With you 100%. The only time I was there, the service was beyond terrible and the steak was incredibly fatty/grisly. Bit tough in spots as well. Overall not a good experience.

I've got les papilles scheduled myself for dinner...think I should look for something else?

Ha...

I have a girlfriend who's slightly less food obsessed than I am who will (try to)maintain some semblance of balance between eating and...not eating.

I thought of that, but I'd love to have some really good crepes while I'm in paris...is there anywhere else I could go for this? Preferably grab-n-go type place?

Check out the itinerary...I'm not sure if I have room for both. I've got lunch and dinner set for every day. I still have reservations for both, so I can cancel one if I need to. Is there anything else on my list that is a weak point or only so-so?

Arrive March 24 from Amsterdam
Lunch: Eating at a market
Dinner: La Cantine du Troquet Dupleix

March 25
Lunch: Pirouette
Dinner: Le Tintalou (only one I'm shaky about - may switch to Kei).

March 26
Lunch: Ze Kitchen Galerie
Dinner: Bones

March 27
Lunch: Passage 53
Dinner: Frenchie Bar a Vin

March 28
Lunch: Pierre Sang Boyer
Dinner:Les Pappilles

March 29
Lunch: Yam'Tcha
Dinner: Spring/Caius

March 30
Lunch: Breizh Cafe
Dinner: Chez L'ami Jean

Thanks for the rec on Caius - I actually looked into this a bit more and have decided to replace Spring with Caius for Friday night dinner. Not that I think Spring is suddenly a bad choice, I've just been very intrigued by the plethora of positive comments surrounding Caius. Look forward to reporting back.

Does anyone know of any hand poured coffee places? Along the same vein as blue bottle, phil'z, sightglass up in SF?

Sounds good - I didn't want to commit a faux pas by ordering a handful of ~28 gram selections.

I LOVE cured deli meats - especially hams. I'm trying to get the absolute best Iberico Jamon I can... is BB my best option?

Is it possible to get *any* pastries from Jacques Genin anymore? Can an order be placed?

True.

I avoid restaurant week ilke the plauge - not because of portion size, but because of the sub-standard fare most places typically serve up.

Definitely food to eat on the street/at a park...wont be doing much cooking this trip.

Is there typically a minimum order required at these fromageries?

Is there any sort of interval that one should order in? i.e. by the ounce/28 grams - or is asking for 100 grams okay?

Will definitely be getting my herring fill during my 2 day stop in Amsterdam before I head to Paris - but appreciate the suggestions...I'll see what those other guys have to say.

Wine vault is tasty but EXTREMELY small portions. You will leave hungry.

My vote is for smoking goat. A very tasty bistro located in South Park with a nice setting and service.

Ha, honestly, don't get too overwhelmed with the San Diego food scene....save that for SF.

I'm in SF a LOT so if you've got any specific questions about places up there, I'd be happy to answer. Just a quick bit of advice, save your fine dining for SF, but be sure to make reservations well in advance...

PS - if you go to Ota or Kaito for that matter, be sure to get the Uni sashimi. Willing to bet you won't find Uni in NY as fresh and tasty as what we get locally here in San Diego. That, and the salmon belly at Ota is divine...

Perfect - will keep both.

Is bellotta bellotta the best place to sample the finest jamon iberico in the city? From what I've been reading it appears this way..

John - are there any non-restaurant food items I may have overlooked you would classify as "can't miss"?

Thanks for the Saturne rec Phil - for whatever the reason I wrote this place off after reading a string of bad reviews, but I'll look into it a bit more.

Parnassien - Short of subbing in Saturne, I think I'm going to heed your advice and keep things as is.

Of course, now comes the part where I've got to make decisions on all the other "in between" meals...Patrick Roger, Laduree, Bellotta Bellotta, etc.

Question for ya - here in the states, at least where I am in southern california, our famer's markets often have food cooked on site. Is this true in Paris? Or are markets primarily selling food to be taken home and cooked/eaten?

