souphie's Profile
Where does this board stand re: Alain Ducasse?
Robuchon is a totally different beast, imo. As PhilD points out, he's much less diversified. He's also still a strong influence *as a cook* in his restaurants, that are all about know-how. Both have empires, but if I had to sum it up, I'd say one is corporate, the other is more like a Middle Ages guild. It's the idea of an Atelier: many apprentices are actually doing work signed by the master, kinda like Michelangelo or Rubens.
Reports on L'Auberge du 15, please
My opinion: it was plain awesome. I'll be back, often if that meal was any indication. Service was very nice too.
Morilles in Paris
Yes, it is the season. Had some good ones at Le Grand Pan the other night. Chez l'Ami Jean will have some as well. But in general, quality fresh morels are a rarity, including at quality bistrots. Joséphine's stuffed ones are decent, not great. L'Auberge Bressane is quite good morel dishes (dried based, no questions). Sometimes Senderens has awesome ones. Also, had a very good dish of morels and poached egg at Tante Louise last week.
But the thing is, top quality fresh morels can only be the day's specials, because there's no stable supply of them.
best american breakfast in Paris (1st arrdt area)?
Savory crepes are American breakfast material? I'm getting old. In the 1st, there's always Joe Allen: http://www.joeallenparis.com/joeallenparis.com/Brunch.html
In the 6th, there's the famous Coffee Parisien on rue Princesse.
Steak Frites / Traditional Dinner on first night
Don't go far if you're worried about being tired. How about Café des Musées? Or Benoit if you're at the other end of the Marais.
8 arr. Dinner Suggestions
Outside of lunches at Le Cinq and Ledoyen, good value for the money and 8th arrdt are essentially contradictory. Le Carré des Feuillants is stll around. L'Astor from fifteen years ago is now at l'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. Le Violon d'Ingres has become more casual but I don't think the food is less good or the service less professional.
The theme I see in the places you visited fifteen years ago is that they were "hot" at the time. Today, the center of gravity probably moved east, and you want to visit places that are more in the news, you could consider Spring, Rino, Septime, Vivant or the new Mandarin Oriental with Thierry Marx at the helm. When it comes to fine dining, maybe La Grande Cascade or les Ambassadeurs, and there's always Guy Savoy and Pierre Gagnaire. I suppose l'Arpège would be considered ZE restaurant in town right now, in the high end category.
where would you go in the 7th for dinner on a monday with 2 kids 11-12?
La Fontaine de Mars, l'Auberge Bressane
Paris report from a failed Chowhound - longish
You can't plit tasting menus, but you often split ALC dishes or order half dishes. Also, there's nothing wrong with eating only one course.
Recommendations for boulangerie, fromagerie, traiteur near Poissoniere Metro?
Bakeries and cafés are usually distinct. Most café won't mind if you bring your croissants, but it's polite to ask, since most cafés have their own croissant (by which I mean the ones they bought from a bakery usually nearby).
There is a Grenier à Pain on rue du faubourg Poissonière that I quite like (bakery). The café on Place Franz Liszt are not unpleasant, but my advice really is to stroll the neighborhood to find places you like. There is also a Grenier à Pain on rue du 8 mai 1945, by Gare de l'Est, that has some very good breakfast pastries. I also like Saint Preux on rue Cadet - or rather I like their caramelised apple roll (chaussonx au pommes).
Foodwise, you can walk to the Marché Saint Quentin, whose chicken and cheese guy have been much discussed, and there is also charcuterie and traiteur. You can also walk, in the opposite direction, towards the rue des Martyrs, that has lots of goof stuff in every kind of food. Closer, there are also a few good places on rue de Rochechouart, esp. a very original cheese place and two good bakeries and a pastry shop.
I don't think it's a great neighborhood for good little bistrots but I know others disagree. Casimir and Chez Michel are obvious responses. There are also a few good little places on rue Condorcet between Poissonière et Rodier. And of course I loove Wally le Saharien at the corner of Rodier and Tour d'Auvergne. There is a Beaujolais place on rue Milton that is very good and authentic. Also, Jean on rue Saint Lazare, Olympe on rue Saint-George, but we're not so close anymore.
