***

What do Alain Ducasse, Alain Passard, Pierre Gagnière, Anne-Sophie Pic, Gilles Goujon and Jean-François Piège have in common? If you answered that they are all masters of French high gastronomy then you’d be half right. The other half? They also have very French names.

Unlike Kei Kobayashi. Yet Kei Kobayashi is also a master of French high gastronomy, working the kitchen and operating his eponymous restaurant Kei. If his name sounded more French then perhaps this exceptional chef would have more American and British clients. As it is, he has a faithful French clientele, Japanese clients and a smattering of other well-informed international gastronomes.

Mastering the art of French cooking isn’t a question of nationality, as Julia Child taught us, but mastering the heights of French gastronomy has been a fairly passport-driven affair… until recently. Ten or twenty years ago, a chef from overseas would train in France for five, even ten, years then return home to, say, Japan to wow his compatriots and pursue his career there. But increasingly some high-caliber chefs from abroad choose to pursue their careers in France.

Kei Kobayashi, for example.

“I want to do that!”

Born in 1977, Kobayashi speaks of a vertical path from his childhood in Nagano, Japan, to the stature of a 2-star Michelin chef in Paris and about his ambitions. His father was a traditional chef of precise slicing in Japan. At age 15, the younger Kobayashi saw a documentary on TV featuring French chef Alain Chapel (3-star Michelin) in the kitchen. On the screen the chef worked with flare, fire and flourish as he’d never seen in his father’s kitchen. He speaks of it as a revelation. “I told myself, ‘I want to do that!’”

Having started his training in Japan, he arrived in France at the age of 21 intent on discovering, learning, practicing and climbing to the heights of French gastronomy. (Somehow along the way he also picked up the notion that French chefs are blond and so began dying his hair.)

A culinary Tour de France followed, during which time he worked with and learned from stellar chefs in Paris, Languedoc, Provence and Alsace. He opened Kei near Les Halles in 2011, received his first Michelin star a year later and a second in 2017.

Fifteen to twenty years ago, meeting a chef who had turned his back on the world of high gastronomy to focus on more accessible culinary offerings was refreshing. Now it’s refreshing to meet unabashedly facing the summit. From the moment he opened Kei, he said, he was aiming (and pushing his staff to aim) for three stars. That’s something few chefs think or admit.

The Setting

At first glance the 30-seat room of Kei seems mildly ascetic, despite the glitter and glow of the Saint Louis chandelier. But before long the off-white walls reveal a hint of lavender and one notices the crown molding and discreet French flourishes. At lunchtime, the glassy the white cut-outs on the wall-length picture window facing the street combined with the radiance of the chandelier and of the sconces reminds me of the comfort of a dreamy afternoon on a snowy day.

Distinguishing Japanese touches from French touches in the décor, the tableware and the succession of dishes is a table game that one inevitably plays… given the name Kei Kobayashi. The dishware and cutlery clearly present a marriage of cultures. But once settled into the meal one finds that Kobayashi’s cuisine—presented exclusively through tasting menus—is not a game of cross-cultural references but a hike to the heights of French gastronomy. True, along with products from France there may be some from Japan, Italy, Scotland and elsewhere. But it isn’t the Frenchness of the product that makes Kobayoshi’s cuisine French. It’s the intensity of focus on those products.

We’ve all had exquisite tasting menus that can be showy. I do enjoy the occasional gastronomic culinary Vaudeville, but Kobayashi’s cuisine is more subtle than that.

The Meal

There’s nearly something sacred about the progression through the meal, though without ritual or ceremony. Asked about the rhythm of a tasting menu, Kobayashi says that there is no single path. Instead, he speaks of the meal as a living construction, based on quality products, whether simple or noble, forming a menu that will change but should always feel complete. Our table’s 7-step tasting menu nevertheless evolved in nearly classic French rhythm from shrimp to vegetables and smoked salmon to quail risotto to smoked langoustine, culminating in line-caught sea-bass, before easing down with cheese and sorbet/dessert.

The menu is largely based on fish and seafood, from Carabineros prawn tartare with a smoked eel emulsion and a nip of Schrenki caviar to a direct this-is-the-real-taste-of-line-caught-sea bass whose sensuality retains an enticing coarseness thanks to his treatment of scales that have been left on.

The prawn of our menu was followed by the most seductive and deceptively simple of our seven dishes: a salad of raw and cooked vegetables, herbs, flowers, crumbled olives, a citrusy arugula mousse and a slice of smoked salmon from Scotland, all to be delicately turned and mingled by the client before tasting. It’s a celestial dish—the first time that I’ve ever thought of a mixed salad as a delicacy. The quail risotto with white Alba truffle, a Perigueux sauce and parmesan then tastefully brought us back to earth. A hay-steamed langoustine married with shitaki mushrooms appeared to be an attempt to return to the salad’s state of grace, but was for me the least remarkable of the dishes.

Beyond the tasting menus, diners can also add a course of l’oreiller de la belle Aurore, a pâté (in this case of game and fowl) baked in a savory pastry. It’s a highly crafted dish of rustic elegance that has in various shapes and forms been a staple of French culinary tradition for over 200 years. It was a signature of Gérard Besson, Kobayashi’s predecessor at this address. It’s placement on the menu is a sign of Kobayashi’s homage to and devotion to the heritage of French gastronomy that he carries forward.

A French chef

Reducing the Kei dining experience to cross-cultural analysis is to ignore the richness sought at the height of French gastronomy. The height for Kobayashi is one star away. Michelin-bashing has no place in his culinary world. In order to merit the third star, he says, he’s aware that he has to develop his own originality while ensuring flawlessness from start to finish and from kitchen to dining room.

No need to wait for that third star to put Kei on your culinary map. And don’t imagine that a Japanese name makes Kobayashi’s gastronomy any less French. Whatever passport he holds, think of Kei Kobayashi as an exceptional French chef.

Kei, 5 rue Coque Héron, 1st arr, just west of Les Halles. Metro Louvre-Rivoli or Sentier or Etienne Marcel. Tel. 01 42 33 14 74. Closed Sunday, Monday and lunch Thursday. The typical lunch menu is served in five steps or an extensive tasting in 9 steps. There’s also a 9-step “prestige” menu that includes additional choice items. See pricing for various lunch and dinner tasting menus here.

© 2019, Gary Lee Kraut.

