Joe Ray

Thursday, July 08, 2010

LUNCH IN THE BLACK HOLE

PARIS

Unless you’re willing to plunk down the cash, eating around the Champs Elysées is an expensive and often unsatisfying proposition.

“There’s a great Chinese, good sushi…” my dining partner said, citing his local favorites but after years of working in the neighborhood, but he still hadn’t found a favorite French place that’s a good value.

Luckily, he was prepared to plunk down the cash.

In front of Citrus Etoile, Audis and Porsches fight for the space in the crosswalk by the valet and inside, it’s businessmen and a bit of Botox. A little too showbiz for me. The waiter will take your order using an oversized Palm Pilot. That tap, tap, tap noise is about as pleasant a sound as fingers on a chalkboard.

The Web site describes the “adorable” owners Gilles and Elizabeth Epié as “a dynamic and sexy couple.” Someone needs to turn the PR down a notch. Some eat this stuff up and love what the couple does, but this is not my cup of tea.

Having spent a big hunk of time cooking in California, Monsieur Epié makes a laudable effort to offer a menu that’s good for you, but I don’t want to come to a place like this and have a dish that looks like it was pulled from the ‘heart-healthy’ section of a menu.

I will also mention that at a wine tasting yesterday, I had a very similar main dish - fish with spring vegetables - at the wine bistrot Vin Chez Moi (18 rue Duphot 75001) and it was about twice as good (and good looking) as this. Everything we eat at Citrus Etoile is good, but there’s no point during the meal where we say ‘Mmmmm!’ I hate to say it, but I felt like I could do some of this at home.

It also feels like you need to know what to get - there’s a businessman a few tables away whose tie is thrown back over his shoulder like it was in his way. I want what he had, but at 70 euros a head for lunch without wine or dessert, I should be able to point at dishes with my eyes closed and come up with winners every time.

Again, maybe it’s just me. Everything about this place is what the French would call ‘more than correct’ but I’m not interested in paying for a seat in a semi-exclusive place that doesn’t make me want to eat with my tie slung over my shoulder.

Lunchtime prix-fixe options at 49 and 69€. It goes up from there.

Citrus Etoile – MAP
6 rue Arsène Houssaye
75008 Paris
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
http://www.citrusetoile.fr
+33 1 42 89 15 51

Follow me on Twitter: @joe_diner.

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Friday, July 02, 2010

BLEU BUT WARM

PARIS

The 11th keeps getting better.

I went to dinner with my favorite cheesemongers from Fromagerie Charonne (a.k.a. Autour du Fromage) the other night - they had a new place to show me in my old neighborhood. Who am I to say no?

po.za.da is visible from Boulevard Voltaire but tucked away on the tiny rue Guénot - you either know it’s there or it’s a lucky find. It’s not a cross-town-trek kind of place, but it’s a great addition to the offerings in the 11th and they’re making the right gestures to please the local crowd. The young chef in the tiny kitchen has the leeway to cook what he wants (the menu only exists on the chalkboard) and there’s an extensive list of good-value wines, available at a marked-down price to take home.

Sylvie, who’s ordered her steak “bleu but warm” gets exactly that and goes quiet for several minutes when it arrives. Daniel gets a burger and though I could care less about the Paris Burger Wars, I want to reach across the table for a bite - it’s wrapped in cured ham, topped with wide shavings of Parmesan and cooked like Sylvie’s steak. Pork chops ‘à la moutarde à l’ancienne’ means the mustard is whipped to a frenzy - a creamy puff as good on the chops as it is on my spuds and the salad. Chef also had the wisdom to let a sautéed girolle mushroom appetizer be just that.

Count on around 30€ with wine for dinner - lunch appears to be a good deal with 12€ appetizer/main or main/dessert options.

po.za.da - MAP
2 rue Guénot
75011 Paris
+33.1.43.70.63.24

Autour du Fromage - MAP

120 rue de Charonne

75011 Paris

+33.1.43.71.58.48

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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

HOT ZONES AND A SLOW DANCE

PARIS

Dinner is with a pair of war correspondents. Talk ranges from world hot zones to falsifying papers.

Nothing quite like that to make a food and travel writer feel like a wimp.

I try to flex my muscles by coming up with somewhere new to eat in the neighborhood (without returning to the wonderful L’Escargot) and come up with La Lanterne, a spot I’ve spied on a side road along my jogging route near the Buttes Chaumont park.

