The French World of Cheese: Of Excellence and Honor

PARIS -- Cheesemonger Marie Quatrehomme – the food trade’s very first female Meilleur Ouvrier de France – is elated. This Parisian is no longer alone. At the recent awards ceremony for the “best workers in France ‘’ in the cheese category, Marie hugged the newest female MOF, Josiane Deal of the cheese shop Lou Canestéou in the Provençal village of Vaison-la-Romaine. And this is no small matter.

In a day when the French 35-hour-work week continues to take slams, one rarely talks about the hordes of manual workers – the majority of them self-employed -- for whom that number of hours would be considered a laughable, half-time job.

The MOF story really begins at the end of the 19th century, when the French state realized that easily one third of its population – skilled manual workers in all trades – was being cheated of reaching for or attaining honors for their excellence. In a country that has always given greater credence to intellectual endeavors and thus honors, all the stone-masons and chefs, carpenters and bakers, tile experts and butchers were left to complete their careers – no matter how excellent – without a word of praise or recognition from the state.

As an attempt to correct the imbalance – and give manual workers a serious goal and official recognition – les Meilleurs Ouvriers de France was created. It is not an easy honor to attain, and is not – as many assume – a cushy rubber stamp or a pat on the back from the government for a nice job done. Today, some 180 manual trades -- from rare specialties such as glyptique (an expertise in the jewelry-making trade) and on to team efforts in the aeronautics industry -- undergo separate competitions every several years in France.

In Josiane’s case, the road to MOF began two years ago, when a application and months of study led her to her final goal. In order to be selected as a finalist – some 35 presented themselves as candidates, 12 where chosen as finalists, 6 were selected as laureates – Josiane and her fellow cheese shop owners from all corners of France were subjected to intensive written and oral examinations on the history of cheese, cheesemaking and cheese aging and presented an extensive array of no less that 30 cheeses to judges who tasted and commented on each and every cheese, examining aesthetics, aging quality, flavor. They even underwent exams in English as judges appeared as customers eager to sample a series of cheese, with advice on accompanying wines. Once chosen as a finalist, Josiane, along with her husband, Christian, spent every off hour for a year devoted to creating a “chef d’ouevre,” a complex cheese display designed to best present dozens of their very finest cheeses in their very best state. (MOF director Jean-Pierre Boisivon and his staff estimate that on the average a candidate devotes 1,700 hours to creating his work of art.) The final days also included rigorous written and oral exams.

Perhaps one of the best-know MOF in France is chef Paul Bocuse, who along with chef Joël Robuchon have supported the MOF chef category for years, tutoring and encouraging young chefs to reach for the stars. Today, the competition in the chef category is the largest in the MOF firmament, with some 500 candidates, 48 finalists and 24 winners in the latest competition. In recent years, the food trade category of MOF has expanded greatly, and now along with pastry chefs and butchers, chocolate makers and sommeliers, also includes maitre d’hotel. Except for the cheese category, there are no female MOF laureates in any of the other food trades.

As Boisivon points out, the entire program is about much more than just “giving away medals.” Along with acknowledging the excellent work of manual tradesmen, the program is there to transmit knowledge and expertise within the trade itself.

“When you have done something so very exceptional in your life, you are transformed. It is very important for a society to honor discipline and excellence. The route of the MOF is a great human adventure,” adds the MOF chief.

“There are some specialties – such as very specific styles of lace-making – that may have only five candidates. But if we kill the MOF competitions in that area, we could kill the tradition itself,” he notes.

Once the MOF award is given, laureates find their lives are changed forever. While devotion to a trade may be geographically limited to a village or a city, laureates find that requests to share their passions quickly cover the country. When I invited Marie Quatrehomme to lunch after the ceremonies, she declined, noting that she had an appearance at the French senate nearby, to give awards to young students. Meanwhile, Josiane and Christian hopped on the TGV south, arriving in Avignon to a soccer star’s welcome from friends and family.

“Her life will never be the same.” says Boisivon, who personally encouraged Josiane to go for the magic ring. Now she is preparing to take her chef d’ouevre around France, first to the Agriculture Fair in Paris, later to a major MOF event in Poitiers. As she awaits the arrival of her official white chef’s jacket with the bright red and blue MOF stripes around the collar, she’s there behind the counter at Lou Canesteou, advising, suggesting, and, yes, smiling just a little bit.

Fromagerie Quatrehomme
62, rue de Sèvres
75007 Paris
Telephone : 01 47 34 33 45
Fax : 01 43 06 06 96

Closed Sunday.

Lou Canestéou
10, rue Raspail
84110 Vaison-la-Romaine
Telephone: 04 90 36 31 30
Fax : 04 90 36 79 33

Closed Sunday and Wednesday afternoons.

Hiramatsu: How the Mightly Fall

PARIS -- One wonders if Paris is not becoming too much like New York, where trendiness and “of the moment” mean more than gastronomic quality or true fidelity to a favorite restaurant.

I have many friends who have probably never visited a restaurant more than once. Or a restaurant that’s been open more than a millisecond. They play “the first to know first to go” game in restaurant land. But no matter how much they praise the place, they never go back. Who has time if one is obsessed with only the new?

Hiramatsu is a great example. When this miniscule, 18-seat spot opened along the banks of the Seine on the Ile-Saint-Louis in October 2001, you could not beg, borrow, or steal a seat in this elegant jewel-box of a restaurant for months on end. The fact that it was awarded a Michelin star the following March (when barely no one had heard of it) only helped to fan the flame of success. Its reputation was not helped, however, by the practice of not honoring those much-coveted reservations. I heard of numerous examples of clients making reservations, confirming the table that day, and being turned away at the door like total strangers.

So when I called for reservation a few weeks ago, I was delighted to capture a table for two for lunch just two days in advance. When my companion and I arrived, we found we’d be sharing the restaurant with just four other diners, an American couple on their honeymoon, and a Japanese couple on their honeymoon. How the mighty fall.

OK, on to the food. I’d say the chef gets it right about half the time, which is not good enough for the prices charged. I DID sample one of the more memorable dishes of many months: I can close my eyes and still taste the remarkable seared fresh langoustines on a bed of macaroni stuffed with cauliflower. I know, it does not sound that remarkable, but the giant macaroni filled with the most delicious white purée was a taste of pure, soothing joy. Alongside, zucchini blossoms were stuffed with a mixture of olives and minced zucchini, a lovely pairing.

Did I say zucchini blossoms? On a stormy, cold and rainy day in January? Whatever happened to seasonality?

I could also have run into the kitchen to hug the chef for his outstanding starter of the freshest of ecrevisses – crayfish – paired with the most perfect smoked pigeon breast, all set on a bed of truffle-laced vegetables and surrounded by a luscious avocado coulis. Beautiful as well as delicious, a first rate dish if there ever was one.

Then things begin to go downhill. If I closed my eyes as I ate the roasted veal I might have guessed tuna or swordfish that was way overcooked and well over the hill. How could a kitchen offer such disparity? And that for 45 euros? No way.

The wine list is huge and if you want to drink a 1986 Cheval Blanc (600 €) a 1990 Côte-Rôtie La Ladonne (837 euro) or a 1989 La Tache (1200 €) it’s yours with a healthy credit card. But there are some finds, such as the Minervois Château Cabezac 2000 that we adored and felt just a little smug about finding it on the list, at 26 €. Other good bets include the 1996 Savigny-les-Beaune Domaine Michel Gaunoux at 45 €, a 1996 Château Montus Madiran at 48 €, and a 1998 Mercurey from Domaine Michel Juillot at 40 €.

Hiramatsu
7, quai de Bourbon
Paris 4
Telephone: 01 56 81 08 80
Fax: 01 56 81 08 81
E-mail: paris@hiramatsu.co.jp

Closed Sunday, Monday, three weeks in August and Christmas week. Menus at 50 and 70 € (lunch), and 92 euro (dinner). A la carte, 130 to 150 €.

Mon Vieil Ami: New and Modern on Ile Saint Louis

PARIS – I confess that when I saw that the famed Alsatian chef Antoine Westermann was opening a bistro on Ile-Saint-Louis, I had visions of red-checkered tablecloths, mounds of choucroute, and those old Alsatian favorites of baeckeoffe and kougelhopf. Not that any of these are bad, it just wasn’t what I thought Paris needed today.

Well, the moment I stepped foot inside his bright, airy, starkly modern new spot, my eyes lit up. The place says right out loud, Fun, Modern, Youthful. You enter into a high-ceilinged black and white dining room, with a giant black onyx table d’hôtes at one side, cozy tables for two along another. Glasses glisten in clear crystal, plates contrast in pure white, and towering white lilies flow out of a skyscraper-sized glass vase in the center.

The second you are seated, a chilled glass of Alsatian pinot blanc is set at your elbow, and you are prepared to be won over.

The menu, at first glance confused me a bit, for such unexpected and nontraditional combinations as leeks and mackerel, dorade (porgy) teamed up with shellfish in a casserole, and carrots, raisins and dates with roasted codfish.

But once the plates began coming, my fears were alleviated, my palate did handstands. What Westermann has created is a new voice, a voice that seems to say, Trust me, I know what I’m doing, and I am not simply going to drag out the 10 greatest hits one more time. Even dishes that I might not normally order – such as a moist and delicious pâté en croûte – was consumed with pleasure, both the moist pâté and the deliciously crunchy crust that encased it. I ate it all, including the nice bit of aspic and the accompanying mixed salad tossed with a welcome walnut vinaigrette. In short, the food is bright, copious and surprising, without leaving the Alsatian boundaries.

On a giant table in the center sits a loaf bread that must be a meter long, and all night long the youthful, friendly waiters slice and refill baskets and guests devour each and every crusty slice.

I adored the warm tuberous vegetable salad --- including tiny potatoes in their skins, penne-sized turnips, and Jerusalem artichokes – all bathed in a wholesomely delicious broth, topped with slivers of the thinnest, best foie gras and a showering of fresh green lamb’s lettuce, or mache. But even for me – a veritable salt lover – the dish was overly salty.

