Travel and Leisure, Eat like a Local in Paris

Last year the Travel and Leisure staff asked me to pick my Paris insider favorites. Here are a few in their new Eat Like a Local article. Bravo to all included.

Le Mary Celeste

Apart from hot new bistros, fantastic, interesting and envelope pushing food can now be found in Paris bars, most notably, the recently opened Marie Celeste.

Created by Adam Tsou and Colombian beauty Carina Soto Velasquez Tsou, a husband and wife team who met at the Experimental Cocktail Club, this is their third establishment (the others being the Mexican inspired Candelaria and former titty bar turned Pigalle hipster magnet, Glass).

Marie Celeste is basically an oyster bar, with regional French and European small production bivalves, great cocktails from Carlos (formerly of L'Hotel) , Brooklyn IPA on tap, and, most, importantly, small plates from Canadian raised, half Chinese, half Romanian chef Haan Palcu-Chang, who worked at Copenhagen's Michelin starred Thai Kiin Kiin and did stints at Verre Volé, Chateaubriand, Au Passage and Saturne in Paris. Much more than just bar snacks, the food is delightfully playful, well executed and fusion-y with dishes such as Chinese crepes (ie tacos) with beef shin, peanuts, sesame, nicely spiced kimchee, and steamed oysters with black vinegar, shallots and coriander. Haan has got skills and the place is cool, ready to blow up soon. Best bar in Paris at the moment? Oui.

"Serious" writing

A funny thing happened to me. I've never really put much time, effort or thought into this blog, and have been surprised at the amount of attention I've received from people quite serious about their Paris restaurants. Maybe it's the "insider" angle, my general snarkiness (which is pretty absent in most other blogs here) or the fact that I work for a famous and fortunate clientelle in my day job. I've never considered this form of communication as anything other than a venting of my restaurant obsession (it started as a way to placate my friends who were tearing their hair out as I repeated experiences in this or that hot new place).

So it's a bit strange that, now working on a very serious project that involves writing, that the only way that I've been able to break down a block I've been having for some time, is to pretend that I am writing it up on a blog. A way to trick my mind into believing that this is fun and not serious and not grown up and mature. My brain seems to hate serious writing.

But pretending has been helping me turn out some pretty cool copy.

Thoughts?

True cuisine really is all about sharing with others. It's always heartening how a bit of food and wine can bring people together quite unlike anything else.

Vivant Table

With the sometimes invasive, ever accelerating and self-proliferating Parisian expat foodie blogosphere about to explode with cool new addresses, I'm taking a bit more time to report on my favourite spots for fear of being associated with foaming at the mouth food fans. I almost missed them.

Pierre Jancou, the tattooed Messiah of Natural Wine, has cut a wino de luxe swathe through the City of Light, having participated in the creation of some of the most brilliant wine bars of the last decade, as well as heralding in a new understanding on natural, unadulterated small production wines. The fact that he has been a part time model, and is a hunky, shy and well inked man morsel also draws the aforementioned foodie fans, the only drawback I can see to his establishments. His most recent project, in the most quickly gentrifying part of the 10th arrondissement, is a double whammy called Vivant.

The Vivant empire is divided into two parts; Vivant Table, with a new Japanese chef, Atsumi Sota (Robuchon NYC, Stella Maris, Toyo) creating a three course, or blind six course tasting menu, in a former turn of the century bird shop, and Cave, the next door no reservations wine bar with superb small dishes at a much more reasonable price.

After the initial sticker shock (it is a bit pricey for the 10th), we proceeded to have one of the best meals of recent memory: delicate fish couscous and a sublime broth with perfectly seared scallops and mindbendingly good gnocchi, turbot meuniere that made me swoon (this chef is an expert saucier !) and an interesting chocolate terrine with Kalamata olives dusted with pain des amies breadcrumbs for a perfect chewy crunch. With one of the lower priced bottles of wine, it all came to about 80€ per person, which could break the bank for some, and made the plein a craqué popularity of his Cave next door all the more understandable. (Also Pierre, who really is the personality of the place, spends most of his time at the cave, not the restaurant). Think I'll pop over there next time. And (*cringe*) join the expat blaggeurs.

Vivant Table
43 rue des Petites-Ecuries, 75010
+33 1 42 46 43 55
Menus( dinner) at 55€/70€

Goust par Enrico Bernardo

Located in the gorgeous Napoleon III era Elephant Paname dance and arts centre (owned by a scion of the Fiat family), the youngest ever world champion sommelier Enrico Bernardo, opens Goust, just behind the place Vendome, his second project after the Left Bank wine first restaurant Il Vino.

