HERO, Korean drunk food bar, Paris, / The Show must go on? / Last legs

Paris is going through a bit of a renaissance lately as any quick scan of local food blogs and trendy websites has been telling you over the months. Coffee house trends, so ubiquitous elsewhere have finally come to Paris, as has casual dining in myriad forms, artisanal cocktail bars, and all forms of comfort food concepts, mostly by expats craving what they couldn't get before, or misguided hipster French 20/30 somethings who spent two weeks in Brooklyn and had a visionary idea of something already businessed out of existence in it's originating country (everyone's an expert). That being said, Paris, too often oscillating between fierce, stubborn culinary pride or adaptation of shitty concepts from abroad, has gotten a bit of its mojo back.

With the rise in cool and interesting places and the runaway train of social media platforms, this means that there are more local "insiders" and "experts" covering these places, the vast majority fawning over bagels and avocado toast, and in general, like stated above, "being an expert".

One of the reasons I haven't been blogging much lately is because I abhor being associated with the above pack of mediocre chroniclers (who I predate by ten years on the internets), and because, I think, since the advent of twitter and Instagram, blogging just doesn't mean much anymore. That, and the fact that the vast majority of my time over the last couple of years has been dedicated to an amazing book project that will see the light of day soon, and has been sapping my energy like a sexy vampire mistress. Therefore, I'm debating whether to let this blog just peter out proudly. Go on to bigger and better places. Good writing is good writing right, wherever it appears?

I was musing over all this the other day between bites of Korean fried chicken and shots of shoju at the new Hero place , located on the rue Saint Denis right off of Strasbourg Saint Denis and perpendicular, funnily enough, to a KFC. The neighbourhood, on the edge of the French garment district Le Sentier, and formerly one of the grottier areas in Paris, has been bobofied and contains some of Paris' more interesting places in close proximity (52, Frenchie, Frenchie Bar a Vins, Frenchie To Go, Le Syndicat, etc etc). The fruit of Carina Soto Velasquez-Tsou, Adam Tsou her husband and partner Joshua Fontaine, this narrow two level graffitied bar/restaurant is one of the better concepts to have opened this year, and has hit the ground running, with a great vibe due no doubt to the clientele, comprised mostly of industry people (barmen, chefs, foodie groupies..) and of the culinary vision of Canadian/Romanian/Chinese chef Haan Palcu- Chang, whose fusion-y comfort food very much put their other establishment Le Marie Celeste on the map (Haan, unfortunately, will be leaving Paris soon to "consult" ). The ambiance is clubby and chummy, the cocktails original, the Korean beer chilled and dishes like kimchi mac and cheese, open-faced pork buns, and of course the dense fried chicken satisfying and just what you want at that very moment. Just like this restaurant, which of course draws from the Korean drunk food culture, but doesn't come off as being concepty in any way, just a lot of fun. And where you want to be. Despite the latest wave of foodistas snapping away at every plate on the table next door.

The charming Carina and her delicious chicken

HERO

289 rue Saint Denis, 75002, Paris

contact@heroparis.com

Two great New England restaurants mix it up ( Myers + Chang , Central Provisions)

Being from one side of the Atlantic and living on the other, I'm often wary what to expect when dining out in the US. As a person who has to be up to date on the food world, I'm pretty well informed on what's going on in New York, Los Angeles and to a lesser degree other cities where I have friends or where there might be some new trend going on, or a hot new chef appeared on some list. Often, the best restaurants are French inspired, pale imitations of great bistros in my hometown of Paris, so I tend to shy away from Gallic grub of any sort. This time around, two places caught my eye. The first, Myers + Chang drew my attention, and after a bit of research seemed my kind of place. The iconoclastic chef owner Joanne Chang, is a local TV celeb chef, is a baker by trade, and before that a Harvard trained mathematician, and her husband Christopher Myers, a local restaurateur. The spot, located in a somewhat post industrial/hip neighbourhood in the South End of Boston, has a buzzing bar, communal dining space and a few tables strewn here and there, all full of people sharing dishes and looking happy. There was a good mix of families, hipsters, local folks, foodies all tucking into a menu composed of a mash up of Thai, Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese comfort food. And it was gooood. Generously portions, affordable , accompanied by local craft beers. The Tiger's Tears and Green Papaya Slaw were faithful renditions, but the General Myers' Chicken Wings, glazed in a deep, earthy orange sauce and just spicy enough and the Chicken and Ginger Waffles with sesame honey butter really hit the spot, especially with a chilled can of Rhode Island Narragansett.