Other good starters include the salmon rillettes – you might define it as cooked carpaccio – finely ground fresh and smoked salmon shaped into three little scoops, like a sorbet. The portions looked huge but somehow, everything was devoured. Even the suspicious leeks in vinaigrette paired with the fresh, delicious pan-fried mackerel, seemed to make sense after all.

The evening was cold and rainy and the huge poitrine de veau, or veal breast braised in the giant Alsatian casserole with a bright shower of sliced carrots made the evening quite a bit more welcoming. Also cooked in an ochre Alsatian casserole were the braised fillets of fresh dorade, set on a bed of fennel, another combination that worked that night.

The dessert list includes some nice offerings, such as a good chocolate tart (that resembles but does not come close to the version made famous by Joël Robuchon), and the confit of apples paired with vanilla and pistachio ice cream, a dished designed for sugar fiends.

We drank the house pinot blanc from the house of Kenzler and talked about how underrated Alsatian wines can be, especially the whites that come from a land of little sun, but great soil.

Prices are good, with a daily menu of 38 €, lunchtime daily specials at 15 €, and a la carte offerings of entrees at 10 €, fish and meat and 20 €, and desserts at 8 €.

Even though the restaurant is brand new, it already has a nice neighborhood feel. We left wishing we lived down the block from My Old Friend.

Mon Vieil Ami
69 rue Saint Louis en l’Ile
Paris 4
Telephone: 01 40 46 01 35
Fax: 01 40 46 01 36

All major credit cards. Closed Monday, and Tuesday at lunch. A la carte, 30 to 38 €, including service but not wine.

Le Soleil: A Fine Flea Market Find

PARIS -- What is it about the thrill of a potential flea market find that puts us in such a good mood? Add to that the thought of a fine Sunday lunch, a few sips of good wine, and the companionship of friends and the stage is set for a very fine day indeed.

Take a look around you at the excellent flea market restaurant Le Soleil and everyone is smiling, laughing, looking like the well-fed lot that they are. Owner Louis-Jacques Vannucci is the ultimate host or bistrotier, back-slapping and hovering in the best of ways, making sure that each and every client is happy to be there.

Vannucci is a true gourmand himself, and loves nothing better than describing the pedigree of his fresh-caught fish, of his entrecote from Salers, or the giant block of sweet, golden butter that’s passed from table to table.

There is no printed menu, just a blackboard that travels from table to table. Choices here vary according to Vannucci’s whims, so you may not see the same dishes here time and again. But follow his lead and you’re sure to leave the bright, multi-colored 50’s-style restaurant with a feeling of satisfaction.

The food has a nice flair, with a perky celery remoulade, enhanced by a touch of acidity supplied by fresh green apple; and a nicely done foie gras mi-cuit set on a round of brioche and flanked by a touch of sweet aspic. At a recent lunch the owner offered a surprising and successful starter, a rectangle of puff pastry topped with slices of Jerusalem artichoke and thin slivers of foie gras.

Fat portions of confit of duck arrive set on a bed of sautéed potatoes, and thick, perfectly cooked lamb chops arrive with a welcoming vegetable accompaniment, a mix of fresh green beans, browned onions, and sautéed mushrooms offset by a bit of tomato and garlic.

For dessert there is always their famous, giant, baba au rhum.

The wine list offers some good choices, including the powerful 1999 Château Puech-Haut, a spicy red Coteaux du Languedoc that’s got the right balance of tannin and fruit, and is filled with intense flavors of blackberries and cassis. It is reasonably priced at 33 €. The wait staff wisely carafes the good wines, a practice normally reserved for grander restaurants.

Le Soleil
109 Avenue Michelet
93400 Saint Ouen
Telephone: 01 40 10 08 08
Fax: 01 40 10 16 85
E-mail: lesoleil@wanadoo.fr

Open daily for lunch, and Thursday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. 35 to 65 €, including service but not wine.

Parisian Dining: A Study in Contrasts

PARIS – Last week’s dining offered a supreme study in contrasts in Paris dining. First there’s Wadja, an old faithful Left Bank Montparnasse bistrot, comfortable as one’s favorite pair of shoes. Then one settles into the restaurant of the moment, Baccarat crystal’s sumptuous and other worldly Cristal Room in the private mansion in the well-bred 16th arrondissement.

I don’t think it would be possible to have a bad time at Wadja, where the welcome, the daily menu, the wine list and the jovial wait staff all make it all so easy to let down your hair, rest your elbows on the table, and dig into a good evening’s fun.

Old bistro classics – such as the heart-warming leg of lamb that’s cooked for a full seven hours --- gigot à sept heures – is almost always on the menu here, and when it is, do order this moist lamb dish, washed down with one of their bargain wines. We adored the meaty red Côtes du Rhône, the Domaine la Montagnette, from one of the region’s top wine cooperatives, Cave Estezargues, priced at 30 €. Daily specialties might include the freshest of Brittany’s scallops – coquilles saint Jacques -- simply seared, or a soothing starter of artichokes cooked à la barigoule – braised in white wine and herbs – served with shavings of Parmesan. Ask for a large bottle of water and the waiter playfully replies: water comes in half bottles, wine in full bottles.

Barracat’s Cristal Room is the kind of place about which no one can be blasé. The famed French crystal manufacturer has closed its doors on the famed Rue Paradis in the city’s 10th arrondissement and grouped together a show room, a museum and restaurant in one of the city’s grandest private homes, one might even say it’s a palace. Everything about this ultra-modern place glistens, shines, reflects, reverberates. And just about everything about this totally re-focused 1880’s mansion makes you gasp and even giggle, for everywhere your eye falls, the visual contrasts and surprises make you take notice, reflect.

It’s clear that the ubiquitous designer Philippe Starck had his hand in all of this, and the results are both good and bad. On the good side, I love that modern design can have a sense of humor, make us laugh. Most of all it makes us reflect on styles, the whys and hows. In the main dining room, the walls have been taken down to bare red brick and framed in gilt mirrors. All the while trappings of elegance, from the giant crystal chandeliers to the vast marble fireplace mantles, remind us that this house has serious bones. Crystal, of course is everywhere, in the form of chandeliers, candelabras, wine glasses, water glasses, carafes, carafes, carafes.

The dining room may glisten, but it sure lacks comfort. The banquettes are totally impossible: Posture is not even an issue, you just can’t sit comfortably or elegantly perched at the edge of a sofa. And the dainty, gilt, party-rental chairs are simply too tiny for most male bottoms. Now Baccarat will want to tar and feather me for this, but their wine glasses are simply inadequate for any wine appreciation or enjoyment. The footed, faceted crystal ware may be classic and pretty, but the bowl is too small to swirl or stick your nose into, and the thickness of the crystal gives you the impression that you’re drinking out of a jelly jar.

But on to the food and service, both of which merit at least a visit. I expected the food to be an after thought, and though it bends over backwards to be the chicest of chic – and awkwardly so – the food does have merit, despite the fact there seems to be a certain smug dismissiveness of the real pleasures of gastronomy. An amuse bouche of frothy langoustine cappuccino topped with the thinnest sliver of fresh black truffles was delicious --- redolent of the sea, warm, soothing, with a nice long finish. I can’t imagine any foie gras lover not wanting to go back for the foie gras crème brulée, truly a gratin dish filled with shimmering foie gras topped with a sugary crust. The contrast of the rich and fatty duck liver and the gentle sugar sweetness was truly brilliant. I didn’t quite get the point of what they called “ephemeral oyster ravioli” -- a single plump oyster from Prat ar Coum in Brittany – surrounded by a touch of jelly and bathed in cream. But what there was of it, was delicious. Their already famed club sandwich – a mile-high classic of chicken, bacon, mayo and plenty of toasted pain de mie – is indeed quite something, but I for one have never figured out how one is supposed to attack a club sandwich without disfiguring it as you dismantle and devour. The grilled dorade – served whole and cooked to perfection – would be hard to improve on and the thick veal chops was equally fine. A cheese course of the creamy, fragrant seasonal cow’s milk Mont d’Or from the Jura was indeed delicious but the accompanying “poire à croquer” was just that, to crunch with vigor. It was rock hard. The wine list offered some good buys but they were out of most of them that night. We loved what they did have in stock, an always reliable red Faugères from the Languedoc, well-priced at 25 € a bottle. (But do watch the prices: We were charged 25 € for a bottle of Faugeres, but then 54 € for three glasses of a less interesting Savigny les Beaune, offered by the glass!). The bread needs improvement and chocolate chip cookies at the end are simply silly. Reservations are among the most precious in town. My hairdresser told me friends paid a bribe to get in.

Wadja
10 rue de la Grand Chaumière
Paris 6 Telephone 01 46 33 02 02

Closed Sunday and Monday at lunch. Credit card: Visa. A la carte, 35 € per person, including service but not wine.

Cristal Room
11, place des États Unis
75116 Paris
Telephone : 01 40 22 11 10
Fax : 01 40 22 11 99
email: cristalroom@baccarat.fr.

Closed Sunday. All major credit cards. 25 to 86 € per person, including service but not wine.

Two New Left Bank Casuals

PARIS -- Is there a better symbol of French gastronomy than a simple, sublime, classic roast chicken? Golden, fragrant, its skin crisp and crackling, the humble poulet rotie is one of the world’s greatest dishes, one that can stand on its own or serve as a soothing escort to all manner of potatoes, crying out to be paired with a red wine of some stature.

In comes Guy Savoy, once again, to show us the way. His newest endeavor in the Parisian restaurant world is a remake of one of the city’s older restaurants – the Left Bank Atelier Maitre Albert – a warming spot with a giant fireplace at one end, a modern rotisserie at the other. Along with chef Emmanuel Monsallier and director Laurent Jacquet, Savoy has managed once again to figure out what we want today, and deliver.