Downstairs at La Lanterne is candlelit bric-a-brac, remnants of some bygone era that’s hard to put a finger on, but must look better on a cold winter’s night than the misty early summer’s eve we’re here on. We make a beeline for the covered roof deck, currently occupied by ten friends in their 50s celebrating a birthday.

Entrées arrive - a tartare de legumes, escargot with roquefort sauce and a salad with pork cheeks. Everything sounds more interesting that it is. Bof! say the French. Though the business card says “old Paris atmosphere” it’s really like eating at a so-so countryside restaurant.

But the table next to us has a good mood floating in the air above them and at our table, the guys are smiling, talking about dodging bullets. Mains arrive and one of the correspondents cuts his andouillette open longwise like he’s gutting it. Truthfully, they’re a bit disappointing - better, but not worth a trip, until I look around the deck - wonderful views in a quiet city spot. The woman at the table next door pulls out an iPhone to play a tinny slow song, holding it up like a candle at a concert.

The birthday girl and her sweetie - clearly still a sweetie after a long time together - get up and dance together. It’s the kind of charming you don’t always see in Paris. Which makes the whole dinner worth it.

Count on about 25-30 € for dinner. Rooftop dancing optional.

La Lanterne MAP
9 Rue du Tunnel
75019 Paris
+33 1 42 39 15 98

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Thursday, March 04, 2010

A HOLE IN MY KNIFE

I’d searched for almost 10 years ever for someone to sharpen my knives in Paris. Never found a thing.

Closest I got was the boys at E. Dehillerin who had some sort of outsourcing deal, but I didn’t like the idea. Once burnt…

A decade ago, I took my Wüsthof chef’s knife to a sharpening shack just north of the Golden Gate. I had the vaguest whiff of apprehension when I dropped off my knife and should have listened to my instincts: the guy put a hole in my knife.

At the end of the cutting edge, just before it meets the heel, the guy pushed a little too hard; put it on a flat surface and you could see light coming through the other side. Made me want to cry. Who knows? Maybe he was using the lawnmower blade stone.

The blade cut beautifully through 99 percent of the vegetable, then stopped, leaving me with celery that looked like a slinky heading south if I didn’t exaggerate the rocking motion of the cut.

Then I found the guys at Gaignard-Millon Outillage et Machines on a back street near my old flat in the 11th - one of those places that leaves a guy with any sort of wood shop experience slack jawed and drooling in the front window.

There are Japanese saws, chisels, hammers and beautiful knives from around the world…and the shop is quite good at sharpening.

It took a couple tries, but they fixed my knife as well as they could.

Not long ago, after years of staring longingly into shop windows at santoku knives, I walked into Gaignard-Millon and bought one, along with a sharpening stone.

The transaction was a lesson in knife care and sharpening not unlike I was taking Mr. Millon’s (Mr. Gaignard’s?) brand-new Peugeot - a car whose every feature he’d memorized the day he bought it - for a for a spin.

“You may not use this knife on one of those glass cutting boards,” was my favorite instruction/commandment. I cringed at the idea like he’d run his fingers down a chalkboard and he smiled approvingly.

My new knife corners like it’s on rails and Gaignard-Millon’s got a client whenever I’m in town.

Gaignard-Millon Outillage et Machines - MAP
24 rue Jules Vallès
75011 Paris
+33 1 43 71 28 96

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

GIVE ME MORE YORE!

PARIS

Locals hate when a place like this gets on the map.

Despite being lost in the far reaches of the 15th arrondissement, there should be a Sparkler marking Jadis’ spot on the map instead of a thumbtack. On the night we’re there, it’s 50% out of towners, easy.

They’re no dummies. There’s a great, clean, modern menu with a prix-fixe dinner at a fantastic 32 euros and a quality that makes me want to savor each dish.

Everything goes the way it should: a cauliflower mousseline and smoked herring ‘mimosa’ entree is a layer of creamy cauliflower under a layer of shiny black gel (This is where the herring is and I’d love to know how they transform a fish from the Atlantic into something black as ink and terribly tasty) under florets, bits of egg yolk, black fish eggs and chervil. The dish plays with color, contrast, texture and even definitions.

Later, there’s a house version of a blanquette de veau, this one forsaking cream,  and allowing the diner to spoon their own melting-soft hunks of veal from a silver serving pot onto a dish of winter vegetables. I try a pheasant ‘chartreuse’ - a like a dreamy disc hot pâté, wrapped in a pinwheel of root vegetables - pungent within, beautiful without.

Dessert includes a pistachio riz au lait with a grapefruit and honey ‘salad.’ I think the idea is to combine the two, but they’re beautiful on their own.