The second place, Central Provisions, opened up early this year in the seaport area of Portland, Maine, a hour and a half's Amtrak ride up the New Hampshire and Maine coast. Located in a period brick building, the restaurant is comprised of a few tables and a bar along the open kitchen. Recently chosen as the 6th Best New Restaurant in the USA (and the only one in New England) by Bon Appetit magazine's Andrew Knowlton, I thought I'd give it a whack, as I always trust his friendly judgement. A couple days after the announcement, they still seemed very calm, so I'd go now if you want to sample this walk in only hotspot. BA especially noted their crudo style cuisine, with lots of raw and sashimi like dishes (Gould once worked at Boston chef Ken Oringer's Uni Sashimi Bar) and the menu is comprised mostly of small plates meant for sharing. Their sea bream ceviche with kumquat, rhubarb and puffed rice won dish of the year 2014.  We burned through a number of small plates, some of the best of which were local heirloom tomatoes with burrata, tuna crudo, spicy beef salad with LOTS of peanuts and not a whole lot of beef , their famous bread and butter (fresh bread with a giant farm egg yolk reconstituted and mixed with nasturtium butter) , forgettable "spicy" fried potatoes, green curry lobster toast , and a selection of local (Vermont?) cheeses with candied dates. They have a nice little selection of local craft beers, and wines are mostly Spanish, Italian and Austrian. Pretty much the perfect lunch and a quick rail journey from the family compound in SE New Hampshire.

Blue Valentine

The neighbourhood where I've lived for the past few years has gotten its fair share of press and has a plethora of restaurants to choose from, but these addresses are surprisingly bereft of interest (with a few and growing exceptions). Canal-side I find myself going back to tried and true favorites: Holybelly for great coffee and Frenchified Anglo breakfasty comfort foods, Philou, for quintessentially great and simple bistro food with eminently quaffable natural wines, The Cork and the Cavan for the occasional pint (they have the best Guinness in Paris, FYI) and selection of local characters at the bar, and now, Blue Valentine.

Blue Valentine is a quirky little place in a quiet street hidden behind the Canal quays with a chef (Terumitsu Saito) who trained at the Mandarin Oriental, Paris among other places, and his all-Nippon brigade turns out dishes that are like textbook studies in French classics, all rigorously seasonal, and although not surprisingly inventive, this table is a great addition to the new wave of tables from Japanese ex-palace/Michelin star establishment workers.

I had a crunchy asparagus dish wrapped in laser thin lardo followed by an astounding slow cooked lamb dish with white beans that staved off the chill in the air yet almost made me long for the winter again. Lunchtime menu is currently Paris' best value at under 20€. Make the trek.

Coretta, Paris

I'm often drawn to unlikely restaurants in out of the way areas, eclectic locations with chefs still trying to prove their mettle, in hastily decorated dining rooms, before the world gastro-press jumps in and with the press of the enter button, make it all but impossible to get it. I like these places pre-buzz. The exciting tables before the excitement.

Coretta is one of these interesting little places. Located on the edge of the trendy Batignolles quarter, overlooking the Martin Luther King parc that would have been the location of the last Olympics game if Paris hadn't failed on their bid, this shiny new duplex is one of the better places to have opened lately in this neck of the woods.

Coretta, named after King's wife, is the brainchild of Beatriz Gomez, who trained at the Michelin starred Grande Cascade before leaving and setting up shop in a forgotten corner of the 8th arrondissement at Neva, which quickly garnered a Michelin star for its delicate, original cooking.