I would buy Le Petit Lebey des Bistrots Parisiens for places one does not necessarily think of.
Need suggestions for dining at the bar in Paris Michelin starred restaurants.
Restaurants in France generally don't have bars, esp. Michelin starred ones. But dining alone at a table is never a problem.
One famous exception is Robuchon, of course.
Big Bank for the Buck: Le Cinq, Ledoyen for lunch (no bar).
I don't think it's a good idea to do two starred restaurant a day, it's hard to enjoy even if they're both wonderful. On that note, Christian Constant's Les Cocottes, Alain Dutournier's Pinxo also have bars you can eat at. Chez l'Ami Jean, too -- but it's much funnier, esp. if you're alone, to sit at a table and meet your neighbors. Denise is great for that, if you go after the Colbert Report time.
gluten/sugar free, and low-sodium options in paris and/or villefranche-sur-mer
The highest quality vegetable in town are at the organic market: saturday on bd des Batignolles and sunday on bd Raspail. Unfortunately, they're also spectacularly expensive. Otherwise, there really are good markets all over town, or rather markets with some good stands. I'm not crazy about Lenoir but I think there is great stuff at Enfants Rouges, Poncelet, Clerc, Mouffetard, Bourse, Cour de Vincennes, Blanqui, Président Wilson, Passy, Monge...
Yes, Naturalia is worth shopping at daily (also Demeter eggs are a thing of wonder), but there are some all over town too. Monoprix also has decent stuff, Carrefour too.
Thanks for Bob's bar!
gluten/sugar free, and low-sodium options in paris and/or villefranche-sur-mer
I can't think of a single restaurant that you can trust with all those constraints. My advice indeed would be to keep it to the wonderful fruits and vegetables, fresh meats and fish that can be found on almost every market in France (some are still way better than others, of course). You already spotted the Naturalias and other Biocoops, which obviously will be your allies, especially since their fruits and vegetables are better than they used to be.
But the truth is, sugar free+glutenfree+low sodium+lactose is going to be a challenged when it comes to processed and prepared foods. You mention healthy fats, and even finding coconut oil is a bit of a challenge. Raw butter, however, is much easier.
Forget about rice bread, but there are rice crackers, including low-sodium ones, in most big supermarkets now.
As for olive oil, try the biodynamic one (Demeter) from Naturalia.
And juice bars are almost inexistent, especially when it comes to vegetable juices. Some naturopayhic spas have a Champion or another decent juice extractor, but we're way out of the beaten path there (see for instance Le Centre Naturo on rue Lafayette).
So the good news is: fresh quality ingredients are widely available. Other foods, forget about them.
One Special Meal in Paris
Tante Louise, rue Boissy d'Anglas, has food everyone will like, is bourgeois but not too stuffy, has great sweetbread and my favorite kidney in town.
Sweetbread at l'Atelier de Joel Robuchon are some of the best in town. Chez l'Ami Jean does them with a cocoa sauce that is a success.
Upcoming Trip, 2 and 3 Star Advice Please...Le Meurice and Arpege Lunch?
I agree with your friend. In fact wine is for me (the teetotaler!) the main reason to go to Astrance.
Last minute Valentine's Day dinner
Fair enough. I would try un-romantic places then, like La Rotonde or other big things.
Looking for Fondue Restaurant in Paris
That's an excellent question and I am looking forward to good answers. Otherwise, we're gonna have to start trying them randomly, and I expect bad things.
Last minute Valentine's Day dinner
It's a good day to stay home, and definitely not a good day to get a good meal without reservation. Not unlike NYE or Christmas day -- restaurants are packed with couples pretending to have a good time because they must and serve some usually stupid and overpriced Valentine menu with heart shaped pineapples.
