Paris Restaurants

                  Perbacco is a restaurant Colette and I had "tested" and it has a private space on the 2nd floor somewhat suitable for private parties, which in this case meant I could hold an Editorial Board meeting there - I thought.  The problem was that at its peak at lunch the noise from downstairs drowned out the upstairs' discussion.                   We all started offwith a green salad with parmesan slices; then I chose the sole with capers and raisins over the chicken breast and both were pedestrian; and we ended with a nice strawberry-rhubarb and creme fraiche dessert. My publisher picked up the check so I have no idea of its magnitude. Go again? Not for a meeting, but personal lunch sure. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Zuni Cafe is a place we haven't been in eons and where when our local hosts whom I frequently eat with in Paris suggested it, I jumped.  It remains nice, clean, contemporary, and reliable.                 We all started with various salads (Caesar for me and rabbit and mesclun for the others [all unpictured]); then Colette and I had incredibly great quail while our hosts had salmon and halibut.  We all then sort of shared an ice cream dessert which was superior. With a bottle of Dehlinger Pinot Noir graciously brought in from their cellar ($20 corkage), another of Chardonnay and a glass of Cabernet Franc, one tea and no botled water our check came to $133.75 per couple before tip. Go?  For the quail alone it's worth it.

                          Boulevard is a place we last came to some years ago and quite liked it so when we were told this is where my professional association's past-presidents luncheon was being held we considered it a lucky stroke of luck.  The menu was restricted as befits a special meal for 30 in their special room - L'Avenue - but was OK and there was no booze since we were considered to be working.  

I have always loved Middle Eastern foods. The fresh vegetables, the liberal use of herbs and seasonings, including a touch of spiciness at times, and the casual way of eating that the food encourages. Meze is the term that’s used to define all the “little plates” that get brought out to begin in a meal, served in little bowls often with pools of olive oil in the middle, waiting to be sopped up with soft pita or other flatbreads. When I wrote about the Lebanese meze I’d had on a trip to the Middle East, I didn’t realize that a number of people were all that interested in what vegetables went into it. (But who can blame them? I wanted to remake it, too.) Like a lot of those foods, people aren’t necessarily following recipes – they’re following their nose, and yup, you got it – they cook by taste. Continue Reading Labneh...

Sanraku at the New Metreon Mall was a place I loved in November and elected to bring Colette and a French pal back to.  It's neat as a pin and looks out on the lovely Buena Yerba Garden.                 I seem to have had some shakiness in potographing our seafood salad, edaname and miso soups but they were anything but shaky - better than stanard by a long shot.                 For mains we went our separate but quite satisfied ways - Colette with a "dynamite" roll of yellow tail, shiso, cucumber, jalepeno, onion and yuzu-soy-sesame sauce; our french friend with his "combo" of California roll and shrimp tempura and me with another chirashi of sushi rice with about 10 fish and/or their roe on top.  All were exemplary. With two Sapporo draft beers, no bottled water, tea or coffee or dessert, our bill came to $52.94 a couple before tip. Go?  You bet.

“Risotto”, of course, means it’s made with rice. But “charred wheat stew” doesn’t sound as appetizing as it actually is. So with the creative culinary expression invokable by quotation marks, I’ll allying this recipe with it’s Italian cousin, risotto, because it’s made the exact same way. And for those who don’t have freekeh, and don’t want to scope it out, can make it the traditional way with rice. Continue Reading Artichoke Freekeh Risotto...

It’s fresh artichoke season and I’m finding them piled up at my local market, practically tumbling off the stands. Last week, I stood there, putting one after the other in my market basket, where I took them home to admire the beauties on my kitchen counter. But they’re not just pretty to look at; artichokes are great in salads, risotto, pastas, and even on open-face sandwiches with a spread of fresh cream cheese and herbs. Artichokes are not hard to prepare but they do take a bit of determination, which is why they’re most often eaten whole, and steamed. However there are those times when you want to treat yourself to just the artichoke hearts. And when the prices drop at the markets, and they’re in abundance, I don’t mind spending a little time preparing them. Artichokes will brown almost the moment you slice into them, so you need to make an acidulated water to slip them into when you’re done trimming each artichoke. (They’ll still darken, but not as significan