The reasonably priced menu (24 € limited lunch menu or 33/39€ for two or three courses) offers dishes such as homemade foie gras with pommelos, brioche and demi sel codfish with pickled vegetables. Cooking is precise, products well sourced and the wine list predictably natural. Go on a Monday when Beatriz is freed from her duties at Neva and cooks here. And make sure you order the cinnamon bun dessert in advance (we didn't :(   ) , because it takes 45 minutes to cook. And go before the whole blogosphere and Condé Nasties blow it up.

Czech, please: drunch at Sansho, Prague

Prague is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, but, excepting high end French gastronomy clones and beer halls purveying hearty fare, it has never really had much to draw gastrotourists to its regal streets. But a few addresses are changing the way people think about the Czech capital, and at the forefront is undoubtedly Sansho.

Founded by Brit chef Paul Day, Sansho, a modern little table replete with local media types and Brooklynesque tattooed and bearded servers, is making waves. Day, who apprenticed as a butcher at the age of 13, then who worked for three years at a Chinese butchers, went on to be number two at Nobu London followed by a stint at Nahm, (the first Thai restaurant in the world to gain a Michelin star) with David Thompson, and on to open a private club (failed) in Prague. This failure resulted in him opening his own place.

Thompson's skills in butchering, wok'ing, and roasting, love of and insistent use of local ingredients, and repertoire of South Asian recipes make Sansho an exciting table, especially in the staid, traditional Czech capital. Star dishes such as spider crab sliders with wasabi mayo, tea smoked trout with green  mango, and pork belly (from rare breed Prestik pig) with watermelon are, as Day says, "updating the Czech palate".

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

Le Fantome

Funnest opening of the year definitely goes to Le Fantome, the new bar/restaurant/games arcade that opened recently on the corner of rue du Paradis and rue d'Hauteville in the (once again) trendy10th arrondissement. Created by La Clique, a cultish group of young restaurateurs behind establishments such as the Hotel Amour, Le Baron, Chez Moune, etc this spacious retro design space (mucho Formica) is open all day serving pizza by the slice and salads, and vintage games such as Ms. Pac Man and Space Invaders (but sadly no Dig Dug). One of the hottest addresses of the rentrée, especially when their new basement club (a friendlier version of Le Baron) opens with an ambition guest DJ program.

For phantoms of another type, try the excellent Manoir Hantée just next door.

ENCORE, another delicious Franco-Japanese bistro

Daily 25/30€ blackboard menu

One of the recent culinary trends in Paris has been the influx of small Japanese run bistros doing French cooking. Many of these young upstarts worked their way through top of the food chain culinary establishments and struck out on their own in popular up and coming neighborhoods (9th,10th,11th) with modest tables offering up limited choice tasting menus featuring seasonal produce from cult niche purveyors (Joel Thiebault, Annie Bertin, etc) accompanied by natural unfiltered wines. The chef, Yoshi Morie worked for five years in one of the vanguards of this trend, the Petit Verdot, and has now moved on to his own digs.

Encore, opened this summer was happily one of the few places open at the end of August, so I snagged a table and had one of the best meals of the pre- rentrée: 30€ for three delicious courses: a bright, crunchy mussels and cauliflower starter flavored with a vadouvan emulsion (French/Indian spice mix), and main course of monkfish with mixed cooked and raw vegetables (broccoli, burnt aubergine), all dishes doing a perfect job of creating layers of comforting taste and washed down with well chosen wines from our charming waitress. The dessert was the best I've had this season: a violet and fig compote with a Timut pepper sorbet.

Cauiflower, mussels, French/Indian spice mix emulsion

Restaurant Manger, Paris

I'm always game for a new address, and when John Talbott wrote his highest rated review of the year and called this new table "some of the most interesting cooking since Ze Kitchen Galerie" and Condé Nast Traveller proclaimed Manger as the "best new restaurant in Paris", how could I resist?

