John Talbott's Paris

Jacques Faussat with a little help from Geoffrey Rembert, in the 17th: Pretty fancy cooking.

Jacques Faussat in the 17th is a delightful place to have a last meal before heading off elsewhere.

The chef and his sommelier started us off with glasses of a lovely Chardonnay with amuses, potato and celery puree and pieces  of quenelle-like fish in a light sauce.

Our entrees were terrific langoustines and mackerel; our mains sweetbreads and the chef's grandmother's famous flamed fowl (today's fowl was delicious pigeon!); and desserts praline soufflés (wonderful, as before) and cooked pineapple.

Our bill, with the white wine offered, plus a bottle and glass of red, and coffees, was 292E or 146.50E a couple.

Coretta in the 17th: A perfect Sunday lunch? I'm not sure how it could be better.

Coretta, 151 bis Rue Cardinet in the 17th is one of "the favorites" readers keep plying me for that I've never revealed to anyone else in the universe.  Sorry, but the internet doesn't work like that.  We entered and were warmly welcomed by husband of the team that makes this place sing - Matthieu Marcant.

We were eating again with Heidi Ellison, who was on a day "off" having written Coretta up before on Paris Update and were more than happy to be treated to some champagne and an amuse of cream cheese wrapped in a slice of rutabaga, if I heard correctly.  For an entree I couldn't resist a lobe of foie gras with winter vegetables with a wonderful rich broth.  Then my female companions had lieu jaune and I the sweetbreads with the crusty outside and soft inside - both with more February veggies.  To top it off we all shared two portions of their caramel brioche - which in chatting with M. Marcant we learned derived from a dessert served by Jean-Georges Vongerichten at the Mercer Kitchen on Spring Street.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine and 3 coffees, was 169E or 112.66 E a couple.

Fleur de Pave in the 2nd: As close to food heaven as one can get (with a little help from Yamashita-San.)

Le Fleur de Pave is cheffed by Sylvain Sendra but he liberally acknowledges the contributions of master vegetable grower Asafumi Yamashita, both of whose products we've followed for years.  Sendra has an astonishing 45E multi-course lunch here which as far as I'm concerned hits all the high notes perfectly.

 

He started us off with a set of amuses with a hot roll and the Rossi family olive oil, moved on to a beef marrow-based puree/veloute, then an intense risotto with salicornes, beetroot sausage with sumac, barbu with mushrooms two ways, mango, cream and meringue and topped this splendid meal off with mignardises to be eaten from marshmallows to nut wafers to flan and macarons. 

Our bill, after a New Year's offering of champagne, with 2 bottles of micro-filtered water, one of wine and 2 coffees, with a "gift" of the sausage, was 153E.

 

Jacques Faussat in the 17th: "That was a really good meal." Indeed it was.

Jacques Faussat in the 17th is one of those places with a plain front in back of which is an elegant restaurant serving star-level food.

Chef Faussat started us off with three amuses: jellied beets, puffs and a soup of potatoes and celeriac, then Colette had a veloute of vegetables, our friend had a perfect egg with autumn sauce and I was treated to a piece of gravlax with chopped winter fruit (unpictured).  Our mains were beef and the chef's famous cognac-flamed partridge with its innards and foie gras and such.  For dessert, Colette got a praline soufflé on her "menu" while we indulged in the mignardises.

Our bill, with a bottle and 2 glasses of wine and 2 coffees, was 205E or 136.66E a couple.

 

Mova in the 17th: Do you think this is what Sebastien Demorand meant by bistronomie*?

Mova in the 17th is one of these places that I think Sebastien Demorand of Zurban, Le Fooding and Master Chef fame, had in mind when he coined the term 'gastronomie' in 2004 (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastien_Demorand) "Grande cuisine servie en petite quantité comme dans un bistrot" according to Wiktionnaire.

 

It has a 2-2-2 menu-carte and we started off with a veloute of sweet potato and incredibly coriander flavored beets with fromage frais.

Then we split again,, half the table going for the succulent chicken with roasted cauliflower and the other half cherishing the mackerel with confited celery with a passion fruit vinaigrette.

We ended, except for coffees, with rice pudding, almond and praline as well as creamy  lemon tart with crumble and meringue.

Our bill, with 1.5 bottles of wine, was 134.50E or 67.25E a couple.

Mova in the 17th: Do you think this is what Sebastien Demorand meant by bistronomie*?

Mova in the 17th is one of these places that I think Sebastien Demorand of Zurban, Le Fooding and Master Chef fame, had in mind when he coined the term 'gastronomie' in 2004 (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastien_Demorand) "Grande cuisine servie en petite quantité comme dans un bistrot" according to Wiktionnaire.

 

It has a 2-2-2 menu-carte and we started off with a veloute of sweet potato and incredibly coriander flavored beets with fromage frais.

Then we split again,, half the table going for the succulent chicken with roasted cauliflower and the other half cherishing the mackerel with confited celery with a passion fruit vinaigrette.

Le Petit Gris in the 17th: Looks traditional; but anything but; Yankees stay away!

Le Petit Gris in the 17th.  Let's dissect my headline.  1st - The dishes on the carte (menu) look traditional; cromesquis, snails, frogs legs, ganache, etc.  2nd - But they are prepared with new twists: the snails are not in butter and parsley but in the cromesquis, the frogs legs are not sautéed in butter and parsley (beginning to get the picture?); and the chocolate is not in a cream but a bar.  3rd - No American (read Yankee) would be caught dead here, it's 100% French. MFFA: make France French Again!

Colette being indisposed, there were 3 of us, who respected the menu's caution that we should share dishes intended for 2-3 persons.  So from Left to right: cromesquis of snails with chorizo, potatoes darphin (very yummy), frogs legs, filet of beef Wellington (with an astonishing pastry), filet (not quenelles) of brochet and a "finger" of chocolate in nuts.

Our bill, with a bottle of San Pellegrino and Cotes de Ventoux plus 2 coffees, was 110E or 74E a couple.

PS. The repetition of "but" is to annoy other English Major graduates of Cambridge Community College.

Zebulon in the 1st: Lovely, perfectly lovely!

Zebulon in the 1st has provided fine food under several chefs and Takashi Aoki, its current one, is right up there among the best.

There were 4 ofus today and we went straight to main courses: two choosing the duck breasts with salsifis and my side of the table indulging on sweetbreads with pickled and pureed carrots.  The pickled ones being spectacular.

For dessert we went our separate ways: with a Mont Blanc deconstructed, rice pudding and choux a la cream and caramel ice cream.

Our bill, with a Coke, a tea and three coffees plus a bottle and glass of wine was 220E or 110E a couple.

Le Fusain in the 18th: another wonderful meal of good products with excellent preparations.

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  Le Fusain in the 18th, is another one of these glorious unsung places, known only to the locals, even on Montmartre.  Well, I'll gladly keep the secret.

  

   

  

  Of the five of us two chose 1sts: a perfect egg in a sauce of Jerusalem artichoke and big slices of superb sashimi with shredded pickled beets that were  as effective as wasabi in bringing out the flavor of the salmon.

  

  

   

  

  Then we went our separate ways with:  perfectly sourced and cooked scallops with cauliflower and truffle oil, a filet of daurade with black rice risotto, and ballottines of chicken with quite delicious mashed potatoes with a lake of cepes sauce that was yummy beyond belief.

  

  

  For desserts we had the three-layered banana cheesecake and a chocolate bomb atop ice cream; both wiped-the-plate clean quality.

  

  With a bottle of Brouilly on the shaky table (my fault) and three coffees, our bill was 174E or 69.60E a couple for a first-rate+ meal.

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.