* * *

Perhaps the Fiat Group (Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Abarth, Maserati and Jeep) picked up on some esoteric Italian karma when they chose Paris’s Rond-Point for their showroom.  Back in the 1770s, there was an amusement park called “Le Colisée” (The Coliseum) on the site. Years later, it was the home of Meyerbeer, the German composer who loved Italy so much that he changed his name from Jacob to Giacomo.

In 2006, Fiat hired star designer Jean-Michel Wilmotte to create a spiral-centric building that bears a distinct resemblance to the toy garages of childhood dreams.  Great autos from the past make cameo appearances among the latest models. At present, the Motor Village shines the headlights on dashing Alfa Romeos like the Romeo Guilia T2 pictured below.

With Chef Vittorio Beltramelli in the kitchen, NoLita’s food is worth a detour on its own. Beltramelli trained with Gualtiero Marchesi (Italy’s first three-star chef) and with Alain Ducasse in Monaco (too many stars to count). Whether it’s a simple plate of mixed grilled vegetables, 18€, or a platter of classic vitello tonnato with capers, 22€, the execution is masterfully Michelin.

While we loved the roasted cod (or merluzzo, proving once again that everything does sound better in Italian), the dish that really wowed us was the barbietola, 22€, a can’t-be-beat beet risotto with a shot of emerald herbs and parmesan.

Aside from a few Champagnes mixed in with the Spumantes, the wine list is totally Italian, with prices that range from simpatico Toscano Ruffino, 32€, to an utterly sensazionale 1995 Tenuto San Guido, 795€.  In other words, there’s fuel for the Fiat crowd as well as for Maserati MC12 drivers.

NoLita. 2 Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées, 8th arrondissement. Metro Franklin D. Roosevelt. Tel. 01 53 75 78 78.  Open Mon.-Sat. for lunch and dinner, Sun for brunch. http://www.nolita-ristorante.fr/

© 2013, Corinne LaBalme

Corinne LaBalme, a Paris-based writer, journalist and editor, is currently developing a series of lifestyle documentaries for Muses Productions.

The post NoLita, Champs-Elysées: Calamari and Convertibles, Maseratis and Mozzarella appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

Simply request directions to a pizzeria, however, and you risk getting pointed directly to mediocrity. Instead, ask for a good pizzeria—because nothing flatters Parisians more than an inquiry that treats them as arbiters of good taste.

Pas n’importe quelle pizzeria, mais une bonne=Not just any pizzeria, a good one!

If you ask me…
My own neighborhood on the eastern side of Canal Saint Martin in the 10th arrondissement has become one hip pizza party. My local favorite is Trattoria Gran Sasso due to the sincerity of the pizza, the friendliness of the owners, and the good omen that one of them is often at work at the oven in time-honored pizzaiolo fashion. There’s also Maria Louisa, a large, upbeat pizzeria serving classically thin-crusted pizza. And there’s Pink Flamingo, a largely take-away pizzeria shed, offering creative pseudo-ethnic pies that are too conceptual for me and taste a bit like a business plan. For pasta I would send you to Maria Louisa’s sister restaurant La Madonnina, though I tend to be onanistic when it comes to pasta dishes, preferring my own.

Don’t, however, mistake the above for recommendations, just friendly pizza advice for my neighborhood. There are a handful of notable Italian restaurants in Paris, but take anyone’s pizza suggestion as a reason to cross town and you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

Pizzeria da Carmine
Nevertheless, I was recently introduced to a pizzeria that I might consider going out of my way for—well, at least into the next arrondissement, the 9th. For a traveler that means a place to keep in mind when visiting Montmartre (18th), which begins a few blocks further up the hill.

Pizzeria da Carmine serves Italian comfort food with character and with a jovial and harried Neapolitan spirit. Though new to me, Carmine is in fact an old standard in the netherworld of the 9th arrondissement, just below Montmartre, between metro stops Pigalle and Anvers.