Located in the same part of the gentrifying 11th as other foody shrines Septime and Bones, this long and lofty restaurant is spacious and luminous, the staff (many comprised of unemployed people learning the restaurant trade) friendly and welcoming, and the menu, from thirty something chef, William Pradeleix who worked with Darroze at the Connaught and at a Jean Georges outpost in Bora Bora, is nicely turned out, fresh innofensive food for the arty bobos that filled the dining room (3à something PR chicks giving the maitre d' the bise, 50 something photographer with his teenage Justin Bieber mopped stagiere in tow..). Apparently a few high ranking Michelin star chefs have given their input, the Plaza's Michelak has remote controlled the dessert menu, and produce is top notch, but it just didn't hook me: the daily starter of carpaccio of foie gras terrine with strawberries and tiny fava beans was, fine, but unremarkable, the foie gras just a touch boring, the mackerel with corn, mango and coriander served with a side of pilaf rice acceptable, but I just couldn't feel the whizz bang talent my esteemed colleagues detected. And although they are doing good things for people in need,  I'm on ze fence with this one, and Pradeleix is no Ledeuil. Maybe they need a bit more time..

La Haine a Table

An interesting review / rant popped up on Le Fooding's website the other day, in conjunction, I guess, in some way with the Cannes Film Festival, resulting from a meeting at the LA Fooding event, the first in their new series, "Jus de Cervelle" ("Brain Juice"),  a place for "criticism, praise ... to report on the times..let's see if your mouth is big enough".



Self confessed "MacDonald's addict", French actor Mathieu Kassowitz, discussed Table, indie food blogger Bruno Verjus' new product driven place not far from the Gare de Lyon in Paris.


Kassowitz, a perhaps unlikely candidate to discuss food, calls it a subject that is of no interest to him, gourmet cuisine is "like fashion, where you give a kidney to wear something unwearable, the price to pay per gram of protein makes me lose my appetite even before I begin to eat, all that without even talking about these hipsters, elected to a closed off world that only they can understand and appreciate. (kudos for the hipster blast).


He goes on, describing his dinner, drinking a champagne (which he generously shares with the entire staff, other diners, then complains of the price (600€) , which makes him "want to vomit". One wonders why he didn't check the menu before... He says the idea behind Table is "to offer good food in the most convivial of circumstances.. a simple idea that made me want to be generous as well..but isn't Table just hype, the ambassador of cool popular food?" and goes on "to make someone pay 600€ for a bottle bought 150€ is a lack of taste, a lack of respect that needs explanation before a punch in the face".....ending with the word of advice, "If you come here, bring your own can of Coke".

While certainly not condoning Monsieur Kassowitz' review, Le Fooding, which normally shies away from the critical, seems to have found an interesting opportunity to tap into a rich vein of iconoclastic foodie rage. And doing what they do best, helping to democratize a culture that's become too niche and hipstery for many people's taste. Or have they..?

Pakta full of fusion-y goodness

Ceviche

Where does one go, I found myself wondering when you've created perhaps the greatest upheaval in recent world cuisine (El Bulli) when the steam runs out of the idea which has fueled and inspired thousands of chefs worldwide. When molecular gastronomy gives way to New Nordic. Niche cuisines!

"After all those years at El Bulli, I just wanted to take it easy and have fun", Albert Adria explained to me last night at his hot new table, Pakta, located in an edgy and seemingly uninteresting corner of Barcelona, across from a massive concrete fire station. The thirty something seater, with a small Japanese style counter at the entrance, wooden looms filled with colorful yarn and minimalist tables and wood seating has a vibe that shares both Nippon and Peruvian influences. The restaurant, you see, is inspired by the same homegrown fusion (termed Nikkei) that sent Nobu on his path to fame and fortune. Here it allows Adria to avoid the trappings of a traditional high level Japanese restaurant, which he thought would be too difficult for him.

