Heidi Ellison
Siseng
No-Fuss Fusion By the Canal
My usual advice to those who want to eat at popular lunch spots in Paris is to arrive by 12:30, since French people always eat lunch at 1pm sharp. That doesn’t hold true for Sinseng, however. I got there shortly after noon the other day, and the place was already filling up. By 12:30 it was packed. So my advice is to get there at noon, when it opens.
Les Jours d’Avant
Ordinary Adolescence, Extraordinary Circumstances
Continuing our run on reviews of French films set in Africa, this week we have Les Jours d’Avant, a short (47-minute) movie directed by Karim Moussaoui that takes place in a suburb of Algiers in 1994. The movie starts from … Read More
Les Pinces
Surf and Turf the French Way
This will be a short review, but not as short as the menu at Les Pinces, a new restaurant in the Marais where you can order only three things: a whole lobster, a lobster roll or a côte de bœuf (prime rib), each one priced at €25.
Deux Garçons, la Mer
Love in interesting times
Deux Garçons, la Mer is director Christophe Garro’s ambitious two-hour adaptation for the stage of Jamie O’Neill’s novel At Swim, Two Boys (2001). With minimal scenery, the play admirably weaves together large historical events – World War I and the … Read More
Zébulon
Scoring High at Palais Royal
A few weeks ago, I reviewed Pirouette, a great little bistro near the Forum des Halles, and now I have tried its new baby sister, Zébulon, in another part of town where it’s often hard to find a reliably good meal, near the Palais Royal.
Hope
Hell on the Road to Hoped-For Paradise
The actress Endurance Newton plays Hope, the female lead in the film of the same name directed by Boris Lojkine. Perhaps her real first name would have been a more accurate title for this movie about poor African emigrants trying … Read More
Le Bichat
Worthy Food, Rollicking Atmosphere
A very un-Parisian restaurant recently opened in the slowly gentrifying area just north of the Canal Saint Martin. Le Bichat has no telephone, takes no reservations, has no table service and serves a limited selection of organic food that wouldn’t excite the taste buds of any discerning gourmet.
Timbuktu
All-Too-Human Side of Jihad
In the popular imagination, Timbuktu may represent the back of beyond, but there’s certainly a lot going on there in the eponymous new film by Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako, which has been nominated for the Academy Awards Best Foreign Language … Read More
Paris Fashion Week: Men
Peekaboo Penises and Butt Plugs The men’s fashion shows in Paris last week were far more exciting than usual. This year, for the first time, men’s penises popped out of their garments on the runway, courtesy of Rick Owens (now … Read More
Prémices
One Logical Conclusion: An Excellent Meal
The working premise of this review is that if you eat at Prémices, you are sure to have an excellent dining experience. The restaurant’s decor is the first sign that you are in for something a cut above: it’s simple but elegant, with bare stone walls, an assortment of variously shaped black light fixtures and crystal shades casting spangles of light around the room, with its white-clothed tables.