May 8, 2012 by Tory Hoen
Last spring, every food-following Parisian had their sights set on one restaurant: Rino. After it opened in February 2010, chef Giovanni Passerini’s cozy, modern bistro quickly became the place for innovative, market-driven fare at reasonable prices. At the time, nearly every review was favorable (if not positively glowing); a year later, we stopped in again, for lunch this time, to see whether Rino has lived up to the hype.
The restaurant is tucked away on a fairly unsexy street in the 11th, and offers clean and unfussy décor, suggesting that here, the focus has always been on the food. As soon as we entered, we noticed a team of busy line chefs, chopping and arranging dishes in a small open kitchen.
In the tradition of Le Chateaubriand, Le Chapeau Melon, and Les Papilles, Rino offers a set menu (with little-to-no choice) that changes daily based on available ingredients and the whims of the chef. Luckily, Passerini’s impressive training (he previously worked at Arpège, Le Chateaubriand, and La Gazzetta)and innovative instincts mean that culinary missteps are rare—he has an innate sense for how to make seasonal produce shine in dishes that draw on tradition but play up surprises.
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February 2, 2012 by Forest Collins
Paris is one of the best cities in the world for exceptional food and wine combinations. In a refreshing change of pace, restaurant le Clarisse offers their tasting menus paired with sake in addition to the standard wine route. Although France’s gastronomic identity is undeniably tied to wine, who doesn’t like to opt for something original from time to time?
Tucked away in the 7th on a street busy with bar and restaurant options, le Clarisse is an elegant stop offering French-inspired fare prepared with precision and delicacy by a Japanese chef. While the restaurant itself isn’t new, the change in chefs a little over a year ago makes it well worth renewed consideration. Recently I was invited to taste test the sake-pairing menu and see what kind of revamp resulted from their association with Chef Sadaki Kajiwara.
The regularly changing menu is just the right size for my taste: four starters and five mains to choose from, each of which comes with a recommended wine or sake pairing and can be ordered a la carte or as part of a prix fixe menu. Restaurant director, wine connoisseur and in house sake expert, Jean-Philippe Pluvinet, is on hand to personally walk guests through the beverage pairings. Continue Reading »
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January 24, 2012 by Tory Hoen
A Paris chalkboard menu – appearances can be deceiving! (Daxis)
Years into my love affair with Paris, I’m still making ridiculous rookie mistakes. I suppose it’s time to accept that France will always have the upper hand, but it still stings.
My most recent humiliation is horse-related. Or at least, I thought it was.
Please note that I was a horse-obsessed child, so equine-related topics are particularly touchy for me. As a child, I would sometimes dress in riding garb for no reason at all. And while I was waiting for my parents to break down and buy me a real horse (never happened), I would drag garbage cans into the backyard and ride them, periodically switching from one member of the “herd” to the next. On any given afternoon, people in the house could gaze out and see me whipping a particularly stubborn garbage can with my riding crop.
So when I first moved to Paris and started noticing “steak à cheval” on menus around town, I was wary. I knew there was a historical precedent of eating horse meat in France, but it seemed quite inhumane in this day and age. Nonetheless, I assumed it was some kind of trendy gastronomic revival, and who was I to question the local gourmands? So I kept my mouth shut and simply avoided the dreaded horse steak when confronted with it.
Recently, I was visiting my boyfriend’s family in Brazil. One night, we sat down to dinner and I was presented with a traditional dish called bife a cavalo (in Portuguese), which translates to “horse-riding steak” or “steak à la horse.”
“Horse?” I asked, panic rapidly setting in.
“No, it’s like steak à cheval in France,” G explained.
“Sooo….. horse?” I wondered again.
It was at this point that I realized I’d been operating under a serious misapprehension, and it took the collision of three cultures for the truth to surface. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Parisian Living | 11 Comments »
August 1, 2011 by Rosa Jackson
My job frequently requires me to eat elaborate three-course meals at lunch and dinner several days in a row. It’s something I have trained myself to do over the years and my stomach rarely utters a peep of complaint, as long as I don’t overdo the wine (not as easy as it sounds). I am grateful, though, when I come across a restaurant that acts as a kind of cleansing interlude, replenishing my body with crunchy vegetables and wholesome grains.
Until recently Rose Bakery served that purpose: after munching my way through one of their colorful mixed salad plates, I always felt ready to face another multi-course feast. But as this café has grown ever more popular and expensive I have started looking for alternatives, and Nanashi has become my new haunt. Continue Reading »
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July 6, 2011 by Paige Bradley Frost
One of the things I love most about life in Paris is the leisurely bistro dejeuner – that delicious two-hour affair complete with three courses and wine, bien sur.
When I moved back to Paris this spring, I couldn’t wait to try some of the new bistros that had opened in the years I’d been away. I’d heard plenty about the haute cuisine-meets-neighborhood resto concept and was anxious to indulge.
My search led me to l’Ourcine – an out of the way spot near les Gobelins – for the decadent lunch I’d been dreaming about.
With its unpretentious vibe, market-inspired menu and excellent rapport qualité-prix, l’Ourcine has earned a devoted foodie following. For 34 euro (26 for mid-week lunch formule) the three-course menu offers creative riffs on classics like onglet de veau, pigeon roti au foie gras, “open” ravioli in a creamy morel mushroom sauce and famously, les quenelles au chocolat.
