John Talbott's Paris

Pavyllon by Alleno in the 8th: Beautiful setting, attentive anglophonic service and food worthy of a day old star.

Pre: Last week my friend and I discussed possibilities for today's lunch.  "Pavyllon's a possibility but it's over your usual price range," he said.  "Ok we'll splurge."  And then the news from Michelin came in yesterday - "Alleno got a star for Pavyllon, I wonder if the prices will go up?"  But not yet, the business 2-2-2 lunch was still 68E.

7.3 Pavyllon (de Yannick Alleno), 8 ave Dutuit in the 8th, 01.53.05.10.10, (Metro: Concorde/CE-Clemenceau), closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays is one of three restaurants in the old Ledoyen Pavillion, which we've been coming to since the days of Ghislaine Arabian and Christian Le Squer and it retains its beauty.

After an amuse of spicy bread sticks and cream, all at the table save me had the lunch menu starting with (in their words)  "Scallops quenelle, Stewed and raw white button mushrooms & Spicy aubergine, avocado sauce Lemon balm, mint and lovage."  The bread was superior.

All the others then had the "Red mullet, potato flakes Cep mushroom ragout" and I had what I'd been longing for, for a couple of days and hoped would still be on the carte - pithiviers stuffed with hare and foie gras.  All came with vegetable tempuras.  "Very good" someone said.

Once again, I let the others indulge in the "Salted caramel ice cream double cream, Amarena cherries and roasted hazelnut & Biscuit tuile, pear bits,  Milky foam with vanilla," while I poached off them but then ate my fair share of the excellent crème brulee type cake.

With 2 bottles of wine and three coffees our bill was 395E or 197.50E a couple.  dB's= 77.2

Go?  It certainly goes on my list of celebratory places. And you will be very warmly welcomed by the gentleman outside the door to the restaurant. 

Le 3V in the 8th: A warm greeting, lovely setting and creative ingredients from a MOF: results = "just OK."

6.2 Le 3V, 3 rue de Vienne in the 8th, 01.42.65.55.86, breakfast and lunch Tuesday-Friday, dinner Thursday and Friday (Metro: St-Augustin) was touted as chic and light food brought to you by Chef Julien Baradel,.who went to the Ecole Ferrandi, and was deemed a MOF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France), no small achievement.  The décor is indeed chic, the restaurant completely full of suits and the service very attentive.  But then there's the food.

Colette and our friend from all over started with carrot peels wrapped around goat cheese with a quite nice dark toast; then moved on to chicken with a halo of jerusalem artichoke and scallops with celery rave while I had sweetbreads with a weird mix of salsifis and chestnuts.  Despite the clever mixture of ingredients, there was no wow.

Our bill, with a bottle of Bordeaux and Chateldon and 3 coffees, was 143E or 95.34E a couple.  db's = 83.7

Go?  I'm afraid not.  This is what my late, great real food critic friend would have called "typical 8th Arr. food."

 

 

Oursin in the 8th in GL: Glitzy outside but solid seafood inside.

Oursin, in the new Galeries Lafayette on the Champs-Elysees, is arrived at after negotiating ones way though dozens of display cases of glittery stuff that I guess somebody is buying and thinks they need.  The restaurant has a very Mediterranean look to it, albeit very modern and facing the great street itself.

They started us off with a tasty amuse bouche and then Colette and my grand-daughter, figuring that the most delicious way to go between Maputo Mozambique and Reggio Emilia Italy was through Paris, had the rockfish soup with spicy saffron rouille and their toasted bread. Next up was her pasta with palourdes and my poulpe with a huge half of fennel.  Finally the women in the family were most generous in sharing the ganache of chocolate with citrus, including kumquats and a deconstructed compote of apples with crumble.

Our bill with a terrific bottle of Vermentino and 2 coffees was 145E or 96.66E a couple.

La Lorraine in the 17th: Happy New Year with 7 Fish at least.