Walking in after the opera late one Saturday night, the place felt as though it had been open for decades, as tables for two, for four, for ten diners filled the room with sounds of fun and good times. The brief menu includes some Savoy classics – such as my ever favorite huitre en nage, or chilled oysters in a bed of soothing oyster jelly -– and of course that golden rotisserie chicken, teamed up with a warming potato purée. Daily specials might include a perfect roasted duck and a potato gratin (with potatoes too thinly sliced for my taste).

The wine list offers some old favorites such as the fruity, lively Savigny les Beaune from Simon Bize (the 2000 priced at 47 €) or Jean Noel Gagnard’s sterling red Chassagne Montrachet (the 1999 priced at 49 €) both perfect for pairing with poultry.

Another plus is that the restaurant’s hours fit all lifestyles, open evenings only, Monday through Wednesday from 6:30 to 11:30, Thursday through Saturday, 6:30 to 1 am.

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Another Left Bank newcomer worth visiting is Au Gourmand, a tiny restaurant the size of a railroad car just across from the Luxembourg Gardens. Chef Christian Courgeau and partner Hervé de Libouton offer an unpretentious, carefully conceived little spot that’s run with care and attention. There is a single, 33 € dinner menu with changing daily specials that might include a brilliant starter of two fresh Brittany langoustines dusted with coarsely chopped pistachios and served with a tiny tangle of greens (a bit too salty for my palate) or a superb main course of a thick, giant pork chop – cote de cochon – cooked rare, a delight. I also loved the pairing of filet of dorade set upon a bed of crushed potatoes. The fish and potatoes had the very same texture, yet stood out on their own in the most soothing way.

If you have a sweet tooth, don’t miss the pain perdue aux cerises, classic French toast paired with super sweet cherries and a dollop of pistachio ice cream.

Atelier Maître Albert
1, rue Maître Albert
Paris 5
Telephone 01 56 81 30 01 Fax 01 53 10 83 23

All major credit cards. Open dinner only, Monday through Saturday. A la carte, about 40 euros per person, including service but not wine.

Au Gourmand
22 rue du Vaugirard
Paris 6
Tel/Fax 0l 43 26 26 45

All major credit cards. Closed Saturday and Sunday. Lunch menus at 22 and 29 euros, dinner at 33 euros, including service but not wine.

Modern Elegance at the Meurice

PARIS --- Yannick Alléno is one Parisian chef that is more than content.

‘’Complet, Complet, c’est genial!” he says with satisfaction at the thought that, since he arrived on September 1st, the Meurice Hôtel’s dining room has been playing to a full house at lunch and dinner.

This lean, muscular, 35-year-old chef seems more than at home and at ease in this grand hotel, where he oversees no less than 72 chefs in a series of three kitchens spread side by side in the hotel’s vast underground workshops.

But it is clear that his focus and his pride shines upon the 50-seat dining room, a gracious and elegant room filled with shimmering crystal chandeliers and antique beveled mirrors that reflect large bay windows framed in rare marble. Here, the youthful staff dressed to the nines in mourning coats, with hair slicked back and with the posture of ballet stars, whirl about as if they are part of the show, and they are.

For me, the Meurice – long the hotel of the aristocratic, where you are encouraged to accept luxury as a birthright – is the jewel in the collection of the city’s grand hotels. And here, a special meal orchestrated by Alléno (who was awarded two Michelin stars in 2002 while chef at the restaurant Les Muses in the Hôtel Scribe) and his staff can appear magical.

While not known for its bargains, the Meurice dining room’s 55 € lunch menu is a good place to cut your teeth: Here, the choice is vast but not overwhelming, and offers a good look at Alleno’s fare, which I find a surprising jig saw puzzle, served with grand elegance and a distinctly modern sensibility.

As soon as Alléno arrived at the Meurice he completely overhauled the kitchens, adding state of the art ovens and a rotisserie that flatters his top quality ingredients, including a gorgeous, moist roasted duck that is paired with wild cepe mushrooms and baby turnips infused with the wintry flavors of juniper berries.

His food has style (lots of rounds upon rounds, squares upon squares), and while flavors are generally soft in texture, there is always a touch of crunch at the end, filling our natural desires for a bit of snap, crackle and pop on the palate.

Luncheon specialties may range for the purely simple – a superb mound of tiny girolles mushrooms cooked in the sherry-like vin jaune from the Jura – to a wintry fricassee of suckling pig, anointed with sage butter and a fresh artichoke mousseline.

I spent a morning with Alléno in his kitchen, and snapped up some home-style recipes that have already been incorporated into my own repertoire, including a winning gratin of Swiss chard stems: Poach match-stick sized stems in chicken stock, layer in a gratin dish with sprinklings of grated Parmesan, heat beneath a broiler, then finish it all with miniature cubes of Parmesan, tiny bits of celery leaf and bay leaf and a shower of well-toasted pine nuts.

No matter the menu, his food combinations are always out of the ordinary, but never go over the edge toward wackiness. For instance, thin slices of abalone – ormeaux – cooked in salted butter seem right at home with the earthy nature of fresh white shell beans and wild cepe mushrooms.

A favorite at a recent dinner was his rotisserie saddle of lamb from small farmers in the Languedoc paired with the classic white shell beans, here slow-roasted in the oven in stock, with a touch of garlic, sherry vinegar, parsley, tomatoes and the almost-smoky, just-right-spicy red pepper from Espelette in France’s Basque country.

The wine list can get pricy, but sommelier David Retif assures a small selection of wines priced from 34 to 49 euros, also available by the glass. Selections might include the Marsanne-grape based white Saint-Péray from the Voge vineyards, or a Loire Valley red from Château Fosse Seche.

Le Meurice
228 rue du Rivoli
Paris 1
Telephone: 01 44 58 10 10
Fax: 01 44 58 10 15
Website: www.meuricehotel.com

Closed Saturday lunch and all day Sunday. 55 € lunch menu. A la carte, 100 to 155 €, including service but not wine.

Intelligent Modern in Burgundy

Chassagne-Montrachet, France --- The idea seems so obvious, it’s amazing that more people don’t pick up on it. Take a group of winemakers without a showcase for their wines or a fine place to entertain clients. Add a young, talented and ambitious chef without deep pockets. Put them together and you have an instant success in the name of Le Chassagne, a lively, up and coming restaurant in the center of a brand name Burgundian village.

This is not the last time you will hear the name Stephane Leger, the extremely smooth, sure-footed chef at Le Chassagne. Photo of Stephane Leger at Le Chassagene restaurantThe 34-year-old native of the Jura grew up in a family that revered food and wine. But thankfully, Leger takes Burgundian cuisine beyond the strangling tradition of snails, coq au vin, and rich red wine sauces. He loves fish and shellfish and honors them beautifully. He considers his good classic French but I’d call it Intelligent Modern. With a menu that is sprinkled with sweet and meaty Brittany langoustines teamed up with crunchy touches of citrus, wild turbot cooked on the bone, a wide array of game specialties, and the irresistible plump Bresse poultry paired with fragrant morel mushrooms, this is food you want to embrace, wrap your arms around, rejoice.

I can still taste his delicious risotto, bathed in a blend of basil oil and a touch of golden, flowery saffron, and fine, fresh Saint Pierre from Brittany’s waters. Equally adept was his pairing plump and rare Belon oysters with my favored langoustines, a dish that shows up his talents: Leger ekes out brilliant, fresh, intense flavors that make us sit up and take notice. Like many other dishes on his menu, this dish makes you aware of flavors that are clean, clear, concise and close to the earth.

The food is copious and varied without being cumbersome, and our lunch included a rich pumpkin soup (just a few sips, to entice you and put you in the mood) as well as a tomato gaspacho laced with rich shellfish essence.

And the wines are, well, about as classy as they come. Chassagne-Montrachet, especially the whites, are among my favorite wines. Burgundy unquestionably produces the world’s best chardonnays, and here the expression of soil, sun, a delicate balance of fruit, acid and gentle tannins make the wines exceptionally food friendly. You almost want to curl up by the fire with their wine list, sipping as you peruse the treasures: There are more than a dozen white Chassagne-Montrachet priced from 49 to 63 euros, representing the best winemakers of the region. We feasted on Bernard Morey’s 1997 Chassagne Montrachet Les Caillerets (55 €), an exquisite, refined, intensely pleasurable wine, one that was beautifully balanced and more than at home with Leger’s carefully constructed cuisine.

We are in cheese land and Le Chassagne does not let cheese lover’s down: Try the ripe, earthy full-flavored Soumaintrain, the rare Aisy Cendre (the only cheese that is coated with true cinders from local vine clippings) and an abundance of light local goat’s cheese. Just as appealing is the warm Epoisses served with a salad of lamb’s lettuce tossed with fragrant walnut oil.

For dessert, don’t pass up the seared, grilled fresh pineapple escorted by a fragrant vanilla sorbet and a tiny glass of coconut milk.

A young, energetic staff that is well-informed and clearly dedicated to their work, and a lively clientele that clearly are having a good time makes the meal that much more pleasurable.

Energy and commitment can also be found not far away in the charming city of Beaune, in the name of the highly successful wine bar and restaurant Ma Cuisine, run by Fabienne and Pierre Escoffier and their son, Photo of the Escoffier's at Ma Cuisine restaurant Romain. You feel instantly at home in the crowded little spot off the beautiful passage in the center of town.

The food here is simple and family-like, with abundant portions of mussels in cream; a delicious version of parsleyed ham (jambon persillé) served with a green salad; meaty skate (raie) teamed up with an abundance of capers; and a fine rendition of ratatouille, served warm and topped with grilled sardines. Burgundian wines, of course, are the foundation of the wine list here, and I can still taste the smooth and elegant, long-lived red Pommard from the hands of Hubert de Montille (Les Pezerolles 1997) as well as the owner’s finely recommended, blackberry-scented Morey Saint Denis 1999 from the trusted Domaine Henri Perrot Minot.

While wandering the streets of Beaune, make sure to stop in at Jean-Luc Girard’s lovely shop offering fine kitchen antiques (everything from canning jars to baskets, old kitchen cutting boards to old work tables) as well as Michel Graglia’s poster shop, Graglia, offering an abundance of vintage posters, many focusing on food and wine.