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* * *

The French have a reputation as frog-eaters, but admit it, Francophile friends, you’ve probably never seen a Frenchman nibble at a frog—and you may well have never tried fresh frog yourself. How about lightly fried pig’s ears? Pigeon? Snails? Well, maybe snails, but possibly fresh only from the freezer.

Le Vieux Crapaud (the old toad), near the Arc de Triomphe, is the place to catch up on such tasty, unfamiliar morsels, while also enjoying familiar bistro fare, freshly and earnestly prepared by owner-chef Thomas Boutin.

The airy dining room with well-spaced seating for 42 mostly shuns the decorative vocabulary of the traditional Paris bistro, while the hunting trophies—a pheasant, a boar (Boutin’s shot), a goose, antlers—remind diners that the cuisine of this citified restaurant has rural roots, as does its owner-chef.

Originally from the Sologne region of France in the Loire Valley, Boutin briefly attended Drexel University in Philadelphia at a time when he was aiming for a career in business. But he soon left classrooms for kitchens, where he’d felt comfortable since childhood. He returned to Paris to attend the Ferrandi Culinary School. America eventually beckoned again, so for 18 months he worked at Le Charm, a French restaurant in San Francisco—hence his SF cap in the photo. Returning to Paris, he gained further experience by working with gastronomic chefs and as a home chef for hire.

Bottin opened Le Vieux Crapaud in June 2014. Just over a year later, at the age of 38, he was named Officer of the Order of Agricultural Merit (Chevalier dans l’ordre du Mérite agricole), a national honor recognizing his role in maintaining what he calls France’s “formidable culinary tradition” and respecting “its formidable terroir.”

I initially came to Le Vieux Crapaud to enhance my frog education and have returned several times since. Boutin’s frog supplier is Patrice François, France’s only major frog breeder. The vast majority of frogs (typically legs only) served in France are imported. While inexpensive imports and regulatory requirements in France are enough dissuade most would-be domestic breeders, François, a well-establish fishmonger in the center of France, took up the challenge. In 2010 he created a frog farm just north of Provence in the Drome region. See this video from Patrice François’s farm for more on frog breeding (raniculture).

Boutin serves the whole frog at Le Vieux Crapaud, legs, body and forearms—eviscerated and with the head removed, of course. He sautés them with parsley and a bit of garlic, with some lemon in the finish. They’re typically served alone as an appetizer though the frogophile can also order them as a main course served with mashed potatoes. In the setting of this restaurant the taste is both rustic and refined, and finger lickin’ good. You’ll be given a knife and fork in case you wish to use utensils, but frogs are traditionally eaten with the hands, which makes it easier to suck the bones. (Think delicate chicken wings.)

Well on my way to appreciating frog, I next turned my attention to pig’s ears (oreilles de cochon) as a second appetizer. A pleasant surprise, Boutin’s pig ears are lighter I’d imagined. They have a slight and agreeable cartilage crunch. (Think really good, thick, homemade potato chips.) There’s some oiliness to them, which is well balanced by the accompanying lentils.

The vast majority of the products that Boutin works with come from France, as is the case in any self-respecting bistro here. The prime exception is the snails. That would appear sacrilegious in escargot country if Boutin hadn’t come up with a reasonable explanation. “True fat, wild so-called Burgundy escargot no longer come from France because of strict regulations to produce them,” he says. His meaty escargots therefore come fresh from Hungary. They’re grilled in a parsley butter, as one would expect, but without the heavy garlic and often oily aspect that one finds in restaurants less concerned about freshness and quality.

“I want to give people an experience,” he says of serving less familiar dishes to foreign clients. “I’m offering clients the chance to try things they might not otherwise try. Refuse what you want, but please don’t tell me you don’t like something before you’ve even tried it.” He isn’t opposed to having people send back dishes they don’t like, and he rarely finds that someone abuses the offer to do so.

Beyond the less familiar appetizers, there’s something to please everyone on Boutin’s changing menu that may also include pheasant pot au feu, pumpkin soup, calf sweetbreads, a mature entrecôte, a hearty côte de bœuf to share, along with chicken, pork and fish dishes, consistently direct and flavorsome, I’ve found over several meals.

Those seeking in-depth wine discussion may be disappointed to find a lack of vino-conversation with Boutin and the staff. Boutin acknowledges that he is not a wine connoisseur, and there’s no sommelier among his small staff (which may include his wife Tatiana at lunchtime). “I know what I like,” he says. “We manage to express that to clients who have questions, but please don’t talk to us about varietals. If you don’t like what you’re served I’ll take it back.”

Le Vieux Crapaud largely draws a local business and non-business crowd at lunchtime. In the evening tourists and business travelers enter the mix, many of them staying in the Champs-Elysées area and some perhaps at nearby luxury hotels such as the Raphael (worth considering for a well-heeled aperitif, especially in summer when its rooftop bar is open) and the Peninsula.

Moderately priced for the area (a 3-course dinner runs 35-55€ without wine), there is a genteel bon-vivantness to Le Vieux Crapaux. That comes not only from the food but from Boutin himself. In designing a restaurant with a window between the kitchen and the dining room, Boutin’s intention was not, as in restaurants with a similar configuration, so that clients could admire the chef at work as an actor on a stage. Instead, the kitchen window is a perch from which Boutin can keep an eye on the dining room. From there he can judge where diners are in the progress of a given course, and he’ll occasionally step out to give a helping hand in the dining room and to speak with clients, whether regulars or strangers.

Boutin is an affable fellow who clearly enjoys the give and take with diners, whether in French or in English. His menu is in French only because, he says, he prefers to explain ingredients and preparations to clients who may not be able to decipher a French menu.

Boutin’s good-natured approach to his preparations and to his clients would be a nice addition in many neighborhoods in Paris but they are especially welcome in the Arc de Triomphe area, where pretension, hefty prices, tourist fare and/or international branding otherwise dominate the restaurant scene.

Le Vieux Crapaud
16 rue Lauriston, 16th arrondissement. Metro Kléber or Charles de Gaulle-Etoile. Tel. 01 73 75 70 10.
Open Mon.-Fri. for lunch (12:00-2:30) and dinner (7:45-10:30). Available for private events and cooking classes on Sat. and Sun.

