Hotel Fouquet’s Barriere in Paris: A Drink at the Bar Le Lucien
At the bar of the 5-star Hotel Fouquet’s Barriere, just off the Champs-Elysees, I met Stephane Ginouves, winner of the first Meilleur
Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman in France) competition for bartenders, and got his recipe for mixing with Singles.
IKRA: Russian Cuisine (and a Red Piano) in the 6th Arrondissement
What is it about Paris cabarets and Russian émigrés that brings out everyone’s inner gypsy? It’s got to be more than borscht, no? Is it Garbo in Ninotchka? Ingrid Bergman in Anastasia? Corinne LaBalme says “привет” (we hope that means “hello”) to IKRA, the newest Cossack café in town.
Canard & Co: Duck Season in Paris, Year-Round
The French Southwest staked out some new territory in Paris last September when Cécile Castellan opened Canard & Co in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower. Despite the name, there’s much more than mallard on the menu, as Corinne LaBalme explains in her review of this Basque and Béarnais grocery shop and luncheonette.
Everyone’s a Critic
Returning home from France without good food stories shows a lack of appetite, curiosity, and interesting company. You may not rave about everywhere and...
La Fontaine de Mars, Mainsail of Culinary Explorations in Paris’s 7th arr.
The mainsail for culinary explorations in Paris's 7th arrondissement is La Fontaine de Mars, the ultra-traditional, southwest-leading Parisian bistro, red-and-white checkered tablecloths, watchful matron, harried but attentive service and all.
Carnivorous Confusion
Meat is customarily served rarer in France than in the United States, so it’s important to know how to answer when the waiter asks...
Pirouette in the Time of the Coronavirus
Last night I dined with a friend at Pirouette, a contemporary, bistronomic restaurant with a sizable wine list in the Les Halles quarter of Paris. Today I received a text message from the restaurant asking if I’d recommend Pirouette to others, on a scale of 1 to 10.
Culinary Utility of the Dollar in Paris: 6 Recommendations from a Gourmet Economist
Culinary sleuths Richard and Judy Fritz set out on a deliciously intriguing culinary adventure in Paris as they followed in the footsteps of a little-known restaurant guide written in the 1980s by renown economist Bela Balassa, leading to their discovery of six notable and enduring restaurants to consider for your own culinary adventures.
Three Reasons to Experience a Remarkable Chef: Part I
Symbols, stars, numbers, and other restaurant rating systems can provide a culinary relief map of a city, but they’re inadequate in revealing the particular...