***

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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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

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* * *

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.

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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.

The post Paris Restaurant Review: Matière à…, A Harmonious Chef’s Table in the Canal Quarter appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

* * *

It’s hard to imagine that a district as well-trodden as the 6th arrondissement would still have anything resembling a backstreet, but if a backstreet in Paris can be defined as a street with neither thru-traffic nor croissants—selling croissants requires sufficient morning traffic or an elementary school nearby—then rue de l’Abbé Grégoire fits the bill.

Ferrandi, the French School of Gastronomy

Actually, there are croissants on rue de l’Abbé Grégoire, but they aren’t for public sale. They’re made as a practical exercise during baking class at the Ferrandi School.

Ferrandi is well known in Paris’s gastronomic circles for its secondary school curricula covering all aspects of the culinary arts and the restaurant business, from chef to manager. The school also offers short and long programs for amateur or professional chefs, and foreigners may apply for any of the school’s programs.

The culinary school also houses one of the best kept gastronomic secrets in Paris. Anyone, upon reservation, can become the well-fed guinea pig for the cuisine and services of the school’s young and budding chefs and restaurant staff at Ferrandi’s two dining rooms, les restaurants d’application.

A 3-course lunch menu is served Tues.-Fri. for 25€ or 30€, depending on the dining room. A 3-course dinner menu is served Mon. and Tues. (45€) and the occasional Thurs. (40€). Prices exclude beverages; there’s a decent wine list here. The students in the kitchen and in the dining room are being trained in French gastronomy, so whether achieved or not in every dish and every gesture, each meal has gastronomic leanings in its preparation and service.

Each table is requested to select a variety of dishes so as to give the chefs practice in the full range of the day’s menu. Come as a couple if you like, but as a restaurant experience a meal chez Ferrandi is especially endearing for a party of four or more. You’ll find the wait staff more willing to speak with diners than other waiters about town (students are expected to attain a certain proficiency in English) and you may even have the occasion to meet the young chefs before they head to their next class, or out for a smoke.

Ferrandi Paris, 28 rue de l’Abbé Grégoire, 6th arr. Tel. 01 49 54 28 00. Saint-Placide (line 4) is the closest metro station to Ferrandi and to the shops below, while the Rennes station (line 12) is just a bit further.

Backstreet doesn’t mean that Abbé Grégoire is difficult to find (the liberal, revolutionary abbot himself is entombed in the Pantheon) but that the neighboring streets are more commonly shopped and strolled and transited: rue du Cherche-Midi, rue de Vaugirard, rue Saint-Placide, rue de Rennes.

Colorova, Pastry Shop and Tea/Lunch Room

Guillaume Gil, the chef and owner of Colorova, a shop across the street from Ferrandi, is a 2004 graduate of the school, pastry section. Though he speaks highly of education at Ferrandi, it isn’t an attachment to the school that brought him to rue de l’Abbé Grégoire but the possibility in 2012, at the age of 31, to deploy his dream of operating his own business after honing his skills as an apprentice at the Plaza-Athenée, as commis chef at La Maison Blanche and as second and then chef at the Terrass Hotel.

At first glance, Colorova could be taken for an architect’s office, a frame shop, a design shop or a decorator’s showroom. You’ll likely first notice the light jade Smeg fridge to one side of the window and the Florentine nest of tables and woven-fabric-covered footstools to the other before catching sight of the presentation counters. And even then you might notice the slats that decorate the side of the counters before the array of pastries on top. But there they are: Guillaume Gil’s beautiful and delicious creations, and behind one of the counters, the man himself, working away with an assistant or two in the open kitchen.

About ten different pastries appear on the counter on a given day. Since the pastry presentation isn’t the focus of the room, the offerings of about 10 different pastries can appear rather sparse, but that illusion disappears as soon as you take on the challenge of trying to select one.

Gil’s luscious modern pastries stray noticeably if slightly from the canons of classic fine pastry-making without being avant-garde, e.g. a commendable caramel mousse tarte with a ring of speculoos and peanuts; a candied raspberry and chocolate tart; a café mousse with amaretto mascarpone. Gil eschews traditional pastries such as éclairs and basic fruit tarts. Viennoiserie (croissants, pains au chocolat and other morning pastries) are also absent, other than on weekends and holidays, when Colorova serves what has become a very popular brunch (26€ or 35€, reservations required). Weekday lunch, also prepared by Gil and his assistance, is also available. Pastries remain his true expertise.

