Tastes of Provence

There are two restaurants in Provence that never seem to let me down. For nearly 20 years, La Beaugraviere and Le Bistrot du Paradou have been the sites of some of my finest gastronomic memories, and recent visits were no exception.

The black truffle season is almost over, but for the next month you should be able to sample Guy Jullien's creations at his famed Beaugraviere in Mondragon, 14 kilometers (9 miles) from Orange. Current specialties range from a simple and sublime truffle tartine (an open-face sandwich layered with giant slices of fragrant raw truffles) to a memorable salad of nutty ratte potatoes layered with a thick coating of truffles.

Main course offerings include a featherlight portion of cannelloni stuffed with chicken, finely chopped mushrooms, and of course more truffles. This should be followed by a sandwich of warm Saint Marcellin cow's milk cheese layered with truffles, and then chef Jullien's surprising truffle ice cream.

Two wines to try with the meal include the hard-to-find white 1995 Domaine de la Grange des Peres, a rich and meaty wine that blends all the character of viognier, bourboulenc and grenache grapes; and the pleasingly fragrant white Lirac, Domaine de la Mordoree, Cuvee de la Reine des Bois 1998, a bargain at 160 francs a bottle.

Friday is aioli day at Le Bistrot du Paradou, the popular table d'hote restaurant in the heart of Les Baux olive oil country. Here Mireille Pons works magic in the kitchen while the outgoing Jean-Louis tends the front of the house.

The all-you-can-eat aioli feast includes meaty local snails, Mireille's tender salt cod, potatoes in their jackets and steamed carrots, and of course plenty of that rich and golden garlic mayonnaise. Wash it down with plenty of the house red, and you are in heaven.

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La Beaugraviere
RN-7
84430 Mondragon.
Tel: 04-90-40-82-54.
Fax: 04-90-40-91-01.
Closed Sunday dinner. Truffle menus vary from 395 to 700 francs.

Le Bistrot du Paradou
13520 Le Paradou.
Tel: 04-90-54-32-70.
Closed Sunday. Open year-round for lunch; dinner mid July to Sept. 5. Lunch, 180 francs, including wine. Reservations suggested.

A Taste of Seaside In a Paris Bistro

PARIS - In a constant effort to reinvent itself, the Paris food scene brings us yet another welcoming fish restaurant, this time with the name of Le Bistrot Cote Mer, the site of one of Michel Rostang's satellite bistros.

Rostang has put his daughter, Caroline, in charge, and if a very successful recent visit is proof, she is off to a flying start as a restaurateur. The small, narrow bistro - painted in brilliant seaside tones of yellow and blue - has everything going for it: a lovely fish menu that offers food that is unusual but far from wacky, and a young, cheerful and well-informed staff. The decor has just enough history for nostalgia buffs, with warm and colorful tile floors, newly upholstered 1930s bistro chairs and marble-top tables that shine with the patina of age.

I can't tell you the number of times I examine a menu and have a hard time finding something I really want to eat at that moment. Not the case with Cote Mer's selections. You want it all. From the fresh, briny plump Belon oysters, served with a thick slice of toasted sourdough bread and a pat of salted butter set on a bed of seaweed, to the marvelous pasta salad and a well-conceived tartare.

The famed ravioles de Royans - tiny herb and cheese-filled pasta from the Rhone-Alps region- have become a favorite Paris bistro ingredient. They are crowd-pleasers and lend themselves to endless variations. Here the tender pasta is turned into a salad, tossed warm with a tangle of well- dressed greens and generous chunks of warm, tender lobster, well priced at 75 francs ($11) a portion. It was so good, we thought of reordering the salad for dessert.

Equally appealing is the hache of sea bream and salmon, sparkling fresh cubes of raw fish tossed with a vinaigrette and herbs and teamed up with paper-thin toasted crackers.

But the best was the daily special of whole grilled sea bass, presented to diners both before and after cooking, then carefully filleted tableside. The huge sea bass easily serves two hearty eaters, with its superbly moist, chewy fresh sea flavor. A side order of sizzling hot molded tian - a Mediterranean mix of eggplant, tomatoes and zucchini - makes you want to head straight for the sun and the sea.

Scallop lovers should go for the coquilles Saint-Jacques roasted in their shells with a melange of cubed vegetables and served with an intriguing preparation of rice. Half the rice was fried to a fragrant, golden crispness, then tossed with steamed rice, making for a crackling combination and providing the palate with a welcome crunch.

The pure sauvignon blanc Quincy from Jacques Siret was a fine accompaniment, and well priced at 140 francs.

The only disappointment of the evening was the bland, almost watery pots de chocolat, redeemed by a thin rectangle of tarte feuilletee.

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Le Bistro Cote Mer
16 Boulevard Saint-Germain
Paris 75005.
Tel: 01-43-54-59-10.
Fax: 01-43-29-02-08.

Open daily. Most major credit cards accepted. About 250 francs a person, including service but not wine.

Bistro Dreaming In Bleak Midwinter

PARIS - The words trip off the tongue like music to a hungry soul. Harengs, pommes a l'huile. Maquereaux au vin blanc. Salade folle. Blanquette de lapin. Boeuf a la Bourguignonne. Navarin d'agneau. All washed down with crisp, fruity gulps of Chenas.

Call it bistro dreaming, and the best new find of the winter season is a small bistro tucked away in the 13th arrondissement called Le Terroir. Bistro hoppers will remember the owner, Michel Chavanon, from Chez Pierrot on Rue Etienne Marcel, where he used to work. Installed in this very populaire quarter of Paris known for its hearty eaters, Le Terroir seems right at home.

The friendly chatter and banter are all there, along with a solid French clientele that knows why it is there and how it wants to be satisfied. The decor is a fine blend of modern (comfortable upholstered armchairs, nonetheless) and folkloric bistro (with those charming cotton curtains dripping with bunches of grapes).

The food is all that good bistro fare should be. Crisp and silken fillets of herring appear in a giant, no-nonsense, clear bowl set at your elbow, so you could eat your fill in a single course. The accompanying warm cubed potatoes, showered with shallots, parsley, a touch of oil and a touch of vinegar, have real flavor and texture and fragrance.

The salade folle is laden with thick strips of meaty duck breast, the tenderest of cured duck gizzards and fat slices of foie gras, all set upon a nicely dressed green salad. Mackerel gets the same treatment as herring, only here the bowl was big enough to hold enough sweet, meaty fish to feed an army.

Main courses follow suit. The lamb, the beef, the rabbit are all cooked to a melting tenderness, a true braise, falling off the bone, and all are fragrant, steaming, warm. Accompanying rice and beans are not afterthoughts, but rather a proud cook's completion of a task well done.

WINE WITH A SMILE The house Chenas should make Beaujolais proud of what it can do: make tired faces smile, enliven conversation and aid digestion in a single bottle. Only the desserts left me feeling let down, with a dry and not very memorable pear tart. But, mark my words, I'll be back. Again and again, for the entrecote, the pot-au-feu, a cheese platter and apple tart.

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Le Terroir
11 Boulevard Arago
Paris 750013.
Tel: 01-47-07-36-99.
Fax: 01-42-72-52-20.

Credit cards: MasterCard and Visa. Closed Saturday and Sunday, Easter week, August and the last week of the year. A la carte, around 230 francs.

A French Fish Classic Served With a Twist

PARIS--Almost anyone with a bit of cooking knowledge will know that the words a la meuniere on a menu translate as ''in the style of the miller's wife,'' and that means the item in question has been dusted parsimoniously with flour, then cooked to a golden brown in a sizzling pan with the finest unsalted butter one can get one's hands on.

In the past year or so I have had a thing about sole meuniere, that glorious classic of French cooking - moist, fleshy, sweet white fish - prepared in the traditional manner, then served whole, tableside, doused with a luscious and fragrant brown butter, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a shower of minced parsley leaves.

As I sampled sole here and there about Paris, I studied the moistness and size of the Brittany sole at one restaurant, the color and fragrance of the brown butter at another, the dexterity of the server in filleting the fish at yet another.

Hands down, the best sole can be found at the famed Montparnasse Art Deco brasserie Le Dome - whose prized fish comes from the Ile d'Yeu on the Brittany coast. I set aside one morning to spend in the kitchen with Le Dome's chef, Frank Graux. I expected to pick up a few tips, but hardly expected him take all the classic ideas of the cooking of this delicate prize and throw them out the window.

Just when you think you know everything about a preparation, you realize you know nothing. While most traditional recipes for sole suggest you skin the fish, dust it with flour and cook it in clarified butter, Graux does none of that. In fact, the idea of leaving the skin intact came from his children. One day he served them turbot with the skin, and one cleaned his plate then asked if there was some more of that crispy skin left over.

So when you go to Le Dome to sample his incomparable sole, you will find him cooking the treasure in lightly salted butter (the best, he says, is the Sevre & Belle brand from the cooperative in Sevre et Belle, Celles sur Belle Deux-Sevres), which he says burns less than unsalted butter. (He dismissed the traditional idea of cooking in clarified butter, which does burn less but which is, to his mind, denatured and void of flavor.)