There are tasting menus for more money, but I’d rather come back and spend more time with each dish than try smaller portions in one sitting.

There are two seatings with a grey area between them at turnover time when service gets a little harried, but it always remains friendly. Reserve ahead - that Sparkler’s burning bright.

Count on just shy of 50 euros.

Jadis
208, r. de la Croix-Nivert - MAP
75015 PARIS
+331 45 57 73 20
m° Convention / Porte de Versailles

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Saturday, February 13, 2010

BEEF HEARTS AND HOME RUNS

I was a bit sad when Chateaubriand changed hands a few years back - I loved the feel of the place, the beautiful anglophone woman who owned and ran it, her polka dot dresses and 50s-era swoopy hair. Most of all, I loved that the house specialty was beef cheeks - it takes guts to stake your reputation on a dish like that - but they were right in doing so; it was fantastic.

That said, chef Iñaki Aizpitarte, became a media darling when he took over and it was well-deserved.

It still is. I was here almost a year ago and have no trouble remembering what I had for lunch: blood sausage on a bed of squash puree with little bits of almond and pear to add flavor and texture. Recently, we visited again again - my first Aizpitarte dinner - and it was even more memorable.

Aizpitarte does a 45 euro, four-course tasting meal that changes frequently and places him squarely in front of the modern edge of the gastro-bistro movement, trying bold and inventive pairings that will keeps the meal at the center of conversation.

The star of the meal was a smoked herring broth with fall vegetables and cubes of foie gras. Inside, slightly-cooked chestnuts, charred button mushrooms and black radish shared space with triangles of pickled onion that lent elements of surprise and fun to the dish. The foie gras - something I rarely rave about - melted slightly, giving depth and texture to the broth and made everyone at the table wide-eyed and happy; every dish afterward was watched very closely.

A big, luscious block of cod followed, served on a sauce with sweet onions and flanked by king oyster mushrooms. The fish held form until it reached my mouth; I could have stopped there and gone home happy.

A meat course - veal covered with a black radish ‘paper’ served with a cod-liver sauce, and a little dollop of onions macerated in fish sauce - didn’t quite work; mixing fish and meat is the chef’s equivalent of big game hunting (I once sat in on late-night telephone lessons between an aspiring chef and a three-star chef on how to cook beef heart and cuttlefish in a Dutch oven), but it signals Aizpitarte’s larger intentions - where his heart is.

After one bite, I spent ten minutes trying to explain my thought - a double on a home run swing - to the French diners at our table.

Besides, he followed up with a crowd-pleasing triple, mixing beets and pears at dessert.

Dinner is 45 euros, plus wine. Smiles are free and plentiful.

Le Chateaubriand - MAP
129 Avenue Parmentier
Paris
+33 1 43 57 45 95

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Tuesday, February 09, 2010

COMFORT ON WINTER’S MENU

After lunch at Jeu de Quilles, I really wanted not to like dinner at Au Bon Coin when it was set in front of me. (So much so, I seem to have accidentally erased all photo evidence of the meal.)

Came out too fast. Skimpy portion of string beans, I thought as my main course arrived. Then I dabbed a spud in the sauce next to my steak and reconsidered.

Au Bon Coin is packed with locals on the wonderful north side of Montmartre for a reason. The quality/price ratio is where it should be. ‘Comfort’ should be on the menu.

“I was here a week ago and the didn’t have the stuffed cabbage. They only have it in the darkest part of winter,” said my friend and dining companion who lives three blocks away. On this night, it’s on the menu and it arrives, dark, pungent and delicious a moment or two after my pièce de Charolais.

Is it me, or are the days getting longer?

Count on about 20€ with a drink or two.

Au Bon Coin MAP
49 Rue des Cloÿs‬
75018 Paris
‎+33 1 46 06 91 36 ‎

P.S. - If you’re going to make a night out of it, start with an apéro at the nearby La Renaissance - 112 Rue Championnet - where Tarantino shot a scene from “Inglorious Basterds.” With any luck, there will be an impeccably-dressed woman delivering your drink. “Wearing jeans in public,” she once told me, “is despicable.”

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Tuesday, February 02, 2010

DEATH BY PIERRE

“You’re not going to write about this place, right?” asked Pierre.

I smiled, but truth be told, I didn’t answer.

I’m a bit of a pho fanatic. Years ago, I worked in chef Didi Emmons’ restaurant Pho Republique in Cambridge, MA. As a birthday present to my sister, I made up a gift certificate for the place before it opened. Once we went, I liked Didi’s version of Vietnam’s signature soup so much, I got a part-time job in the kitchen. I had to know.