© 2016, Gary Lee Kraut

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That’s my motto when selecting restaurants for many visitors. And there’ve been a lot these past few weeks: friends, relatives, friends of friends, friends of relatives, classmates, fundraisers, writers doing research, travelers taking most excellent tours. We’ve had lunch together, dinner, we’ve been to wine bars, had picnics, stopped for pastries, chocolate, Bertillon sorbet.

“How do you/they stay so thin,” they ask, causing me to suck in my gut, “eating like this all the time?”

Now here’s a secret the food-bloggers won’t tell you: We don’t. At least I don’t.

Paris can be visited as a perpetual all-you-can-eat deluxe buffet but it’s lived as a city with countless venues for a shared meal or drink with friends, colleagues, clients and assorted visitors. Eating well implies choosing well, ordering well, buying well… enjoying good company. There is a form of Parisian self-control in matters of food and drink. One gets a hang of quickly enough. Spending two hours à table doesn’t mean consuming four times the amount of someone who sits for 30 minutes. And we actually eat at home sometimes. We have access to good fresh produce. We walk to shops. We do our 10,000 steps, including frequent staircases. We cook in our little kitchens. We may even exercise, gently.

However, there are times when some combination of visitors, work obligations, journalist events, birthday celebrations and ordinary social life lead me on an extended period of wining and dining. And no matter how much I protest when the dessert menu is handed out, there are quite a few crème brulées, moelleux au chocolat, pies and tarts placed on the table with an extra fork or spoon. “I’ll just have a little taste,” as my grandmother would say.

That period of indulgence can last a few days or a week or, with my most recent schedule of visitors, events and travelers on most excellent tours, a month. Indulgence, however, is not the same thing as overindulgence. Indulgence is a knowing pleasure. Overindulgence is loss of control. Admittedly, there’s a fine line of distinction at times.

A friend, in Paris for business, unsure of which side of the line we were on, said during our third straight high calorie wine-infused meal together, “My wife’s gonna kill me for putting on weight. I’m gonna tell her it’s your fault.”

If shared good living is my fault then guilty as charged. I don’t know what you’re during this afternoon, Scott, but I’m going for a run as soon as I finish this article.

10 Venues for Shared Good Living—Simple Food, Simply Good

What follows is a selection of simple, simply good restaurants and shops that have been on my eating trails of the past few weeks during this most recent bout of shared good living. It’s my food diary of the past few weeks, minus the less appealing, the less well served and the more gastronomic meals consumed along the way.

Simplicity is the theme, meaning relatively straightforward fare, meat and potatoes and the like yet unmistakably French. Some will call this restaurant fare “borrrrring,” others will call it “just what I was looking for.”

All are moderately priced, here meaning 25-50€ for 2 or 3 courses without beverages. All have good to excellent service. None require much, if any, advance reservation, though no harm calling ahead.

1. Le Sully
6 boulevard Henri IV, 4th arr. Metro Sully-Morland.
Tel. 01 42 72 94 80. Closed Sunday.

It’s easy to overlook this daytime café-brasserie (it closes at 8pm) because the intersection out front appears to be a place of transit only and not of pause. But here—between Ile Saint Louis and the Arsenal quarter of the Marais, between old blocks from the Bastille and a statue of the poet Arthur Rimbaud, between an equestrian center for the Republican Guard and the Center for information, documentation and exhibition for urban planning and architecture of Paris—Le Sully is a place with roots. The same family has operated it since 1917 and their roots still run deep into the Aveyron region of central France. Le Sully is old reliable when it comes to enjoying the café-brasserie experience in Paris thanks to the generous spirit of Robert and Dany Vidal and their son Romain and to their sense of quality. Le Sully proudly sports the government label Maitre-Restaurateur, which signifies that dishes are made in house essentially using fresh ingredients. Aubrac rump steak and other nice lunchtime brasserie fare, Languedoc wines. We linger into the afternoon.

2. La Poule au Pot
9 rue Vauvilliers, 1st arr. Metro Louvre-Rivoli
Tel. 01 42 36 32 96 Open 7pm-5am. Closed Mon.
Ever true the bistro tradition, Paul Racat has for 40 years now maintained this relaxed yet classy home for rustic bistro classics, attentively served, and an atmosphere of unpretentious chic that develops as the evening and the night move on. Come the later the better. Soupe gratinée à l’onion, blanquette de veau, white Sancerre. We linger into the night.

3. Boucherie Roulière
6 rue des Canettes, 6th arr. Metro Mabillon or Saint Germain des Près.
Tel. 01 84 15 04 47. Open daily.

Having long associated this street between Saint-Germain and Saint-Sulpice with creperies, pizzarias and pubs, I thought it a bit risky to head here for beef. But the risk paid off: the sliced rib just right, attentive service, elbow-to-elbow seating that offered up a mix of good cheer and Parisian sophistication. Mille feuilles de tomate et artichaut à l’huile de truffe; côte de boeuf, bone marrow and steak fries; Saint-Estèphe (Bordeaux).

4. 750g La Table
397 rue de Vaugirard, 15th arr. Metro Porte de Versailles.
Tel. 01 45 30 18 47. Open daily.

If I lived on the southwestern edge of the city or frequently attended trade shows at Porte de Versailles, I’d be happy to consider Damien Duquesne’s Table my neighborhood restaurant for good chicken, good beef, homey side dishes, much freshness, a judicious wine selection and friendly service. But I don’t, so I consider 750g La Table as a sign that no quarter is immune to honorable food and wine.

5. Les Petites Ecuries
40 rue des Petites Ecuries, 10 arr. Metro Château d’Eau or Bonne Nouvelle.
Tel. 01 48 24 02 90. Open daily.
Walking by on a sunny day, it was the sight of the pleasantly odd alcove lined with a living green wall that gave me pause for coffee. Though suspecting that the place might be too young and hip for the food or service to be anything but an afterthought, I nevertheless returned for dinner with a visiting friend the following evening. And good thing, too: my duck was delicious, my friend enjoyed his steak, we were kindly served and we barely noticed that we were among the oldest ones there.