Le Chassagne
4, impasse de Chenevottes
21190 Chassagne-Montrachet
Telephone: 03 80 21 94 94
Fax: 03 80 21 97 77

All major credit cards. Menus at 28, 39, and 59 €. A la carte, 65 to 135 €, including service but not wine.

Restaurant Cave Ma Cuisine
Cave Sainte Helene
Passage Sainte-Helene
21200 Beaune
Telephone: 03 80 22 30 22
Fax: 03 80 24 99 79

Closed Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, August, and school holidays. A la carte, 35 to 40 euros, including service but not wine.

Quatre Faubourg
Jean-Luc Girard
4 rue du Faubourg Bretonniere
21200 Beaune
Telephone: 03 80 22 96 18.

Michel Graglia
21 rue Maufoux
21200 Beaune
Telephone/Fax: 03 80 22 23 50.

A Breath of Fresh Air in Paris

PARIS – Following Joel Robuchon’s lead into the world of the more casual any-time-of-day gastronomy with his Left Bank Atelier, respected chef Alain Dutournier has tossed his hat into the ring. Pinxo, a clean, modern, all black and white restaurant near the Place Vendôme on the Right Bank, offers a nice breath of fresh air, a new approach. Open seven days a week from noon until midnight, the restaurant will help break France’s traditional strict dining hours and customs.

With a bar open to the small, compact kitchen, and a casual atmosphere, the restaurant is designed to accommodate those who want a single quick bite as well as diners who are willing to wile away an afternoon or evening sampling Dutournier’s creations. The chef is a proud son of France’s southwest and a staunch defender of all its products, and so it is no surprise to find the region’s specialties honored here. From the marvelous beef “race blonde d’Aquitaine” to tiny chipirons (baby squid) and on to a cool piperade (eggs, red peppers, onions, tomatoes and ham), the brief menu takes us on a fine tour of the region.

The wine list, wisely, is arranged not by region or color but by price, with bottles ranging from 28 € for a Domaine de Deurre Côtes du Rhône Villages Vinsobres 2000 to 85 € for a Volnay 1er Cru Marquis d’Angerville 2000. Wines by the glass range from 5 to 7 euros.

I loved almost everything about the place and assume some of the nicks will be taken out in time. Service was hesitant and at times just wrong (bringing items we had not ordered), and some ingredients just didn’t have that ultra-fresh flavors we expect of Dutournier.

Miniature heads of lettuce the size of a Belgian endive are all the rage right now, and he kicks in with a welcoming Salades Croquantes, a generous mix of a trio of crunchy hearts of lettuce, sliced mushrooms, shallots, radish sprouts and tomatoes. So good to know that green salad is back, but too bad the tomatoes had that stale, I’ve-been-sitting-around-too-long flavor.

His soup – better than almost anyone’s mom – is brilliant, a superb mix of herbs, mushrooms, a touch of ginger, and fresh beans, all warming and energizing. And I literally devoured his tiny spring roll of fresh crab, a fine rendition of an Asian classic.

I am a huge fan of the sweet, crunchy, tiny squid known as chipirons and no one does it better than someone from France’s southwest. Here they are cooked “a la plancha,” or on a flat griddle, seasoned with a touch of ginger, mildly spicy pepper and garlic chips. Alas, the garlic chips were bitter, marring an otherwise delightful dish .

When you go, do order the beef filet, aged to perfection and cooked perfectly rare. The meat is served with an unusual combination of cubed Charlotte potatoes bathed in a healthy tapenade, or black olive purée.

With the meal, we loved the Jurancon Sec Clos Uroulat Cuvée Marie 2000, an always appealing white from the Petit Manseng grape, and priced at 35 €.. Most items – which can be mixed and matched – range from 7 to 22 €.

Dutournier came up with the restaurant’s name from the verb “pintcher,” which means to capture something with a quick gesture., and not like many have assumed, the Spanish pinchos or tapas eaten with one’s fingers.

Alain Dutournier has not been sleeping. This summer he took advantage of the holiday period to also re-decorate his Michelin two-star restaurant – Carre des Feuillants -- transforming the large space off of Place Vendôme into a sober, modern, calming spot. The food is as good as ever, with a fabulous terrine of foie gras, an updated version of the classic wild hare lievre à la royale, and an oyster starter – that included a superb “terrine” of fresh oysters and a little tartare of algae that is worth a trip all on its own.

Pinxo
9. rue d’Alger
Paris 1
Telephone: 01 4 020 72 00
Fax: 01 40 20 72 02

All major credit cards. Open daily. A la carte, from 20 to 60, including service but not wine.

Carre des Feuillants
14, rue de Castiglione
Paris 1
Telephone: 01 42 86 82 82
Fax: 01 42 86 07 71
Web: www.perso.wanadoo.fr/carre.des.feuillants.

All major credit cards. Closed Saturday and Sunday. 58 € lunch menu, 138 € dinner menu. A la carte, 150 to 200 € including service but not wine.

Of Passions and Country Bistros

Quarré-les-Tombes, France -- When the French are passionate about something, and proud of what they do, there can be no end to their sharing those qualities with their guests. And Francis Salamolard of the charming Auberge de l’Atre at the edge of the Morvan forest in northern Burgundy is just that kind of Frenchman.

Along with his wife, Odile, this chef/innkeeper/mushroom expert and wine aficionado somehow juggles all the balls in the air, all the while playing perfect host in the lovingly restored auberge overlooking a forest of oak, beech, birch and evergreens that look as though Christmas might be right around the corner.

The fire glows in the hearth at both ends of the spotless hotel-restaurant, as Francis races around like a magician, excited about the morning’s mushroom harvest. Although French mushroom lovers predicted a dreadful fall crop due to the summer’s draught, the actual harvest has been small but exceptional in flavor: meaty mushrooms that are fragrant and powerful, and chefs are managing to extract extraordinary flavors from their treasures.

I wanted a simple weekday lunch and Francis came through, with a model platter of raw vegetables, with all manner of cucumbers and tomatoes, beets and celery root, melon and a touch of tomato. The requested main course --- nothing but mushrooms -- arrived fit for the leader of any kingdom, an avalanche of cepes (wild boletus), girolles (chanterelles) and pleurots (feather-edge mushrooms) cooked with precision and attention to detail with just a tiny bit of oil, a shower of shallots, a tangle of fresh parsley. From his vast cave came a sterling bottle of crisp, mineral-rich Chablis 1er cru from Francis and Jean-Marie Raveneau, their 1997 cuvée that somehow manages to offer all things for the palate: tastes of gunflint, bonbons, butter, and yet is refreshing and long-lasting in the mouth. Remarkable. And all the more remarkable when paired with a perfect platter of just-picked wild mushrooms, so good we asked for seconds.

Save some wine for the cheese course, for this is Burgundy cheese country: We savored the dreamy, unctuous double-cream Chaource, the golden, buttery, Epoisses-like Soumaintrain; and a local dry goat’s cheese, all served with a basket full of fresh walnuts.

I am already making plans to return, to sample some meatier fare: rabbit terrines and a saffron-tinged blanquette of monkfish; roasted guinea hen with the aromas of fresh rosemary; pigeon flavored with the local honey; and of course Burgundy’s famed chicken with tarragon cream. This sweet spot deserves every bit of its Michelin star.

If one ever doubted that those picture-book village bistros still existed then that person has not been to Les Minims, a solid and old-fashioned BurgundianPhoto of the bistro Les Minims bistro in the center of the charming village of Semur-en-Auxois. Here Eve-Lyne Bouy holds court, barking orders and acting tough, like all good bistro owners, amidst a tried and true décor of mahogany-colored moleskin banquettes and walls decorated with photos of past and present wine harvests. (Among the bric a brac displayed is the bistro’s award for receiving 3rd prize from the village for its Christmas window decoration in 2001.)

But as ever, it’s what’s on the plate here that counts and there is plenty of it – from tete de veau to pied de porc, clafoutis and profiteroles. But there is also lots of invention here, including a warming and welcome plate of ravioli filled with the ripe and pungent cow’s milk cheese, Epoisses. Equally delicious was the updated versions of the popular regional jambon persillé – or cubes of ham in a parsley-seasoned gelatin. Here, chunks of chicken as well as ham were suspended in the flavorful gelatin, making for a refreshing starter. The main course chicken in tarragon cream was all it should be, with a healthy hit of pungent tarragon.

For a simple bistro, the wine list is quite exceptional: Try Vincent Girardin’s red Chassagne-Montrachet 2000, a ruby-colored pinot noir rich with flavors of blackberries and cherries and well-priced here for 36 €.

An equally good meal and good time was had at La Pierre Sauvage, a country auberge/bistro just outside the city of Macon in southern Burgundy. This is a pastoral, picture-postcard corner of France, filled with compact farms of golden stone.

Sitting in the sun on the terrace of this pleasing auberge, we enjoyed a modern Burgundian version of snails, here bathed in a touch of cream, plenty of tomatoes, three different kinds of mushrooms and a touch of parsley. Sopping up the light, refreshing sauce with plenty of country bread, we sipped a simple Macon Villages from the nearby Domaine de la la Croix Senaillet.

The menu here – with fine cooking from chef-owner Annie Lionet -- offers something for everyone, including an excellent version of the local fromage fort – a strong cheese that combines aged goat cheese, a touch of Burgundian marc or eau-de-vie, and white wine. The cheese literally bursts in your mouth, and makes you want to come back for more.

Auberge de l’Atre
les Lavaults
89630 Quarré-les-Tombes
Tel: 03 86 32 20 79
Fax: 03 86 32 28 25
email: labergedelatre@free.fr
web: www.auberge-de-latre.com

Closed Tuesday dinner and all day Wednesday. Menus at 39.50 € and 47.50 €. A la carte, 35 to 65 €, including service but not wine. All major credit cards.

Les Minimes
39 rue des Vaux
21140 Semur en Auxois
Tel: 03 80 97 26 86.