La Lorraine in the 8th was packed like a box of sardines, albeit 8 days after the Feast of the 7 Fishes and mostly with shellfish on display.  But fear not.

Two of us started off with 6 each of St Vaast's and Creuses, both #3; then our friend had scallops, Colette had daurade and I had fish n chips; ending with Colette kindly sharing a superb Paris-Brest.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine and 3 coffees, special mention to their butter, was 180.10E or 120.06E a couple.

Kudos to the hard working staff.... everyone of them were hustling - thanks to the strike many people did not come to work.  This is the 28th day of the strike!

Oursin in the 8th: Pretty damn good seafood in a dazzling Greek Island setting.

6.9 Oursin, 60, ave des Champs-Elysees  (2nd floor in Galeries Lafayette Elysees), open 7/7, (Metro: FDR) opened recently by Simon Porte Jacquemas, a designer, who I don’t know and Kaspia Caviar and Erica Archambault, who I do know from Septime and more so, Clamato.  The prices are double those at the latter but then, the seafood offered is higher end.

They started us off with tiny biscuits with an intense fish mousse un-pictured; then we shared a tarama of oursin/sea urchin with olive oil on warmed bread, also oiled.  For mains, my friend chose the cod with sweet spices and mustard seeds plus carrots and I had the octopus with braised fennel, delightful cherry tomatoes and green sorrel.  We ended up sharing a ganache of dark chocolate with confited kumquats, citrus and mint.

Our bill, with a bottle of D’Oc and two coffees, was 122€.  Noise level zero.

Go?  Despite the prices, even if not shopping at GL, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

Origines in the 8th: From the logo to the finish, one senses the hand of Julien Boscus.

7.6 Origines by Julien Boscus, 6, rue de Ponthieu in the 8th, 09.86.41.63.04, closed weekends (Metro: Franklin D. Roosevelt) is the new restaurant of the former chef at Les Climats and is strikingly familiar (the logo, huge wine list, dishes) yet different (mystery door like the original Spring or the Atelier de Joel R., less space and thus higher noise level).

I, like everyone else who hasn’t been there before, walked around the block trying to find the door, until the maitre saw me and waves at the magic sensor to let you enter.  From then on everything is clear.

My longtime co-eater friend and I both saw merit in the 44€ 3-course menu, which started off with radishes in a cervelle de canut sauce, no, not brains of King Canute, but a complex sauce of fromage blanc, chives and shallots.  “What’s with the French and radishes?” He asked.  I had no answer.  Ok.  Then, he had a starter of roasted vegetables and citrus with house made ricotta and I had cold mussels mixed with what I swear were diced potatoes but supposedly were really cauliflower bits in a curry mousseline sauce topped with dill - very very nice!

Then he had the cod, not raie as originally on the menu, facon Grenobloise with capers, yuzu and spinach and I had the game of my dreams - a traditional palombre (wood pigeon, ring dove) tourte, enriched by gamey foie gras and Rouennaise sauce with seasonal salad, including poire William slices.

We shared plates of St. Nectare and a vacherin Laura which seemed like a pretty usual wonderful kiwi meringue vacherin.

Our bill with bottles of wine and water and two coffees, was 142€.  Db’s were a loud 80.

Go?  I rated it 7.6; and when I got home saw that I had given Les Climats the same score last week.  Creepy eh?  Anyway, yes, go!

Contraste in the 8th: Elegant, suave, intriguing food, superb service.

7.0 Contraste, 18, rue d’Anjou in the 8th, (Metro: Madeleine) 01.42.65.08.36, closed weekends is the second restaurant of Stephane Manigold (after Substance) and is equally as impressive.  It is beautiful inside and the leather-aproned waitstaff is friendly, eager and helpful. It is pricey, but 35€ for two courses on the lunch menu and 39€ for three and wines start in the 40’s.