6. Le Plomb de Cantal
3 rue de la Gaîté, 14th arr. Metro Edgar Quinet.
Open daily.
Why waste your waistline on the meat and potatoes at an ordinary greasy spoon when you can do some delicious gut-busting in this joyful restaurant in the Montparnasse quarter with Auvergne comfort food, from deep in the center of France? Sausage served with aligot (mashed potatoes with cheese and garlic) or truffade (sliced potatoes, cheese, garlic) is king here, but duck, tripes or beef are also options. Hearty salads as well. It’s simple, it’s delicious, it’s caloric, it’s cheerful, it’s Paris without needing to be hip or sophisticated. There’s an extension around the corner and another outlet across the city near metro Strasbourg-Saint Denis, but come evening the greatest joy is on aptly named theater- and restaurant-filled rue de la Gaîté.

7. Terminus Nord  
23 rue de Dunkerque, 10 arr. Metro Gare du Nord.
Open daily.

While the Auvergnats accompany their sausages with cheesy potatoes, brasseries of the north, wonderfully exemplified by this large and brassy restaurant across the street from Gare du Nord (the train station that links Paris with London, Lille, Brussels and Amsterdam), serve theirs with sauerkraut. But upon returning from Amsterdam (Café Loetje for lunch) we came here for the other specialties of northern brasseries: fish (cod, sea bass, salmon, sole) and seafood. A reminder that simple fare, simply good, isn’t just a beefy affair.

8. Le Village Ronsard
47 Ter Boulevard St Germain, 5th arr. Metro Maubert-Mutualité.
Tel. 01 43 25 07 95. Open daily.
There are many like it, but when in this quarter come lunchtime I’ve always felt comfortable at this perfectly, excellently ordinary café-brasserie in the Sesame Street of Paris market areas. Poulet-frites, steak-frites, salads, omelets, etc.

9. Fil’O’Fromage
12 rue Neuve Tolbiac, 13th arr. Metro Bibliothèque François Mitterrand or Quai de la Gare.
Tel. 01 53 79 13 35. Open 10am-7:30pm Mon.-Wed. 10am-10:30pm Thurs.-Sat. Closed Sunday.

Past the loud brasseries, the cavernous cafés and the undesirable restaurants that first assault the rare explorer of the new Rive Gauche quarter of the 13th arrondissement, Clément Chérif Boubrit (“I’m the Sheriff,” he says), philosopher, photographer, cheesemonger, oenologist, operates an off-beat wine and cheese shop and eatery where I recently organized a tasting for a group of eight bloggers/writers. Don’t worry, you needn’t be eight or even organized to enjoy the Sheriff’s approach to tasting wine, cheese and cold cuts vertically, horizontally, blindly or what the hell let’s just share-ingly.

10. My kitchen. Leftovers from last night’s party. Open 7/7, by invitation only.

© 2015, Gary Lee Kraut

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Five months after the scandal involving the deflation of Paul MacCarthy’s giant butt plug on Place Vendome, the art collective Adeca 75 has inflated a giant colon on Place de la Republique…

… as Paris explores the fine line between art and fart.

No, actually, what has come to be known as MacCarthy’s “butt plug” was supposedly inspired by his vision of a Christmas tree (you can read more about that here),  while the group Adeca 75 that I’ve referred to above as an “art collective” is in fact an association dedicated to organizing the national program for cancer screening in Paris (you can read more about that here).

Nevertheless, let this serve as a reminder to travelers to not limit your sense of what goes on in Paris to culinary clichés and highlights from the Louvre and the Orsay, for this remains a city where art is still debated and sometimes sabotaged and where the digestive tract is as long and hazardous as it is at home.

March 27, 2015

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The Ferrandi faculty and some of their illustrious alumni and friends have contributed their savoir-faire and 143 recipes for the mega-cookbook Le Grand Cours de Cuisine Ferrandi (The Great Ferrandi Cooking Class).

Named by Le Figaro as Best Cookbook of 2014, this book digs into the nitty-gritty: deboning a pigeon, un-shelling a crab, shucking an oyster, dressing a duck, filleting a sole, roasting a peach. There are even 18 large color pictures that give the step-by-step process of de-choking an artichoke.

However, there’s no pressure to start out with Yannick Alléno’s go-for-baroque Oyster/Chorizo medley or Olivier Roellinger’s mega-complex Chocolate/Sherry Lobster, a dish that—even with pictures—looks like it requires a sous-chef armed with a sonic screwdriver from Gallifrey. Less accomplished chefs can begin by learning how to pull off a perfect hard-boiled egg before professing at their own speed to an airy omelet.

Two “simple” versions of blanquette de veau (beginner, intermediate) are explained, while black-belt chefs may head straight for the Michelin-starred version by Alsace star Olivier Nasti.

A significant part of the book’s 695 pages are devoted to recipes from restaurant celebrities like William Ledeuil, Adeline Grattard (both Ferrandi grads) and Thierry Marx.

Le Grand Cours de Cuisine Ferrandi offers no helpful tips on catching your rabbit, but once you’ve bagged your bunny, it will show-and-tell you everything else you need to know about turning it into cuisses de levreau en civet à l’échalote grise with candied apples and chanterelle ravioli on the side… a recipe contributed by Eric Briffard at the Hôtel George V.

The Ferrandi cookbook is perfect for the aspiring or confirmed chef on your gift list, whether in bicep-building hardback (the book tips the scales at 4.1 kilos) or in its e-book version. Published by Hachette, 49.95 €.

© 2014, Corinne LaBalme

For more about The Ferrandi School on France Revisited read this.

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In an area where philosophers, revolutionaries and writers once roamed, chef Fabric Rialland, formerly of the Hôtel Costes, is offering tasty lessons in eggs-istentialism and the pleasures of carpaccio-diem. Thus far, the media star of the menu has been Rialland’s utterly elegant 3€50 oeuf mayo. In brief: the egg whites have been steamed, the yolks on top are miniature golden globes of perfection, and the Dijon mustard-laced mayonnaise is to die for.

But the main focus of the menu is raw meat. ”Carpaccio was a deal-breaker,” says Rialland. ”My investor, Benoist Kersulec, insisted on 20 varieties.”

They compromised at nineteen and the sweet part of the deal (for diners) is the possibility to sample two different platters for just 16€. The Greek version—light as air—is studded with tiny cubes of feta and cucumber. The most popular, Thai, has touches of ginger and pineapple. Mozzarella, pine-nuts, olive tapenade, soja and even camembert for a Norman spin adorn other options. All carpaccios are accompanied by salad, shoestring potatoes or wilted spinach.