To eke the most flavor from the fish, Graux does not skin it, but merely scales, guts and trims it. The skin acts as a natural protective shield, keeping the fish moist and eliminating the need for flour as a protective barrier. As an added treat, you get the gentle crispiness and slightly gelatinous nature of the thin skin that his children so loved.

Cooking the fish in a heavy-duty nonstick pan, Graux cooks each side for about four minutes, attentively regulating the heat so the butter does not burn. If the thought of all that butter gives you pause, order the fish seche, so that the cooking butter is not poured back over the fish. This makes for a dish that is extremely light, wholesome and flavorful.

Le Dome's crew is so proud of their preparation that they prefer to present the fish whole to diners, allowing them to filet the fish at table, a tradition I applaud. The fish stays warmer, and there is something positive and primal about having an entire fish set before you.

One of my favorite wines with fish and shellfish is Domaine Mardon's Quincy, a pure sauvignon blanc Sancerre-style white whose aromatic grassiness stands up nicely to the sole, as well as to oysters.

Other spots where I have loved the sole are the classic brasserie and restaurant La Closerie des Lilas and the historic monument of a restaurant that was built in 1904, La Vagenende, in the heart of Saint-Germain des Pres.

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• Le Dome
  108, Boulevard du Montparnasse
  Paris 750014
  Tel: 01-43-35-25-81
  Fax: 01-42-70-01-19.
  Open daily. All major credit cards. A la carte, 400 to 450 francs, including service but not wine. Sole priced at 205 francs.
• La Closerie des Lilas
  171, Boulevard du Montparnasse
  Paris 75006.
  Tel: 01-40-51-34-50
  Fax: 01-43-29-99-94.
  Open daily. All major credit cards. A la carte, 400 to 450 francs, including service but not wine. Sole in the brasserie costs 180 francs; in the restaurant it is 420 francs for two people.
• Restaurant Vagenende
  142 Boulevard Saint-Germain
  Paris 75006.
  Tel: 01-43-26-68-18
  Fax: 01-40-51-73-38.
  Open daily. Credit cards: Visa, American Express, Diner's Club. A la carte, 200 to 300 francs, including service but not wine. The sole is 152 francs.

Bringing the Country to the City

PARIS - As country winters seem to grow longer, a number of chefs from the provinces have come to test the waters of the Seine. Since the autumn, two Michelin-starred chefs have decided to maintain their restaurants away from Paris while bringing their casseroles to the capital: Jean-Yves Bath from the Auvergne and Didier Oudill from Biarritz.

I have followed the careers of both since the early 1980s, when Bath was chef at the charming auberge La Bergerie in Sarpoil in the Auvergne and Oudill was chef to Michel Guerard at Eugenie-les-Bains in the southwest.

Bath later moved to Clermont-Ferrand, to the restaurant that bears his name, proving that traditional country fare need not lose its personality or authenticity as it is modernized and lightened. He has always managed to make a plate of lentils taste like pure perfection and has dedicated himself to making everything from the chocolate to the bread from scratch.

In October, he moved to the center of Paris with his son, Stephane, to begin a new adventure, which seemed to take off from the moment he opened the doors. Transforming an old Chinese restaurant into a pleasant, rather formal country restaurant, Bath continues to work his magic in the kitchen, while his wife, Daniele, continues to run their brasserie, Le Clos Saint-Pierre, in Clermont-Ferrand.

Bath's menu is rich with the specialties of central France, with salads of snails and duck gizzards, duck sausage, cabbage, foie gras, and, of course, the delicate Limousin veal and rich, incomparable beef from Salers. He does not ignore fish and shellfish, giving lobster, scallops, monkfish and the river fish pike perch good billing.

Begin, if you like, with a simple salad of lobster, poached to a moist tenderness and flanked by simple greens anointed with olive oil. Likewise, the rich and fragrant rissole de Cantal, little pastry-wrapped packages of Cantal cheese, are paired with a wintry salad of lamb's lettuce dressed with fresh walnut oil.

Throughout the meal, the boyish, outgoing Bath strolls from table to table chatting with and warming the somewhat stiff Parisian crowd.

As to be expected, meats are the star of the show here, and one could do worse than a thick veal chop, paired with Bath's famous tagliatelle dressed with the exceptional cow's-milk blue cheese, Fourme d'Ambert. The meat was cooked to perfection, and improved on the plate, gaining in flavor and tenderness as it had time to rest. Between bites, the best wine to sample with the pedigreed meat is the Ladoix Vieilles Vignes from Burgundy - the 1996 priced at 220 francs (about $35). Years ago, a sommeliere suggested that the ''wet horse'' aroma of this rarely seen red wine was a perfect match for rare meat and she was so right.

Order the moist, tender Salers beef and you will also be treated to Bath's incomparable lentil sauce. I dare you to find better lentils, those flinty, deep-green grains that taste of the volcanic earth. His are cooked to a perfect tenderness, so they are still crunchy, not soggy but lively and virile.

Classic and creative Like Bath, Oudill has paid his dues in the countryside, working with Guerard, moving on to his own Pain, Adour et Fantaisie nearby, then to Biarritz and the Cafe de Paris, which remains open as Oudill makes his mark in Paris at Le Dauphin. During those years, he gained a reputation as a classically trained chef who also understands how to be creative and feed right into our hands.

His talent is still there, but it is overshadowed by a barren, dreary Palais Royal restaurant that is totally devoid of character and has a staff that might be better off at a fast-food counter.

It's a shame, for Oudill and his partner, Edgar Duhr, have great ideas and the ability to move modern French food a giant step forward. The menu has much of what we look for today - a touch of internationalism, plenty of vegetables and a new take on everything from a simple green salad (here teamed up with a toasted baguette covered with a slice of ham and a touch of cheese) to a wonderful cassoulet (flavorful white beans in broth, with giant shrimp, delicious sausage and chunks of bacon).

But service is so contrary to the food that it is hard to believe that the kitchen and the dining room communicate at all. Wines are opened, then plopped in the center of the table without a proper tasting. A quartet of sauces come out of nowhere and are set at the edge of table without a description of what they might consist of and which dish they are meant for. The bare wooden table is not set, rather knives and forks are strewn about helter-skelter.

Let's hope that as the weather warms, the staff warms up too, so we can continue to enjoy Oudill's talents, along with the delicious Jurancon white and fruity Saint-Chinian red; the selection of can't-stop-eating-them bread and rolls; the plump oysters served with well-spiced grilled chorizo sausages; the immense platter of perfectly grilled tomatoes, zucchini, fennel, onions and potatoes, served with a Spanish-style open-face sandwich of scrubbed tomato and ham, and the memorable, moist casserole of joues de cochon, tender pig's cheeks.

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• Bath's
  9 Rue de La Tremoille
  Paris 75008
  Tel: 01-40-70-01-09
  Fax: 01-40-70-01-22
  Web: www.jean-yves-bath.fr
  e-mail: restaurant.BATH@wanadoo.fr
  Closed Saturday and Sunday. All major credit cards. A la carte, about 300 francs.
• Le Dauphin
  167 Rue Saint-Honore
  Paris 75001
  Tel: 01-42-60-40-11
  Fax: 01-42-60-01-18.
  Open every day. All major credit cards. 140-franc lunch menu; a la carte, 100 to 200 francs.

A Glorious Treat for a Glorious Time of Year

PARIS - The French have long had a love affair with the oyster: They are perhaps the world's most voracious eaters of what can be lovingly referred to as those succulent bivalves, and they manage to consume two-thirds of the annual 141-ton harvest during the Christmas and New Year festivities.

That's good, for these briny, iodine-laden gifts from the sea are at their finest right now, when the waters and the weather are cold and our winter bodies seem to crave the oyster's natural dose of protein, minerals and vitamins.

When eating oysters, remember a few things: The larger the number, the smaller the oyster; number 5 is the smallest, number 000 the largest.

I always order the smallest oysters available, for I find the flavors more concentrated and natural. Anything other than a few drops of lemon juice or a twist of the pepper mill as a seasoning is sacrilege. (Although a mixture of vinegar and shallots is generally served, avoid it. The vinegar is usually much too acidic for the oysters, killing their delicate flavor, masking their fine aroma.) And while you will see French people drinking red wine with oysters, I also think that is a mistake. Oysters need the chill and the acid of a young white.

I can never get enough oysters, and at this time of year I think nothing of downing a dozen a day ration. My favorite spot for oysters remains the Guy Savoy bistro Le Cap Vernet, where one can always be assured of a prime selection of "brand name" oysters: those that carry the name of the man who raised them and tended the beds.

