarte, Ledeuil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.6 Franck Enée, ex-Chez Monsieur Lapin, 17, rue Moliere in the 1st, 01.42.96.22.19, closed Sundays and Mondays (Metro: Pyramides) moved here in June but has received scant notice which is a puzzlement as Yul Brynner might have said because it's no mean place.  Dark, quiet (60-80 dB) and with various pillars and alcoves that makes it seem like a 12 not 30 cover restaurant, it is a gem waiting to be found.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a 26 formula and 35 E menu, but La Fourchette is offering 30% off a la carte so my two friends paid for two courses almost exactly what I did for three. 

 

 

 

 

 

 The amuse was cucumber cubes on top of pumpkin, very refreshing; then one friend had the sauteed sliced foie gras with a dusting of nuts and bread crumbs and the other two of us had urchins with herring eggs and sliced vegetables and trumpets of death - a clever combination that permitted the strong-flavored seafood to offset the mildly-flavored veggies or vice-versa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For mains, my friend R. (who discovered this place) had what I thought was the best of meal - pigeon fermier with artichoke centers and cepes; my pal J. had the turbot on top of more pumpkin with slices ofacidulated/cironed something; and I had the intriguing-sounding a looking crunchy rabbit rolled like a spring roll with dried fruits and wood mushrooms in an intense sauce with sesame seeds and mustard greens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J. and I shared my pumpkin souffle (yes potiron again) that came with an astonishing tasting baton made from brioche pastry and we all had the mignardises of a mini-Paris-Brest, pumpkin candy and canelés.

Our bill with a bottle and 4 glasses of wine, one bottle of sparkling water and one coffee was 185.40 E, thus 133.60 E a couple, but skipping all the frou-frou, could amount to 107 E a couple.

Go?  It's not for everyone, like Colliot, Aizpitarte and Ledeuil, he's clever, uses fresh ingredients and unexpected combinations, but some of my friends would find it too "edgy."