I debated ordering two courses on the interesting carte (the two chefs are from Brittany and Catalonia) but really liked the sound of the menu, which it turned out, my former website cohost, did as well.  After a couple of amuses, one amazing slice of marinated cuke with roquefort and presentation of delicious bread on a strip of cork bark, we had eggs from the farm and sea, colored with beets with smoked eel, topped with sliced poutargue - wow!  The main course, beef cheeks with carrots two ways, were less wowful after that beginning and a bit tough but fine.  Finally we had a complex dessert consisting of caramel, chocolate and peanuts and some mignardises.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine, bottled water (7€) and two coffees, was 152€.  Db’s = 80.3

Go?  For the 8th, amidst all the ‘wicheries, sushi joints, etc this is exciting and serious food.

Le Club Restaurant (at the Bateaux Mouches dock) in the 8th: Pleasant view, service and food.

7.4 Le Club (in what is essentially the dock for the Bateaux Mouches), Port de la Conference in the 8th (Metro: Pont de l’Alma), 01.42.25.82.51, closed Sundays and Mondays is a very successful attempt to recreate a 1930’s club, with leather chairs, elegant curtains and one of the best views in Paris.  But the food John?  You can’t eat the scenery.

The 45€ 3-course menu is pretty comprehensive, maybe 5-5-5 with a pretty ample wine list and they do have a simple quick business lunch for 25€.  My co-diners were going to have a big dinner tonight so we ordered conservatively.

Madame has the lieu jaune which was very tasty, with green beans; Monsieur had terrifically succulent veal with incredibly wonderful mushrooms; and I had pintade two ways with potatoes whose blanquette sauce I simply swooned over.  My!  The crusty bread was perfect for sopping it up.

We wound up sharing a praline chou which I was not blown away by.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine and three coffees, was 138€ or 92€ a couple.  DB’s were 78.6.  It’s handicapped accessible if one takes a car or taxi.

Go? Chef Christian Etchebest (not Philippe) and owner Charlotte Bruel have quite a hit on their hands, it’s a shame it’s closed over the winter.  Oh well, until next May!!!

Perruche in the 8th: Beautiful Sunday, terrific service, decent enough food.

6.0 Perruche, 2, rue du Havre (Printemps’ 9th floor men’s store roof) in the 8th, 01.40.08.44.44 (Metro: lots) seemed like a safe bet for a sunny cool Sunday - and spoiler, it was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The carte was replete with the usual international with an Italian twist, subjects, expensive save a 27€ whole farm chicken for two. We started with a ceviche of daurade and spicy tuna tartare with avocado and quite OK bread.  Then my dining partner had a beef tartare which was advertised as having truffle oil but our attentive waitguy must have heard me because it wasn’t drenched in the awful oily stuff.  It came with wonderful potatoes in butter that I considered the highlight of the meal.  We finished up with a Mont Blanc.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine and two coffees, was 116€.

Problems John?  I’m glad you asked.  “Yes, the music was both loud and lousy, although my decibel meter read 75.3; I was seated at a banquette, as requested, but It was somehow split in two so I was wedged between two cushions;  and the elevator was kaput, so we had to walk down a staircase to floor 8.

Go?  Another place to consider on a nice Sunday with unexciting but not bad food.

La Lorraine in the 8th: A perfect New Year's Eve lunch without the gilets jaunes.

 

La Lorraine (Brasserie Fruits de Mer) in the 8th has a lot going for it since its take-over from the last corporate bunch; it's back to the nice type of independent joint that still does a lot of business, is open 7/7 from dawn to past midnight, and is staffed by terribly efficient and friendly folks.

We ordered crazily off the carte ignoring boundaries, figuring that on New Years Eve, rules are broken.  Colette started with roasted langoustines and coques in a tasty slightly herby sauce and I had 6 Normand St-Vaast #3 oysters followed by rock fish soup with the usual rouille and stripped cheese.  She ended with their marvelous Paris-Brest.

The bill, with a bottle of perfect Muscadet and 2 coffees but no cocktails or champagne which surprised our wait-guy, was 101.90 E.