Les Enfants Rouge (another very good Franco/Nippon bistro)

When a member of Paris' expat food blogging royalty invites you to join him for lunch, you just can't say no. Especially when he takes you to a place a friend of a friend heard of that opened a week ago, in a former wine bar gone south, now creative French bistro run by a young Yves Cambdeborde trained Japanese chef and his wife (he the kitchen, her the front of house), and put it all up in the virtually unchanged storefront in a tiny street in the Nord du Marais, and you have a recipe for success.

This soon to be Figaroscoped and Fooding'd 12 table spot, sandwiched somewhere between the trendy rue de Bretagne and the Marché des Enfants Rouges hits all the right notes: 35€ men for dinner or lunch offering 4 choices for each dish. The amuse bouche was a haddock jelly covered shellfish mousse, and main choices included citrus marinaded salmon coupled with oxtail and celery, a delicious salted codfish quenelle, textbook quality ris de veau and Brittany caught cod with buckwheat risotto and shellfish. Bread was (surprise) not Pain des Amis, but from chef Thierry Bréton. All was comforting, technically perfect (one exception, the cod was a bit salty) , friendly and affordable, and served (slowly) with a smile. Book now before it becomes the new French/Nippon bistro flavor of the month. And, for the moment, make sure you bring cash, as their credit card machine isn't installed yet.

Les Enfants Rouge
9 rue de Beauce, 3eme

Summer Nights in Paris

Recipe for the perfect night. Start with a Florida Tarragon at the Prescription Cocktail Club, then walk up the street to L'Avant Comptoir and order a few helpings of croquettes with Iberico ham from Eric Ospital  (3€) , oxtail croque monsieur (3€) ,boudin noir macaron, supplied by Yves Camdeborde's brother and a "pannacotta" of crab with a Ricard foam. Walk back to the Prescription and follow up with Very Old Cubans, Bloody Bullshots, more Tarragons, and drinks not even on the menu (the Doctor Funk from Tahiti needs a bit of work) . Pepper liberally with excellent company and sparkling conversation.

Ultimate Oeuf Mayo ?

Nice to see Le Comptoir hasn't lost the Camdeborde touch. Dishes bien ficellé, like the 5€ oeuf mayo pictured above. Fresh, smooth and inexpensive. The daily special onglet de boeuf with wok style vegetables was a little hard to cut, but this was probably due more to the dull knife provided than the quality of the meat. Predictably good cheese and creme chocolat. rounded off an excellent lunch

And the chef wasn't even in the kitchen! His "non- French" backup team did a splendid job, and I can't wait to come back when he's in the kitchen