The concept is different and decidedly food first with 35€ (two dishes) and 45€ (three) lunch menus and evening degustation menus from 75€-130€, wine included.

The Spanish chef, who trained most recently under Eric Fréchon at Le Bristol and also at Mugaritz and the Ritz in Madrid will be doing a gourmet menu with both French and Spanish products and cooking techniques. The upstairs dining room, made to look like a comfy noble apartment will have 36 seats, and the downstairs 'tapas gallery' will be open from 12-midnight serving lighter fare and wines.

Sample dishes (pre opening tests) will include tuna tartar with oeuf a la mangue, lime tinged roast gambas in a Catalan style bisque and Bloody Mary oysters (tapas bar).

Review (very) soon... opens February 1st..


Goust par Enrico Bernardo
10 rue Volnay, 75002, Paris
+33 1 40 15 20 30

Ceci n'est pas un bar a tapas - tickets, Barcelona

Last year I tried to hit the hottest tapas bar in the world, but unfortunately, they were closed. And if they weren't closed, there was anyway, I was told, a two month waiting list. Luckily the chef's girlfriend was able to fit me in with a two day notice this time around.

Tickets, as the Adria brothers new project is called, their first post El Bulli restaurant, is an experimental tapas place housed in a former theatre and with a marked circus-y theme (Maitre d' in top hat at the door, etc). It was relatively surprising, even though the Spanish eat quite late, to find that this, the hottest restaurant in town, was empty from 7pm-9pm, after which time groups and families flooded the space for pre-Christmas dinners and office parties.

The concept is pretty simple: classic and experimental small dishes, brought out until you say stop. The staff is happy to help out with choosing how much to eat and what to drink depending on you, and we devoured a large part of the menu (15 dishes or so) before saying stop.

It went something like this (some photos here)

ticket's olives (direct from El Bulli), two different types of sphere filled with olive essence (Gordal and Kalamata)

Seaweed tempura with vinaigrette jus

"Mini airbags" with manchego cheese

Salad taco with sea bass ceviche, i.e. the "taco" was a salad leaf

Razor clams in escabeche, saffron pearls and soy sauce "shards"

Avocado cannelloni with crab and romesco sauce (i.e. the ultimate crab/avocado maki)

Crostini with Cantabrian anchovy and tomato seeds

Razor thin tuna belly with a dollop of sea urchin

"Christmas" tapas with smoked beef and beetroot gelé

Tandori style fish cakes

Baby calimari "straight from El Bulli"

Steamed brioche with truffled cheese

Tuna belly confit with traditional escabeche

"High level" sirloin steak

Liquid cheese ravioli (payoyo cheese)

Truffled Canarejal cheese torta

Cheese and honey cupcake with strawberry ice cream

I've probably forgotten a few things along the way, but this is a great place for those who never got to try El Bulli and those who have Adria withdrawal symptoms, as well as for globetrotting gastronauts looking for a novel new hot table.

Da Rosa, Paris

Post Barcelona tapas withdrawal can be a subtle, compelling and painfully motivating force. Complicated even more so if you live in the Sahara of good tapas joints that is the city of Paris. Luckily Da Rosa, everyone's favorite left bank epicerie cum tapas bar, has a new shop.

Tucked away in a corner of the sedate rue du Mont Thabor, Da Rosa is located in the former cutting edge fashion boutique Maria Luisa. The chic new Jacques Garcia designed space, all red velvet and exposed brick, has tables and a counter top serving the same top quality Spanish, Italian and Portuguese specialties that put them on the Parisian map (think Iberico ham and Italian and Spanish cheeses, Mediterran wines, reinvented clubs). As they're open from 11am-11pm, 7/7 non stop, this is good news for people who want a real option for quality eats in an area where apart from the traditional French opening hours of lunch and dinner, there is very little choice.