Also on the menu: lobster spring rolls, savory pork ‘pluma’ casseroles, curried chicken, sautéed calamars and home-cooked foie gras with plum brandy. The Sunday brunch (25-35€) includes eggs benedict, and the dessert list features lemon-flavored cheesecake, apple-pie and a selection of sweet cocktails like the eponymous Café Bouillu that blends Kahlua, crème fraîche, coffee, vodka and a splash of hazelnut essence.

A glass of Terradria chardonnay from the Pays d’Oc costs 5€50 and a hearty bottle of Caprices d’Antoine Côtes-du-Rhône is 25€. However, the wine cellar also stocks some treasures from an earlier Café Bouillu incarnation in La Baule, including a 1983 Pétrus (3,600€) to enjoy in precious sips along with, say, a cheese omelet (12€). By the way, the wine cellar, which can and should be visited, is the site where Robespierre signed the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

Café Bouillu. 9 rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, 6th arrondissement. Metro Odéon. Tel: 01.46.34.19.41. Open daily.

© 2014, Corinne LaBalme

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* * *

When car-conscious journalists showed up at Renault’s Paris showroom for a press conference about the 3rd Generation Twingo last month, the F-word (femme) was on everybody’s lips.

”C’mon, it’s a very girlie car,” explained one (male) automotive blogger who avowed that he would never be seen at the wheel of the latest model painted in glossy Cappuccino or Powder Blue.

Indeed, ever since the first curvaceous Twingo shifted gears down the asphalt catwalk in 1993 (with a name engineered to blend tango, twist and swing), it’s been billed as a feminine ride. Twingo designers describe the car’s personality as affectif and sympathique. There was even a 21st-century feminist backlash about an ad campaign (hastily-pulled) that suggested Twingo-drivers have “cute” problems with parallel parking

Thus said, the new Twingo is a city car with appeal to anyone who needs to negotiate tight corners and urban traffic. ”We’ve put the motor in the rear for added maneuverability,” says Laurent Negroni, part of the Renault creative team. ”With this Twingo, u-turns are a piece of cake.”

Coincidentally, ”cake” was also on everyone’s mind.

The Bertrand Group, owners of Angelina and the Hotel Saint James, took over the restaurant concession last May, bringing Michelin-starred chef Virginie Basselot from the Saint-James to supervise the menu. The pastry cart is fueled by Angelina.

Basselot, who acknowledges her own tween-age dreams about owning a Twingo in the 90s, designed an ephemeral autumn menu that speaks to her attitudes about the automobile. The first course, a deconstructed salade niçoise featuring a velvety tuna foam with dippable raw veggies, incarnates the adaptability of the Twingo.

For the cod aïoli with whelks, Basselot chose products that are ”simple, efficient and colorful, like the car” and topped off the meal with deliciously exotic coconut panna cotta ”because it’s all about travel, isn’t it?”

The sticker price on the ephemeral menu is 43€, although you’ll likely be tempted by fuel options like a ”Cointropolitan”, 12€, or one of the very good wines available by the glass. The restaurant just installed a nitrogen machine that keeps those Clos Vougeots from corking.

The food, good enough to merit a trip, combined with an upstairs restaurant offering panoramic views of the Champs-Elysées, make this venue one of the avenue’s more notable dining experiences. There’s also a smaller wine bar in back, set up as a table d’hôte, that can be privatized.

L’Atelier Renault Café. 53 avenue des Champs-Elysées, 8th arrondissement. Metro Franklin D. Roosevelt or George V. Open daily. Sunday through Thursday 10:30 am to 11pm; Friday and Saturday 10:30 am to 1 am.

© 2014, Corinne LaBalme

The post On the Champs-Elysées: Dining à la car(te) appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

* * *

It would be unfair of me to cast doubt upon The List without adding some suggestions to broaden it. I’ve therefore asked six Paris-based French and American foodies, gastronomes and food writers—Alexander Lobrano, Michel Tanguy, Corinne LaBalme, Allison Zinder, Alain Neyman, Randy Diaz—to suggest eateries that they’ve enjoyed recently that may not be on the current buzz list, in any category or style or type of cuisine. Some are well known in Paris, some are somewhat known, some are off the radar beyond their given neighborhood.

To their 15 suggestions I’ve added 10 of my own, a combination of what are for me old reliables and places where I’ve eaten this year and wouldn’t hesitate to return.

These aren’t musts or shoulds. In gathering them below I am not trying to refute or to muscle out The American Paris Restaurant List. I am instead looking to broaden travelers’ sense of the possibilities in the great if battered food city of Paris.

– Gary Lee Kraut

This list was compiled in August 2014.

Pricing is noted as € to €€€€ for a 3-course dinner without beverages, with many of these falling in the €€ range, meaning about 33-55€, considered moderately priced by Paris standards.

Suggested by Alexander Lobrano, Paris-based American food journalist, author of Hungry for France and Hungry for Paris.

Bistrot Belhara
23 rue Duvivier, 7th arr. Metro Ecole Militaire or La Tour Maubourg. Tel. 01 45 51 41 77. Closed Sun. and Mon. €€
In a quiet corner of the 7th, Bistrot Belhara is a charming place, great value for the money, serving seriously good southwestern bistro cooking with a modern twist.

Citrus Etoile
6 rue Arsène Houssaye, 8th arr. Metro Charles de Gaulle-Etoile. Tel. 01 42 89 15 51. Closed Sat. and Sun. €€€-€€€€
Gilles Epie was the youngest chef ever to win Michelin star and was brilliant at Le Miraville in the 4th. Then he bunked off to USA and became hottest chef in LA at L’Orangerie. Now back in Paris his California-influenced contemporary French cooking is superb at this under-the-radar place near the Arc de Triomphe.

Suggested by Michel Tanguy, a French culinary journalist on the radio station France Bleu 107.1.

Fogón
45 Quai des Grands Augustins, 6th arr. Metro Saint Michel or Pont Neuf. Tel. 01 43 54 31 33. Closed Mon. €€
The best Spanish food in town. I love this place for both the creativity and freshness of the food and the kindness of the chef, Alberto.

KGB (Ze Kitchen Galerie Bis)
25 rue des Grands Augustins, 6th arr. Metro Saint Michel or Odeon. Tel. 01 46 33 00 85. €€-€€€.
An address to keep in mind for fresh, original and tasty cuisine with an Asian spirit and for the kindness and simplicity of the service.

