Heidi Ellison
Mini Palais
Don't Judge a Menu at the En-Cas
Pros: Wonderful food, service, location. Low noise levels. Big outdoor terrace. Cons: Can’t think of any I was disappointed by my first glance at the menu at the Mini Palais, whose “consulting chef” is Eric Frechon, one of the first … Read More
Une Poule sur un Mur
The gambas were served on a bed of fried risotto. Pros: Smiling service, quality food, quiet ambiance Cons: Food a bit too spicy Playing the game of Chicken can be extremely dangerous, but there is little risk involved in … Read More
Vanité. Mort, que me veux-tu ?
MORTAL REMINDERS Andres Serrano: “The Morgue (Killed by Four Great Danes),” 1992 © Andres Serrano Death never goes out of style, but right now it is trendier than ever, with death’s heads a must-have on all sorts of fashion items, … Read More
1000 Years of Annoying the French
Stephen Clarke, a British writer who lives in Paris, has built a successful career for himself by cleverly exploiting the long-standing love-hate relationship between the rosbifs and the frogs, to use each side’s slurring epithet for the other. After a … Read More
Copacabana
Copacabana, written and directed by Marc Fitoussi, is a fresh, completely absorbing little film about people – or rather, one person – you feel you might have known. Isabelle Huppert steps away from the tortured characters she often plays to … Read More
Maison Jean Cocteau
Dandy-Dilettante or Multifaceted Genius ?
Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) is a slippery character. It’s hard to get a grip on who he was and what he did, partly because he did so many different things – he was a poet, artist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, screenwriter, set … Read More
Maison Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau in front of his house in Milly-la-Forêt on July 24, 1963. © KEYSTONE-FRANCE/Keystone/Eyedea Presse Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) is a slippery character. It’s hard to get a grip on who he was and what he did, partly because he … Read More
L’Illusioniste
It’s a dream-team concept: Sylvain Chomet, the creator of the marvelous animated film Les Triplettes de Belleville, has made a new animated movie based on an unfinished script by the late, great French director and actor Jacques Tati, L’Illusioniste (The … Read More
Parc de Billancourt & Jardin de l’Ile Seguin
Poetic Park and Island on the Seine
The global economy may still be reeling, but you’d never know it from a visit to the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, where a small building boom is underway as part of the Ile Seguin-Rives de Seine redevelopment project, which … Read More
Claude Colliot
Whelks and clams in a celeriac-based sauce at Claude Colliot’s new restaurant in the Marais. Having read some hearty praise of Claude Colliot’s new restaurant in Paris’s Marais, I had high expectations for our dinner there and convinced my dining … Read More