John Talbott's Paris

Les Fables de la Fontaine in the 7th: Overpriced and undersalted; 1 Star?, How far the mighty have fallen.

When I heard that Julia Sedefdjian had departed Les Fables for her own place Baieta (which I liked a lot) but her sous chef had taken over “effortlessly” said one critic, I thought “I’ve gotta see this.”  And so I convinced one of my complicit and compliant pals to indulge my curiosity.  And yes, there was a guy washing his shirt in the Fontaine.

4.9 Les Fables de la Fontaine, 131 rue St Constant, just kidding, St Dominique in the 7th, 01.44.18.37.55 (Bus: 80), was full of Asians when I entered (a good sign in my estimation, because they’re the first to know what’s good in town.). A look at the 52€ “menu” did not thrill me, note that a few months ago I was overwhelmed by Julia Sedefdjian’s cooking here.

First off we got a cold pea soup with wasabi, much like yesterdays, oddly at Pilgrim, and cheese puffs, bread and butter that were ok.

Then my friend had the perfect egg with marinated mushrooms and soup that my friend said after the fact badly needed salt.  A plus, it came in a cool hollowed out burl but you cannot eat wood. Then he had a squid ink encrusted piece of  cod that was well, a squid ink encrusted piece of cod and I a tasteless bourride which came a bit to life once I asked for and doused it with salt.

For desserts he had a sable with strawberries and I had chocolate with pistachio, both of which were good, leading me to suspect Julia Sedefdjian had left her great pastry chef behind.

Our bill, with a bottle and two glasses of Voignier, which they doubled the cost of, until we brought it to their attention (PS: the waitladies were sloppy, the waitguy, full of elbows and the pantry space for the staff horrible) was 151€ which for a 1 Star restaurant is ok, but this was below any stars.

Go back?  No way.  PPS. My friend asked me to highlight the need for salt and pepper put on tables.

 

 

 

Le 122 in the 7th: new owners, new decor, new chef but not so great results.

5.3 Le 122 has been a steadfast old reliable place in the center of Minister-land in the 7th for years. But Fiad Saidi has gone and with him the fengshui.  While today’s hosts are warm and charming and the menu is much like it always was, the results are simply not captivating.

We went with one of our oldest French friends and started with a pleasant albeit sweet asparagus soup.  Then we had foie gras covered in cacao dust with pear chutney, so-so, green asparagus with a perfect egg, ok, and the hit of all, carpaccio of bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then Colette had the roasted scallops which she would not recommend to others and our friend and I had 7-hour lamb, which while spoonable, my friend and I agreed needed some oomph, but didn’t have the guts to ask Chef Isabelle Ricci to pep it up with Harissa, mustard or salt/pepper, silly us.

To finish our pal had a fancy lemon tart, Colette the moelleux of chocolate and I the Baba with vanilla/passion flavored rum, all “so what.”

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine, no bottled water, but 3 coffees, was 161.10€ for 3 or 107.40€ a couple.

Pertinence in the 7th: Japanese chefs, Ryunosuke Naito et Kwen Liew, showing their stuff.

Pertinence, 29, rue de l’Exposition in the 7th, 01.45.55.20.96, closed Sundays and Mondays, was one of those places I ate at this Spring and loved but never got around to revisiting with Colette until the wine maven I’d gone with then, reminded me that has become one of his and his wife’s favorite dining spots.

All four of us chose to go with the 3 course 38€ lunch which was splendid.  The chefs started us off with an amuse bouche soup of warm vichyssoise followed by a perfect egg, mushrooms and quinoa.  Rolls and butter were first rate.  Our main courses were beef cheeks with red wine and beet sauce (and raspberries) and dessert was caramel iced banana.

With a bottle of Morgon, no bottled water but 3coffees our bill was 199€ for 4 or 99.50€ a couple.

Arnaud Nicolas in the 7th: Another best meal by a best artisan.