Da Rosa
7 rue Rouget de l'Isle (rue du Mont Thabor) , 75001 Paris

La Pascade

Of course everybody's writing about it, but I thought the new offering from two star Michelin chef Alexandre Bourdas deserved a mention. This woodsy little place, the subject of much foodie buzz and rumor in past months, has nothing to do with the cutting edge cuisine of Bourdas' Honfleur based Sa Qua Na or indeed to do with anything. The small, ruggedly modern dining room, replete with half open kitchen, communal table and funky utensil drawers, serves up pascades, something like a crepe with raised edges, made of freshly beaten eggs and flour, a dish from the Aveyron region not found much in Paris. The interesting thing here is that Bourdas not only resuscitates a little known regional dish, but also manages to use it as a vehicle for interesting recipes such as lamb ragout with pok choi,  fromage blanc and Vietnamese cardamom and monkfish with spinach, lime, coriander, loveage and coconut emulsion. Wines are a bit too pricey, although the wine brewed and drunk like a beer was refreshing enough to merit a second one. Last but certainly not least,  the most delightful and delicate dish, not on the menu Margaux Johnston.

La Pascade
14 rue Daunou, 75001 Paris

Hate blowing my own horn but...

This piece from matey Douglas Blyde warmed the cockles of my heart

Abri

Everyone from humble blaggeurs to big boy critics seem to agree that this tiny table, just up from the Poissoniere metro stop and on the ever more foodie rue du Faubourg Poissoniere (Albion, L'Office, Big Fernand) is the next big thing. The Brooklyn-esque deco of the former "City Café" is all exposed brick and beaten metal kitchen space, where Japanese chef Katsuaki Okiyama and his staff toil away, wordlessly producing what is undoubtedly Paris' best value meal of the moment: 4 courses (no choice, 2 starters, one main and dessert) for 22€ at lunch and 38.50€ for dinner (six courses). Okiyama's skills, honed at culinary temples such as Taillevent and Rouchon, are evident, as is his selection of fabulous French produce. Our starter of crab ravioli (made with microplaned japanese radish) were followed by sweet potato and jasmine soup and stellar yellow pollack with chinese cabbage and cauliflower. Perfectly sized portions, cooked to a t, for the price of two Maxi Best Of's from the fast food down the road. Eurostar hoppers- book lunch now!

Abri
92 rue du Faubourg Poissoniere, 75010 Paris
+33 1 83 97 00 00
Open daily (except Sundays) for lunch and dinner, and on Mondays and Saturdays from 10-17h00, special sandwich menu

Ten Belles, perfect Canal coffeehouse

The Paris coffee trend (finally) is spreading like wildfire. The best of the bunch so far is this little place just off of the Canal Saint Martin's rotating bridge at 10 rue de la Grange aux Belles, Ten Belles. A joint project with Thomas Lehoux (perhaps Paris' best barrista)  running the front of house and Alice and Anna, the brains and brawn behind neo-British bistro, Le Bal, this edgy, cozy spot offers up single original roasts and fresh baked organic goodies. Only opened last week, the mojo hotspot is already packed with local creatives, bartenders and coffee aficionados for the best cappuccino in town.

Acme, New Nordic, New York

Last month while on vacation/writing assignment for a great new Dutch magazine about which you will be hearing a lot soon, I had the opportunity to try out this iconoclastic new table from one of the dark horses of Nordic gastronomy, and co-founder, with Rene Redzepi of the universally famous Noma, Mads Refslund.

To cut to the chase, Mads and Rene met in cooking school, got the backing for their new idea Noma, and quietly went their ways after less than a year due to the fact that, funnily enough, they couldn't work together. Rene went on to much fame, and Mads created his own restaurant, gained a Michelin star, and lost everything when his billionaire financial backer went bust. Mads became a sort of poster child for the New Nordic cuisine, did lots of food shows and events, and spread his culinary gospel, hélas with no place to hang his own apron.

Cut to earlier on this year, and a freak series of events while Mads was vacationing in New York, led to him staying and heading up the kitchens of Acme, a former honky tonk cajun style place, and bringing his pared down locavore de luxe ideas to fruition.

Dishes such as the Hudson Valley foie gras, flash frozen and micro planed over langoustine with white walnuts and the sweet shrimp with bison , bitter lettuce and green almonds were standouts. Other dishes we sampled included the farmer's egg with cauliflower cream and parmesan, heirloom tomatoes with pickled watermelon and herbs, beetroot topped with cherries, and flavored with buttermilk and horseradish, fresh asparagus with hollandaise sauce, lemon juice and blacked pepper, pickled vegetable salad with anchovies, chicken with new potatoes and fried free range eggs, rib-eye steak with glazed carrots, and (deep breath) to top it all off, the best dessert I have ever had, a beer and bread porridge with salted butter caramel ice cream: crack and childhood food nostalgia memories all rolled into one.