The four to sample here include Yvon Madec's crinkle-shelled "Creuses No. 4" (89 francs, about $14, for nine), which are very meaty with a subtle hazelnut flavor; Michel Daniel's oysters from the Breton port of Cancale, where they are raised in the sea (as opposed to seaside beds) and so have an intense iodine-rich flavor (74 francs for nine); Andre Taillepied's Normandy oysters from Isigny, raised in very agitated waters, which plumps them up and gives them an iodine purity (77 francs for nine No. 4), and the most famous of all, Gerard Gillardeau's "Speciales Claires No. 5,"also known as "La Papillon," worth the extra price (102 francs for nine) because they have all the best characters of an oyster - delicate, sweet, almost crunchy and tinged with the green of the former salt marshes of the Marennes-Oleron.

A PEDIGREE These pedigreed oysters begin their life in the cold waters off Utah Beach in Normandy, where they are raised in "parks" rich in plankton that plump the oysters and give them their rich flavor. Finally, they are fattened for several months in oyster beds off Marennes-Oleron near La Rochelle on the Atlantic Coast, where they take on even more refined and concentrated flavors.

Le Cap Vernet is full day and night, service is generally excellent, the rye bread is fresh and moist, the chilled white Quincy wine - a pure sauvignon blanc from Domaine Mardon - is a perfect food and wine marriage.

Oyster sampling does not have to be a serious or expensive affair, now that many small oyster bars have popped up around Paris.

The newest is in a little corner in the back of an excellent fish shop right off the Marche Saint Honore, in the first arrondissement. You come to L'Ecume Saint-Honore for the oysters with yet another pedigree, not the bare atmosphere of plastic trays and paper napkins. Try the "Blanches" (150 francs a dozen), which are raised in the open sea, not aged or finished off in beds, making for an oyster that has an incredible sense of purity, a bit of nuttiness, as if you are literally drinking the best of the sea.

For a complete contrast, try the "Emeraudes" (145 francs a dozen), oysters that have been aged only one or two to a bed (as opposed to 50 or 60) for six to eight months and are rich in iodine, plump and meaty.

With the fish shop's "snack" formula - six oysters and a glass of wine for 50 francs - you cannot go wrong. Service is amiable, the staff passionate and informative, and the Sancerre goes down very easily. (But I am thinking of traveling with my own linen napkin.)

At the popular Bistro de l' Huitre-Joel D, I liked the oysters more than the rest of the experience. The service is slow, the rye bread is dry, the napkins are paper, the decor as chilly as the wind off the ocean. But look around, and you'll see yourself surrounded by happy people with only one thing on their minds.

The giant "Pleine Mer" oysters from the Quiberon Bay of Brittany - the wildest ones you can find in France - were remarkably fresh and meaty. I loved as well their nutty "Speciales de Normandie" - dense, intense and refreshing. The chilled Muscadet will assuage any discomfort you may feel, and the price is right, staring at 43 francs for six "Quiberon Pleine Mer No. 4."

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Cap Vernet
82 Avenue Marceau
Paris 75008
Tel: 01-47-20-20-40
Fax: 01-47-20-95-36.
Open daily. Credit cards: American Express, Diners Club, Visa. Prices range from 75 to 102 francs for six oysters. Oyster-tasting menu, 130 francs.

L'Ecume Saint-Honore
6 Rue du Marche Saint Honore
Paris 75001
Tel: 01-42-61-93-87.
All major credit cards. Open Tuesday through Friday from 8:30 A.M. to 2 P.M. and 4 to 7:30 P.M.; Saturday from 8:30 A.M. to 7:30 P.M.; Sunday from 9 A.M. to 1 P.M. Six oysters and a glass of wine for 50 francs.

Bistrot de l'Huitre-Joel D
285 Rue Saint Jacques
Paris 75005
Tel: 01-43-54-71-70.
Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard. Closed Sunday and Monday. Prices, for six oysters, begin at 45 francs.

Soothing Fare in Classic Settings

LONDON--After a few years of total hysteria, hype and insanity in the food world, this city is returning to its senses. One can at least sail along into a new sea of calm and quality.

Pierre Koffmann, long one of my favorite chefs here, is back on track in a new location, serving up his sensible, well-thought-out fare that harks back to his southwestern French roots.

In a large and spacious dining room decorated in pink and blue pastel tones, Koffmann's La Tante Claire is all that one looks for in a classic, well-bred place. (Those looking for shocks and excitement in decor, clientele, service or food, should look elsewhere.) Guided by a young, well-informed staff without a gram of ''attitude,'' and seated at tables spaced far enough apart to allow a sense of privacy, the scene is set for smooth sailing.

For a soothing starter one could do worse than Koffmann's giant, silken ravioli of langoustines, a single huge round of pasta wrapped around the sweet, pillow-like crustaceans, and set upon a bed of crunchy cabbage.

Reminiscent of a Joel Robuchon creation of the early 1980s, it is the sort of contemporary classic that will be around for a long while, elegant in its purity and simplicity.

More daring and modern are his seared scallops set in a shiny sauce of squid ink, accompanied by two sauces, one of whipped cream laced with red pepper, another of whipped cream laced with garlic, offering a seasoned contrast of colors, textures and flavors.

But Koffmann's signature dish, and one not to be missed even if offal is not your thing, is the pieds de cochon, or pig's trotters, stuffed with a complex blend of wild morel mushrooms, chicken breast and veal sweetbreads. Arriving almost as a gift-wrapped mahogany-toned package, the pig's trotter's are set in glistening, fragrant stock.

Although it's a modern creation, it is the sort of culinary tour-de-force that is to be admired for its complexity and balance, its mastery of technique and its ability to induce pure satisfaction.

on to the connaught While still in a traditional mood, I headed over to the Connaught Hotel, where the restaurant and grill room continue to win service awards and the kitchen applause for its care and attention.

Seated in the rather shocking minty-green Grill Room, I felt like a queen who had just been helped from her carriage. The well-seasoned French and Italian waiters have that old posh, debonair quality that makes you want to lift your pinky and swirl a glass of champagne.

The menu could not be more conservative in the best sense of the word. Starters of langoustines amoureuses (really a high-protein seafood salad of langoustines, shrimp and lobster) and oysters Christian Dior (warm, cooked with cream, wine and a scattering of black truffles) set the stage for things to come. The daily special - the old-fashioned coulibiac of salmon - is a complex, layered affair that includes salmon, rice, hard-cooked eggs, crepes, mushrooms and onions wrapped in a pastry shell and baked. Here it was luscious fare, doused with a warm butter sauce, pairing perfectly with a simple white Macon-Villages.

I loved my sole meuniere seche (sole pan-fried in the usual manner in butter, but served without the cooking juices), though it was a tad dry and overcooked.

The tarte Tatin - prepared with bland-tasting apples and a nondescript pastry - was, alas, not on par with the rest of the visit.

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La Tante Claire
The Berkeley Hotel
Wilton Place SW1
Tel: 0171-823-2003
Fax: 0171-823-2001.

Closed Saturday lunch and Sunday. Most credit cards. £28 at lunch, a la carte, about £65 for dinner, including service but not wine.

The Grill Room
The Connaught Hotel
Carlos Place W1
Tel: 0171-499-7070.

Closed Saturday lunch. Credit cards: American Express, Visa. A la carte, about £70, not including service or wine.

If Caviar Be the Food of Life

PARIS - Heady and intense, expensive, delicate and robust, it is rationed by the spoonful. Caviar, the lightly salted eggs of the sturgeon found in the Caspian Sea, sparkles and tingles on the tongue, conjuring up fantasies of sensuousness, celebration, ultimate extravagance.

So what could be better than to begin the fin-de-siecle celebration at the new Petrossian Restaurant, right above the famed caviar specialty shop that has graced the Boulevard La Tour Maubourg since 1920. The restaurant, decked out in mirrors and shades of gray, with a youthful staff of varied experience, is probably one of the best spots to study - if that is a word mere mortals could use - this delicacy.

On a recent weekday evening we feasted on a caviar tasting called ''Le Prince Gourmet,'' which included nothing less than 20 grams (not much if you are thinking in terms of apples and oranges, but a lot in terms of caviar) of the three basic varieties of Iranian and Russian caviars: beluga, ossetra and sevruga. One could create a feast on one's own turf, but how much better it is when served out of glass and silver caviar carriers while someone else makes the blinis and toast and keeps them warm. (If you like to eat a lot of caviar, you won't pay much more here than you would in the shop below, so why not take advantage of the service?)

We had our caviar with a fine Veuve Clicquot Champagne. The beluga - the largest variety and the most expensive - was delightful. Nothing beats that gush of purity, that moment you hold the grains in your mouth, crush them with the tongue and explode their essence onto your palate. But I remain faithful to ossetra, with its subtle, nutty flavor. The eggs always seem firmer, with no trace of ''fishiness'' that one sometimes finds in other varieties. And I would never turn up my nose at Petrossian's sevruga, the smallest of the trio: young, fresh, almost lactic in flavor.