Nikkei was grown from Japanese immigrants to Peru, which was  the first country to accept them a century ago. They brought their own cooking techniques and started to use local produce, the result being a natural fusion cuisine.

The team, from waitstaff to kitchen is almost entirely Peruvian and Japanese, with a few Spanish, Mexican and Argentians thrown in for good measure, and most of them have worked in the Adria empire in one form or another, either staging at El Bulli or gaining experience at the nearby 41° or Tickets.

Genial Argetinian chef Sebastien Mazzola, the imagination behind these establishments (and chef of 41° Experience, where he will return once his work here is done) developed more than 100 recipes for the new concept with Japanese head chef Kyoko Ii for a menu that will probably change monthly.

At 90€ for 25 dishes, it's a wild ride for the tastebuds and an incredibly interesting concept that seems to be going somewhere. Their next establishments, Bodega 1900 and Mexican influenced Yauarcan will expand their empire in another completely different direction and I look forward to trying each and every one of them.

Flashed sirloin steak, peppers, quail egg and potato "pillows"

Lobster Bar, Paris, jumps on the Yankee comfort food bandwagon

Let's be frank, lobster rolls are sexy sandwiches. Maybe, the sexiest sandwich that exists, conjuring up images of New England summers, secluded beaches, the pervasive smell of suntan oil. Firm, delicate meat, creamy sauce, the crunch of an ever so slightly toasted bun. In New England, with lobster available pretty much everywhere for cheap, it's part of the local culture and collective memory, yet still has cachet.

Flash to Paris where a new Lobster Bar has been opened by a former Swiss screenwriter, pining for an imagined Maine, seaside childhood that never happened, replacing the local Maine product for Breton bleu, with a side of fries and salad for 26€ (!). Turns out it's just another luxe Frenchification of American comfort food.

The Figaroscope says "10cm of limp, panini grilled sandwich at 26€, find the error", and calls them "cette arnaque", which in French is a nasty word for swindle or theft.

Goust

A surefire way of measuring the excellence of a restaurant is how it haunts you. Now matter how many stars a certain chef may have, or how hot that new bistro chef is or how much science went into the cooking of that astoundingly impossible looking dish, the yardstick of true culinary goodness and greatness is gastronomic flashback, a dish or dishes that just won't let loose their grip on your primordial taste brain.

Well Goust did that to me. A week after my meal there with my gastronomic partner in crime Alec, "The second restaurant from the world's number one sommelier" as the chin high sign before the door proclaims really is something special and unique in Paris. Opened just a couple months ago by Enrico Bernardo, the youngest world champion sommelier ever, this room just oozes charm and class, with a cozy modern apartment decor not unlike what my friend and dining partner in crime says, "a 1960's Lufthansa first class lounge, but in a good way!". It is tasteful, and very well designed with lots of attention to detail. That's what Philippe Starck a few tables over said anyway.

The humble Valencia born chef , José Manuel Miguel, who cut his teeth most recently at Le Bristol as well as at with Martin Berasategui in Spain's Basque region creates deceptively simple dishes, using French techniques melded with sometimes rare and unusual (in Paris anyway) Spanish produce:think Valencia style rice long cooked in a seafood broth, impermeated with the flavor of the sea, a tuna tartar with a mango "egg" and Thai basil,  technically impressive dishes, with exceedingly precise temperatures and textures...

The wine list reads like an eclectic best of from across France, Spain and Italy: a 2011 Chablis from Louis Michel, 2011 Sicilia Grillo from Firriato, a 2011 Rueda Verdeja from Lunton, Alsdee Pinot Gres 2010 from Weinbach, a 2011 Volnay from J.M. Boillot, finished off with a 10 year old porto Tawny Grahays.

The building itself, like a transplanted Florentine palace adds to the unique setting. A reasonable value 3 dish 35€ menu is available for lunch, but I'd suggest saving up your centimes and going for the full blast degustation menu with wine pairings in the evening with your own partners in crime.

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.

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

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

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

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.