Thoumieux taken over by Costes and Piege ??!

"Oui!", according to Le Fooding

Transversal at the 104

******* NEWSFLASH Patty the Cookie says that a new outpost of Tokyo Eat will open at the 104*********




Scoop

Could the toujours not announced restaurant at Paris' new 104 art centre be another outpost of the TRANSVERSAL? They have a history of integrating cutting edge art houses (Vitry, Maison Rouge), and they are doing an event for the opening of SLICK at the 104 on October 23rd, so seems a natural progression. But we won't know for sure until 2009...

Sushi Shop by Cyril Lignac

Spicy tuna spring rolls, fried chicken rolls, chili crab rolls..... not bad! Lignac's greatest achievement? Or not...

Order here!

French Love - The New (Better) Mathis

This tiny bar de nuit located on the rue de Ponthieu just behind the Champs will be the place to go before you know it (and in another year or two for the international crowd when various Condé Nast style magazines catch on eventually...). Opened a couple weeks ago by the best elements of the Hotel Costes bar (including resident DJ!) , with the benediction of Jean-Louis. Great selection of fine spirits. Funky, undecided and downright bizarre (ghostly faces in the sous-sol) in spots décor. Eclectic crowd. Coolest fumoir in Paris. It's like a friendly, professional Mathis, riding on the nouveau speakeasy trend. What's not to like? Only downside - one toilet.




French Love
37, bis rue de Ponthieu, Paris
No telephone

Positano Urban Feline Resort?

Either Alfredo Positano has closed down, or it's diversified and opened a cat hotel.....




On another note, Et Dans Mon Coeur Il y A closed down to become the fourth outpost of the Madame Shawn Thai resto empire ..

The Coolest Place In Paris Today

Attended the opening of the new Paris art center, Le 104. Streams of people of all type and persuasion (including the entire art student population of the City of Lights) made the pilgrimage from the Stalingrad metro, past African epiceries, North African tea houses and ethnic hair salons to the former municipal funeral home now turned biggest art center in Europe. The center"s restaurant, an ephemeral affair located in the former basement stables , although serving substandard hot dogs, ham and cheese sandwiches, tepid lasagna and a small selection of drinks and beer, was actually today the hottest place to eat in the city, so much buzz there was in the air. Even along the rue d'Aubervilliers, the normally skanky bars and cafés, thronged with a new clientelle, on their way to or from the 104. Chairs of all size and form made makeshift terraces to satisy the demand. It's rare to have the opportunity to see instant gentrification in action.

Miroir

Best brunch in Paris? .Lofty dining room on the upper end of the rue des Martyrs. 26€ menu with lots to eat: poached egg in chicken stock with floating salad, fruit salad with raspberries and litchi, cheese, homemade bread, "ceviche de bar", riz au lait de coco, filet de porc, Milliat juice a volonté, coffee or tea, madeleines. Friendly chef, asking if everything's allright from the window in his tiny kitchen, great place to go when the Rose is full...

Le Miroir
94 rue des Martyrs
+33 1 46 06 50 73

Au Coin des Gourmets

The best Vietnamese ravioli I've ever had?

Tofu

Amok, a classic Khmer dish- curried fish with coconut milk cooked in a banana leaf

Da Mimmo

"A little corner of Naples in the center of Paris" is what they say - I'd heard it was an Italo-starfuck heaven (Bellucci et al) in the middle of the congested boulevard Magenta, probably one of my least favorite streets in the City of Lights. The restaurant was mostly empty except for a few families/old people/locals, and I couldn't imagine any of them ponying up 40€ for the truffles tagllione pasta, or any of the other overpriced specialities (spaghetti volgole for 25€?? or a simple tomato spaghetti for 19€...) .The starter was forgettable, a 17.50€ beef carpaccio with too much oil, lemon, and not enough parmesan, although the beef quality was relatively decent. I reckon most people come for the pizza. Perfectly cooked by an obese chef who did his rounds after the shift, kissing babies, shaking hands.... the Mimmo with pork shoulder, mozza, parmesan, egg and peppers was as good as it gets in Paris, and the rosé wine at 8€ a 50cl pitcher more than reasonable.

Sinorama

A night to remember. Undisclosed location frequented by the Hong Kong super-wealthy looking for an authentic Cantonese meal in Paris. Three billionaires. A former French PM's son, a hot yoga teacher, former Consul to Hong Kong, watch tycoon, all incognito, Grands vins delivered from Le Cinq (!). Spring rolls, fried zucchini, marinated beef, scallops, scrambled eggs with tomato, duck sausages, spiced tripe, hake, crispy skinned chicken, soft-shell crab, pork, and charming company, followed by drinks at the Murano (not my choice) and Bloody Bullshots at the Hemingway.