The caviar was served with plump and puffy blinis, toast and a touch of creme fraiche, all one needs - if anything - to accompany the precious mouthfuls. for every budget While a full tasting begins at about 1,080 francs ($170) a person, Petrossian has something for every budget. The noncaviar menu needs some attention, however, because the dishes' names can be confusing. One could end up with three courses of cured, salted fish, as I did when I ordered dishes that gave no hint of containing smoked fish and ended up being almost nothing but.

The best bet was an appetizer of six little tastes (five at lunch), ''Assiette de Tentations,'' that included smoked and marinated sturgeon topped with a sherry jelly and sevruga caviar, and an excellent fish tartare on beet chips. But many of the main courses - the steamed St. Pierre, for example - were far from memorable. And some dishes I would not even want to gamble on: Reblochon cheese and langoustines? Two of my favorite foods, but not together!

Philippe Conticini, the pastry chef, has some bright ideas here, but they don't really get a chance to shine - many need a 3-D view to be appreciated and would best be served in a glass vessel but are hidden in porcelain bowls. His creations range from audacious to delicious to wacky. The finest was his pistachio cream paired with a rich cherry coulis offset by a sprinkling of salted pistachios.

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Petrossian Restaurant
18 Boulevard La Tour Maubourg
Paris 75007
Tel: 01-44-11-32-32
Fax: 01-44-11-32-35.

Credit cards: American Express and Visa. 320-franc tasting menu. A la carte, beginning at 350 francs, not including wine or service.

Autumn Delights Savoring the Season At Two Old Haunts

PARIS - Ask most chefs and they will say autumn is their favorite season at the stove. The avalanche of wild mushrooms, abundance of game, plentitude of fall apples, quince, figs and Jerusalem artichokes, the sparkling freshness of cold-water fish and shellfish such as oysters and scallops, all make this season’s cooking a joy.

Not to mention ever-growing appetites to complement the bounty.

Recent visits to two old favorites unearthed some excellent seasonal meals. The simple thought of game and mushrooms in Paris turns into a seasonal pilgrimage to my all-time favorite city game restaurant, Le Petit Marguery, run by the always energetic Cousin brothers, Alain in the dining room and Michel and Jacques at the stove.

Take one look at the old-fashioned, handwritten menu for this popular neighborhood spot filled with classic gourmands, and three words come to mind: restorative, invigorating, fortifying. Right now, there are no fewer than seven varieties of wild mushrooms, and super-fresh game, from simply roasted wild duck on a bed of crunchy cabbage laced with bits of foie gras to young venison paired with wild rosemary. They don’t forget the sea, either, with a stunningly simple and satisfying roasted skate with mustard sauce; fresh oysters on the half shell from Isigny-sur-Mer; and a remarkably modern version of raviolis stuffed with fresh scallops in a wild mushroom sauce. It has been years since I sampled a souffle that brought me to my knees, but their airy classic with Grand Marnier did just that.

William Ledeuil remains one of my favorite Paris chefs, with a spark of creativity that always seems to match my spirit. A recent tasting menu at the modern and trendy Les Bookinistes, one of Guy Savoy’s bistros, proved that autumn is indeed one of his most inventive seasons. While fresh white beans from Brittany are still in the market, try his salad of nutty, creamy cocos de Paimpol, teamed up with wild mushrooms, strips of pungent, candy-like vieille mimolette cheese, and a few leaves of peppery arugula. Or, try the surprising minestrone of baby shrimp and periwinkles, served with toast topped with anchovy paste and watercress.

Main courses range from a hearty braised veal breast flanked by mashed sweet potatoes, salty bacon and mushrooms. For dessert, give in to his warm runny financiers of chocolate and coffee, anointed with a juice of cherry liqueur and licorice.

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Le Petit Marguery
9 Boulevard du Port Royal
Paris 750013.
tel: 01-43-31-58-59.
Closed Sunday and Monday. Credit cards: American Express, Diners Club, Visa. Menus at 165 francs (lunch) and 215 francs (dinner).

Les Bookinistes
53 Quai des Grands-Augustin
Paris 75006
tel: 01-43-25-45-94; fax: 01-43-25-23-07.

Closed Saturday lunch and Sunday lunch. All credit cards. Menus at 140 and 160 francs at lunch, and 180 francs for Sunday dinner. A la carte, 250 francs.

Heart Warming Regional Fare

PARIS - When I moved to Paris 20 years ago, southwestern French was all the rage. You could hardly eat out three nights in a row without facing cassoulet or confit de canard on at least two of those outings. Over the years, Provencal and Mediterranean cuisine took over, leaving all that duck, goose and foie gras in the dust.

Helene Darroze, last seen at her restaurant in Villeneuve-de-Marsan in the Landes in southwestern France, is about to change all that. In her elegant new quarters in the heart of the Left Bank, she is wooing us with a modern, updated version of those regional classics. Like most fine female cooks, she offers more than just a sheer technical rendering of ingredients. She has a point of view, her food has depth, a definite warmth.

Two recent visits to her restaurant - still under construction yet open nonetheless since Oct. 15 - proved that she has talent and, hopefully, staying power in this fickle dining world. I can't say I would have chosen the decor - a lot of heavy reds and purples - but I agree with her choice of china, the quirky white intentionally misshapen cups and plates from Tse & Tse Associees - actually two Parisian designers, Catherine Levy and Sigolene Prebois, who have taken the city by storm with their modern designs.

Darroze, 32, has transported many of the dishes that won her a single Michelin star in the now defunct restaurant in Villeneuve-de-Marsan, including farm-raised pork prepared in three different ways and numerous foie gras preparations. Probably the most delicious dish on the menu is her heart-warming l'escaoutoun landaise, a polenta-like creation prepared with the local corn meal, laced with rich portions of Basque sheep's milk cheese, layered with both sauteed cepe and finely sliced raw cepes, all enriched with an extraordinary reduced chicken stock. I could easily sample this every night of the week, accompanied by one of her wine cellar's well-chosen and well-priced treasures, such as Alain Brumont's powerful Madiran Domaine de Bouscasse. The 1995 is priced at 150 francs. Equally delicious was one evening's appetizer, a creamy flan of foie gras topped with freshly grilled cepes.

A first-course cold white bean soup - prepared with haricots mais from the Bearn - had great depth of flavor. It was teamed up with crushed brandade and the just slightly spicy Basque red peppers, pimientos del piquillo. tasting the foie gras The results of a sampling of duck and goose foie gras - presented so one can compare the two - leaned heavily toward the duck version, much better seasoned and smoother in texture.

With the foie gras, the sommelier wisely suggested Claude Loustalot's Jurancon Sec, Domaine de Bru Bache, Cuvee des Casterrasses, the 1997 well-priced at 145 francs. Darroze continues to woo with a lovely farm-fresh roasted chicken with cepes stuffed beneath the skin, as well as a fine portion of roasted Pauillac lamb, served with its array of organ meats, including brains, sweetbreads and liver.

The pork comes in three services and includes an extraordinary layered portion of blood pudding, chestnuts and apples; a calf's foot stuffed with black truffles, and crusty grilled spare ribs seasoned with the incomparable, just ever so spicy Basque pepper, piment d'Espelette. - IWAS less excited about the desserts: Why use Granny Smith apples this time of year, when the reine de reinettes and boskoop have so much more character? Also, despite the fact that the Paris markets are full of beautiful purple figs from the famed Sollies, I find them just too bland and past their prime. Service, to date, has been exceptional, although on both visits the restaurant was sparsely populated.

Come November, Darroze will offer a main floor table d'hote - dinner served at a stated hour and at a fixed price - offering, you guessed it, cassoulet and confit. Restaurant

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Helene Darroze
4 rue d'Assas
Paris 75006
Tel: 01-42-22-00-11
Fax:01-47-22-25-40
Closed Saturday lunch and all day Sunday.
Open noon-2:30 P.M. and 7:30 P.M.-10:30 P.M. Lunch menu 240 francs, dinner menu 580 francs. A la carte about 350 francs. Credit cards: Visa, American Express.

Languedoc's Full Flavors

SAINT-GUIRAUD, France - When traveling, few events are more exciting or rewarding than the discovery of a restaurant that seems to fit one's ideal: crisply beautiful and carefully thought-out surroundings, a calm, gentle welcome, a menu full of one's favorite seasonal fare, from artichokes to asparagus, those Lilliputian Mediterranean clams known as tellines and newly pressed olive oil from the meaty green verdale olive of the Languedoc.

Add to this a wine list that gathers up the greats of France's up-and-coming wine region, the Languedoc-Roussillon, and you have a thoroughly charming place well worth the detour.

But the best part of all is the attentive pair that showers all their love on their little Le Mimosa, Bridget and David Pugh. The couple - he is English and she comes from New Zealand - has been perfecting their little jewel since 1985, when she traded her dance shoes from the Norwegian National Ballet for cook's clogs and he swapped his violin for a corkscrew.

Le Mimosa is an ocher-stone, restored medieval home lovingly decorated with local antiques and selections from the couple's art collection. All is set at the top of a village surrounded by spectacular views and well-tended vines, and it is here that the Pughs offer a solid, simple, full-flavored menu.

