Paris has lost a wonderful little Italian restaurant, Caffè dei Cioppi, but has gained La Dispensa. Sicilian chef Fabrizio Ferrara has closed his trattoria in an alleyway of the 12th arrondissement and opened a lunch spot/Italian deli on an equally obscure side street in the 10th, where I treated myself to lunch the other day.
About a year ago, a friend strongly advised me to go to the restaurant Cru. Although I greatly value her advice (it was Grace Teshima, a friend to many in Paris), I guess I was put off by the idea of eating a whole meal of only raw food, although it certainly could be excellent if done well.
Those who, like my friend Helen (as mentioned in last week’s review of La Marée Jeanne), are allergic to foam and other niceties of so-called molecular cuisine, and those who just crave good old-fashioned French food now and then would do well to have a meal at Au Bon Coin, where the classics of French bistro cooking are still made up fresh, not out of the freezer or a vacuum-packed plastic bag.
Napoleon Bonaparte is one of history’s endlessly fascinating characters. Never forgotten, especially in France, he is getting an extra dose of attention this year, the 200th anniversary of his second abdication as emperor of France and forced departure for exile … Read More
When I saw a poster for the exhibition “Churchill-de Gaulle” at the Musée de l’ Armée in a Paris Métro station, I assumed the exhibition would be about the notorious rows and fractious relationship between the British and French wartime … Read More
Seventy Days, Eighty Masterpieces Amazingly, although Vincent Van Gogh spent only 70 days (May 20-July 29, 1890) in the town of Auvers-sur-Oise, located an hour north of Paris, he made some 80 paintings there during his last days on earth. … Read More
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.
The dire dining situation in the area around the Forum des Halles seems to be turning around, or should I say pirouetting, since I recently ate at a good bistro there called Pirouette. The restaurant is located on a small hidden square in a strange one-story structure with high ceilings and big industrial windows that looks as if it had been tacked onto the building next to it. Its large, traffic-free terrace must be a pleasant place to sit in warm weather.
THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED The restaurant Le Timbre, which owes its name to its postage-stamp-sized kitchen and a dining room that’s not much bigger, has had a new chef/owner, Charles Danet, since September, so it was time to make … Read More
THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED Allegra gets pizza right, especially the crust.Pizza, now the international food par excellence, no longer has to be made by Italians to be good. One of the most amazing I ever ate was from a … Read More
