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

Nah-nashi

I've always loved the Rose Bakery (forgetting the nice but inept Anglo service, overpriced organic fare) for its comfort food, edgy industrial décor, cool-crowd-fallen-out-of-bed-for-brunch vibe, so when Kaori Endo and André opened the first Nanashi in the 10th, my ears perked up. The local food press/blogger brigade did their usually circle jerk putting the the hot new table up their somewhere with the second coming of Jesus, but, as it was okay food at reasonable prices in a funky place, and the staff was really friendly , it got my seal of approval.

The new corner spot in the Marais tries with the same formula (Japonesy food, bentos, expensive RB inspired desserts) but somehow it just left me cold. Service, although friendly, was interminable , the food ugh (salmon onigiri with inedible, mealy rice, papery spring rolls, yuzu fondant au chocolat sans yuzu..) and there were far too many backpacking food blog reading expats and local pregnant bobos with oversized hipster glasses (but what did I expect?).  I won't be back, but finally there is a perfect place for the backlog of ravin' hipstas who can't get into the Rose Bakery ;)

Best (only?) American style hot dog in Paris?

A recent article in L'Express on "Paris' Best Sandwiches" brought me to this cubby hole snack stand in the Marais, offering apparently, New York style hot dogs. The 3€ sandwiches are offered in three different styles: the "American", ie ketchup, mustard and caramelized onions, the "Tex Mex", otherwise known as a chillidog, and the "Alsatian" (no Asian restaurant jokes here, please..) , or a sauerkraut dog. They were doing a roaring trade , and there was always a little crowd of Rayban wearing hipsters quaffing away, wiping ketchups off their chins, bobo families, and gawking passersby.

Verdict: decent, fun for the price, but as always, the unexceptional elsewhere often seems more exotic here. Especially where "American" food comes to play.

Le Mosaique
56 rue du Roi de Sicile, 4th

Pink Flamingo

A hip, Miami-style eatery in the Marais called the Pink Flamingo should be an instant hit with just the name alone, however, this is probably one of the best pies in the city. Their first outpost was on a tiny side street next to the Canal Saint Martin, and this tiny place, next to happening neo-bistro Glou, and behind the Musée Picasso is in prime Upper Marais real estate. They offer a variety of interesting pizzas, all made with thin crust bio flour, and cooked to perfection with exotic toppings. I tried the "Ho Chi Ming", with chicken and gambas with a coconut milk sauce, coriander, lemongrass and sprinkled with crushed peanuts. I thought Alice Pizza was the best I'd ever had in Paris, but this one made me seriously reconsider. Went down well with a cold biere bio of their own fabrication.

Pink Flamingo
105 rue Vieille du Temple

Rose Bakery 3

Quiet street in the arty Upper Marais. Glass fronted, industrial chic building filled with a mix of arty types, wealthy locals, cross Channel veggies and young, stylish Lolita-like waitstaff. Organic and British veggies, pastries, salads and omelets. Clean, modern vibe, and one of the greatest and friendliest food concepts around.




Rose Bakery
30 rue Debelleyme, 3rd
+33 1 49 96 54 01

La Briciola Paris, GOGO review

Breizh Café Paris

Paris' chouchou of the moment is a creperie located in the oh-so-chic upper Marais in the midst of cutting-edge art galeries and hip clothing stores, which opened a month ago to rave reviews from the likes of the fooding people, François Simon and his band,L'express, etc. What makes this creperie special is the pedigree of it's owner, who opened his first establishment in Cancale, before moving with his Japanese wife to Tokyo and opening eventually five other establishments in the Japanese capital and Yokohama, before returning to Paris. The kitchen staff are all Nippon, with the technical skills inherant to anyone Japanese in the food business, and the ingrediants are all top-notch and French - Bordier butter, the finest black flour, homemade jams, artisinal hams, bacon, freerange eggs and cheese, exceptional ciders, Breton small-production beers... short , this is everything a creperie should be, and markedly different from the rest of this world of insipid pancakes.



Lancelot beer and superb Breton cider by the pitcher

Breizh Cola!

Black flour crepe with artisinal bacon, egg and mushrooms



Notice the ALATO DESIGN storage boxes on the top shelf