On a visit on May, I loved the well-ordered starter of puff pastry topped with fresh green asparagus, warm, tender goat cheese and the freshest of tiny tomatoes, warmed just to a melt and drizzled with olive oil. Like Bridget herself, the dish is graceful and soft-spoken, seemingly fragile yet loaded with power. She is sure of herself, and your palate will verify that. She urges, coaxes ingredients to give of themselves, until they speak clearly and distinctly of their own intensity.

artful blends I felt the same way about her brilliant combination of artichokes, grilled almonds and zest of lemon confit, all marinated in a fragrant, thyme-scented honey. Her food is ingredient-driven, and I'd feel safe with her behind the wheel any day.

Other regular specials might include tangles of spaghetti laced with tellines; a meaty saddle of rabbit stuffed with pistachios and sage; or a farm-raised lamb from the Herault roasted with farigoule, or wild thyme, and the precious, delicate fleur de sel from the Camargue.

When it comes to wine, David will give you an equally authoritative lead. Among my favorites in his cellar are Domaine Tempier's renowned rosé from Bandol; any of the ripe and densely flavored creations from Domaine d'Aupilhac; and the well-structured reds and floral whites from Gilbert Alquier et Fils, in Faugeres. Most wines are well priced, generally 120 to 180 francs (about $20 to $30), and there is a worthy and welcoming selection available by the glass.

In 1996 the Pughs opened an equally charming hotel, Ostalaria Cardabela, in the picture postcard village of Saint-Saturnin-de-Lucian, just a few minutes' drive from the restaurant.

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Le Mimosa

34725 Saint-Guiraud
(7.5 kilometers north of Clermont l'Herault, about 50 kilometers north of Montpellier)
Tel: 04-67-96-67-96
Fax: 04-67-96-61-15

Closed November through February, and Sunday evening (except July and August) and Monday. Credit card: Visa. Menus at 190 and 290 francs, with optional wine-pairing selection for 145 francs. A la carte, 350 to 450 francs.

Hotel Ostalaria Cardabela

10 Place de la Fontaine
Saint-Saturnin-deLucian
(10 kilometers north of Clermont l'Herault)
Tel: 04-67-88-62-62
Fax: 04-67-88-62-82

Silken Blend of Summer Flavors

NEW YORK - Two years after his splash opening in the glitzy Trump Hotel at the edge of Central Park, Jean Georges Vongerichten has shown the town he has the stuff. On a recent visit on a soggy, humid, stormy, heavy evening in Manhattan, his food was able to lift spirits and lighten bodies with an ethereal, magical touch.

When I think of some New York chefs, such as Daniel Bouloud, I think of stainless steel and sturdiness, toughness, tightly wound discipline. With Vongerichten I think silk and linen, summer breeze. As one of the forerunners of fusion cuisine - a merging of Asian and Western flavors - he does it as only a modern Frenchman can: with a gentle hand and not with a message that hits you over the head.

This time I dined in the Jean Georges café, Nougatine, adjacent to the elegant, modern high-class dining room. Here, one orders from the main dining room's menu, and the summer offerings are peppered with light, warm-weather flavors and such favorite ingredients as green asparagus and morels, summer Provençal truffles, peeketoe crab, black sea bass and Maine char.

But perhaps my favorite dish of the tasting menu was a brilliant ''marjolaine'' of foie gras and almonds, a takeoff of the chocolate dessert classic, in which smooth, silken foie gras is layered with sweet, crisp layers of almond cookies, flanked by a trio of crunchy fresh white almonds right off the trees of California. A side consommé of gelatinous chicken broth flavored with the famed sweet vin de paille from the Jura served as a fine, juxtaposing, tonic. Paired with a sweet white Bonnezeaux from the Loire Valley the dish serves as a lovely, modern, welcoming palate-opener that remains faithful to French tradition but steps forward just enough to let us know we are nearing the 21st century.

The crayfish salad on a bed of mixed baby greens (tender, flavorful and not tinged with that ''just out of the plastic bag'' flavor) was seasoned with a very Asian and refreshing anise and sesame vinaigrette.

Good fresh black sea bass, sweet and white and gently flaked, is another Vongerichten signature dish, here thickly coated with a crust of hazelnuts, almonds, coriander, sesame seeds and black pepper and set on a bed of baby summer vegetables, including four varieties of tomatoes. A haunting touch of sherry vinegar whisked into a mushroom and tomato broth tied the entire dish together, providing an essential structure.

His tender, pinkish veal chop was laced with sage and bathed in Madeira-spiked pan juices, punctuated with a glazed, welcoming compote of sweet and sour kumquats. The recommended 1983 Chianti Classico Riserva from the vineyards of Monsato was a fine pairing.

Desserts here are presented as jewels, in white square and round plates, making diners feel regal indeed. I adore the idea of a cherry variation - with clafoutis, sorbet, tartare and an updated version of cherries jubilee - but on this visit the delicate, elusive essence of cherries was, alas, uncaptured. But the pastry chef's poached peach with a champagne sabayon did the trick, capturing the sweet, fresh flavor of a whole peach bathed in a lily-white sabayon that gently robed the fruit, offering a sweet-tart counterplay on the tongue. With a soothing cup of lemon verbena tea as a finish, we went out into the stormy night with a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.

While I staunchly believe that one should reserve everywhere, you can usually walk in unannounced and find a table most weekdays at Nougatine.

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Nougatine, café of restaurant Jean Georges

Trump International Hotel
1 Central Park West
New York.
Tel: (212) 299-3900
Fax: (212) 299-3914

Credit cards: American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with average prices, respectively, $15, $35 and $55, including service but not wine.

A Creative Chef, Pure and Simple

PARIS - Christian Le Squer was born in a coastal village in Brittany in 1962, and first set foot in Paris at the age of 20, when he came to cook in a popular Right Bank restaurant. Since then, the 36-year-old has passed through such august kitchens as Lucas-Carton and Taillevent, and two years ago won two Michelin stars while at the helm of the Grand Hotel Inter-Continental's Restaurant Opera. Early this year, he took over the reins of Ledoyen, one of those Champs-Elysees palaces that seem to bend in the wind: in and chic one moment, out and forgotten the next.

Ledoyen is on the upward curve (retaining its two Michelin stars this year, despite a change of chefs) and Le Squer might be considered among the ''typical'' up-and-coming Parisian chefs of the decade. His message is clear: The ingredient is king; food should be creative and surprising but easy to understand. - Living Day by Day Unlike most chefs of the previous generation - the Robuchons and Savoys, the Rostangs and the Dutourniers - he does not own his own restaurant.

Like some of the best of his peers - Frederic Anton at Le Pre Catelan, Philippe Braun at Laurent, Alain Soliveres at Les Elysees du Vernet - he sees it as an advantage. Le Squer's employer is none other than Vivendi (the French conglomerate with such properties as the Michelin three-star Alain Ducasse and the two-star L'Astor) and, as he says, ''We are not going to work in the same place from the age of 40 until retirement.

We live day by day.'' His take on grand modern French cuisine is that it's too evolved, needs too many people to do it right, and demands too much labor. (With 42 in the kitchen, doing 450 covers a day, he knows what he is talking about.) He also bemoans the fact that the generation just after him no longer tolerates restaurants' punishing hours.

Rare is the day off and, when it comes, it's spent catching up on the week's lost sleep. So his modern message is to keep it pure and keep it simple. A recent lunch in this butter-yellow mansion on the edge of the Champs-Elysees proved that his mind moves in the direction we want to go today: Gigantic and yet flavorful Provencal green asparagus was paired with huge fresh morels, a marriage of the woods and the garden, grass green and monk's robe brown, bathed in an acidulated sauce.

His take on the meaty, manly veal knuckle, a long-braised jarret de veau, also had a welcome modern translation, for the avalanche of vegetables that accompanied the meat as a garnish - of fresh fava beans, asparagus, Swiss chard and tomatoes - seemed more like the main dish than the meat. His signature dish - a tangle of giant langoustines from Brittany, two of them simply seasoned with a blend of coriander, fennel and star anise and pan-fried in olive oil, and another pair rolled in an herb-filled kadaif (the fine Greek pasta that looks like shredded wheat) and seared crisp - comes on like a fresh Atlantic breeze.

Desserts here are a delight, including paper-thin wafers filled with lemon cream and served with lemon ice cream, as well as some of the most delicious babas in town.

You have not heard the last of Le Squer. Look for more to come from this flower-filled Right Bank palace.

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Ledoyen

Carre des Champs Elysees
1 Avenue Dutuit
Paris 75008

Tel: 01-53-05-10-01.
Fax: 01-47-42-55-01.
Closed Saturday, Sunday, and August. Credit cards: American Express, Diners Club, Visa. Menus at 320 (lunch only) and 620 francs. A la carte, 800 to 1,000 francs, not including wine.