I was having the same concern; too much asian-fusion. I think I'll pass on Kei (I'm assuming ZKG and Yam'Tcha are considered superior fusion versions from what I've been reading...).

Is there anything non-fusion and/or different you could suggest to take the place of Tintalou and/or Spring (I'm not positive on this one either)

Damnit..and I thought my itinerary was set...!

Would love to hear your thoughts on my itinerary... (thread posted)

Itinerary is complete...many thanks to those that have played a part in helping me decide. Here's the final run down - how's it look? Any glaringly poor choices? Anything I should sub in?

Arrive March 24 from Amsterdam
Lunch: Eating at a market
Dinner: La Cantine du Troquet Dupleix

March 25
Lunch: Pirouette
Dinner: Le Tintalou (only one I'm shaky about - may switch to Kei).

March 26
Lunch: Ze Kitchen Galerie
Dinner: Bones

March 27
Lunch: Passage 53
Dinner: Frenchie Bar a Vin

March 28
Lunch: Pierre Sang Boyer
Dinner:Les Pappilles

March 29
Lunch: Yam'Tcha
Dinner: Spring

March 30
Lunch: Breizh Cafe
Dinner: Chez L'ami Jean

Ended up reserving a lunch at Passage 53 as my "two-star" experience...

Seem like a good choice?

To follow up on the above..

If you are planning on Noble Experiment..you need to text exactly at MIDNIGHT, one week prior. I've been trying to make reservations here for a long time, and finally asked them why they're always booked. They told me people scramble to text right at midnight, one week out..

Also..I've been to both sushi Ota and Kaito, numerous times. There is no price difference as far as I can tell. Both are expensive, but much less expensive than what you'd pay in NYC for that quality sushi.

On a whole, Ota is definitely my personal favorite and the best sushi I've ever had..although, I've had individual dishes at Kaito that would classify as "best ever". Granted, I've never been to a place like Urasawa....but I don't have 8 bills to drop on dinner for one anyways, so it's moot.

One more tip on craft and commerce and Noble experiment...both are very popular and good. If you're looking for something (still downtown) but under the radar, and imo better than craft and commerce (never been to noble experiment), I would suggest Lion's Share. The food is actually really good too - I had the antelope sliders just last weekend.

No disrespect to your opinion of course, John!

Thanks for the tips..I may go ahead and forget about Bigarrade after such a bold statement.

I guess I'm looking for an upscale, fancy pants, two or three star, quintessential Paris experience that I literally cannot get by me (southern california).

Closest I could get would be French Laundry or something of that ilk up in Napa...although I've never had luck with reservations..

Thanks John....I did a similar length trip through New Orleans and handled a Commander's Palace lunch and Galatoire's dinner, plus a poboy (or two) in an eight hour period..so as long as I'm not up against anything richer than that, I'll assume I'll be okay :)

Ill definitely check out Terroir Parisien for dinner.

I was definitely considering Passage53 for a michelin level lunch. Pretty much between that, L'Astrance, Ledoya (although it's admittedly a bit higher than I wanted to go), or Bigarrade...

Thanks for the tips.

Thanks so much for all of the helpful feedback. I'm nearly finished with the final itinerary...

I'm down to one more lunch and one more dinner.

The dinner will be the same day as lunch at yam'Tcha...should I be going lighter? Any opinions on another fabulous dinner not already listed above?

As far as the lunch goes, I'm still trying to decide on a good value **/*** Michelin place. Any other places not listed above that are worth looking into?

no no no.....don't "prob" check out mariscos german seafood truck.....

CHECK IT OUT! :)

I've not yet been to Paris but have an upcoming trip myself (mar 24-31). I've done a lot of research and have read good things about many of the places you've listed, so from my second hand point of view...good choices!

Fair enough.

However, saying this place is at "least as good" as Milton's isn't doing it any favors. Milton's tastes like packaged pastrami thrown on supermarket rye.

I only allow myself a deli fix when I go to LA...there are sadly no viable options in SD.