The large minimalist boutique area and additional seating area, both enlivened with splashes of color, have an air of refinement but neither snobbery nor exclusivity. Anyone will feel comfortable here. In the morning and during afternoon tea, Colorova is a fairly quiet place that makes for a sweet, perhaps romantic linger.

Since Gil’s aren’t pastries that one can easily eat while walking, it’s best to choose one and have a seat. Pastries cost 4€50-5€50, so you might as well take a seat and savor the pleasure along with a Lov Organic tea or Nespresso coffee or a thick hot chocolate for overkill. A nice breakfast is also available at 12€ consisting of a slice of soft, delicate French toast (from a brioche made here); a whipped vanilla cream, caramel and apple compote; a hot drink and orange juice; bread (not made here), and homemade jams, a chocolate spread and a caramel spread.

Colorova, 47 rue de l’Abbé Grégoire, 6th arr. Tel. 01 45 44 67 56. Open Tues. 10am-5pm, Wed.-Fri. 7:30am-7pm, Sat.Sun. 9am-7pm. Weekend brunch is served at three seatings: beginning at 11/11:30am, 1/1:30pm and 3:30/4pm.

Le Vin en Bouche, Wine Shop

While Colorova, at first glance, looks like a design shop, Le Vin en Bouche, when I first walked by, looked as though someone had left the door open to the back pantry. I say that fondly because this quirky little wine shop and tasting room has an inviting spirit that comes from the knowledge and personalities of its two dissimilar owners, Vincent Martin, 41, and Jonathan Jean, 24, either of which would make a fine drinking companion.

Vincent Martin is a Ferrandi graduate, where he studied the culinary arts from 1993 to 1995 after three years in hotel school and where he discovered an aptitude for and an interest in the subtleties of wine. He was head sommelier at La Truffière, where he worked from 2000 to 2010 and helped develop the gastronomic restaurant’s tremendous wine cellar. He and Jean met when the latter, then in his teens, was hired as his apprentice.

Combining Martin’s great experience and Jean’s knowledgeable and engaging enthusiasm, they opened their little shop as peers in 2012. Whether you come upon one or the other you’ll get expert advice on an eclectic selection of wines and spirits and can pursue the conversation with them or with your travel companions over a glass and some well-selected charcuterie or fromage at the narrow table by the brick wall. They also offer wine tasting workshops and events, and Martin continues to advise restaurants and individuals on constituting wine lists and wine cellars.

Martin has personally visited each of the vineyards represented in the shop. But that’s not the end of his purchase policy. More than a dozen bottles are open at the shop at any time. The purpose of the open bottles isn’t simply to give clients a taste or larger pour, but also because Martin believes that for a wine to be worthy it must, among other qualities, be able to stand up to having been opened for a week or so. He continues to test open bottles for up to ten days to understand how they evolve. They’re simply recorked after each taste, without any air pump device, and either left on the table or placed in the wine fridge. “It’s a little extreme,” he acknowledges, “but I don’t like to leave things to chance.”

Martin and Jean’s small selection echoes their “passion for the wines of small winegrowers that truly represent their place of origin [terroir],” as Martin says. That’s a formula, at once trendy and old-fashion, that the traveler is well-advised to take as his own motto while getting to know French wines.  In wine tastings with those unaccustomed to French and European appellations, Martin joins many small-shop owners in saying that one of his tasks with New World consumers it to get them to loosen their focus on expecting a particular taste from a particular grape varietal.

These aren’t necessarily pricey wines. Most are in the 15-35€ range, along with a splash of more expensive wines from notable low-yield vineyards. There’s no Bordeaux in the shop, as Martin explains, because he finds that too many vintners and traders of the Bordeaux region have generally opted to sell through large distribution channels, meaning that any retail price that he might have for such wines would far exceed their price in chain shops, which would in term make him and Jean look like a price gougers. Actually, Martin does have some well-aging Bordeaux along with along with other “vins de garde” and old vintages in a private cellar in the 5th arrondissement. Those wines are also available for sale, so knowledgeable wine-lovers might wish to inquire about wines beyond those found in this wonderful little wine pantry.

