And More on Restaurants...
Looking at your preferential list, I think that l’Avant Gout and Le Pamphlet look great. Chez Maitre Paul sound good, but of all the regions of France, the Jura seems the least interesting culinary-wise.
I’d like to offer a couple of other restaurants for review as well as express some concerns about two of the ones that you have chosen.
Additional Possibilities
La Bastide d’Odéon
Chris and I went there the first time we were in Paris and it was fabulous; the cooking style is Provencale, which I think everyone would enjoy.
From the NY Times site:
Just steps from the Luxembourg Gardens sits this little corner of Provence in Paris - a bright and cheerful restaurant with old oak tables and chairs, and a fine hand with Mediterranean cuisine in the kitchen. Chef Gilles Ajuelos cooks good fish dishes; wonderful pastas, such as tagliatelle in pistou (basil and pine nuts) with wild mushrooms; and heartwarming main courses, like roast suckling pig and cod with capers. AE, MC, V. Closed Sun.-Mon., 1st wk in Jan., 1 wk in Apr., and 3 wks in Aug. Métro: Odéon; RER: Luxembourg.
7 rue Corneille, Paris, France
Phone: 01-43-26-03-65
EUR 23 to EUR 38
St-Germain/Montparnasse (6 Arr.)
French
l’Epi Dupin
Again, Chris and I have eaten here and it was excellent
From the NY Times:
Half-timber walls, sisal carpeting, and crisp white table linens are the backdrop for this pocket-size bistro, which draws a loyal business crowd at noon, a mix of Gaultier-clad locals and food-loving tourists at night. The menu of delicious, updated French classics is revised regularly and might include an upside-down tart of caramelized Belgian endive and goat’s cheese, curried saddle of rabbit with sweet potato chutney, and crisp, pyramid-shaped pastry filled with apples and candied fennel for dessert. Service is efficient if occasionally brusque. The menu is prix-fixe only. Reservations essential. AE, MC, V. Closed weekends. No lunch Mon. Métro: Sèvres-Babylone.
11 rue Dupin, Paris, France
Phone: 01-42-22-64-56
EUR 23 to EUR 38
St-Germain/Montparnasse (6 Arr.)
French
Concerns about two of the restaurants on your list
La Regalade
While there does seem to be a great deal of praise for the food, the list of menu items does not seem appetizing—our Lonely Planet Paris Guide lists “salt cod gazpacho with hot tomato sorbet” and “veal kidneys with almonds and a juniper-flavored sauce;” Cheap Eats mentions “the daring lamb sweetbreads with sweet peppers” and “a new twist on…shepherd’s pie” made with blood sausage. Chris and I are not organ meat lovers, so we are a bit concerned about going to a restaurant that obviously specializes in them.
L’Os a Moelle
I have two concerns with this place; one, you have it on your list as being a six-course, no choices menu; while being left with no choice is familiar to us from Charlie Trotter’s, I have a concern with going to a restaurant whose chef is not internationally-known and not having a say in what I eat; in addition, it is located at the very end of the Metro line in a corner of the 15th, which is rather out of the way.
Splurge Idea
Finally, I would put a pitch in for le Violon d’Ingres for our splurge meal. Zagat’s lists it at 88 Euros, which sounds right based on the price two years ago. It was an incredible night (both the meal and the atmosphere, not to mention the chef coming out and chatting with us) and I think that it would make for a great memory. The NY Times review (below) doesn’t do the food justice (and we didn’t find that a suit was necessary—we were there in February and Chris wore a nice sweater and pants), but Zagat’s has a great review.
Le Violon d’Ingres
Christian Constant, former head of the Hôtel Crillon’s kitchens and mentor to many a successful bistro chef, runs his own dressed-up bistro in one of the quieter but elegant parts of the city. A suit-clad crowd comes to sample the regularly revised menu, which may include such dishes as cream of pumpkin soup with sheep’s cheese, risotto with boned chicken wings, and guinea hen on a bed of diced turnips. Reservations essential. AE, DC, MC, V. Closed Sun. Métro: École Militaire.
135 rue St-Dominique, Paris, France
Phone: 01-45-55-15-05
EUR 23 to EUR 38,Over EUR 38
Invalides
French
Final Suggestion
Based on what I’ve written above, what about making four reservations: Le Violon d’Ingres, l’Avant Gout, La Bastide Odeon, and Le Pamphlet? Once we have sent the list to Sophie and found out if she is able to get reservations, we can move on to creating a list of places that we’re interested in but at which we don’t feel the need to make reservations before going. This list can be kept on hand for lunches during the day and additional dinners (though we’ll still want to be open to suggestions from the hotel or places we happen to see while we’re there).
Posted by Gerette on 6 April 2003