Closed Sunday evening and all day Monday. About 35 € per person, including service but not wine. Credit card: Visa

La Pierre Sauvage
Col des Enceints
71520 Bourgvilain
(15 km from Mâcon, between Pierreclos and St-Point Lamartine)
Tel : 03 85 35 70 03
Fax : 03 85 35 74 71

Closed Tuesday and Wednesday in summer; Open Friday night to Sunday night in winter. A la carte, about 25 € per person, including service but not wine. Credit card: Visa.

Taillevent Celebrates 30 Years Of Three Stars

PARIS -- This has not been an easy year for France’s top restaurants. There’s the economic crisis, the suicide of Bernard Loiseau of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or, and the recent retirement of Champagne’s Gerard Boyer of Les Crayeres in Reims, reportedly linked to Loiseau’s death.

So it was a pleasure to put a positive spin on it all with the recent celebration of Paris’s Taillevent’s 30 years of three Michelin stars, the guide’s top rating that is currently shared by only 25 restaurants in France, 15 of them in the provinces, 10 in Paris.

In 1946, Andre Vrinat opened the first Taillevent in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, receiving his first Michelin star in 1948. In 1950, the restaurant moved to its current quarters --- an elegant and classic hotel particulier --- and by 1956 was awarded a second Michelin star. Andre Vrinat’s son and current owner – Jean Claude—joined the restaurant in 1962 and by 1973 the restaurant had gained the Michelin three-star rating. That same year, three other restaurants shared the honor. Chefs at two of them – Alain Chapel of La Mère Charles in Mionnay, and Jacques Pic of Pic in Valance --- have since passed away, and Claude Peyrot of Le Vivarois in Paris closed his restaurant several years ago.

Since 2002 the kitchen at Taillevent has been in hands of Alain Soliveres, who seems to be leading the restaurant down a positive path. Taillevent will be ever respectful of classic cuisine but both Vrinat and Soliveres realize that classic need not mean worn or outdated. The celebration meal, and careful choice of wines, showed just what Taillevent can be and can mean some 30 years later.

A starter of chilled tomato gaspacho, studded with capers and celery and embellished with a scoop of mustard ice cream set the stage for things to come. Bright, pretty, and full-flavored, the appetizer shouted modern and elegant all at the same time.

The first course viennoise de sole aux ecrevisses was a wink at two of the most classic ingredients of French cuisine. Perfect rectangles of moist and delicate sole were escorted by the mellowest of crayfish, almost sauceless and pure. Coincidentally, the waiters poured the 1999 vintage of Domaine Henri Gouge’s Nuits Saint-Georges Les Perrières from glistening carafes, the same wine I sampled on my very first visit to Taillevent in 1979. The golden, rich, and complex wine married perfectly with the sole, with neither overwhelming the other.

As another nod to modernity, the 40-year-old Solivérès – born in the south of France -- offer an earthy bowl full of epeautre du pay de Sault en risotto, or spelt from the region of Mont Ventoux in northern Provence, cooked like a risotto in plenty of rich stock. Tiny bits of arugula were intertwined with the grains, and all was topped by a generous portion of the tiniest of girolles, or baby chanterelle mushrooms. Here, a modern French wine – from young cult winemaker Laurent Vaillé at the Domaine de La Grange des Pères in the Languedoc --- brought the pleasures of the dish full circle. The poor man’s wheat, as épeautre is known, cried out for the crispness of and coolness of this solid white, a Roussanne-based wine dripping with comforting flavors of honey and butter.

For his classic touch, Solivérès looked back to Taillevent himself, 14th century chef to French royalty who was the first to codify French cuisine in the form of a manuscript published in 1373, le Viandier. Soliveres offered his rendition of Taillevent’s roast pork, with a succulent roasted suckling pig, anointed with such rustic ingredients as chestnuts, and lentils, as well as grapes and pears. Spicy, ginger and cinnamon-flecked meatballs – or caillettes -- were made of pork liver, hearts, brains and tongue and wrapped in delicate caul fat.

To accompany this creation, Jean-Claude Vrinat hesitated between his father’s favorite wine – the Bordeaux La Mission Haut Brion and a Burgundian Volnay Marquis d’Angerville. His father’s love won out, and this full, rich red at its height of maturity blended seamlessly with the complex pork offering.

A pure passion fruit soufflé – served simply and elegantly in the fruit’s shiny purple shell – closed the meal, with sips of 1925 Bas Armagnac to send diners on their way.

Taillevent
15, rue Lamennais
Paris 8
Telephone 01 44 95 15 01
Fax : 01 42 25 95 18
email : mail@taillvent.com
web : www.taillevent.com

Closed August, Sunday, Monday, and holidays. All major credit cards. A la care, 110 to 140 euros, including service but not wine.

Two Tables in New York: Daniel and Annisa

New York, NY – Making the new seem amazing without being bizarre, making the tried and true seem totally refreshed, doing this day in and day out year after year, that’s the mark of a great chef.

I have followed Daniel Bouloud’s inventive cuisine for more than 25 years, and he shows absolutely no signs of letting up. Take a table in his 1930’s Hollywood-style dining room – words like plush and lush and posh come to mind – on New York’s Upper East Side and let him and his attentive staff take care of you.

Daniel’s cuisine is steady but far from boring, and for sure he is one of those chefs that manage to surprise you, staying one step ahead of the game, presenting you with a dish before it becomes a cliché. But behind it all, you know that his standards are high and he’s not just there to make waves but make pleasure.

Sometimes new is just the tiniest twist on a classic, like his recent main course of veal cheeks cleanly flavored with rosemary, miniature Thumbelina carrots, a mound of spinach, and – the surprise – the creamiest of polenta flavored with a welcome, refreshing touch of citrus.

Earlier this year, Daniel created an astonishing, multicourse feast that covered all bases, dipping into Asian flavors with a lemongrass-cured salmon appetizer; setting us clearly in France with seared tuna embellished with peppers from Espelette in the Pays Basque, tiny bites of crisp socca (chickpea batter crepe) from Nice and a remoulade Nicoise full of the flavors of the Mediterranean; and taking us to Italy with an unforgettably smooth and satisfying ricotta and fontina ravioli showered with shavings of fresh black truffles.

World cuisine it is, and he pulls it off with finesse, flavor, bravura and clearly lots and lots of hard work, discipline and planning. While dining in America I never get enough of the country’s top-rate crab, and Daniel filled the void with an astonishing salad of North Pacific Dungeness Crab, soft textures offset by the crisp of cucumber, the sweetness of mango and the surprise of a summer roll stuffed with the bright flavors of mint, coriander, sweet pepper and mint.

Daniel spares nothing in terms of quality ingredients – whether they are sweet Nantucket Bay Scallops, Vermont baby lamb, or Beau Soleil oysters from the coast of Maine.

The wine list alone is worth a visit, with knowledgeable wine stewards at your side throughout the meal. Some recent treats include Peter Michaels’ 2001 Sauvignon Blanc “l’Apres Midi,” and a stunning red Russian River Valley Seghesio Zinfandel “Old Vines” 1994 that still had tons of life left in it.

---

ANISSA

There are times you sit down and examine a menu and soon you find yourself thinking, dish after dish, “Why didn’t I think of that!” And this is the way I felt as I began selecting my meal at Annisa, a thoroughly pleasant Greenwich Village restaurant run by chef Anita Lo, where everything from the service to the execution of the food is straightforward and unmasked.

The all-white dining room creates a soothing, comforting environment and the efficient staff - void of attitude - make you feel that much more at home. The modern American menu is full of pleasant surprises, from the kumquat and lemon confit that brightens a pleasing salad of shaved fennel and fresh jumbo shrimp, on to the miniature lemon and radish garnish that flanks the memorable unagi – or eel – that is served tempura-style, bathed in a salted egg yolk batter.

Hours later I could still close my eyes and relive the mouth filling taste of the thin slice of charred eggplant, laden with spice and set atop a cloud-like dollop of yogurt. This nice twist on what could well be a hackneyed dish is embellished with a tiny timbale of perfectly cooked, deep green lentils.

Here the chef deep frying oysters in a buckwheat batter and anoints the salty bivalves with fresh caviar; while smooth, alabaster sablefish is marinated in miso, set atop a rectangle of silken tofu, and set afloat in a golden brown bonito broth.

But perhaps my favorite dish was the straightforward sautéed filet of skate, teamed up with cubes of avocado, the right hit of chili and tender bits of Iroquois corn.

In a city overrun with large and often impersonal restaurants, Annisa is a little jewel to put on your list when you want personality, full flavors, no nonsense.

Daniel
60 East 65th (between Madison and Park)
New York, NY
Telephone: 212 288 0033

Annisa
13 Barrow Street (between Bleecker and West 4th Street)
New York, NY
Telephone: 212 741 6699

A Bistro Revolution

PARIS -- You might call Jacques Lacipière a revolutionary. When he opened his traditional little bistro in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in the 1990’s, it became an instant hit. Somehow, it hit a chord for what we wanted at the moment; The place was always sure to be jam packed, so you felt you were at the right place, and the energy from the sounds of the good times within was always infectious. At a time when only the top restaurants were caring more about the quality of the ingredients than just about anything else, bistrotier Jacques was up there with them.

Now, after shutting down for several months for a facelift to the dining room, kitchen, and the menu, he has emerged with another small revolution on his hands. And I love it. Lacipiere has transformed the tiny dining room that now seats about 25 elbow to elbow into what might well be the first Elegant Bistro. The walls are wood, the recessed lights are halogen, the chairs are cozy, the napkins a pale grey linen, the napery a crisp white. The menu is still ingredient based --- fresh sole from Saint Gilles Croix de Vie and milk fed lamb from Pauillac – and the dishes are way beyond bistro. But the noisy, welcome sounds of good times are still there, the wait staff still don their black Bon Accueil work aprons, and everyone seems to come with fun in their pockets.

