March 9, 2012 by Lindsey Tramuta
To celebrate Valentine’s Day four years ago, I dined at Le Grand Colbert, the restaurant made famous by Diane Keaton and her roast chicken in the film Something’s Gotta Give. For me, it will forever be famous for far different reasons. Over clangorous dining room voices and crumb-laden plates, my husband proposed to me.
The American couple seated next to us gushed as I beamed with joy and threw my arms around my new fiancé. The fullness of the moment was heightened by the Belle Epoque backdrop and the tuxedoed waiters who dashed back and forth with alacrity between the kitchen and the dining room, forging the surreal sensation of being the stars on a Hollywood film set. Unbearably prosaic but perfectly appropriate for the moment.
Since then, we’ve maintained the tradition of dining out on Valentine’s Day. Some of our choices have been memorable, some not even worth mentioning. We flirted with the idea of returning to Le Grand Colbert last month to relive our engagement but given the caliber of restaurants that have opened over the last four years, we couldn’t be bothered with average food and contrived theatrics, no matter how emotionally significant.
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Posted in Food, Restaurant Reviews | 7 Comments »
May 6, 2011 by Tory Hoen
Julien Hausherr
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve left a quirky store or hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Paris and thought, “How does that place stay in business?” And I mean that as the highest compliment.
While commerce in the rest of the world seems to be accelerating at a highly unpleasant rate, Parisian proprietors, on the other hand, know how to slow down—and still manage to survive.
Julien Hausherr
Olivier Camus’ Le Chapeau Melon is one such place. I first visited three years ago, just after I moved to Paris. The warm reception, perfect filet de boeuf, and eye-opening bottle of Morgon solidified my notion that I had come to the right city.
When I finally returned this spring, I was reminded all over again why Paris is the best place to eat in the world: nothing had changed. And rightly so—why mess with a good thing?
Julien Hausherr
Camus (who is also involved with foodie hub Le Baratin, just up the street from Le Chapeau Melon in Belleville) is known as one of Paris’ most dedicated cavistes and as an early proponent of the natural wine movement that is now sweeping the city. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Restaurant Reviews | 9 Comments »
February 16, 2011 by Tory Hoen
Zinc bar at Bistrot du Peintre (Julien Hausherr)
The trouble with dating someone who always thinks he’s right is that, sometimes, he actually is. On my most recent visit to Paris, my BF and I got into a lot of food-related debates, and I have to admit, he knows his stuff. While I tend to keep my ear to the ground for news about new restaurants, emerging chefs, and more concept-driven eateries, he has quietly and discerningly been working his way through old-school establishments that offer exquisite traditional cuisine in pretension-free (and mostly tourist-free) settings. He pays very little attention to reviews or buzz, so when he labels a place “legit,” I’ve learned to take note.
He recently introduced me to the Bistrot du Peintre, a two-story Art Nouveau eatery that’s been around since 1902. It’s located in the 11th, a short walk from the Bastille and the Marais, but slightly out of the fray. Upon entering, I noticed the place was busy but calm, the tables full of relaxed French people who work in the quartier or who have probably been coming here for years, because they know what we now know: this place is legit.
Bistrot du Peintre (Julien Hausherr)
We settled into a cozy banquette on the upper level and—like most of the other diners—ordered the day’s featured dishes: a silky mushroom soup with a secret ball of mozzarella at the bottom (sneaky! delicious!), braised pork on a mountain of velvety French lentils, and a not-too-creamy brandade de Cabillaud. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Restaurant Reviews | 17 Comments »
November 14, 2009 by Tory Hoen
Our friend Clotilde Dusoulier (of Chocolate and Zucchini) has helped to edit the English version of Ginette Mathiot’s classic french cookbook, Je Sais Cuisiner. This book is the bible of French cooking and can be found in just about every French kitchen (Fanny Farmer or The Joy of Cooking would be the American equivalents). When I spoke to Clotilde last spring, she was wrapping up the project, and this Tuesday, November 17, at 7pm, she will be at WH Smith to publicize the book—on shelves now in France and the United States. The event will also mark the 6th anniversary of Chocolate and Zucchini, Clotilde’s wildly successful food blog that put her on the map as one of today’s best culinary bloggers. Continue Reading »
Posted in Events, HiP Recipes | No Comments »
April 22, 2009 by Tory Hoen
photo courtesy of express.fr
While there’s nothing secret about Jadis anymore, its location—buried deep within the 15th near Metro Convention—shelters it from the tourist crowds that will inevitably descend on Paris this spring and summer. Hailed as the “Best Bistro of 2008” by Le Fooding and “Bistro of the Fall” by Le Figaro, Jadis has emerged as a well-loved star amidst a sea of up-and-coming (and already established) neo-bistros. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Parisian Living, Restaurant Reviews | 2 Comments »