Sinorama
135 avenue Choisy
+33 1 44 24 27 81

A week of eating: Cefalu, Sicily

Cefalu, proclaimed as "The Pearl of the Mediterranean" by locals (more like the "Bodrum of Sicily") , made this recent week of eating and drinking an enjoyable (although caloric) marathon. This ancient town, perched along the sea under a massive rocky geography , has both in its medieval neighborhood and along the main beach some excellent restaurants at good value. Predictably, eateries make use of the great local produce as well as the natural beauty of the surroundings. Sicilian tomatoes, lemons and seafood are some of the best in the Med, and dishes such as spaghetti vongole, sardine tagliatelli, pizzas in various forms, thinly cut beefsteaks, seafood carpaccio, grilled fish of all types (especially swordfish) , shellfish, etc. are present on nearly every menu. The local wine and beers are all reasonably priced so you may slake your thirst without breaking the bank.


Terrace seating at the Osteria del Duomo (steps lead to the 1150 Arab-Norman cathedral)


Caprese salad


Fish and shellfish carpaccio (apparently the best in town)


Sardine pasta, a local specialty


Roast gambas


The view from the terrace of Al Grabbiano


Heaven in a glass

Spaghetti vongole (the best in Cefalu IMHO)

Roast swordfish (another local favourite)

The best pizza we tried in Cefalu


L'Antica Corte

...located in a charming medieval courtyard


Relatively correct pasta with ham and mushrooms

Ditto for the steak , but , hey , the 15€ three course menu was a bargain






These are the addresses we tried out- unfortunately only one, L'Osteria, figures in the Michelin guide, the one place we were the least impressed with, although their terrace is the best in town (although infested by agressive wasps.....)

Osteria del Duomo, via Seminario 3, Cefalu, +390921421838

Al Grabbiano, via Lungomare Giardina 17, Cefalu, +390921421495

L'Antica Corte, Off Corso Ruggero, Cefalu, +390921423228

Al Porticciolo, Via Carlo Ortolani di Bordonaro 66, Cefalu, +390921921981

Watt the f**k?

Worst burger in Paris- Leader Price bread rolls, processed cheese, steak haché , frozen fries and limpid, brown salad (not pictured: the "crostini": a piece of white bread, with a bit of cheese and one sad tomato)

I'm having a bad gastroweek. Just when I thought nothing could top the MINI PALAIS, I had dinner at WATT, on a little sidestreet just off of the Saint Germain des Pres. The resto has a fairly pleasant lofty style atmosphere and accompanying bobo clientelle, and the place was packed. Couldn't be all that bad could it. Yes. Everything from the tiny tapas starters (I kid you not, the chicken terryaki skewers were pure Picard) to the insipid hamburger and country style fries was right from the freezer. Industrial. As . You. Can. Get. How people can get away with this shit I have no idea. Maybe a significant portion of the French are just a stupid dining public?

Recommended , by the way, by Pudlo.

Worst tartar ever (drumroll please) and the winner is....

The MINI PALAIS!

Mini service: At 23h00 : "Vous pouvez prendre une seule chose Monsieur, la cuisine ferme"
"But it says here you're open until 1h00 am"
"Vous pouvez prendre une chose monsieur"

After our dish, she came by on several occasions to sell us dessert (that looked every bit as inspiring and inventive of the rest of the menu....

Mini taste. Tartar: Presentation: hamburgered meat shaped like doggy doo in the middle of the plate with accompanying (not bad, but hardly difficult to make either...) purée de pomme de terre. Doggy doo's a hell of a lot cheaper for a probably similar tasting substance..

MAXI .....

The terrace is magnificent, but after having heard for so long of Choukroun's verrines, attention to fresh produce etc , pretty disappointing. And the deco is n'importe quoi, but I guess it matches the rest.....

Bun and Guns - the future of fast food chains!

Maybe Paris would be a good place for an opening..., the best spot being in the recently vacated Planet Hollywood space on the Champs... No lack of Mid Easterners who'd definitely be into the concept, local hoodlums as well, and, hey, why not good old All American families?

Crème Chantilly

Located at one roundabout's removal from the Chateau de Chantilly towards Paris, this small ice cream trailer offers up just a handful of flavors with one, two or three scoops with real Chantilly cream dolloped on top (yes , this is where whipped cream is from dear readers, thanks to M. Vatel..). Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and pistachio were all great, but the melon (gasp, orgasmic sounds...) was truly wonderful..

New direction/ YouTube moment

Thanks to my own introspection and comment from anon to make my blog more personal, I think I'll be heading in this direction and stay away from the boring published reviews, etc... Experiences like my evening out with Austen the other night, a classic moment where I performed an inexcusable, shocking act in the midst of Paris' most exclusive nightspot (the times when you wished you'd brought the camera...) , will be the meat and potatoes of this newly improved and exponentially more diabolic blog. Stay tuned!

95£ Burger King Burger????

Red Bull with Taurine arrives in France (or, It's about time the French government pulled their finger out)

French Red Bull with TAURINE! on July 15th!

According to Red Bull PR: "We don't have a precise date for the arrival of Red Bull taurine on the French market, however, we know that we will stop importing Red Bull with the arginine formula at the latest mid-July."


Good news for the general public (I was still getting the real deal from my local shop, imported from Lithuania..)

I want one

now.