Talbott Prix/quality ratio = 9.097.0 Le 6 Paul Bert6 Rue Paul Bert in the 11th, (Metro:  Faidherbe-Chaligny)T: 01.43.79.14.32Closed Saturday night, Sundays and Monday77 E for two Talbott Prix/quality ratio = 8.996.5 La Verre Moutarde145, rue de Saussure in the 17th (Metro: Wagram)T: 01.42.27.35.55Closed weekends 13.90 for 2 courses, wine and coffee Talbott Prix/quality ratio = 8.867.2 Felicity Lemon4, rue Lemon in the 20thT:  01.71.32.71.77Closed Sundays, Tuesday and Wednesday dinners57.80 E for two Talbott Prix/quality ratio = 7.338.5 Les Tablettes de Jean-Louis Nomicos16 avenue Bugeaud in the 16th (Metro: Victor Hugo)T: 01.56.28.16.16Open 7/7116 E for two Talbott Prix/quality ratio = 7.148.0 Les 110 de Taillevent195, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore in the 8th (Metro: Ternes)T: 01.40.74.20.20Open 7/7112 E for two Talbott Prix/quality ratio = 6.506.5 Le Gagnage46, rue Falguiere in the 15th (Metro: Pasteur or Falguiere)T:  01.43.22.54.48Closed Sundays and Mondays Talbott Prix/quality rati

This year in Paris, a late, damp and often overcast Spring has been pushing and pulling my appetite in all different directions. To be sure, I've eating as much French grown asparagus--both green and white, as I can get my hands on, but the gray skies and cool temperatures have left me yearning for sturdier comfort food than I'm accustomed to craving at this time of the year. Then I went to dinner the other night at Les Climats, a very pleasant new restaurant in one of my favorite restaurant venues in Paris, the elegant Belle Epoque dining room of a handsome old dormitory building that once housed young single ladies who worked for the P.T.T. (Poste Telegramme, Telephone), and found my seasonal groove again. In the early nineties when this place first became an open-to-the-public restaurant, it was called Le Telegraphe, and it enjoyed a two or three year run as one of the most fashionable restaurants on the Left Bank, despite the fact that the food was never better than a little better-than-average. Tip

Monday-Tuesday in A Nous Paris, Jerome Berger gave 3/5 dots to Es, 91, rue de Grenelle in the 7th, 01.45.51.25.74, closed Sundays and Mondays, with unique menus at 45 (for lunch) 65 and 85 E at dinner, serving items such as onion soup, turbot and pigeon prepared by a Japanese chef who has passed through l’Astrance and Noma. Tuesday, Yves Nespoilous, in Le Fooding, reviewed the sushi place Blueberry in the 6th. On Wednesday, in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed his usual five new restaurants and gave 3/5 hearts to Bruno Verjus’ Table, 3, rue de Prague in the 12th, 01.43.43.12.26, closed weekends, where a la carte 50-70 E one has green asparagus, echine of pork and roast pineapple.  He also gave 2/5 hearts to Chameleon, 70, rue Rene-Boulanger in the 10th, 01.42.08.99.41, closed weekends, with lunch menus at 15, 16 and 19 but dinner at 50 E for raw langoustines, pintade and smoked eel.  One heart each went to the Café Francais in the 4th, Valois 1868 in the 8th and Shabestan in the 16th. Figaro

Can we all agree to stop apologizing for rhubarb? No one apologizes for recipes that call for things like squid, marshmallow-flavored vodka, and green peppers. In fact, some times those things are actually celebrated rather than reviled. So I don’t know why rhubarb, the humble plant that springs to life after a long winter, is the recipient of occasional derision. But it’s time to stop. I was wandering through a neglected garden in the countryside a few weeks ago, where not much was growing in the spring drizzle, except a few dewy tulips poking through. But right in the thick of things was a resplendent rhubarb plant, which saved the day. In the grand tradition of French “gleaning”, I yanked the stalks out of the ground, brought them home, and made a compote out of them. Free food? What’s not to like about that? Continue Reading Strawberry Rhubarb Compote...