Help with where to eat in Paris for 3 days/nights
Chosing a fine dining establishment is mosly a question about your personal preferences, there is almost no right or wrong (some people even like Ducasse!). That said, for your first time, choosing l'Arpège or l'Astrance, especially for lunch, assumes that you're comfortable with a few plates of a handful (not a fist) of vegetables, a very light meal, quite informal service, and some unexpected flavours and combinations thereof.
For beginners, I would much more likely recommend lunch at Le Cinq, of course -- after all, don't you want to do the touristy stuff?
Whether you should eat in one of the NYT spots is up to you. Frenchie I can't really talk about, since I haven't been able to get in, but you should not only read reviews, but also check pictures on Blogs, Picasa, Flickr to get a sense of how much it appeals to you. Foodwise, Saturne is very much of a more casual Arpège or Astrance, with a slightly more modern twist. Spring is in a category of its own but prices will take you close to fine dining.
I've heard about those wonderful Parisian bistrot in which there is great food for cheap and no reservation is needed. Never seen one, though, in almost fourty years of living here. That said, there are decent neighborhood bistrots in many places, it is mostly a question of neighborhood. For me, I like Au Dernier Métro (bd Grenelle) L'Auvergne à Paris (rue Blomet), Brasserie de l'Ile Saint Louis and Saint Régis (both on rue Jean du Bellay), but those are just some random spots not worth crossing town for.
Café Cartouche is a secret gem, but reservations are needed.
Anyone try the new Gluten Free Patisserie Helmut Newcake?
Just back from there. Bottom line is: meh, but the tarts are good and the people are nice.
The main thing is that they do not succeed in substituting wheat in recipes that actually rely on the elasticity usually brought by gluten. Their pâte à choux, in particular, has that unpleasant taste of dust and texture of cracker (no elasticity) that most glutenfree products have and which makes them so kill-me-now despairing. Accordingly, the value of their éclair, chou à la crème lies in the custard or cream inside, and you might as well eat those by themselves, it's better.
But there is not the same issue with pastries where flour is not usually used for elasticity, ergo the tarts with their pate sucrée. This all the more true since there is very little crust in those tarts, and the fillings are good. I found the meringue lemon tart really good, it did not have that "compromise" feeling that the éclair and chou had (you know: "dude, it's gluten free, what do you expect?"). Same with cookies, where no one expects interesting texture anyway, I suppose.
Service is excruciatingly slow, and, as you'd expect from people running a pastry shop that opens at noon, they open late (and we were a few waiting a sidewalk). Other than that, very nice people, and quality gluten free grocery on the side too. Also, lovely couch under a sunroof in the back (the glass roof has a tarp holding with duct tape that reminds me home...)
But let me say it now, good gluten-free pastry shops I tried in the US were better, eg Dee's one smart cookie in Glastonbury, CT, my usual. They do no French pastry but in their cupcakes or whoppie pie or bread actually are interesting substitues for the real thing, they have that flesh-like quality which I suspect is the reason why people like me can be addicted to baked goods.
See how I manage to keep it family rated?
Upcoming Trip, 2 and 3 Star Advice Please...Le Meurice and Arpege Lunch?
No, I actually think lunch menu at l'Arpège is a good way to go. There are great experiences and disapoiting ones to be had at l'Arpège, but it doesn't seem to depend on how much you spend. And they're never good value anyway, be it 300+ for a tasting menu or 130€ for a few vegetables and a hint of animal protein.
Upcoming Trip, 2 and 3 Star Advice Please...Le Meurice and Arpege Lunch?
About le Meurice? Well, just try them. Le Meurice and Le Bristol have very sub par lunch menus, they're not really playing the game of the lunch menu, unlike Ledoyen, Savoy, or Le Cinq. Their lunches are actually very business-oriented: light, kind of bland, perfect for those who mostly want to sit in a prestigious place and not be distracted by the food. ALC (or regular prixfixe) and lunch menus are like two different restaurants.
Steak Frites on Sunday after Paris Marathon!
Yes, but Louis is better and also open sundays.