Auberge Flora
44 boulevard Richard Lenoir, 11th arr. Metro Richard Lenoir or Breguet Sabin. Tel. 01 47 00 52 77. Open daily, 7am-11pm. €€
With a warm welcome, Flora Mikula’s contemporary auberge (inn) is open to hungry and thirsty travelers throughout the day: for breakfast (served at any time), lunch, teatime, tapas, dinner or weekend brunch. Mealtime, the friendly staff serves a generous Mediterranean cuisine. (Gary’s note: Flora’s is also a 3-star hotel with 21 sweet and stylish little rooms. Together with the café-restaurant, a sweet place to call home for a few days.)

Suggested by Corinne LaBalme, a French-American writer and journalist (frequent contributor to France Revisited) who’s had her finger on the pulse of the Paris restaurant scene for two decades.

Augustin
15 Place Richard Baret, 17th arr. (across from district hall of the 17th). Metro Rome. Tel. 01 43 87 64 51. Open daily. €-€€
You’d have to go far and hunt long to find a better brandade (a dish common in the south of France of salted cod blended with olive oil, potato puree and a hit of garlic) than the mashed spuds chez Augustin, a café and restaurant too laid-back for all that It List stuff. Open almost all the time, and if it isn’t open that’s probably only because WWIII has started on Place Clichy.

Suggested by Allison Zinder, creator of Paris on the edge, a website about “jaunts, joie de vivire and culinary inspiration from the city’s artists.”

À la Renaissance
87 rue de la Roquette, 11th arr. Metro Voltaire. Tel. 01 43 79 83 09. Open daily. €€
This local favorite just got better. Run by a young, relaxed, and dedicated team, this 1900-style bistro was long known for its generous portions and tasty natural wines. The recent menu revamp means that diners now have more seafood options, which also showcase gloriously fresh and colorful vegetables.

Le Casque d’Or
15 rue Saint Blaise, 20th arr. Metro Porte de Bagnolet. Tel. 01 43 71 31 64. Open Tues.-Sun. 10am-midnight. Closed Mon. €-€€
Locals know this café and restaurant as Chez Yazid, named for the bearded and friendly owner who is often out on the terrace knocking back a cold one with neighborhood artists. If you’re looking for a gourmet meal, try the moderately-priced bistro Café Noir next door, but Yazid’s serves up cheap and honest food. It’s an even better deal considering the surroundings: the tiny cobblestone rue St. Blaise has a bucolic village feel and is only steps away from the Mama Shelter hotel and the music venue La Flèche d’Or.

Suggested by Alain Neyman, creator of lesrestos.com, a French site specializing in commentary about restaurants and chefs in Paris and throughout France.

Les Papilles
30 rue Gay Lussac, 5th arr. RER Luxembourg. Tel. 01 43 25 20 79. Closed Sun. and Mon. €-€€.
Between the Luxembourg Garden and the Pantheon, Bertrand Bluy’s old-fashioned bistro offers traditional French dishes served in a lively, friendly atmosphere. An excellent selection of wines.

Jean
8 rue Saint-Lazare, 9th arr. Metro Notre-Dame-de-Lorette or Saint-Georges. Tel. 01 48 78 62 73. Open daily. €€€-€€€€.
In a large and cozy 1950s-style dining room, the 1-star Michelin restaurant of Jean-Frédéric Guidoni (maitre d’ at Taillevent for 20 years before opening here in 2002) presents high-quality modern gastronomy. A restaurant to be rediscovered.

Les Tablettes – Jean-Louis Nomicos
16 avenue Bugeaud, 16th arr. Metro Victor Hugo. Tel. 01 56 28 16 16. Open daily. €€€-€€€€.
Jean-Louis Nomicos is a stellar chef (1-star Michelin) who left Lasserre to open his own gastronomic restaurant in this chic quarter of the city, where he attracts an elegant clientele of regulars.

Suggested by Randy Diaz, an American food blogger at Paris Missives.

Dix-Huit
18 rue Bayen, 17th arr. Metro Ternes. Tel. 01 53 81 79 77. Closed Sat. lunch and Sun. €€
Aron Isip, a native of the Philippines who has worked at Apicius, Ze Kitchen Gallery and Pan, brings a Filipino/Asian influence to some of his dishes along with extensive French cooking skills and knowledge. A wonderful fusion of tastes.

Le Casse Noix
56 Rue de la Federation, 15th arr. Metro Dupleix or Bir-Hakeim. Tel. 01 45 66 09 01. Closed Sat. and Sun. €€
Not far from the Eiffel Tower but otherwise removed from the go-to restaurant neighborhoods, Pierre Olivier Lenormand has drawn a following—including me—as he attempts to reintroduce offal into the French culinary scene.

Le Servan
32 rue Saint Maur, 11th arr. Metro Rue Saint Maur, Père Lachaise or Voltaire. Tel. 01 55 28 51 82. Closed Sun. and Mon. €€
The French-Filipino Lehava sisters flavorfully blend Filipino influences into their dishes. Rather than using typical wine vinegar, for example, they’ll use coconut flavor. The flavors are subtle, wonderful, delicious and unique.

10 suggestions from Gary Lee Kraut

La Poule au Pot
9 rue Vauvilliers, 1st arr. Metro Les Halles or Louvre-Rivoli. Tel. 01 42 36 32 96. Open Tues.-Sun. 7pm to 5am. €€
“The best peasant food I ever ate” is how a friend described his meal here, and that’s precisely why Paul Racat, owner of this all-night, uber-traditional bistro since 1974, has been honored by the City of Paris with its Médaille de Vermeil and by France in being named Chevalier de l’ordre du mérite agricole. If, like me, you’ve ever had a midnight yearning for a restorative bowl of most excellent French onion soup (la soupe gratinée au vin blanc), accompanied by a glass of white wine, perhaps an upside-down apple pie (tarte Tatin) to round off the supper, then a late-night (or very late-night) stop at La Poule au Pot will be one of your most memorable Paris restaurant experiences. Ditto for yearnings for escargots, bone marrow, fried camembert, chicken and rice with a cream sauce, steak tartar, chicken in a pot (poule au pot Henri IV), veal kidneys, salmon, lamb, crème brulée, profiteroles… The décor has been largely unchanged since La Poule au Pot opened in 1935, other than the hundreds of small plaques bearing the names of stars of music, film and theater who have also slid into the banquettes here to enjoy traditional bistro fare and some of the friendliest deadpan service in town.