Le Vin en Bouche, 27 rue de l’Abbé Grégoire, 6th arr. Tél. 01 42 22 02 97. Open Mon.-Sat. 10am-8pm.

© 2013, Gary Lee Kraut

The post Paris Street Talk: Gastronomy, Pastries and Wine on Rue de l’Abbé Grégoire, 6th Arr. appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

Le Petit Verdot is one of them. It’s delicious, confident, owner-served, subtly off-beat and in a world of its own yet completely at home in the 6th arrondissement, making for one of the most pleasant and curious dining experiences I’ve had in Paris in recent months.

Le Petit Verdot, named for a grape varietal, isn’t the kind of restaurant that gets stars and other fancy ratings; they don’t give them to restaurants that have only one waiter who’s also the sommelier who’s also the owner. He’s Hide Ishazuka, he’s from Japan, he bows to a compliment, and he stands out from the lot in offering excellent French cuisine and knowledgeable wine talk in the upper moderate price range.

Mr. Ishazuka’s chef  and others on the staff are from Japan as well. In a broader view, Le Petit Verdot is part of the incursion of Japanese chefs, pastry chefs and sommeliers into French gastronomy. But one can be part of history and still stand out on one’s own.

There’s a delicacy to the preparations here but without frou-frou. Fine savors are brought together, not in the form of kitchen acrobatics, gadgetry and concept food, but as a culinary union of distinctly French Graces in a most ordinary setting.

Dinner runs about 55-60€ for three courses à la carte – small portions, you’ll want and you’ll savor all three – plus wine. Mr. Ishazuka once worked as sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Pauillac in the Bordeaux region. His wine selection (from inexpensive to quite honorable) isn’t so much a list as a personal library. Mr. Ishazuka is not the type to intimidate or impress but simply guide, if you like. Don’t choose without asking the librarian his take before following whatever narrative that tempts you.

With the most low-key storefront on rue du Cherche-Midi and no menu posted outside, Le Petit Verdot might appear abandoned or between owners if you were to walk by during closing hours.

Inside, the décor is as plain as the service staircase in a manor house in Normandy, with seating split on two levels, neither more precious than the other. There is seating for 20-25 depending on Mr. Ishazuka’s sense of a full restaurant for that meal. Catering to the needs of diners on two levels, Mr. Ishazuka won’t be within sight every moment of your meal, yet he’s very attentive, personable when the situations requires, and never seems rushed.

Restaurant spaces for foodies are now designed in part to create buzz, even the white noise of full restaurant. But even when full that isn’t the case here, where seating is too limited and service is too solitary. Cross-table conversation and indiscreet glances at the dishes of others is possible—the atmosphere is far from formal—but come here prepared to enjoy the company at your table, your meal and your contact with Mr. Ishazuka or go elsewhere.

I can understand that the subdued nature of Le Petit Verdot and the lack of buzz-atmosphere would turn some people off and keep others away, but with the right company, someone whose presence you can enjoy without external stimulus (phones off), Hide Ishazuka’s delicious and understated Cherche-Midi hideaway is an attractive and refreshing treat.

Le Petit Verdot. 75 rue du Cherche Midi, 6th arrondissement. Tel. 01 42 22 38 27. Metro Saint-Placide or Rennes. Open Tues.-Sat. lunch and dinner. Seating is largely by reservation only, though no harm in trying a last-minute call.

(c) 2012, Gary Lee Kraut

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France Revisited therefore asked Fabien Nègre, a gastronomic portraitist and culinary philosopher who has interviewed more than 50 of the most celebrated chefs in France over the past few years, to give us three good reasons to experience some of the most respected (and stellar) chefs working in France today.

This is the second of a 3-part series examining a total of 12 chefs. The first two parts cover eight chefs whose principal main restaurant in Paris, the last part concerns chefs working elsewhere in France. Fabien’s “three reasons” appear below in their original French and in English.

