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Restaurant prices may have increased 20 % since 2000.
Restaurant Lescure,
7 rue de Mondovi, 1st arr tel 01.42.60.18.91 Closed Sat and Sun. Reviewed by Margaret and Chuck Pilgrim.
Tiny place is tucked down a narrow street just off the east end of Concorde. .
The menu of 16.90 € includes a quarter liter wine. Excellent chicken pate
with cornichon and field lettuce, a tomato salad with fine onions;, poached
smoked haddock with steamed potatoes and not-over-cooked carrots, chicken
croquettes (not the best choice), cream-caramel, citron sorbet. The wine was at
least quite drinkable. Now the hoot: this place is table d'hotel. You are asked
smoking or not, and not, of course, means the American alcove. I thought Chuck
would have an attack, but it really was fun. Like any dinner-party, some were
interesting, some were bores, some were adorable, some impossible to like. The
darling woman next to me with her daughter ordered off the carte. The daugher's
wild mushroom ravioli in reduction sauce looked and smelled devine. It
offers a menu at 16.90 € and a la carte. (Reviewed by Margaret and Chuck
Pilgrim)
Restaurant L'Astrance,
4 rue Beethoven , 16th arr, tel 01.40.50.84.40 fax 0140501145. Closed Monday and
Tuesday for lunch.
For me this is undeniably the
“event and discovery of the year 2001”. Tipped by The Pilgrims of San
Francisco, fellow connoisseurs, we visited this extraordinary place, for lunch
and had echoes from other friends who dined that same night. A den of fine
eating!
Two former chefs of the famous “Arpege” restaurant, Pascal Barbot and
Christophe Rohat decided to try their own enterprise and opened 9 months ago.
They had success from the day they opened, to tier own big surprise. The
reservations book is full, you need least three weeks in advance booking for
dinner, two for lunch.
A modern, tasteful but smart fully decorated dining room, metallic grey walls,
buff suede banquets. The place is not big: 40 seats, 8-10 of which are on a
mezzanine. The welcome is warm and professional, the service is flawlessly
perfect
No trace of superficial products, they look and find the right products, cook it
to perfection inventing a sensitive and even “sensual” cuisine”. And the
great idea to give you between each dish an “amuse bouche “ leaving you the
pleasure to guess what it is!!
What did we have? I took two dished a la carte, Annie took the lunch-menu for 29 €.
Annie (the lunch menu) had a tarte croustillante de courgettes, champignons a la
grecque, mozarella and tomate confite- then an epaule confite d’agneau,
bouquetiere al dente des legumes du jour-and as dessert fruits rouges de saison,
amandes fraiches grilles et 3 sorbet fruits differents et fleurs.
She had the grace to part with me her epaule d’agneau, which was the best
I’ve ever eaten. No lamb even in Sisteron could and will ever match this one!
I had the delicately seasoned chopped crab sandwiched between ultra-thin slices
of avocado. ("ravioli" using thin avocado slices instead of pasta),
and flavoured with almond oil, accented with salted almonds, then a barbue à la
crème de geranium, tomates confites.
And between all these plates, each time an “amuse bouche” where you have to
guess. One was a sort of “consommé de pain grille (toast)” incredibly
tasty, looking like a café-au-lait colored soup based on a number of mysterious
and wonderful ingredients. Exquisite not to say divine!! Another was a very
spicy coconut milk sorbet/ice cream. Finally with the cookies at the coffee, two
chilled quail egg shells filled with jasmine egg-yolk along with a surprising
ginger-laced and an assortment of buttery cookies!
The wine, an excellent Pyrenean wine (tasted) like a good Bordeaux! came for
18.50 €.
(This restaurant was advised to me
by Margaret and Chuck Pilgrim of San Francisco, this review is mine with a few
sentences re-used from the Pilgrim's former review)
La Butte Chaillot, 112 avenue Kleber,
16th arr, tel 0147278888. Closed Saturday for lunch.
Former associate of Guy Savoy, Alain Pras, opened a new restaurant, "La Butte Chaillot", certainly worth a visit. Special décor with its leather and metal chairs, glass tables, bridge couches, leather on the back wall, exotic wood varnished inlaid floor, and an aquarium where the fish is replaced by........apples.
The staff, orchestrated by the discreet and classy David, is like one of a great house.
The menu is a festival of colours, yellow like an exploded egg yolk, on a blue tapestry with white spots. Seems crazy but the food is invented by a healthy mind!
The chef, Stéphane, is like an orchestra conductor in front of a harmonious music score. Pras instructed him to serve traditional plats, timed and exact cooking times, and that's what the clients like here. Volaille fermiere rotie a la broche avec branch de thym fumante, pomme purée. Chicken is chicken here and purée is mashed potatoes. Entrecote poelée, fricassee de haricots verts aux tomates cerises, beignets d'aubergines, crusty roasted carré
d'agnneau, great dish of young vegetables, filet de bar poelé en croute d'olive, cabillaud vapeur au mesclun. All this comes out near perfection. Try the tarte fine aux pommes, excellent with a lot of …apple, which is rather rare in a lot of places. The surprise came with the strawberries served as a cappuccino or coulant au chocolat amer.
And consider that the Butte Chaillot is an inexpensive restaurant. For lunch or dinner you have a full menu for
30 €. A la carte about 39 €
The“Café Varenne” is on the corner rues du Bac and rue de
Varenne, 7th arr. It seems it’s an address NOT to give to foreigners. But Parisians can be such egoists;-). I give it anyway.
The café doesn’t look special at all –common pavements on the floor, imitation leather benches, no decoration, nothing—but….but when the plates arrive, you understand why it’s always packed.
Mozzarella is from Buffala, the tartare is from Tartare, the French (Belgian) fries are hand cut, not out of any deepfreeze device, thick and crispy. Everybody talks with everybody, politely, with conviviality, you laugh, have fun and you eat simple but fresh and delicious food. The place is just next to the residence of Prime Minister Jospin, visible since two “gendarmes “ are guarding the place. And if you know a bit the political and artistic world of Paris, you could ask, who DOES NOT come here? Jospin’s
councellors, actresses so famous and known that it would be dangerous to mention them in this post, movie directors, counts and old French nobility and even people like you and me. They are the important: the anonymous. On Thursday it’s open very late. Tablecloths are taken out of the cupboard and the chef offers his “house made jams”. Please don’t tell them, if ever you want to go and have a bite there, that I wrote this article (or better that Georges pointed me to the place), I would be “persona non grata” ;-);)-)
Le Safran, 29 rue d'Argenteuil 1st arr tel 0142612530
An ancient charming cook, Caroll Sinclair reopened a restaurant after many years of success elsewhere. Remarkable cuisine, simple when it is a
"croquante salade aux deux choux et lardons", sophisticated with the croustillant de thon au foie gras, which offers a
savory combination. Luminous decor. The best surprise of the after summer. About
36 €.
Les Comédiens, 1 rue de la Trinité, 9th arr tel 0140829595
Here is a restaurant copying in a tasteful manner the best America design. The cuisine is French however! ;-) And of great quality! Marinière de praires, bar de chalut a la peau, clafoutis aux poires. Nice work. Carte for
36 €.
L'Orangeraie, 5 rue des Arquebusiers 3th arr tel 0140291400
Served in a vast open patio, with fountain, paved soil and iron wrought furniture, this cuisine had to be sunny. It's the case with the gaspacho de rougets de roche, saint-pierre roti en petit-bouillon de supions aux senteurs de Provence and a peche au caramel de cassis. Stylish service. The luxe is reasonable with
a remarkable menu for 21 €.
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