The food and the wine list chart new territory. The food is light and complex, full of surprises, but most of all, satisfying. I loved the tiny roasted langoustines teamed up with cebettes – tiny spring onions – bits of bacon and a dark, rich jellied consommé. (Jellied fare is the kiwi fruit of the moment, showing up everyone and with every course.) Fresh green asparagus from Pertuis, in northern Provence, sits upon a bed of tiny minced vegetables, showered with shards of Parmesan.

A main course poultry – volaille du cros de la Géline – is first poached, then roasted, making for a bird that is both moistly tender and crisp at the same time. Placed on a spoonful of creamy morels bathed in sweet vin jaune from the Jura, it made a very traditional combination taste brand new indeed.

Desserts get points for pretty as well as taste. The thin apple tart appears as a golden rose, almost too beautiful to eat, but we did. Served with a salted caramel ice cream, it made for a perfect ending. Equally fine is the tiny raspberry tartelette, with the plumpest and ripest raspberries set on a crunchy cookie-like pastry.

The wine list offers some real treasures. It is full of little treats, with wines from well-respected winemakers who are not widely known, such as Dureuil-Janthial and Domaine Joblot in Burgundy, Domaine Montvac in Vacqueyras, Domaine des Espiers in Gigondas, Daniel Barraud in Saint Veran and Domaine H. Pellé in the little known Menetou Salon. I was delighted to discover Domaine Joblot’s rich, juicy, smokey white Givry Clos de la Servoisine 1999, decently priced at 46 euros a bottle. Equally exciting, and beautifully priced at 23 euros a bottle was the 2001 white Chateau l’Ermitage Costieres de Nimes, cuvee Sainte Cecile, a wine rich with the Northern Rhone flavours of Roussanne and Marsanne and loaded with pleasantly oily, mineral richness.

As part of the face lift, the restaurant – redecorated by the Parisian design firm of Joelle Sultan-Marouani – also features a new exhaust system. It was put to a tough test as a constant smoker sat next to me, and not a whiff of smoke found its way across the table. Thank you, Jacques, for thinking of the non-smoker!

Bon Accueil
14 rue de Monttessuy
Paris 7
Telephone: 01 47 05 46 11

Menu at 29 euros, including service but not wine. A la carte, 40 to 60 euros per person, including service but not wine.

A Robuchon Revolution, A Return

PARIS -- One common trait among very creative and very successful people is the ability to constantly reinvent themselves. Chef Joel Robuchon – who “retired” from the restaurant business but not the food business in 1996 -- is back in all his glory.

If you are someone like Robuchon, the reinvention is a good thing. Particularly with chefs, one becomes easily bored with delivering their 10 Greatest Hits day after day, as I am sure they do, too.

Robuchon “retired” at the top of his game. He said goodbye before we were ready for him to go. He knew he was generally considered the best chef in the world, and decided to leave on his own terms.

He is back, with a restaurant that is new, a concept that is new, a look that is new. At L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, the kitchen workshop comes alive. No more stern maitre d in starched white shirt, bow tie and formal black suit. No more tables or starched linens, snooty sommeliers who hold the wine list at arm’s length. This is 2003, Europe, and JR is reinventing what it means to dine out.

There is just room for 42 diners, all seated at oversized and comfortable red leather stools, with plenty of room to dangle your feet at the bar. The décor is all black and red and stainless, with real food assembled like still lives throughout the dining room. Chefs are in black, not white, the staff is bright red. You sit face to face with the sommelier, the wait staff, with JR himself, who wanders by to see what everyone has ordered, and wants to know if it pleases.

Here he is, the timid one, the chef who NEVER ever emerged from the kitchen for all those years, never went table to table in the dining room as chefs have done for so many years.

The kitchen itself is “open” but discreetly so. Ever since the day he left his eponymous restaurant on Avenue Raymond Poincairé Robuchon has been plotting and dreaming of this restaurant . Cleverly, he took on restaurant consulting assignments and carefully placed his top men in place: Sommelier Antoine Hernandez and chef Erick Lecerf at the Astor, where they achieved two Michelin stars. Philippe Braun, at Laurent, where he achieved two Michelin stars. The fourth chef, Eric Bouchenoire, remained at his side as Robuchon, they are all equal partners in the affair.

And the food: It’s a something for everyone menu, a world menu, filled with the new and the daring, the tried and true, comfort food and some of the dishes he made most famous. On opening night, May 5, we began with a trip down memory lane, with a few carefully prepared servings of his famed crème de choufleur aux huitres, creamy, sweet, and memorable. But the dish had a new look: Rather than being served in porcelain tea-cup sized bowls, a clear martini glass did the trick.

Everywhere, there are new and different looks of china, glass, some imported from Japan, everything diminutive in size.

Robuchon takes influence from Spain, where he spends his time off, and so there are lots of dishes “a la plancha” or cooked right on a fiery hot griddle, such as oversized langoustines seasoned with coarse salt. There is gaspacho and paper-thin sliced ham from Spain, spaghetti carbonara and an outstanding Vitello tomato from Italy, steak tartare and frites “bonne-maman” from France.

Robuchon classics -- such as his merlan frit Colbert (deep fried whiting), look just as welcome and at home seated at a stool as at a stiffly starched linen-covered table.

Perhaps what’s best is the ambience. The great sounds of a lively bistro, yet everyone is talking, making friends with the stranger who sat down next to you a few minutes ago. Robuchon wants to break the mold of the formal restaurant, bring quality to more casual dining.

Prices are reasonable, and one can come in for a simple serving of gaspacho at 6 €, then a giant spring vegetable salad for 20 €. Or, one can have a multicourse meal, beginning with two or three tapas style starters – such as fresh avocado rolled around spoonfuls of crabmeat or irresistible sweetbreads decorated with fresh bay leaves and served with a lovely rendition of Swiss chard, a single wilted leaf wrapped around crunchy stalks, bathed in a creamy white sauce. Lamb, beef, veal, tuna and fresh cod make up the main course offerings.

During these opening days, no reservations are being accepted. And, bravo, there is no smoking allowed in the restaurant, ever.

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon
5, rue de Montalembert
Paris 7
Telephone: 01 42 22 56 56
All major credit cards.

A la carte, about 50 € per person, including service but not wine. Open daily from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm to midnight.

A Spring Splurge of Creativity

PARIS – The city’s best tables may be suffering from a loss of customers – atypically almost every grand restaurant currently has at least an empty table or two – but that does not stop the top chefs from continuing their ongoing bursts of creativity.

Is it spring that’s in the air that gives the chef’s such cognitive energy, or the fact that spring ingredients just look, smell, taste better than at any time of the year? With some chefs, I’d give them three stars just for coming up with the ideas they do, even if they weren’t executed.

Often, it’s the simplest idea, a little twist or extra touch that make my enthusiasm jump off the charts. At the elegant Michelin two-star Laurent – hand’s down the best place for romantic dining outdoors in Paris – chef Alain Pegouret almost made me leap from my chair when the waiter set down a trio of giant langoustines cooked “tandoori” style, accompanied by a glistening green, perfectly formed mound of finely shaved avocado, drizzled with almond oil. The langoustines had been gently marinated in a not-too-spicy tandoori marinade (a blend of cumin, ginger, chili pepper, quatre épices and salt) then quickly pan seared. Gratefully the spice did not overwhelm the delicate, deep-sea flavor of the langoustines, served with a welcome tangle of well-dressed herbs. The gorgeous avocado dish appeared as perfectly formed curls of the rich and meaty fruit, stacked cautiously one atop the other, almost too pretty to eat. Pegouret sets the curls atop a spicy guacamole, and seasons it all with mixture of lime and orange zest, for a colorful and flavorful contrast. The langoustine/avocado pairing was brilliant, the dish a symphony of texture, color, flavor, aromas.

With the dish we sampled a delicious white Château de Cazeneuve from the Languedoc, a blend of Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Viognier, and rich with flavors of honey, acacia, pears and ripe fruit.

Guy Savoy’s three-star creativity knows no boundaries, and his recent creation of a carpaccio of Daurade royale – the Mediterranean sea bream – was smothered in a cream made of oysters, creating a delicate but brightly flavored starter.

In the same vein, at the three-star Ledoyen, chef Christian Le Squer offered us a startlingly delicious pairing of giant oysters with a tiny bowl of oyster cream topped with a welcome dose of caviar. At the same meal, he surprised us with what the waiter called “pain de crevettes” and lo and behold the bread did taste as though it had been infused with shrimp. In fact, it was prepared with a healthy dose of mixed dried seaweed from the Brittany coast.

One can always count upon three-star chef Pierre Gagnaire to come with something new and different: At a recent lunch he created no less that eight dishes I had never sampled before. The two most amazing were a dish he simply called aubergines braisee and it consisted of a mix of eggplant that had been reduced to a purée so rich it was as if he had completely captured the smoky, dense essence of this versatile vegetable, almost multiplying its flavor, then topped the little round with a shard of very thinly sliced, dried eggplant.

If there is an upcoming trend to follow what I call “shot glass cuisine” – the proliferation of tiny mousse-like concoctions served in a clear shot glass – it will be the gelatin mode. Gagnaire’s rendition hit the spot: Cubes of bright green zucchini were folded into a pale golden wobbly jelly made with the fresh lemons from Menton, all topped with a soothing fromage blanc ice cream.

Finally, at the two-star Pre Catelan chef Frederic Anton’s creative combination of beets and Comté cow’s milk cheese wins raves. Who would combine beets and cheese? Here he combines paper-thin shavings of cooked beets perfumed with a touch of nutmeg, with equal-sized rounds of aged Comté from the Jura, drizzling it all with meaty cooking juices. The starter opens the palate, soothes, and makes one salivate, getting ready for even more to come.

Laurent
41 avenue Gabriel
Paris 8
Telephone: 01 42 25 00 39.

Guy Savoy
rue Troyon
Paris 17
Telephone: 01 43 80 40 61.

Ledoyen
Carré Champs-Elysees, first floor
Paris 8
Telephone: 01 53 05 10 01.

Pierre Gagnaire
6 rue Balzac
Paris 8
Telephone: 01 58 36 12 50

Pré Catelan
Route de Suresnes
Paris 16
Telephone: 01 44 14 41 14

Who is Influencing the Great Chefs of France?