But no matter what you order from chef Sylvain Daniere’s ever-changing chalkboard menu, the locals swear: it’s all good. Continue Reading »
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June 29, 2011 by Forest Collins
When a table is consistently booked out at least three months in advance, it probably doesn’t need any extra press. However, I’m so tickled by Tete dans les Olives that I can’t help but tell all. After having made a reservation earlier this year I was left wondering if this elusive eating experience could really live up to the hype it’s received over the past year or so. But, as soon as I arrived at the charming doorway, I knew I was in for a treat.
So, just what’s so special about this address? By day, it’s a tiny epicerie whose owner, Cédric Casanova, works with small producers in Italy to stock his shelves with the best of artisanal products. You’ll find pungent cheese, sundried tomatoes, an array of pasta, fragrant herbs, and plenty of other seasonal goodies. But, as the name implies, the biggest draw is the olive oil. Pristine silver vats of the stuff fill the shelves of his delightful shop, each baring the name of both the type of olive and the owner of the parcel of land where it was grown. Word is that some of Paris’ best-known chefs pop in to sample and shop. But the real fun starts when the store closes and a tiny table for five is set for receiving.
Arriving guests are welcomed into the minuscule space by the hospitable staff – for our visit, it was Marco. While waiting for the rest of our party, this friendly Sicilian (who is also a student of philosophy) talked about the products, their origins and the concepts behind the store and its Table d’Hôte. He uncapped one of the olive oil jugs to offer a whiff of the fragrant goodness inside and filled the tiny table with samples of olives, oil, tapenade, sundried tomatoes and bread. We squeezed around the rustic table, backs nearly pressed against the overflowing shelves and started the meal while Marco popped open a bottle of champagne we had brought. In fact, we had brought a variety of wines to match up with courses, as this is strictly a BYOB operation.
As we nearly licked the bowls of oil clean, a wooden board arrived on the table with the vegetable course: mushrooms filled with wild oregano, mint stuffed carrots topped with freshly grated cheese and juicy oranges topped with salty anchovies. The quality of the ingredients shines through in the final product as these relatively simply prepared bites pop with fresh flavor. With no individual plates set out, we helped our selves with fingers and forks, which only added to the companionable aspect in these close quarters. Continue Reading »
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April 19, 2010 by Maggie Battista
All photos by Maggie Battista, except where noted
The volcanic eruption in Iceland has changed my (and likely your) travel plans pretty dramatically. I was supposed to be back with the husband in cold and rainy New England but am instead stranded in bright and sunny Paris. Despite feeling pretty helpless, as you may imagine, I am not getting much sympathy from friends and family. Taking the bull by the horns, I have decided to make the most of every extra moment in this perfect city. I’m sharing my five-step plan with you, with the hopes that it may help those of you also stranded in Paris or anywhere in Europe.
1. Revisit your favorite restaurant and hope for a sweet homecoming. I’ve visited some fabulous restaurants during my stay in Paris, only to be warmly welcomed (most of the time) upon my second visit. The staff at Le Miroir, Glou and, especially, Le Pure Café have been attentive, sweet and delighted by my return visits. However, I only just discovered my favorite restaurant in Paris a few days ago. La Laiterie Sainte Clotilde (64 Rue de Bellechasse 75007 Paris, Tel: 01 45 51 74 61) is a little neighborhood joint, only four blocks from my flat, run by an unlikely duo – she’s an experienced grandmother-like host, he’s a young, cool bartender/server. Together, they run an efficient, candle-lit, warm diner that whips up nine seasonal comfort dishes (three entrees, three plats, three desserts) and easy, affordable wine. I felt so at home here, so much so that I’m hoping a return trip will ease my travel plan pain. If it doesn’t, I’m pretty certain a return trip to my favorite Paris wine bar, Le Baron Rouge, will do the trick. Wine cures all ills, right?
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Posted in Food, Parisian Living, Shopping, Travel | 6 Comments »
February 3, 2010 by Tory Hoen
littlebrownpen.com & flickr.com/photos/danske
Meg Zimbeck at Girls’ Guide to Paris knows a thing or two about Paris restaurants. Below, she gives us the rundown on the many options available at neo-bistro Chez Michel: an adventurous diner’s paradise. According to LeFooding.com, it’s one of Catherine Deneuve’s favorite eateries. We’re already impressed!
Text by Meg Zimbeck
In a city with so many incredible restaurants to try, repeat visits are a sure sign of love. Until this week, I could count on one hand the places to which I’ve returned more than three times: Spring, Frenchie, l’Avant Comptoir, Le Baratin and the crêperie Josselin. Chez Michel, the Breton bistro near Gare du Nord, has just joined the ranks and forced me to open a second hand.
My fourth visit on a frozen December evening was nearly perfect. Having arrived early, I waited for my friend with a glass of Cerdon—a sparkling pink wine that’s rarely seen in restaurants (6 euros). The extra time was devoted to studying both the printed menu and the lengthy chalk-drawn list of specials.
photobucket.com
Chez Michel is a single restaurant with many different ways to dine. The foundation of any experience is the prix fixe menu, with three courses for 32 euros. It includes plenty of good pork and seafood options, with eight starters, six mains and seven desserts. You could stick to the plan and be very happy with a good fish soup and a stellar brandade de morue, plus the famous 36-hour Paris-Brest dessert. I don’t know anybody who does this.
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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 »
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February 24, 2009 by Erica Berman
After many years of living Paris the beauty of the city is often lost behind the cloudy grey weather and daily train-train*. Often I find I must make a concerted effort to find the time to take advantage of this beautiful city.
Yesterday, a sunny day, I decided to steal a few hours in town. First stop: the Passerelle de Solferino, a small bridge across the Seine from Musee D’Orsay to the Tuilerie gardens, to admire the spectacular view up and down the river Seine. Continue Reading »
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