A Taste of Provence From a Rising Star

Maturity and confidence are great traits to witness anytime, anywhere. Even better when you happen to be on the receiving end, and the talented person happens to be a chef. Flora Mikula - certainly one of the rising stars of modern French cuisine -shines with clear brilliance, with a newly decorated Left Bank restaurant and more verve and stamina than ever.

Unquestionably, she is among the most talented female chefs in Paris, and in all of France. When Mikula speaks, her broad, expressive face lights up like an unfurling flower, and you can see, feel, taste that energy and enthusiasm with every dish, every bite of her authentic, Provencal-inspired cuisine.

Wisely, she has invested time in kitchens in her native Provence, in London and New York before making her way into the kitchen of Alain Passard's Arpege. On her own for the past three years, she is now showing at Les Olivades that she, too, has what it takes.

Right now, everything from meaty clams to her signature confit of quail,
to sweet farm-raised pork to original pots de creme grace her original, tantalizing menu. If you haven't already tried Mikula's caille confite, plump quail simmered to moist tenderness in bath of extra-virgin olive oil (rather than the traditional goose or duck fat of France's southwest), by all means go for it.

On a recent night, she paired the quail with tiny cubes of green apples
for a hint of acid, a showering of freshly toasted pine nuts for crunch and an almost smoky essence, all accented by an ever so faint touch of black truffle oil.

It would be nearly impossible to improve upon her almond-infused amandes gratinees, meaty clams (known as almonds of the sea) dotted with finely ground almonds and grilled to a warm tenderness. A hint of fresh coriander expanded the impact of the shellfish-almond duo, while a mix of mushrooms, onions and spinach (a modern approach to a la grecque) softened the flavors and added a garden-fresh edge.

Spare-rib lovers should adore her approach to an American favorite, with her travers de cochon fermier roti au miel et aux epices, unfatty ribs so meaty, chewy and tender, bathed in a sweet glistening sauce of honey and spices, so shiny you want to don ice skates and go for a spin.

Horn of plenty Desserts are full of hope and promise, with an original
and welcome corne d'abondance, a horn-of-plenty pastry cone filled strawberries and rhubarb and teamed up with a fine cinnamon ice cream.

Equally delicious was the pots de creme duo, one with a bright, licorice-rich anise flavor and the other infused with the flavors of rosemary and thyme. Fresh-from-the-oven madeleines and Bordeaux-inspired vanilla muffins, or canneles, won hearts and warmed spirits.

Other specialties to look forward to here include goat's cheese from
Mikula's native Nimes - picodon - aged in olive oil and perfumed with wild herbs; tender roasted baby lamb; breast of guinea hen with olives and polenta, and a well-priced regional wine list.

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Les Olivades,
41 Avenue de Segur,
Paris 7
Telephone 01-47-83-70-09, fax: 01-42-73-04-75.
Credit cards: American Express, Mastercard, Visa. Closed Saturday lunch, all day Sunday, Monday lunch and two weeks in August. Menus at 179 and 250 francs ($30 and $38); a la carte, 250 francs; lunch menu at 130 francs.

Back to Basics: The Paris Bistro

PARIS - Paris is full of those funky old bistros, with weird names like Le Buisson Ardent (the Burning Bush) and the sort of decor your great-grandmother might have created - wagon-wheel chandeliers, dusty murals of unexplained bucolic scenes and walls that are repainted every decade or so in classic eggshell tones.

One by one, these old spots - many of which lost their appeal as well as their clientele years ago - are being renewed in spirit but not in decor.

And I am all for that. One of the more successful is Le Buisson Ardent, one of a series of 1940s neighborhood bistros along what was then the wholesale wine market and is today the horror of modern architecture, the Jussieu university.

New owners - the Duclos brothers, Francois in the dining room and Philippe at the stove - have breathed new life into the Left Bank spot, which has managed to retain a village-like charm, with high ceilings, square-tiled floors and classic Thonet chairs.

With a line-up of dishes that are modern and creative, a bargain 90-franc ($15) menu at lunch and a 160-franc menu at lunch or dinner, they are sure to win.

Starters include warm goat cheese and ham wrapped in pastry, all set on a bed of julienned vegetables, followed by such classics as onglet de veau, deliciously chewy veal flank
steak, served with a sadly undercooked potato cake wrapped in bacon, and an excellent version of braised souris d'agneau, that meaty muscle attached to the tip of the bone of the leg of lamb.

Other tempting creations include roast chicken with buttery lentils; crab ravioli floating in a lemongrass broth, and roast suckling pig with seared foie gras. The wine list could use
some attention (our Beaujolais Moulin a Vent was drinkable, but no more), and the chef gets a bravo for attempting homemade bread, but it's anemic and needs great help.

It's the sort of place you would probably not wander into on your own, one of those nondescript cafes on a quiet side street. But take another look and you'll see that Le Mauzac is bursting at the seams with a faithful clientele that will follow the owners, Christine and Jean-Michel Delhoume, anywhere.

They once ran Les Pipos wine bar nearby. In one corner, a fat golden mongrel snoozes on the floor. In another, a hat rack tumbles over, burdened with the weight of winter. Men sit alone with their ballons de rouge and a platter of sausages, while a child sits at the bar doing his homework.

It's a pure 5th arrondissement neighborhood scene, and everyone who's here knows exactly what they want that day. Most don't even bother with a menu, since they came for the fat and juicy onglet de boeuf, beef flank steak, teamed up with you-can't-stop-eating-them frites, or the Friday specials of sauteed crevettes and a mound of deep-fried salt cod.

Another good bet might be the first-course platter of museau de porc, headcheese, sliced paper thin and topped with marinated onions and a puckery vinaigrette. On my last visit, I adored the filet mignon de porc, excellent pork tenderloin bathed in a creamy mustard sauce. The wine list is ever-changing, so it is best to check out the list at the bar before you settle down. Some good bets include Rhone
offerings from Corrine Couturier at Rabasse-Charavin, or Marcel Richaud in Cairanne. In good weather, the terrace is a fine place for lunch, along the tree-lined Rue de l'Abbe de
l'Epee.

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Le Buisson Ardent, 25 Rue Jussieu, Paris 5; tel: 01-43-54-93-02; fax: 01-46-33-34-77. Closed Saturday lunch, Sunday, the month of August and one week at Christmas. Credit cards: Visa, American Express. 90-franc lunch menu, 160-franc dinner menu. A la carte, 220 to 230
francs, including service and wine. -

Le Mauzac, 7 Rue de l'Abbe de l'Epee, Paris 5; tel: 01-46-33-75-22. Closed Saturday for dinner, Sunday and three weeks in August. Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club. A la carte, 150 to 180 francs, including service but not wine.

A Disappointing Search for the Perfect Fish

PARIS - Say ''fish restaurant'' and I'll be the first to get in line at the door.

So the second my calendar was clear, I reserved a table at the city's newest restaurant devoted to the fruits of the sea,
Aristippe.

Nestled not far from the Palais Royal, this 40-seat restaurant is an all-white affair, greeting you with a welcoming entry that reminds you of a clean, white front porch in the country.

Unfortunately, the second I stepped inside I was hit not by a fresh sea breeze but a stale, stagnant, fishy odor. And the evening pretty much went downhill from there.

Gilles Le Galles, last seen cooking at La Barriere de Clichy just outside Paris, has received a warm and positive response from the French press, an enthusiasm I simply cannot share.

Service at Aristippe - named for the Greek philosopher Aristippus, who maintained that people should devote their lives to the pursuit of pleasure - was slow as slow can be. Waiters seemed to have no training (except in how to ignore diners), and the food was universally boring, uninventive, stuck in the mud.

The most disappointing dish of the evening was named for one of France's greatest and most inventive fish chefs, Gilbert Le Coze, who died in 1994. With his sister, Maguy, he lit up the Paris food world in the 1980s at the popular fish restaurant Le Bernardin, which set new standards for freshness and simplicity.

Le Galles's version of Le Coze's langoustines roties was dull and faded, a meager serving of langoustines seared in their shells and bathed in a ho-hum sauce. (I dearly wanted to march into the kitchen and say to the chef: ''I knew Gilbert Le Coze. And you are no Gilbert Le Coze.'')

Equally drab was the main-course blanquette de lotte, not much more than a dreary portion of monkfish in a creamed sauce, topped with a slice of grilled bacon and a mound of
basmati rice. Likewise, the turbot (nicely paired with salsify, a most under-utilized winter vegetable) could have been any white fish, it was so lacking in personality.

If I had made the dull tarte fine aux pommes - thin apple tart - I would have thrown it in the garbage and gone back to the pastry board. The pastry had all the flavor of a piece of cardboard and the fruit lacked that delicious winter acidity that France's best apples supply.

The only redeeming quality came from Domaine Mardon's flinty white Quincy - a Sauvignon blanc with a smoky, spicy nose - well priced here at 95 francs (about $16) a bottle -

This is not a good moment for fish. Sushi lovers will not be happy after a trip to the new and trendy Lo Sushi, one of the chic and modern restaurants in the neighborhood of the
Champs-Elysees.