La Tute (aka Chez Manu)
7 rue Rossini, 9th arr. Across the street from the Drouot auction house. Metro Richelieu-Drouot. Tel. 01 40 15 65 65. Open Mon.-Sat., noon to midnight. €€
A tute is a den or a lair, a place for wolves, bears, bandits and in this case anyone else looking for a laid-back joint for Pyreneen cuisine. Owner Manu Maquaire keeps watch from behind the counter surrounded by an old bistro décor with a 1950s heart and a 1900 mosaic floor. (For added historical appeal, I note that Manu, originally from the Hautes Pyrénées, studied photography for a year in Denver in the early 90s.) Manu isn’t trying to make his tute either new bistro or old bistro but simply a friendly lair for octopus, fried calamari, squid baked in its ink, brouillade aux cepes (a scrambled egg and cepe mushroom dish served during the early autumn cepe season) and its cousin brouillade aux truffes (during the winter truffle season), red peppers stuffed with brandade de morue (salted cod mashed with garlic, oil and cream), blanc manger with Armagnac, pistachios and cinnamon, and an unpretentious southwestern wine list (even though the questioning bottle in the photo is from Provence). The noise level may rise if enough wine bottles reach the tables.

5è Cru
7 rue du Cardinal-Lemoine, 5th. Tel. 01 40 46 86 34. Open for noon-3pm Mon.-Fri., open 7pm-11pm/midnight Mon.-Sat. € for the appetizers or light meal, but here the wine’s the thing so prices vary greatly.
Depending on the mood and the company I’ll think of 5è Cru as a wine bar or as place for a light meal (quiches, salads, pâtés, cold cuts, cheese, spreads) with a nice bottle of wine (chosen off the shelf, with a slight corking fee added to the take-out price)—to be followed in either case by a walk onto the bridge to Ile Saint-Louis for a stunning night view.

La Robe et Le Palais
13 rue des Lavandières Sainte Opportune, 1st arr. Meto Chatelet. Tel. 01 45 08 07 41. Open Mon.-Sat. €€
A convivial wine restaurant serves fresh hearty fare that can serve as the foreground or the background for a discovery (for both novices and grape-savvy diners) of the organic and biodynamic winescape of France. Dead-center Paris, easily accessible from any direction.

Le Bon Georges
45 rue Saint-Georges, 9th arr. Metro Saint-Georges or Notre-Dame-de-la-Lorette. Tel. 01 48 78 40 30. Open lunch and dinner Tues. to Fri., dinner Sat. €€.
A nice little bistro, you ask? Well here’s one for you. Reliable from fish to fowl and from lamb to beef, with some fresh veggies and fries on the side. As the foodies cry for novelty, it’s nice to know that classic, well-prepared bistro fare can still found.

Pottako
4 rue de l’Exposition, 7th arr. Tel. 01 45 51 88 38. Metro Ecole-Militaire or RER Pont d’Alma. Open daily. €€
Sébastien Gravé’s contemporary Basque chic restaurant off Rue Saint-Dominique just down the alley from that List-favorite restaurant where the Obama’s ate.

Route de la Soie
20 rue Scheffer, 16th arr. Metro Trocadéro. Open daily. Tel. 01 45 05 58 35. €€
A quality Japanese restaurant with a touch of contemporary neighborhood Paris chic for before or after the great Eiffel Tower photo op at Trocadero. Fond memories of nasu denguka (eggplant glazed with miso) and much else.

Chameleon
70 rue René Boulanger, 10th arr. Metro Strasbourg-Saint-Denis or République. Tel. 01 42 08 99 41. Open for lunch Mon.-Fri., for dinner Tues.-Sat. €€.
Chameleon, which opened in 2012, cuts through the fad of the Paris restaurant scene to serve fresh food skillfully prepared without excessive tra-la-la. It’s a large open space that allows elbow room between tables, itself something of a rarity in the reasonable price-range where a 3-course dinner will run about 40€ without wine. The diners are handsome and pretty but not dramatically beautiful or showy. There’s a limited and changing menu with fish, veal, beef, duck. (See the weekly menu and the wine list online.) Portions are on the small side and not all elicits superlatives, nevertheless I find this a most pleasing choice for dinner, whether tête-à-tête or with friends.

Camille
24 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 3rd arr. Metro Saint-Paul. Tel. 01 42 72 20 50. Open daily. €-€€
Camille, where I’ve always received good service, remains the most consistently appetizing café-restaurant in the heart of the Marais, a wise choice when not in the mood for either the Jewish food court on Rue des Rosiers or the hip and showy eateries of Upper Marais. Also deserving a shout-out in the same broad area of the Marais is the reliable (for rustic fare) café-restaurant Chez Janou, 2 rue Roger Verlomme, 3rd arr. Metro Chemin Vert. Tel. 01 42 72 28 41. Open daily. Especially noteworthy when you’d like to start off with an aperitif of pastis or absinthe since this is Paris’s prime venue for anise-flavored spirits.

Return to Part I of 25 Paris Restaurants: A List Beyond The List.

The post 25 Paris Restaurants: A List Beyond The List, Part 2 appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

In Paris, haute couture extends all the way to the dessert trolley. Even a venerable let-them-eat-cake institution like Angelina, founded in 1903, has to keep up with the trifle trends.

On April 29, with the accompanying pops of pink champagne, Angelina unveiled the dernier cri on the calorie chart with its spring-summer 2014 pastry collection. Dark chocolate and truffles are beating a retreat, and sunny color combinations—raspberry with ecru-tinted Earl Gray cream; mellow peach with casual crumble accents—are on the rise.

Even the ultra-classic mont blanc, the Hermès scarf of the Angelina empire chocking up 600 sales a day, gets a summer makeover. It’s keeping its famous sugar-dusted toupée of chestnut spaghetti cream… but adding a light, bright strawberry center to its Chantilly/meringue base.

Angelina has a history of adopting new food-stuffs from outside Europe. (Think of how it perfected the chocolat chaud adored by the French royal family since the early 17th century.) This season, Angelina has looked even farther afield for rare and unusual ingredients…

… Eastern Pennsylvania.