In truth, I can only speak for my own order that evening: the overstuffed pizze di Carmine. What this smorgasbord pie lacks in delicacy it more than makes up for in fresh and tasty excess: tomato sauce, mozzarella, Parma ham, pancetta (a cured pork), egg, eggplant, grilled zucchini, grilled peppers, artichoke, fresh mushrooms, sautéed onions, grana padano cheese, and arugula, all served on or in a partly folded, fluffy crust.

There are less ambitious pizzas on the menu, along with pasta and several carne dishes, but for my appetite the pizza di Carmine is the way to go for at least one person at the table—at the risk of pizza envy. The Carmine is a stretch for a single appetite. Still, it’s a selfish, gluttonous pizza that’s reluctant to be shared, except for stingy forkfuls doled out around the table so as to try my dinner companions’ pasta dishes, which, though fresh, will then seem too polite compared with this self-absorbed pie.

Caveat emptor
As we were paying the bill, I was reminded of a recent trip to Rome for not only was the pizza equally appetizing but, happily fed, every time left a restaurant in Rome I couldn’t help feeling that they’d somehow slipped in a 10% tourist surcharge into the bill.

I thought of that trip while standing at the cash register chez Carmine (one pays the manager-cashier rather than the waiter at the table) because coincidentally—or not— the four of us were handed a joint tab of 99 euros that included precisely 9 euros of whimsy. The ensuing conversation with the managing cashier went something like this:

“We didn’t have the glass of vermouth that’s indicated on the tab.”

“I know, the computer prints out ‘vermouth’ no matter what you have, but your aperitif still costs 5 euros.”

“But there was no extra aperitif, just the three Camparis.”

“But there are four of you, right?”

“Yes, but we only ordered 3 drinks.”

“Well how was I supposed to know?”

This was followed by a mock argument in Italian between the manager and the waiter, after which the manager told us, “His handwriting is so bad. I always tell him to write clearly… Alright. Then that makes it 94 euros.”

“And there’s a problem with the wine charge. The waiter told us that the bottle of Sicilian wine was 14 euros, not 18 as shown here.”

This was followed by a discussion as to which bottle we’d actually had (a hearty Sicilian that was surprisingly good for the announced price), some more Commedia dell’Arte with the waiter, and the manager finally showing us someone else’s bill as odd proof of the confusion being in good faith.

A caveat emptor that couldn’t spoil a wonderful, gluttonous pizza feast. Just be sure to check the bill.

Other comforts
If in this area just below Montmartre but not in the mood for pizza or pasta, two other hotspots for comfort fare are located on the food-happy Place Toudouze, one block away from Carmine. No Stress Café is a laid-back tight squeeze of a restaurant-bar where, among its hip mix of Franco-world dishes, I’ve fond memories of a nice dripping hamburger, an unusual treat in Paris. Kastoori, a well-established Indian restaurant, is next door.

Pizza and pasta restaurants near Canal Saint-Martin
Gran Sasso, 13 rue Jacques Louvel-Tessier, 10th arr. Metro Goncourt. Tel. 0142457079. Closed Sunday. (A on map)
La Madonnina, 10 rue Marie et Louise, 10th arr. Metro Goncourt or République. Tel. 0142012526. Closed Sunday. (B on map)
Maria Louisa, 2 rue Marie et Louise, 10th arr. Metro Goncourt or République. Tel. 0144840401. Closed Sunday. (C on map)
Pink Flamingo, 67 rue Bichat, 10th arr. Metro Goncourt or République. Tel. 0142023170. Closed Monday. (D on map)

Restaurants below Montmartre, near Pigalle and Anvers
Pizzeria da Carmine, 61 rue des Martyrs, 9th arr. Metro Pigalle or Anvers. Tel. 0148782801. Closed Sunday and Monday. (E on map)
No Stress Café, 2 place Gustave Toudouze, 9th arr. Metro Pigalle Tel. 0148780027. Open daily and late. (F on map)
Kastoori, 4 place Gustave Toudouze, 9th arr. Metro Pigalle Tel. 0144530610. Tel. 0142012526. (G on map)

© 2006, Gary Lee Kraut

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