Arnaud Nicolas, 45 Avenue de la Bourbonnais in the 7th, 01.45.55.59.59, closed Sundays (Metro: Ecole Militaire) is a combination charcuterie/restaurant run by one of the “best artisans in France”, a prestigious honor indeed.  And for a good reason, the Chef is a master of meats and charcuterie.

We went with our former cohost at a food website who knows her stuff and who started off as did I by sharing Colette’s pick of one of the specialties of the house, a foot long pate of quail, pistachios and pear.

Then she chose the exquisite boudin blanc, Colette had a tartare of daurade royale and I went with the very generous piece of beef cheeks with winter vegetables and purées.  It was all Wow stuff.

For dessert the ladies had and shared a baba and vacherin with lemon.

Our bill, with three glasses of celebratory Grenache, a bottle and glass of wine, no bottled water but three coffees, was 153.50€ or 102.32€ a couple.  Apologies for the lack of photos but my prior reviews will give you an idea.

 

Les Fables de la Fontaine in the 7th: Charming chow; slow service*.

Les Fables de la Fontaine, 131, rue St-Dominique in the 7th, 01.44.18.37.55, open 7/7 (Metro: Pont d'Alma) is a fish-oriented place, not that they don't have duck and beef as well, but our dining partners wanted seafood before a big dinner ahead.  So this looked like a good option to us.

They started us off with two great types of bread: focaccia with drizzled EVOO and pepper and crusty dark bread.  Then we 4 shared the entrée du jour of sautéed cepes and salad.

Then we went our ways: with Colette having maigre with molded mélange of vegetables, J had the aioli of lieu with a lot of vegetables and M and I had raie a la grenobloise and croutons with spinach.  All were quite fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our bill, with the equivalent of two bottles of wine, their filtered water and 3 coffees, was 261 E or 130.50 E a couple.

*The service, that is the delivery of dishes and clearing of "dirty ones" as well as resupplying of glasses of wine was glacially slow.  The wait-folks were bilingual and very nice, but the kitchen seemed over-burdened although the place was hardly full.

 

La Poule au Pot in the 7th: "I have no complaints," my friend said on exiting.

5.0 La Poule Au Pot, 121, rue de l'Universite in the 7th, 01.47.05.16.36, open 7/7 (Metro: la Tour Maubourg, Invalides), is one of those places one has passed a million times without looking inside, that says it serves house made food and has interesting wines.  I was prompted to go by a review in L'Express just before the vacances, as well as a friend's urging.

I arrived 8 minutes late but had trouble catching up; the menu and carte as well as wines were differentiated by different colors of type and supplements and I was totally confused.  In desperation I asked what my friends were having, thinking that might make my mind up, nope, no help.

My friends started with a a round of caviar d'aubergines with creamed cheese (I swear) and a carpaccio of salmon with cakes and figs while I had cubes of melon and watermelon with cured ham, quite nice, but nothing one couldn't make at home or get in Spain or Italy any day.

As mains my friends had a piece of tuna snackee with beans and cukes and a bavette of Angus with a ton of rather pathetic fries, while I chose an andouillette sausage with rather nice mashed potatoes.

For desserts we all went at one fine strawberry tart.

Our bill, with no bottled water but two bottles of the amusingly titled wine with a cute label on back, and one coffee, was about 84€ a couple with a lot of noise (83.8 decibels).

Go? Not necessary, really, as my old pal, the RFC would say.

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Loiseau Rive Gauche in the 7th: some of the best desserts of the decade.

7.0 Loiseau Rive Gauche's dishes have been consistently interesting, complex and copious since we've been coming back after a long hiatus following Loiseau's suicide.  But I don't think we've ever been so blown away by the desserts until today. Once again we ordered the 3-course "menu" now priced at 42€ but one gets many more than 3 dishes.  

They started us off with corn bread type muffins with an herb butter and an egg concoction flavored with cumin accompanied by parmesan wafers followed by a giant oyster covered with teeny cucumber cubes with a cucumber juice flavored with horseradish.

Then Colette had the caramelized cod with just undercooked green peas and I the crispy skinned poitrine de cochon with 2 sauces and a large bowl of fantastic white beans covered with fluff.  