PARIS – Who is influencing the great chefs of France? Asia, Asia and Asia. It’s impossible to dine in restaurants large or small, expensive or bargain-based, without coming upon fare that is wrapped Asian-style, seasoned with herbs and spices with an Asian accent, or filled with such non-traditional French ingredients as papaya, mango, fresh ginger or Japanese seaweed.

In some small way this is not all that new, for French chefs have been using flavors such as vadouvan and green papaya, cumin and mango, and sushi-ized bites for a long time. What is new is that the trend has become almost ubiquitous and chefs such as William Ledeuil at the trendy Le Kitchen Galerie on the Left Bank are no longer just flirting with Asian thoughts, but taking a stand and taking action.

Ledeuil has been moving slowly in the Asian direction, but a recent trip to Thailand only reinforced his own feelings that what diners want more of today is lemon confit and black radish, Thai-curry and ginger-marinated guinea hen, even peanut ice cream with a pistachio sauce. And in the hands of a classically trained French chef, the fusion works, especially when someone like Ledeuil begins with a classic base, and applies the Asian accent to achieve more clear and specific flavors, as well as to lighten up contemporary fare.

In fact, he is so into his new Asian larder of food that he is now offering demonstration cooking classes in his open kitchen one afternoon each week. (For specifics call the restaurant.)

Two recent meals there suggest that Ledeuil is on the right track, but needs just a bit more fusion of flavors in some dishes. I applaud his careful and studied use of everything from fresh lemon grass to fresh lime leaves, and lively Thai curries. His most successful dish to date is a lightened and well-examined version of the famed Thai curry soup, here a beautifully seasoned and totally cohesive dish generous with chunks of young chicken, redolent of fresh citronnelle, just a touch (not an overdose) of rich coconut milk, and full of vegetables such as baby asparagus, fresh spring peas, highlights of tarragon and offset by fresh Thai coriander leaves. His creative touch – he thickens the soup with an Italian artichoke purée and marinates the chicken in, among other ingredients, Japanese rice vinegar – is everywhere and I am eager to see just where all this experimentation will take him, and us.

Unfortunately, some of the dishes – such as the fine marinated fresh tuna with a citron and mango condiment and the grilled pigeon with a condiment of asparagus, basil and polenta were very good on their own, but there was no true liaison, no true link, no handshake between the finely crafted French style and the new Asian touch.

The chef now eschews cream and butter, preferring that sauces be bound with juices and emulsions, vegetable purees, bouillons or marinades. A trend worth applauding as long as we don’t get caught short on flavor and satisfaction.

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When brothers Philippe and Marc Delacourcelle opened their Clos Morillons in the 15th arrondissement of Paris in 1984, they foresaw the fusion trend. Even back then, their menu was filled with Asian spices and a favorite guinea hen bathed in a sauce with a faint touch of vanilla. Philippe ran French restaurants all over Asia for years and returned with a changed palate.

The brothers were absent from the Paris scene for a bit, and are now back with a new and lively wine bar in the 5th, a jam-packed month-old spot filled with fare that is sometimes on the spot, sometimes tentative. Bistro-style, the Pré Verre menu appears on chalkboard and ranges from a stunning potato and foie gras terrine from their Clos Morillons days; a welcome lacquered mackerel set on a flavorful almond purée; and an excellent and unusual dish of seared baby squid with a terrine of lentils and sesame seeds. I loved, as well, the braised suckling pig with its deliciously creamy cabbage, and the meaty beef cheeks. Less interesting was the veal served over a strange potato and root vegetable purée. And in the dessert category, I confess that the strawberries in curly parsley sauce did not deliver me to a joyful state of bliss.

The wine list offers some pleasant discoveries, including a fruity and dense vin de pays de d’Herault, from the Domaine de L’Escalette. The 2001 is made from Carignan vines more than 80 years old, giving character and personality to a wine that is still in its infancy.

Ze Kitchen Galerie
4 rue des Grands Augustins
Paris 6
Telephone: 01 44 32 00 32
Fax: 01 44 32 00 33

Closed Sunday. All major credit cards. A la carte, 40 to 45 €, including service but not wine.

Le Pré Verre
8, rue Thénard
Paris 5
Telephone: 01 43 54 59 47
Credit card : Visa

12 € lunch menu, including a glass of wine.
Dinner, a la carte, about 24 € including service but not wine.

As If the Angels Were Cooking

PARIS – Of all the chefs I have spent time with over the years, few have impressed me with their depth and stability as has Benoit Guichard, on his own since 1996 at the famed restaurant Jamin in Paris’s 16th arrondissement.

Before that he could be found fine-tuning his talents as the faithful lieutenant to Joel Robuchon, both at Jamin and later at Restaurant Joel Robuchon on avenue Raymond Poincare.

Today, he appears full-grown and very much his own man, with a style that is classic, contemporary, modern, even touched a bit by Asian inspirations. If someone wants to fully understand what is truly great about French food and about classical French training – the discipline, the rigors, the constant search for excellence on all levels – then they should reserve a table at today’s Jamin.

Guichard – with two well-merited Michelin stars to his credit -- is now cooking on all burners, and has fine tuned his style, which is by no means static. His menu changes almost day to day, as one ingredient enters the market and another departs. He seems to be in a “wrap” mood, a little conceit that is reminiscent of Asian food and one I love. On one visit we found a perfect rectangle of turbot wrapped in bright green spinach leaves, almost a gift-wrapped package to please the palate, sauced in a delicate and golden Champagne sauce and flanked by a pair of fat, fragrant and perfectly cooked green asparagus, the first of season from Provence.

A starter might include an almost Chinese-flavored morsel of chicken wrapped in a veil of dough and expertly deep-fried. The breast of the famed breast chicken is “wrapped” in a super-fine bread coating that seems to have been handled with the fingertips of an angel.

Another evening, a complete sense of well-being came over me as the waiter delivered a first-course of a giant, soft-cooked egg enveloped once again in that angelic bread coating. The now-golden egg sat on a bed of wilted spinach dabbed with a rich truffle sauce. Alongside, a trio of perfect green asparagus added proper contrast in color, flavor, pure enjoyment.

I can never get enough langoustines, and here the chef who hails from Brittany’s langoustine-rich waters, knows what to do. The least possible! A duo of giant langoustines are wrapped into a delicate homemade pasta, all floating in an unctuous chestnut broth. Here, the marriage is magic, for the flavor of the deep and dense flavor of the chestnut seems to pick up right where the lingering flavor of the langoustine left off, almost like finishing a sentence.

Guichard can go classic and homey when he wants to, and nothing is more satisfying than his long-braised joue de boeuf, or unctuous beef cheeks pairs with gigantic rounds of pasta coated with melted Comté cheese from the Jura.

On one visit, the finale ended was a rich and satisfying chocolate feuillete, a truly angelic puff pastry; on another, it was a roasted mango glazed with a highly reduced pink grapefruit sauce and served with a soothing citrus granite alongside.

There are some treasures on the wine list, and current discoveries include two selections from the region of the lovely village of Minerve in the Languedoc. The Chateau de Gourgazaud -- owned by Parisian businessman Roger Piquet -- is beginning to make some nice waves. His 100% Viognier 2001 is full of the ripest fruits – pears, citrus, a touch of honey – and the 1999 red Minervois La Liviniere Reserve would make any wine lover smile, with a fine balance, and the roundness and plumy notes of Merlot paired with the flavors of red fruits ripened by the summer sun.

Jamin
32 rue du Longchamp
Paris 16
Tel: 01 45 53 00 07
Fax : 01 45 53 00 15
Email : reservations@jamin.fr

Closed Saturday and Sunday. All major credit cards. 53 € lunch menu, 95 € dinner menu. A la carte, 105 to 135 €, including service but not wine.

Fine Bistro Dining at Delicious Prices

PARIS -- The newest crop of small Paris bistros offers some truly fine bargains, as well a cuisine that is totally modern yet wed to classic traditions. One of the handsomest “remakes” is La Grande Rue, located in the 15th arrondissement on the premises of the old Chez Pierre.

Here, chef Emmanuel Billaud – who studied with both Joel Robuchon and Alain Ducasse -- is turning out some pretty fine fare at totally delicious prices. The dining room is adorable – everything is as it was in the 1930’s, down to the double-faced clock, bentwood chairs and Art Deco patterned tile floors. But a fresh coat of paint, canning jars filled with goodies as appetizing décor and nice crisp linens give it a totally refreshing air.

This is also one restaurant that not only asks whether you want to dine in the smoking or non-smoking section, but they put the non-smokers in the front of the room, the prettiest part of the tiny bistro.

While walking to the restaurant I thought “I hope they have pasta tonight,” and sure enough, my wish was granted. Those tiny and wonderful ravioles de Royans from the south of France are bathed in the richest, most golden of broths. Equally good – though not one that would stun a true Italian – was the creamy risotto, bathed in an herb-rich sauce.

The fish selections – a turbot and a bar – were good but not great. I had the feeling the fish was just not as fresh as it might have been. But the day was saved by the most delicious and most perfect lemon tart I have tasted in years. Strange how dessert fashion seems have pushed the classic, puckery lemon tart off the bistro menu. Thanks, chef, for bringing it back.

The wine list is tiny but the St Chinian – always a great buy – was just right at 21 francs a bottle.

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Le Timbre

It’s just the size of a postage stamp, so why not name the restaurant Timbre! Restaurants don’t get much smaller than this one, a single simple room with space for no more than 20 diners. Le Timbre in fact reminds one of the famed La Merenda in Nice, where diners perch on stools, elbow to elbow and watch the chef cook in the miniscule kitchen at the back of the room. Le Timbre is always jam-packed and has the kind of cheap and cheerful, let’s play restaurant air. But there is nothing amateurish about the fine and honest bistro fare, with just the proper modern touch. Owner Christopher Wright keeps himself super-busy in the dining room, and one may have to wait a bit for service, so be forewarned.