Robuchon also does a great steak frites and is open sundays.
La Rotisserie du Beaujolais is nice too.
;
And yes, l'Auberge Bressane as well. Au Petit Marguery, too
Hegia?
The operation apparently continues until there is a buyer. I'll play the lottery tomorrow
Good things just never last.
La Régalade (original location) - Rio Yeti report
Today's meal at CAJ was thoroughly awesome -- went for the 80€ tasting and everything was very good, some stuff wonderful:
Fish soup, great as usual
Truffle scallops in an olive sauce/vache qui riz/squid ink sauce had excellent components but there were mishaps: the yet generous slices of truffle inside the scallops were overpowered by the olive, all the more since the dish lacked some heat. The olive sauce was drink it by itself good (luckily it came back later in the meal...)
Abalone, foie gras and calf feet was sooo good -- though I should warn purists that those are the French style, chewy (almost rubbery) abalone. I love it but many don't and I can't blame them. The overall taste was very meaty and juicy.
Sole with a potato risotto (little dices of potatoes cooked like a risotto was yummy, especially the bites with truffle -- the whole thing in a tasty buttery sauce.
Whiting with truffle was a perfect dish -- smells of truffle, tastes of truffle, wonderful cooking of pristine fish.
Pork "epigram", mostly fat really, was served with the return of the olive sauce and I can't remember what else there was but it totally worked.
Cocoa sweetbread was as perfect as usual, melty inside with a "cross" pairing with the cocoa, meaning that both tastes go well together but don't overlap at all. It was strangely served with confit sweet onions, which did not work.
Of the avalanche of desserts I only studied the riz au lait as it was the only one that was gluten-free. We're back in business and the last few times were mishaps. It is all about a masterful creaminess, not the more risotto like, more vanilla intense Régalade version. And there's more of it.
The take on the Saint Honoré was clearly remarkable and deconstructed just enough, the fresh kiwi stuff got enthusiasm from my lunch comrade, and chocolate/chestnut was good for those who like that, I suppose.
Anyway, if this meal is any indication, bad times at CAJ are over. There is now a 35€ lunch deal on top of the regular 45€, also a mini-tasting for 50 something, and the big 80€ all you can eat tasting. As always, specials of the day are each more tempting than the next. The cote de veau in particular looked very good today.
To go back to the topic at hand, I think CAJ and Régalade, despite coming from the same mold, are less and less comparable. Régalade is an excellent, well-oiled, good food machine at great value. CAJ can be more of a roller coaster but holds gastronomic surprises which are not in store at La Régalade. And not really in the same price range anymore.
Can we eat well in Paris without reservations?
Well, the general answer is indeed no, but with a big caveat: you can make last minute reservations everywhere, and you will usually find a very good place at the last minute. Weekends are unlikely to work, though, where so many good places are closed and almost all decent ones that are open are packed.
Anyone try the new Gluten Free Patisserie Helmut Newcake?
Gimme a minute! I may try it this afternoon. Or this weekend. It does look too good to be true, but then again, if it can happen in Glastonbury, CT, then why not in the world capital of pastry? I'm already bitter that this was not my initiative.
Also, David Leibovitz has been: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2012/02/helmut-newcake-gluten-free-bakery-in-paris/
La Régalade (original location) - Rio Yeti report
On recent visits, I also found the rice pudding at La Régalade has become better than the one at CAJ, and it was both because of the decline at CAJ (it actually turned soggy whereas it used to be such a perfect texture) and progress at La Régalade (where the portion is slightly less than it was, but the texture is awesome if not quite light, and the flavour of vanilla is very intense).
In general, I would agree that the original Régalade remains consistently one of the very good places in town, and an affordable one, whereas CAJ has clearly had at least a few bad months lately, with very experimental cuisine, and prices that have taken off.
It's like Jégo, as he kicked out the Michelin guys, still self-awarded himself his (deserved) first star and raised prices accordingly. Going back tomorrow and next month to monitor the progress of this worrying situation.