Oh how I wish it were better, for the lively, beautiful spot - designed by Andree Putman with its conveyor belt of sushi at the bar, multimedia screens clicking away, pastel-colored saucers to denote the price of each dish, and cheery waitresses - could be just what the doctor ordered. Alas, the sashimi was bland, while the rounds of rice-filled
sushi just made it to the edible mark.

Best bets here were anything filled with a touch of rich mayonnaise or sweet, ripe avocado. The cold sake was insipid. But the spot is so popular that the doorman (who, I'm sorry, more resembles a bouncer) turns hordes away. For this, you have to reserve days in advance?

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Aristippe, 8 Rue
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Paris 1;
tel: 01-42-60-08-80; fax: 01-42-60-11-13. Credit cards: Visa, Amex. Closed
Saturday lunch, Sunday and two weeks in August. 170-franc lunch menu;
220-franc tasting menu. A la
carte, 175 to 245 francs, including service but not wine. Lo

Sushi, 8 Rue
de Berri, Paris 8; tel: 01 45-62-01-00; fax: 01-45-62-01-10. Credit cards:
Visa, Amex, Mastercard. 15 to 40
francs a plate. About 150 to 250 francs a person, including beverages.

A Warm Paris Bistro Offers Soothing Fare

PARIS - Lovers of those old-fashioned Parisian family bistros should rush right over to Chez Catherine, a most classic 1930s bistro, where the welcome is warm, the food is satisfying and the wine list is sure to cheer on the grayest of Parisian days.

The chef is Catherine Guerraz, a tidy young woman raised in a restaurant family in France's southwest. Along with her gentle, outgoing husband, Frederic, she runs a fine traditional restaurant, with a colorful copper bar and walls filled with Art Deco mirrors, colorful patchwork tile floors and bric-a-brac.

On my most recent visit, I feasted on what is one of the city's best and freshest versions of sole meuniere, a giant whole sole dusted with flour and browned in sweet butter. Priced at 125 francs, this is a bargain worth the detour on its own.

But don't stop there: Try the steaming platter of warming pasta, tiny ravioles bathed in cream, tossed with mushrooms and a touch of crisp bacon.

Equally excellent is her cassoulet, here prepared with soothing white beans, chunks of sausage and earthy portions of duck confit.

Lovers of the tiny fish known as eperlans, or smelt, will happily devour the gargantuan platter of deep-fried fish that arrives hot from the kitchen, needing no more than a sprinkling of fine sea salt and a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice. I loved, as well, the soothing rabbit terrine, or compote de lapin, compact, full-flavored and fresh.

Situated on a drab little street lost behind the Galeries Lafayette department store, Chez Catherine caters to a well-heeled and cheery French clientele. They happily chat across tables, advising newcomers on what's best on the compact menu.

The wine list is brief, with some reds and whites worth discovering: Try the 1996 Cotes du Rhone Chateau d'Hugues, a ruby-red blend that's well priced at 145 francs a bottle.

We did not order the double-thick pan-fried steak served with its mind-boggling mountain of fries, but it is on my list for the next dinner at Chez Catherine, which will be very soon.

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Chez Catherine, 65 rue de Provence, Paris 9; tel: 01-45-26-72-88. Credit card: Visa, MasterCard. Closed Saturday, Sunday, and Monday evening. A la carte, 200 to 250 francs (about $33 to $42)

In the Garden of the Senses - Twin Chefs in Montpellier Blend the Modern and Traditional

MONTPELLIER, France - They are known as les Freres Pourcel, twin brothers who shook the French food world just a year ago as they captured the coveted third Michelin star for their modern, personalized restaurant on the outskirts of this southern city.

Along with their partner-maitre d'hotel-sommelier, Olivier Chateau, theylike to joke that they now have a star for each one of them.

The Pourcel story is a familiar French one. The twins Jacques and Laurent, sons of a local winemaker, grew up with a passion for the food that marries with the rich and heady local wines. As a double tour de force, they spread their wings around the country, Laurent apprenticing to such top French chefs as Michel Bras and Alain Chapel, and Jacques working under the tutelage of Michel Trama, Marc Meneau and Pierre Gagnaire. They opened their own restaurant, Le Jardin des Sens, in Montpellier in 1988 and seem never to have looked back.

Their restaurant-hotel matches their cuisine, with a look distinctly contemporary (the architect, Bruno Borrione, is known for his work at New York's Paramount and Royalton hotels) and a cuisine that intelligently blends tradition with modernity.

Be warned: The place is very hard to find, even for one with a good sense of direction and all the Michelin literature. (Internet users may visit the restaurant Web site - www.relaischateaux.fr - and print out a map.) - Vast, Tiered Dining Room Once you find it, you will enter into a garden of the senses: The vast

tiered dining room overlooks a garden in progress, with a 400-year-old olive tree, fruit trees and vines. Everywhere, from the Porthault linens to the Bernardaud china, you see that they have determined to do it right. My only complaints: prefer a more classic look and find the huge room more of a theater set than a dining room.

I also missed a female presence, one that inevitably lightens and softens what can sometimes be a sobering and off-putting grand three-star experience. The food is a model of modernity, although it is clear that the Pourcels are not about to abandon the great French traditions. Working with the regional larder of Provence and the Languedoc, they have at their disposal fresh oysters, extraordinary sea bass (loup de mer), plump farm pigeons and tender veal.

Their food is complex in ingredients, rich in flavor, but simple to understand: Who could not adore a warming first course of fresh wild cepe mushrooms paired with thin slices of country ham, a tender confit of shallots and garlic, leaves of baby spinach, all bathed in a sauce blending rich meat juices and fragrant walnut oil? Sometimes the combinations are daring, as in bonbons of crusty, deep-fried foie gras served with a sweet-and-sour salad of pears in vanilla and teamed with a salad featuring grilled-rapeseed oil.

Simpler, and so welcoming, is their salad of ''all the season's vegetables, served raw and served cooked'' tossed with a bouquet of herbs in a vinaigrette of olive oil and lemon. The drama continues, with rich filets of young pigeon served atop a sort of Moroccan pastry-wrapped pastilla filled with giblets and seasoned with a touch of curry, all served with pan-seared pears and pigeon juice with a touch of cocoa. And I defy anyone to find fault with the flawless roasted veal chop, simply deglazed with a touch of young garlic, and served with a tiny salad and stuffed Provencal vegetables.

Their food is audacious and architectural, like many of the world's chefs who are filled with that youthful exuberance. But the difference between the Pourcel brothers and those chefs in Sydney or New York is that the twins have training and tradition, a foundation that so many other young chefs lack. Add to this Chateau's extraordinary knowledge of the great wines of the Languedoc, and a good time is assured. - For longtime fans of Pile ou Face in Paris, it was a sad day indeed when they sold the thriving Michelin-starred restaurant three years ago.

Lucky for us, the three restaurateurs - Claude Udron, Alain Dumergue and Philippe Marquet - resurfaced in July on the Mediterranean coast, in Marseillan, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Montpellier. In this quiet seaside village, they opened the charming Chez Philippe, a casual and perfectly appointed bistro with a argain 100-franc ($18) menu.

Since opening day, the ''complet'' sign has been out for lunch and dinner, and reservations a week in advance are not out of order. With chef Sebastien Demeulle at the stove, Chez Philippe offers a choice menu of five starters, five main courses and five desserts, all with an accent on the anguedoc.

With such specialties as the layered vegetable omelette crespeou; eggplant with delicate goat cheese; poached oysters from the Bassin de Thau, and a gratin of mussels cooked in the local Noilly Dry, we have a veritable regional festival. – THE restaurateurs are always searching, for a new local wine, a new local cheese monger, a new local vegetable grower, a new local designer to embellish their already well-tended prize. Go with an eye toward pleasure, and hope that their exuberance, attention to detail and passion for food rubs off.

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– Le Jardin des Sens, 11 Avenue Saint-Lazare, 34000 Montpellier. Tel: 04-67-79-63-38; fax: 04-67-72-13-05. Credit cards: American Express, Diners Club, Visa. Closed Sunday,

Monday lunch and two weeks in January. Menus from 230 to 590 francs (about

$40 to $100). A la carte, 190 to 480, including service but not wine. Chez Philippe, 20 rue de Suffren, 34340 Marseillan. Tel: 04-67-01-70-62. Credit card: Visa. Closed Sunday dinner, Monday and Tuesday. Open for dinner only every night in July and August. Closed in January. 100-franc menu. A la carte, 150 to 170 francs, including wine and service

Winter Fare From 2 Paris Chefs Northern Dishes; A Vegetarian Menu

PARIS - I have followed the career of David Van Laer since the 1980s, when he first surfaced as an eager and impressive young chef at Jean-Pierre Vigato's La Manufacture just outside of Paris.

