Sidewalk table at Frenchie, a new Paris bistro worth knowing about. Pros: Excellent food at wallet-friendly prices; fine, shortish wine list with a good sprinkling of non-French wines Cons: Nothing worth mentioning, apart from the loud music issuing from the … Read More
The asparagus with white truffles looked like an abstract painting. Pros: A delight in serving well-sourced products (Desnoyers again), pleasant surroundings Cons: A slightly ditzy waitress, who was so nice and new to the job that her faux pas were … Read More
Pros: Eager-to-please staff; fresh, well-sourced, well-prepared food Cons: Not much in the way of decor Things are looking up on the canal-side culinary front. New boutiques, cafés and restaurants are springing up nearly every day in the wildly popular … Read More
The only restaurant in Paris where you can playping-pong between courses. Pros: Atmosphere, atmosphere Cons: Noisy cocktail shakers, patchy service In last Saturday’s Financial Times, the “Power Dressing” feature profiled Mourad Mazouz, an “Algeria-born restaurateur who has eight restaurants worldwide”. … Read More
The lobster with sweetbreads was pricey butsuperb Pros: Pleasant decor and buzz, good service Cons: Square plates, limited wine list Believe it or not, when Bertie the Gastrohound and I turned up early at L’Ardoise Gourmande for a fivesome the … Read More
Tapas with a twist are a specialty of the house. Pros: Outstanding vegetable cooking; great staff; restful, understated decor. Cons: Wine list a bit short; at these prices, diners could be seated a little less cheek by jowl; two dinner … Read More
When you walk into La Marée, you get a sense of having entered another world. Outside is the heaving eighth arrondissement, with Rue Daru itself being home to the Orthodox Cathedral and other things Russian, plus a noticeable density of … Read More
Chipped-Formica Heaven The pot au feu was on its last legs. Paris has more restaurants named Chez Léon than you can shake a stick at, but one of them stands out from the crowd. Not for any reasons of culinary … Read More
Provincial Comfort in Paris A quiet, comfy setting for a thoroughly unpretentious taste of classic French cuisine. It’s been a busy week on the food front – that’s what happens when you have houseguests – with return visits to Ze … Read More
Buttering Up Customers It’s not often that everyone in a party of four at a restaurant table (or boudoir-like dining area, but more on that later) goes into ecstasies over the butter, but that was the case the other night … Read More