I can't wait to see Mads evolve .... more soon

Canal-side coffee on the up and up / Café Craft

Paris has always been a desert for true coffee lovers for a number of reasons, some historical, as they colonized the wrong side of Africa (the Italians got the right side), some just strange: the French have an innate love for regional, single origin products, a passion for the ritual of wine production and tasting, so why not for a product that has history, regional character and all the attributes that make it a delicious discovery. Why must coffee be relegated to a simple morning pick me up or afterthought digestive?

I documented this in January 2011 for Black Book and have waited patiently for smart openings since then. Slowly but surely they are coming.

One perfect example of the new wave of cool purist coffee cafés is the Café Craft, on a tiny side street off of the Canal Saint Martin in a slightly out of the way, below street level former print shop. The café, meant as a hybrid workspace/coffee shop (high speed wifi, worktables, lots of plugs..) was the first brick and mortar project from designers (yet to be named) who have, until now, been present in industrial design. The project, the brainchild of 5 java obsessed friends sprang mainly from the mind of one of them, patron/barista Augustin, who dreamt up the idea while crossing the United States on horseback (yes, 5000 miles).

The coffee is Lomi, with varieties from Nicaragua, Brazil and Ethiopia, and the growing organic snack menu comprised of light pastries, quiches and salads, munched on by what will surely be a growing large local public of funky creatives.



Café Craft
24 rue des Vinaigriers, 75010 Paris

Babes and Booze

Roseval

As much as I complain about other blogs and various publications jumping on this or that hot table bandwagon and slathering undying praise on each scruffy scalawag of a bobo chef that comes along, I'm a big part of the problem. I'm like more and more people nowadays, obsessed with the new, wanting to try something different in the Paris culinary scene. The buzz for Roseval started a few weeks ago by lesser minions blaguing rumors and snippets of info from their more well connected friends, but I could feel this place drawing me to it.

Roseval is located in the supposedly arty neighborhood of Menilmontant, not far from Belleville. Although I didn't see many artists, I did see a lot of beard stroking intellos, a surprising number of people sporting bongo drums, hot young Swedish nannies and grannies with ankle tats. The restaurant is located up the hill off of the rue Menilmontant and in a cute little square dotted with couscous houses and worn down brasseries, overlooked by a magnificent church. The dining room, preceded by an original zinc bar is all red exposed brick and beams, well sourced design lighting and wooden Scandi inspired tables and chairs. The crowd is predictably knowing and bohemian chic, with the accompanying buzz.

The menu, four dishes for a tab over 40€ is created by the chef duo of Michael Greenwold (who, by the way is American born and hasn't a drop of British blood in him- his family hails from Cincinatti, although he did grow up in Oxford) and Simone Tondo, his Italian sidekick. Michael spent his formative cooking years at pre-famous Chateaubriand, when they were still doing lunch and Simone at Rino and Caffe die Cioppi among other assorted places. Coupled with Columbian beauty Ericka (ex sommelier Le Chateaubriand) and Clément (Bistro Paul Bert and Gazzetta) , and you a recipe for the hottest table in town. The food is tonic and pretty, simple and complex from the starter of smoked burratta and smoked puréed eggplant with grilled onions, to the nearly perfect sushi quality bonita with blet and an amazing spider crab mayo to the strawberry "crumble" which was actually grated madeleines, accompanied by the laid ribaut ice cream. A tight little menu, funky well curated natural French and Italian wines, bread from Christophe Vasseur.. Run pretty little foodistas and bobos and soon, international gastro tourists, run to the best little new table in town.

Roseval, 1 rue d'Eupatoria, 75020, Paris
09 53 56 24 14
menus at 35€, or 42€ (with cheese), 60-67€ with wine

Pinxo, Left Bank letdown

To review or not to review. A difficult choice sometimes. I enthusiastically, sometimes too much so,  cover lots of places I like, and often, when invited to check out a new place that is not up to snuff or an old favorite that has, for whatever reason, morphed into something less desirable, I'll leave it out. Then there are times when I feel that the dining crowd at large and my virtual audience need to be informed.

Last night (pre-Prescription Old Cuban) I happened into Alain Dutournier's new(ish) Left Bank Pinxo. This neighborhood, (although this has been changing recently) is pretty much bereft of good dining establishments late in the evening, so this seemed a perfect spot. For those of you who don't know, pinxo in South Western French dialect means to pinch and describes small dishes shared between friends and family, which is the concept.