Yes, this summer Angelina débuts its first cheesecake and the fromage in question comes from Philadelphia. However, Angelina’s Chef Christophe Appert is quick to deny any undue American influence. ”American cheesecakes are always baked,” he explains. ”Ours consists of an uncooked cheese froth served on a bed of confit d’abricot and madeleine-inspired sablé crust.”

(Apparently, soggy graham crackers just don’t make the cut.)

These treats – rounded out with other ephemeral Angelina creations like peach/vanilla tarts, raspberry/macaroon courtisanes, and strawberry/whipped cream/hazlenut éclairs – can be sampled for under 7€/each at Angelina’s nine French locations in Paris, Versailles and Lyon.

Angelina. 226 rue de Rivoli (75001), 108 rue du Bac (75007), 19 rue de vaugirard (75006), Chateau de Versailles, and other locations.

© 2014, Corinne LaBalme

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* * *

There’s something about being a native English speaker that makes us want to connect with people sitting next to us in a foreign restaurant.

– Is that as good as it looks?
– Did I hear you say Boston?
– I just want to say that I love your bag!

That can be tricky business in places where we might not understand the code for “I know we’re nearly rubbing thighs but could you kindly just mind your own business?”

Not to worry, there are few codes, nor much in the way of a menu, at Matière à…, a delightful new restaurant in the canal quarter of Paris’s 10th arrondissement, where owner-chef Anthony Courteille plays host from behind the counter in his open kitchen to 14 guests at a single table (+ a 2-head in the corner).

I first met Mr. Courteille in 2011 when he was the executive chef at the Atelier Guy Martin, the cooking school of Guy Martin, chef at the venerable Le Grand Véfour and the force behind other culinary enterprises. He appeared in a France Revisited video when I took one of his classes. So there was no pretending that I could test this, his first restaurant adventure, anonymously. Instead I invited 13 friends and readers to join me.

Among the guests at the table that evening was Virginia-born, longtime Paris resident Allison Zinder, who teaches the culinary arts in schools, as well as privately. She held what I think of as the critic’s or student’s seat, the one closest to the kitchen, overlooking the chef’s shoulder. I asked her afterwards to send her opinion on the restaurant in less than 50 words: “Despite that open (tiny!) kitchen,” she wrote, “I found the atmosphere to be calm and luxurious and the food sublime: surprising yet harmonious flavors, home-made bread (so rare in Paris), and smooth, lovely wines chosen just for the meal. Bravo au chef!”

The trade-off for this bravo is a lack of choice on the menu. Those troubled by the thought of being limited to a fish dish and a poultry or meat dish for the main course or to the cheese plate or single dessert to end the meal would be better off seeking out longer menus. Also, if there are certain types of fish, poultry or meat that you refuse to eat then this might not be the place for you. Our group took the 4-course tasting menu, thereby eliminating the choice between main courses from the start since we got both.

The chef may be willing to accommodate with certain ingredients, as he did by transforming the announced crabmeat appetizer on our menu into a fresh salad for one in our party, but it’s best to come open to the possibilities. Of course, you can always come by to have a look at the menu to decide whether or not to enter on a given day (it changes daily), but with 16 seats (17 in a pinch), Matière à… may fill up with reservations before you pass by to case out the day’s menu.

Mr. Courteille’s cuisine is nevertheless quite recognizable, its ingredients spelled out on the menu, and there are no great risks to the willing appetite. Nothing is intended to shock or challenge your sense of what constitutes food. Our evening menu included a crabmeat (chair de torteau) appetizer, a spotted dogfish (roussette) fish course, a beef flank (hampe de boeuf) meat course, followed by cheese or strawberries, lemon cream and meringue for dessert. In our menu and in daily menus surveilled throughout the week, I found no search for novelty or an attempt to cook on the cusp of the latest food trends. Mr. Courteille’s dishes are graceful, polished and—take this as you will—French. It was as though we’d all been invited to a delicious meal in an elegant yet unpretentious home for dinner and each discreetly left 60€ (42€ for the tasting menu + wine) as a thank you.

I surveyed the group afterwards. One in our group lamented a less than exciting selection of cheese and another found the beef flank too flimsy but even they gave overall applause to the meal, the room and the atmosphere, as did we all. Our 14-guest restaurant review team therefore gives thumbs up all around.

In Paris it’s the rare new restaurant of late whose name isn’t readily understandable an international clientele, meaning by English speakers (e.g. a burger-heavy café at the next corner called American Kitchen). So hats off to Chef Anthony for calling his restaurant / chef’s table the untranslatable Matière à….

The ellipsis itself is used far more in French than in English to signal a continuation of thought in ways that the reader understands or that invite him to open his mind to the possibilities. With three little dots a timid “maybe we could get together tomorrow evening…” becomes an invitation for hanky-panky – unless of course you misunderstood…

Matière à generally means “grounds or matter or fodder for” and so is the lead-in to expressions such as matière à discuter = something to be discussed (matter for discussion), matière à rire = laughing matter; matière à réflexion = food for thought. For the purposes of this restaurant, the most appropriate translation may well be “Makes you want to…”

At a time when many new urban restaurants serve food for thought, for trend or for gullible hipsters or tourists rather than for enjoyment, it’s a rare pleasure to discover a restaurant that plays to a simple, un-convoluted sense of freshness, culinary skill and conviviality, leaving it to us and our tablemates—friends, perhaps strangers—to find common ground for discussion and for laughter.

Makes you want to… reserve.

* * *

Matière à…, Anthony Courteille’s chef’s table, 15 rue Marie et Louise, 10th arr. Tel. 09 83 07 37 85. Metro République or Jacques Bonsergent or Goncourt. Open weekdays 12-2:30pm and 7pm-1am. Saturday and Sunday 7pm-1am.

About 23 euros for three courses at lunch. A tasting menu of about 42-euro, served only in the evening, is comprised of 4 dishes: appetizer, fish/seafood, meat/fowl, cheese or dessert. A 3-course meal à la carte can be had at the same price, slightly larger portions, with a choice between the two main dishes. One can also select one or two courses. The wines selection, generally 25-40 euros, or by the glass, is easy-going and effective.

© 2014, Gary Lee Kraut

Readers who would like to participate in upcoming Paris Revisited / France Revisited tastings, testings and other events can send a message to gary [at] francerevisited.com to get on the priority mailing list.

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