The letter beside chef’s name corresponds to the location on the map (coming soon) where the chef has his main restaurant. This is not a ranking, so the order below has no particular significance.

E. THIERRY MARX
Born 1962
Arriving in Paris in mid-2011 to oversee gastronomy at Mandarin Oriental, 247-251 rue Saint Honoré, 1st arr.

1. The embrace of silence in such a singular way to disrupt our habits of ways of eating and our habits of consuming.
L’étreinte du silence dans une façon si singulière de bousculer nos manières de bouche et nos pratiques de consommation.

2. A diplomatic personality inclined toward meditation and action.
Une personnalité politique encline à la méditation et à l’action.

3. A culinary vision of the world.
Une vision culinaire du monde.

F. GUY MARTIN
Born 1957
Le Grand Véfour, 17 rue de Beaujolais, 1st arrondissement, Paris. Tel. 01 42 96 56 27.

1. A gastronomy of goodness in an ultra-historical setting.
Une gastronomie de bonté dans un cadre ultra historique.

2. The service of a great establishment.
Un service de grande maison.

3. A jewel case of centuries past.
Un écrin des siècles passés.

G. INAKI AIZPITARTE
Born 1972
Le Chateaubriand, 129 avenue Parmentier, 11th arrondissement, Paris. Metro Goncourt. 01 43 57 45 95.

1. The joy of being elbow-to-elbow in a fashionable Parisian bistro.
La joie du coude à coude de bistrot hype parisien.

2. An art of cooking that’s sometimes brutally sophisticated that aspires to a kind of jazz.
Une cuisine parfois brutalement sophistiquée qui cherche une forme de jazz.

3. An atmosphere, a pleasure to drink natural wines.
Une ambiance, une joie de goûter des vins naturels.

H. DANIEL ROSE
Born 1978
Spring, 6 rue Bailleul, 1st arrondissement, Paris. Tel. 01 45 96 05 72.

1. An American from Chicago so Parisian and so planetary.
Un américain de Chicago si parisien et si planétaire.

2. A light elegance, well-thought and well-weighed taste, airy.
Une élégance légère, un haut goût pensé et pesé, aérien.

3. Not a feast but the last feast!
Non pas une fête mais la dernière fête !

Fabien Nègre is a gastronomic portraitist, culinary philosopher, and media content producer.
Translation and introduction by Gary Lee Kraut.

The post Three Reasons to Experience a Remarkable Chef: Part 2 appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

The video below shows various moments during that class under the instruction of the Atelier’s executive chef Antony Courteille and sous-chef Laurent Mosset.

The sound is a bit muddled at times and the chefs may not be comprehensible to some viewers since the class was given in French, nevertheless the instruction was indeed clear and concise, and the 2 hours event (instruction + lunch) flowed smoothly and convivially from tomato to onion to sea bream to chocolate mousse to decorating the plate… and then from an aperitif to the enjoyment of our own cuisine.

Taking part in the cooking class along with me and glimpsed in this video are Fabien Nègre, who organized of the event, and the following Paris-based food bloggers: Wai Ming Lung, Fabrice Ivara, Christophe Wakim, Vanessa Besnard,Salma Essafi, Barbra Austin, Géraldine Ranouil, Isabelle Chane Pane, and Phyllis Flick. The video was filmed and directed by Thibault Perois.

In view of the limited cooking skill of some in the group, beginning with myself, the instruction of this specific lunchtime class was kept rather basic. Classes for more experienced or trained cooks as well as specially tailored classes are also possible, including in English.

At the lunchtime cooking class and at a previous cocktail event I attended, I found the staff of the Atelier to be gracious, friendly, and highly knowledgeable and the atmosphere unpretentious and relaxed, leading me to believe that Atelier Guy Martin is well worth considering for those looking for a cooking class in Paris at any level. Classes are reasonably priced at about 80 euros per two-hour course. There are shorter and longer courses as well, along with classes for children.

Atelier Guy Martin, 35 rue Miromesnil, 8th arrondissement, Paris. Metro Miromesnil. Tel. 01 42 66 33 33. See the schedule of upcoming classes. Tailor-made classes and events are also possible.

© 2010, Gary Lee Kraut

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