Three years ago he went off on his own to open Le Bamboche, a pint-sized restaurant that instantly took off, as diners applauded his combination of modern and classical French fare in a cozy Left Bank setting right behind the Bon Marche department store.

A few weeks ago he moved to larger quarters on the Boulevard du Montparnasse, and if a single meal is any sign, Van Laer should continue along his successful path. Considering the time and energy constraints of getting Le axence opened, the new menu differs little from Le Bamboche.

Throughout his career, Van Laer has kept true to his own tastes and origins, all the while weaving into the menu dishes from his native northern France. So chez Van Laer you find updated versions of such classics as the traditional presskoph head cheese (here laced with lobster rather than pork) and waterzooi, a sort of chicken pot-au-feu (here prepared with scallops, or coquilles Saint-Jacques).

Best dishes at a recent dinner included a rustic gratin dish with a rich parmentier de queue de boeuf, or mashed potatoes layered with bits of slowly cooked oxtail that had been shredded, all served with a gentle truffle puree.

He has a fine way with pigeon, and samples of two versions - one on the a la carte menu was served in a pastry-cased tourte and another on the bargain 190-franc menu was simply roasted - prove that this little bird deserves greater exposure. Both preparations showed up the bird's earthy richness and wintry appeal. The tourte was the sort of dish you expect to find on a fine bourgeois table, not a sunny yellow restaurant on Boulevard du Montparnasse: The pigeon has that properly livery, gamy flavor, enhanced by a sauce becasse and a few sips of J.L. Colombo's racy 1997 Syrah La Serine Pointue, a bargain at 150 francs.

Another good bet was the first course platter of ravioles (tiny raviolis) stuffed with shellfish and a fragrant truffle cream, and the lobster presskoph, a humorous and delicious headcheese bathed in an herb-rich vinaigrette. I was less enthused about the frogs' legs fricassee unsuccessfully paired with lentils, garlic cream and snails; and the remoulade of langoustines, which I would not have ordered had I known that the langoustines were raw. (It's a sacrilege to serve them raw, for it is in gentle cooking that the langoustines are allowed to bring out their iodine-rich flavor and soft mellow texture.) As ever, Van Laer's cellar offers some bargains and discoveries, including A. Ostertag's spicy GewŸrztraminer (the 1996 Vignoble d'Epfig at 180 francs), the Perrin brothers' astonishing white Coudelet de Beaucastel (the 1996 at 200 francs); J.L. Colombo's viognier-florah white Rhone Les Figuieres (the 1997 at 170 francs), and Michel Richaud's ripe Cotes du Rhone Cairanne (the 1997 at 120 francs).

The new decor is full of lots of bright sunny golds and terra-cotta, just a hint of the Mediterranean. Go see for yourself. With a bargain 190-franc menu at lunch and dinner, and valet parking to boot, how can you miss? - VEGETARIANS have never been treated very well in this city. Oh, sure, chefs will prepare vegetable-based dishes if you ask, but most of us really don't want to be a bother or stand out from the crowd. Leave it to Mark Williamson to find a way: Each day at his continually evolving restaurant, Maceo, Williamson offers a full-fledged vegetarian menu, with a selection of four first and main course vegetarian dishes. Each dish revolves around what's in the market and in season, so right now the menu is peppered with chestnuts and fennel, beets and dried peas, onions and apples. The newly refurbished main dining room at Maceo has been open since

September, with sparkling wooden floors, gorgeous stained wood panels in rich oak framing the restaurant's original beveled glass mirrors, and clever, modern lighting.

Gone are the old banquettes, dreary and heavy draperies and oppressive, outdated lighting that once were part of the old Le Mercure Galant. Best dishes sampled at a recent lunch include Williamson's fines lamelles de chevre croustillantes aux dattes et noix: a soul-warming phyllo-encased tourte filled with leeks, goat cheese, dates and pine nuts, served with a refreshing little salad of julienned carrots and celery root. Equally appealing was the cannelloni croustillant sur caviar d'aubergines, with phyllo canneloni wrapped around a delicious mushroom stuffing, served with a too-salty eggplant caviar and a topknot of salad. The risotto - a wildly inventive dish that included a parsley puree, mushrooms, snow peas, fava beans and another signature topknot salad - was less convincing. There was plenty of it, but the dish lacked focus, salt and that essential creamy richness of an authentic risotto. Wines, of course, are the main reason to come here. Two wonders include a fresh and refreshing Swiss white, Alain Neyroud's pinot blanc (the 1996 is priced at 240 francs) and a racy young Coteaux du Languedoc from Domaine d'Aupilhac (the 1996 is priced at 130 francs.)

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Le Maxence, 9 bis Boulevard du Montparnasse, Paris 6; tel: 01-45-67-24-88; fax 01-45-67-10-22. Closed Saturday lunch and all day Sunday. Credit cards: American Express, Visa. Menus at 190 and 320 francs. A la carte, 325 to 375 francs, including service but not wine. Maceo, 15, rue des Petits-Champs, Paris 1: tel: 01-42-97-53-85; fax: 01-47-03-36-93. Closed Sunday. Credit cards: American Express, Diners, Visa. Vegetarian lunch menu at 180 francs, 220 francs at dinner. Traditional menu 195 francs at lunch, 220 francs at dinner. Prices include service but not wine.

Ducasse IV: A Mixed Bag Questioning the Classics

PARIS - Alain Ducasse, with a total of six Michelin stars to his name, cannot afford to lose. With the recent unveiling of Spoon Food & Wine - his fourth restaurant in France - it is clear that he is on a roll. The man who has attempted to redefine how a grand French chef behaves (he defies the old rule that a chef's place is behind the stove) and to prove how long his arms can stretch (regular flights between his three-star restaurants in Monaco and Paris, with weekend appearances in his retreat at Moustiers, in Provence) is now redefining the modern concept of world food.

When would one ever pronounce in the same breath the words ''luxurious, refined and audacious'' with ''iceberg lettuce, BLT and pastrami on rye''? But they all apply to his newest effort, a small and smart spot right off the increasingly upmarket Champs-Elysées.

Spoon is perhaps France's first truly international restaurant, dipping into French, British, American, Italian, Chinese and Indian cuisine, with a décor that turns heads and, again, attempts to question classic traditions.

Rather than with tablecloths, tables are dressed with cloths that slip into slots, like elegant table runners. Some 70 magazines from around the world are there for guests to read, and notepads and pencils are set at each table to jot down one's thoughts. Along with knives, forks and of course spoons, each diner receives an elegant pair of Christofle bamboo chopsticks, which I never saw anyone use. Although the restaurant advertises a ''free'' second cup of coffee and warm steamed towels at the end of each meal, we were offered neither.

The menu is not organized in a normal first course, main course, cheese and dessert progression. Each section is divided into three columns, allowing diners to mix and match according to the main dish, the sauce, and rice or vegetable accompaniment. And in this era of something for everyone, the menu is bilingual French-English, with Asian and vegetarian dishes, and everything from pastrami sandwiches to South American cebiche to Chinese steamed ravioli.

Half the wines on the list come from America, with a fine showing from Australia and New Zealand, a true ''happening'' in France. And the cheese course (rather than the classic Brie, Camembert and Roquefort) consists of Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Cheddar and Stilton.

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and on that front Ducasse has a way to go. Some of it is not his fault. Truth be told, the public is not all that ready for such a reshuffling of the status quo. On a recent evening the well-heeled international crowd appeared downright confused as to how to order and how to eat. After studying the menu, the youthful Spanish couple at my left asked the waiter to order for them. They then asked that their white wine be put into ''a real ice bucket'' instead of the plastic ice-cube-less version. The iceberg lettuce served to them in a tall, elegant glass bowl was instantly transferred to a common plate for more practical eating.

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Up-to-Date Methods

Ducasse and his chefs use every method of cooking available - grills to roasts, rotisserie to woks, cooking over a hot stone, modern induction and even vacuum-packing - but the results at the moment are less than brilliant.

On our recent visit, everything that came from the kitchen looked and tasted very dry, and was by and large lukewarm. Even the wok-seared vegetables had that soggy, stewed airline quality about them. And though I am all for choosing what I eat and when, we are not always the best judge of what garnish goes well with each dish. The best finds on that visit included a full-flavored youm koumg soup, full of spice and laced with squid and shellfish, as well as designer macaroni gratin, rich and plump, with plenty of veal cooking juice to pour over it.

Less successful were the very dry, tasteless grilled squid served with a perky sauce of crushed preserved lemon, and a dry roasted veal steak cooked on the rotisserie.

With seating for no more than 70 and tabs that inch toward 500 francs (about $90) with a decent bottle of wine, this is not the sort of cuisine that is going to keep Ducasse at the top. The concept reminds me of a model for a worldwide chain. But I am sure Ducasse has already thought of that.

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Spoon Food & Wine, 14 Rue de Marignan, Paris 8. Tel: 01-40-76-34-44; fax: 01-40-76-34-37. Closed Saturday and Sunday. All major credit cards. A la carte, 200 to 300 francs.