Le Timbre has one custom that I applaud heartily and wish other restaurants would adopt: As soon as you are seated at the table Christopher brings you a complimentary glass of wine, on our last visit it was a welcome glass of chilled sauvignon blanc. What an easy way for a restaurant to win friends and increase the diner’s patience level!

I adored the ham and lentil salad, a pretty, molded round of lentils set in the center of the plate, with a thick slice of Spanish ham set atop it. There were also tiny cubes of ham laced through the lentils, making for a hearty, well-seasoned dish. Another starter – a warm curried beet soup with a dollop of crème fraiche atop it – was a pleasant surprise.

I had a ringside seat into the tiny kitchen, so even before ordering I had a chance to check out the day’s menu. The plump seared and roasted pigeon looked delicious, so I opted for this perfectly rosy and moist poultry teamed up with lots of buttery cabbage. Equally honest was the pan-fried Auvergnat sausages served with a fine parsnip purée and a touch of green salad. The baguettes are delicious, the homemade millefeuille is worth a return visit, and on the menu you’ll fine Michel Richaud’s fine wines from Cairanne. Who could ask for more?

La Grande Rue
117 rue des Vaugirard
Paris 15
Telephone: 01 47 34 96 12

Closed Sunday, Monday, and August. Menu at 27.50 €. Credit card: Visa A la carte, 28 to 35 euros, including service but not wine.

Le Timbre
3 Rue Sainte Beuve
Paris 6
Telephone: 01 45 49 10 40

Closed Saturday lunch and Sunday. Credit card: Visa. About 30 euros a person, including service but not wine.

Thoroughly Modern, Totally Classic

PARIS – Anyone wondering what might have happened to Grand French cuisine should reserve a table at Les Elysees du Vernet, where the talented Eric Briffard has been working his magic since December.

With touches that are both thoroughly modern and totally classic, Briffard’s current menu offers something for everyone. From the plumpest and sweetest scallops to his rosemary-infused grilled lobster and on to the finest duck I have ever eaten anywhere, he somehow covers all bases.

While some chefs let the finest ingredients speak for themselves and others prefer to impose their own personality on the ingredient (often smothering it in the process), Briffard manages to pull off both. There is absolutely no question about the quality of his ingredients, which he treats with utmost respect. But what is amazing is his range of creativity.

Briffard is one of the many talents to come out of Joel Robuchon’s kitchens, and to my mind one of the best. After sampling a series of dishes in a single sitting – one more appealing than the next – one is reminded of watching a top athlete perform. How does she or he do it, one asks. With lots and lots of practice, more than the rest.

The very first dish on the menu is a pure virtuoso performance: Legumes racine du potager du Joel. With all manner of winter root vegetables in a single dish, each is treated as though it was made of gold, not simply plucked from the cold winter ground. Arranged on a square glass plate like a perfect bouquet, we devour bright red radishes, yellow as well as orange carrots, turnips, Japanese artichokes (crosnes), baby onions and leeks, and celery root, potatoes and onions. A shower of the thinnest julienne of fresh truffles perfumes the dish and adds a perfect crunch. The vegetables are escorted by a tiny toasted baguette slathered with a brilliantly flavored horseradish cream that’s dusted with minced fresh truffles and paired with a delicious jelly of pot au feu, offering a perfect contract of textures. .

His food is complex but everything is there for you to see, so it is food that’s easy to understand. My favorite langoustines were treated with the respect they deserve, arriving out of the shell, teamed with paper thin slices of chorizo, a platter or crunchy vegetables and a winning artichoke vinaigrette.

The black truffle season is almost over, so if you want one last hit of this magical mushroom, race over and sample the copious salad of golden sliced charlotte potatoes literally smothered with thick discs of the most perfect and sensual fresh black truffles. Tangled with the warm potatoes are bits of dried tomato and thin slivers of lomo, or faintly smoked pork loin, a Basque region specialty. The slight smokiness is welcome, almost giving the truffles themselves a slight hint of smokiness.

Equally delicious is his beautiful tart of leek and truffles, a retooled version of Robuchon’s famous truffle and bacon tart. Here, Briffard uses the mildly salty ventrèche (France’s version of pancetta) sparingly, letting the leeks and truffles cut into generous slivers play a colorful black and green contrast. Alongside, there’s a slim shot glass full of a frothy sweet onion cream, laced with a bright hit of balsamic vinegar. Brilliant, just brilliant.

My favorite sherry-like vin jaune from the Jura appears in sauce bathing a creative combination of sweet white Saint Pierre and oysters; while a beautifully grilled lobster arrives smoking from the kitchen, the fragrance of rosemary filling the room.

The duck – canette de barbarie au sang – was just the best I ever sampled. Fragrant, rich, rosy, it was the true definition of that fine and often abused poultry. Served with surprising tamarind sauce, turnips and pears poached in spicy wine, it is a fine winter dish if there ever was one.

Desserts are original as well, including a pan-roasted baby pineapple deglazed with cider vinegar and served with a rich vanilla ice cream.

One could make a meal out of their bread assortments, ranging form yard-long slender bread sticks rich with the flavor of top-quality olive oil to a fine version of the Italian slipper bread. The classics – such as olive rolls and whole wheat – are hard to turn down.

The wine list is exhaustive and includes some treasures, such as the dense, intense red 100 % syrah Vinsobres, Civades 2001, from , priced at 50 €.

Now that the hotel – built as a townhouse in 1913 – has the talents of Eric Briffard the best thing they could do is hire a decorator to re-do the dining room. It could be one of the prettiest in town, with its Gustav Eiffel glass ceiling and lovely volume. As it stands, the lighting is all wrong, the décor totally out of date and heavy, even headache inducing. They could at least buy the chef some new plates: The mismatched old and new, square and round, hardly do justice to Briffard’s talents.

Service here is excellent, attentive without being invasive, and relaxed in a modern sort of way.

Les Elysées du Vernet
Hôtel Vernet
25, rue Vernet
Paris 8
Tel: 01 44 31 98 00

Closed Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at lunch. All major credit cards. 45 € lunch menu, includes service and half bottle of wine; 120 € tasting menu at dinner, include service but not wine. A la carte, 110 €, including service but not wine.

A Pair of Winter Bistros Le Cosi and Les Bouquinistes

PARIS - Le Cosi: What’s there not to love about Corsican food? It’s a perfect blend of country French and Italian, no frills fare that is easy to get your arms around. Until now, Paris has pretty much been a Corsican wasteland, but the new Left Bank Le Cosi seems to take care of that.

With bright orange walls, charmingly mismatched 1930’s chandeliers, highly varnished oak tables and Art Deco chairs, perky service, and a small but appealing menu, Le Cosi fits the definition of a cheap and cheerful modern Parisian bistro. I loved the first course “carpaccio” of coppa – Corsican smoke-cured fillet of pork loin that’s rolled into a sausage – served like a classic beef carpaccio, with parchment-thin slices of coppa topped with thin slivers of sheep’s milk cheese and drizzled with a touch of pesto. It’s a satisfying dish in any season, but particularly welcome on a cold winter’s night, downed with sips of Antoine Arena’s Patrimonio rouge, Corsica’s best wine, from one of its top growers (and well-priced at 30 euros a bottle.)

The first-course tarte aux tomatoes is highly recommended, luscious, deep and densely flavored and served with a well-dressed green salad on huge white plate. The main course cocotte de veau aux olives was a little stingy on the olives but served with fanfare and a flourish tableside, with the waitress spooning portions from a black cast iron casserole as if she were a Corsican mama. The roasted goat was a bit on the fatty side, but nonetheless delicious.

The classic Corsican fiadone – a rich and golden sort of cheesecake made with the ricotta-like fresh sheep’s milk cheese known as broccio -- was smooth, not too sweet or rich, just a perfect ending. Service here has an unusual touch of elegance and care: Thank you!

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Les Bouquinistes: The ever-popular Guy Savoy bistro Les Bookinistes has changed its name to Les Bouquinistes, with a new chef in the name of William Caussimon. Former chef William Ledeuil is still a partner at this always packed Left Bank spot along the river, but is concentrating full time on his own bistro right next door, Ze Kitchen Gallerie.

The bright, peppy spot has not seemed to miss a beat, and I love nothing better than sitting in the front room at the window, watching the city’s life stroll by. The restaurant has always been a model of what a contemporary bistro can and should be, meaning you can have your cake and eat it too: You get satisfaction from the familiar dishes we know so well, and yet get to be surprised by the chef’s creativity.

On a recent visit, I got a little of both. Nothing could be more modern than this appealing tempura of giant and meaty gambas, flavored with ginger, anointed by a surprising scoop of lemon confit sorbet. For the traditionalist in us, there was a super-tender, falling off the bone serving of tendrons de veau, meaty veal ribs you could eat with a spoon, teamed up with an unexpected accompaniment of stewed red cabbage seasoned with blackcurrant cream. The dish worked on all accounts and paired well with the meaty Roca Blanca Syrah from winemaker Michel Laroche in the Languedoc. The 2000 vintage was well-priced at 32 euros a bottle.

The menu here jumps all over the place, with roasted milk fed lamb from the Pyrenees roasted on a bed of potatoes and served with a confit of shallots; pan-fried foie gras served with chestnuts and glazed celery; and giant macaroni stuffed with mushrooms and pumpkin, topped with grilled coppa and white truffle oil. The dish was marred by the truffle oil – which is always offensive, and impossible to digest. (If I were queen of the world, truffle oil would be banned forever.) The food, alas, consistently lacked seasoning, something that can’t always be adjusted at the table.

Le Cosi
9, rue Cujas, Paris 5
Tel: 01 43 29 20 20

Closed Sunday. Credit card : Visa. From 30 to 40 € per person, including service but not wine.

Les Bouquinistes
52 quai des Grands Augustins, Paris 6
Tel : 01 43 25 45 94. Fax: 01 43 25 23 07

Closed Saturday lunch and Sunday. All major credit cards. From 40 to 65 € per person, including service but not wine.