The funny thing about this place is that I just can't put my finger on what's wrong. I could mention the decoration , or lack of. I like sleek modern spaces, but this place just had a vibe that said bad design (beware the toilet which has a hand dryer that goes off when you're having a pee and threatens to spray the wall next to you). Then there's the food, which was...fine. Warm oyster starters and royal crab roll (which, strangely enough resembled the Sushi Shop version at twice the price) followed by handcut, foie gras topped beef tartar, wine that was presented to the table as "Chablis". Period. Um, thanks for the info.

I really wanted to like this place. Dutournier is a really nice guy and great chef and his Carré des Feuillants is a wonderful table. But Pinxo seemed a bit of a culinary cock-tease and I got a case of the gastronomic blue balls. And there's one point I'm going to totally leave out, but then again, I guess every restaurant has its scurrying critters.

Chez Aline

Funnily enough, in a country where the jambon beure is a national symbol, decent sandwiches are few and far between in the City of Light. Until recently, when Mrs Inaki Aizpitarte, i.e. Delphine Zampetti took over a chevaline, or horse meat butcher (hence the tongue in chic , Chez Aline) , all yellow tiles and kitchy 70's deco in a more coming than up part of the eleventh. 

The tiny space is divided into the kitchen and four seater counter, where Ms. Zampetti works her magic, slicing up cold cuts, assembling sandwiches to an ever growing queue of local destination foodie hipsters coming for a delicious handful of pristine ingredients. 

The daily changing roster includes roast chicken or veal millanese wrapped in a crusty baguette, round sesame sandwiches filled with egg and fresh herbs, or cold offerings such as St. Jean de Luz tuna escabèche with caponata a Sicilian eggplant salad with capers and a sweet and sour sauce. It's great that Zampetti , who cut her teeth in such various establishments as Le 104 and Verre Volé puts her skills to something sorely needed in town, fresh, good and fast food.

Chez Aline

85 rue de la Roquette, 75011

Champagne is always appropriate

Two neighborly new places in the 10th

There has been much talk of late of the hottest new tables in town, most particularly in the 9th, 10th and 11th arrondissements. Indeed, some of the best eating in town is to be had in places such as L'Office, Septime and the like. But in my hood, which borders in the uncool edges of the Canal Saint Martin, near Stalingrad, once populated by denizens of crime, hookers and crack dealers, is although slowly gentrifying, still a pretty terrible place for good cooking. The rue du Faubourg Saint Martin, although with  a few good butchers, cheese mongers, rotisseries and fish merchants  of quality and great little delis like Castro, is still dotted with terrible Chinese and fake Japanese restaurants, kebab houses with triple deckered grease delivery devices called the "Hummer" and even the first Subway on the block. I have despaired dear reader. Although crossing great distances to eat (I recently went to LA pretty much just to eat at Red Medicine, but I digress..) , I've been waiting for a simple good local place for yonks. That's why I've been so happy recently to try not one but two new places that deserve a little attention.

The first, located in a just gone bankrupt bio soup and salad place, is Kheak et Vero, which I discovered thanks to my friend Zeva's Yelping. The place is small, unassuming, inexpensive and serves good, homemade style Vietnamese and Thai food. The Cambodian owner is affable enough and his wife is the Vietnamese chef (there's a real Thai chef too!). So far I've only tried the green papaya salad (which at first wasn't spicy enough until I had them chop me up some chili peppers) , the (pretty much garden variety) nems but I keep coming back for the grilled chicken and lemongrass. All washed down with a nicely chilled Chang. They are easily the best Asian in the immediate area.


The second restaurant, for lunch today, was Louloucam , opened four months ago by Jean-Mathieu Frédéric, a young chef who did time at the Tour d'Argent and at Le Meurice. A few reviews slipped by in the Figaroscope, L'Express and Le Fooding, but even though I live close by, I never remarked it. Although the food isn't mind-blowing , the house smoked salmon (with regrettable bread), sea bass with excellent handmade linguine and caramelized banana were well worth the 20€ lunch ticket. And they'll probably shine just by the mere fact that the vast majority, no, make that all, of the restaurants in the area just plain suck.

Kheak et Vero, 1 rue Alexandre Parodi, +33 1 40 34 58 11

Louloucam, 264 rue du Faubourg Saint Martin, +33 1 40 34 76 87