Finally came the aforementioned desserts, an apricot purée with a cream very much like zambaglione and white celeriac floating island, followed by jellies and chocolate buds sitting on flat pieces of chocolate.  just before leaving, we each were given a box containing a delicious madeleine.

Our bill, with a bottle of wine and no bottled water as well as 2 coffees was 124€.

Anything wring, John?  Yes, the music was more like you'd find in a NYC bar than a fancy Paris place and the "boom boom" noise from the Dance Studio above didn't help.

Pottoka in the 7th: "Good choice Dad."

 

 

Pottoka in the 7th provided us with a superb meal last time we came in the winter, but we soured on the lack of space for our coats.  Today, no such problem with an offer to take my jacket as soon as we'd entered.  

Our grandkids started off with two big "tapas" platters of Basque charcuterie and cod fritters with excellent aioli.

For our mains, Colette had tuna with avocado and peanut butter and the rest of us loved the turbot with mushrooms, pork chops got the ravest review, and terrific riz de veau.  

We finished with us all sharing 3 portions of chocolate mousse with a dollop of peanut butter ice cream.

Our bill, with two bottles of wine, no bottled water but 2 cokes and 4 coffees, was 281 € or 93.66 € a couple.

Le 122 in the 7th; holds up quite well on a repeat visit.

 

Le 122 in the 7th has undergone a change in management and the kitchen that keeps it in the definite "go-back-to" category, for me anyway.  I hadn't recalled the clever light bulb/chandelier sculpture from prior visits but we were seated in the side room today, where it is a striking piece of decoration and this room would be a great meeting/dining room for a group of 16 or so.

Colette looked over the carte and said she was surprised not to see a cold soup - not to worry, one of peas was sent out as our amuse.  Then she decided to go with 2 entrees, starting with the daurade/mango tartare which she loved while I was equally happy with a beautiful piece of warm sautéed rouget with cold cooked and somewhat pickled veggies, running from peas to beans to cauliflower to mushrooms.

Then she turned to said rouget dish while I had a paleron of beef, well-cooked but without the classic red wine sauce, instead with a tomato-colored purée topping which did not work as well as the usual.  However, the smashed potatoes with espilette and cut scallions were outstanding and worth a detour.

We terminated by sharing roasted apricots with a lovely ice and crumble, that I thought was a perfect end to a fine meal.

With no bottled water but one bottle and a glass of wine plus 2 coffees, our bill, having made our reservation thru La Fourchette, was -20%, thus 109.40€.

Fwd: Kult in the 7th; everything was fine, .... except....everything.

Kult in the 7th has undergone a stunning renovation.  The restaurant has several rooms which range from lounges, to a bar area to pure restaurant; all in different but pleasing colors that fit together.  We entered to find our friends from the 9th installed and sat opposite from them on a couch and everything was pleasant, except for annoying music which originally I thought came from an car radio outside, but no, it was internal.

The welcome was warm and the menus came soon after; our friends ordering some gassy water made in house and all was well, except Colette and I had trouble hailing anyone to bring us some tap water which although served in a carafe, we were charged 4€ for.

We started with three firsts: a beet gazpacho, a foie gras mousse with nut sauce and a large piece of cured salmon, all good, except the spindly salad kept reappearing throughout the meal.

Our seconds were a risotto of tiger prawns and filets of beef, the products of each were ok, except the risotto needed to be sent back to be cooked properly and the beef we  ordered was over cooked in both cases.  

The dessert was a deconstructed chocolate with coffee cream; it  was very good. 

Finally, it should be noted that the service was friendly and the language frequently in English, except service was not attentive, e.g.we had to ask for spoons, and several salt and pepper grinders because multiple ones didn't work; and the bread tasted stale, and  the table was not cleared of crumbs before dessert was served. 

Our bill, with one bottle and one glass of wine, was 88.50€ a couple which sounds reasonable, except they charged us for 2 bottles and a glass of wine and a bottle of tap water, which means our real cost should have been 73€ a couple;  they owe us 31 €.