Knowing in Paris may require a compass. Or a Pierre with Vietnamese heritage.  This place - a pagoda-lined pedestrian street lined with residential high-rises - looks more like Mars than Paris. Just before you open the door, however, you can smell that you’re in the right place.

It’s all in the broth. Good pho broth bubbles away all night, pulling flavor from a giant pot of goodness that usually includes beef, bones, ginger, charred onion, star anise and lemongrass. There are scores of variations including vegetarian, chicken and seafood versions. I could have imagined a version of this one - clear, clean and complex as any wine - as part of a recent meal at El Bulli. (!)

In Paris, I’m a regular at Belleville’s Dong Huong, where they make a very respectable bowl, but until today, I’d forgotten the magic that made me fall in love with pho in the first place.
While the star is the soup, the whole meal is fantastic. Consistently good plates like a Vietnamese crepe with mushrooms and marinated pork, fresh nem, pork ribs and marinated, grilled pork strips, all play with flavor and texture - even at dessert. Nothing misses the mark.

At less than 20€ for a royal feast and a drink, this is one of the best-priced meals in Paris.

Restaurant Quan Ngon MAP
63 rue Javelot
75013 Paris
+33 1 44 24 35 59

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Saturday, January 30, 2010

More For The Carnivores

As our cote de boeuf is set down in the center of the table, Pierre makes a general announcement, putting his hands up to his mouth, megaphone-style.

“Vegetarians are now invited to clear the area!” he bellows.

My word, yes they are.

I made a sort of promise to check out the ‘bicycle built for two of the steak world’ at L’Escargot after checking out the offerings at Le Bastringue and was far from disappointed.

There’s a price difference - 32 euros at Bastringue and 40 at L’Escargot (remembering each diner is paying half of that) and you can taste the difference: L’Escargot has better and more flavorful meat (likely linked to chef Fred Valade’s triperie down the road), but each one is a great value for the price.  One nitpick: L’Escargot would also do well to get some real steak knives.

There were nice vegetable side courses with my meal tonight, complete with Valade’s signature flaming thyme garnish ... and, no fault of their own, after a few bites, I completely forgot about them. Desserts were fabulous. I’d get the homemade chantilly (served on top of the ‘choco ivoire & son biscuit caribbeanesque’ which I once launched onto my lap) over and over again as a solo dish.

L’Escargot MAP
50, rue de La Villette
75019 Paris
+33 1 42 06 03 96

Full disclosure: I am known (though not notorious) at L’Escargot as it’s about a block away from my flat. They didn’t know we were coming, but they knew I was there. That said, even in Paris, you can’t conjure different beef at 9 p.m. on a Wednesday night.

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Monday, January 25, 2010

SUN ON A PLATE

PARIS - My tolerance for number of days cooped up in the kitchen in an effort to avoid bad weather ended today. I should have come out sooner.

Acting on a tip from a friend…who recently acted on a tip from Francois...I cross town on my bike, popping up to meet friends in the lower reaches of the 14th arrondissement at Le Jeu de Quilles.

I’m a bit early and watch a table of six guys who were clearly on an afternoon out at one of their favorite spots, downing good wine and asking the chef about where to get a whole lamb to roast.

Ann has barely sat down when she says,  “The sun’s out!” with a smile like she was recognizing a long-lost friend who’d grown a beard since the last time they met.

The prix fixe lunch plan is simple: choose from three appetizers, two mains and a handful of desserts for 25 euros. There’s an à la carte menu that makes me want to come back for dinner. In form and function, it quite resembles the original version of Spring and Le 122.

Along with a generous, high-end charcuterie plate, highlights included an oeuf cocotte, swimming in a wonderful shallot-y red wine sauce and resting on a hidden strip of pork fat.  There’s also a braised pork main with a hot, pudding-like side of polenta laced with Emmental and tasting of real corn bread.

“This tastes like America!” I blurt.

Dessert was a still-bubbling pear and apple crumble, arriving with a ‘watch your fingers’ warning from the waitress. Imagine hot, crushed Pecan Sandies above hot, buttery fruit and all the dairy farmers you’re supporting with this one dish!

Sun on a plate.

Lunch prix fixe menu: 25 euros (21 if you skip dessert, but why would you want to do that?). There is no prix fixe at dinner where appetizers run between 12 and 20 euros and mains are in the mid-20s.

Le Jeu de Quilles MAP
45 rue Boulard
75014 Paris
+33 1 53 90 76 22

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