(Very tardy) Paris Trip Report July '08
Sep 27th, 2008, 07:39 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
(Very tardy) Paris Trip Report July '08
Shame, shame, shame on me for taking so long to start this post! The summer got completely away from me, and though I started writing my report ages ago, and added to it from time to time, I never finished. What I’ll do is just give you what I’ve got and amend it later.
My partner and I arrived in Paris July 4th and spent 8 nights there. We would have been quite happy staying in the same apartment on Rue de Renard that we rented five years ago (my report from that trip is still posted hereabouts), but this trip was put together on fairly short notice and it wasn’t available. We took a place through www.yellowstay.com (a studio at 4 rue Villersexel, near the Musée d’Orsay) that was adequate but not much more. In fairness, it was inexpensive, clean, exactly as described, and in a terrific location (a half block north of Blvd. St-Germain). I now know for sure, however, that I need air conditioning. Especially in a neighborhood that’s mosquito-prone. ‘Nuf said? (scratch scratch)
(Oh! Keep in mind that just because the place you stay is near the Métro doesn’t mean it’s necessarily convenient. Which line or lines go THROUGH that station is crucial. Otherwise you’re transferring all over Creation. Our station – Solférino – only had one line going through it.)
Because we had, at various times in Life, already had our respective First-Time-in-Paris tourist frenzies, this trip was just for hanging out and relaxing. And eating. And shopping for French tableware.
Before we left home we reserved only two tables for nine days' eating out: at Taillevent and Alain Ducasse. Despite warnings in all the guide books that these top-notch restaurants must be booked weeks, if not months, ahead, it turned out to be surprisingly easy. In both cases I e-mailed the dates I would be in town (and this only a week ahead) and asked nicely for a table for two, lunch or dinner, anytime during our stay. And in both cases they replied with good news: dinner at Taillevent and lunch at Alain Ducasse. (Note to centime-pinchers: The rule-of-thumb about eating at the best places at lunchtime in order to save a little money does not apply at Alain Ducasse. Same menu, day or night.)
Le Train Bleu
Saturday night, July 5
I wanted, at least once while in Paris, to eat in a big, lavish, ornate, classic room. After doing a little research we settled on Le Train Bleu, in the Gare de Lyon. Judging by American standards of airport dining, and definitely of bus station dining (we don't have trains here), it might be reasonable to worry a little about the food in a train station. Forget that attitude, though, when arriving at the Gare de Lyon. The location of this restaurant – and it is nothing if not big, lavish, ornate and classic – only enhances the dining experience. One can almost hear the whistle of the steam locomotives...
The menu ( http://miseajour.apicius.com/letrainbleu/uk/carte.asp ) indicated that the tasting menu was available only till 10pm, which was the time of our reservation. Having arrived about 15 minutes early and being seated right away we asked for the tasting menu and crossed our fingers. The waiter looked at his watch, held up a finger and went away for a minute, then came back with gobs of silver and glassware. It looked like we were in multi-course business!
Every morsel of the meal was flawless, but the warm smoked scallop first course was one of the best dishes I had all week. The foie gras was accompanied by big slices of toasted darkish bread. I was pretty sure it was from Poilâne, and I asked the waiter. He confirmed its provenance, then soon arrived with a large stack of several slices more, nestled in a crisp white napkin cocoon. Nice gesture.
I remember liking the cod but can’t recall any details right now. I do know that the rum sorbet that came between the fish and the lamb was very good on its own, and the perfect thing before a hearty main course.
It occurs to me that what I want to do here is not to describe in detail every single bite of food I ate, but rather to convey my great pleasure with the whole experience. Yes, the food was superb, but the location, the décor, the service, the ambiance…all of it came together in just the right way.
(Note to the gentlemen: It’s a little unnerving, while, er, standing at the urinal in the men’s room, to realize that you’re looking out through a transom window right into the station itself. That said, even if going to la toilette isn’t a physiological necessity I recommend it as an interesting side trip. You walk through the bar end of the restaurant, and you’d swear you were in an English men’s club. I noticed a large orange cat asleep on one of the leather sofas; later, he made a casual stroll through the dining room, which was clearly his dining room.)
Our dinner was hardly inexpensive, but at 96 euros each – including a bottle of good Champagne for the two of us – it wasn’t exorbitant. Expensive but not astronomical but worth it is how I’d characterize it.
TAILLEVENT
(Notice how casually I say that? Repeat after me: Taillevent.)
I had e-mailed them a week or so before the trip and nicely asked for a reservation – lunch or dinner – anytime I was in Paris. They wrote right back offering me a Tuesday dinner. Very civil.
This was, quite simply, the best restaurant experience I’ve ever had anywhere on earth. It wasn’t the least bit stuffy. We were made to feel absolutely welcome. The surroundings were elegant but the feeling was that we were in our own living room (or a very wealthy friend’s), being served on a special occasion. The food? Flawless. (I’ll not go dish-by-dish through every meal we ate for a week since almost every place has a website nowadays where you can look at menus.) After you order they bring you these little pouffed (I mistyped that – meaning to write “puffed,” but pouffed makes more sense, considering the ethereal airiness of these particular pommes de terre, so I think I’ll leave it alone) potatoes. I could seriously have made a meal of them.
Dinner for two with a Champagne aperitif and some good-but-not-extravagant wine, plus a little something extra added for the terrific service, was 750 euros.
CAFÉ DE FLORE
Just because it’s famous and full of English-speakers and its picture appears on lots of postcards doesn’t mean it’s not a darn good place to eat. We had our first meal in town there – lunch on the Fourth of July – and even sitting inside it was a great experience. I had a cold plate of three salmon preparations (smoked, half-smoked and gravlax), and it was the perfect thing (with some good Chablis) on a summer afternoon.
The “Coupe de Flore,” their ice cream concoction de maison, was one for the ages, and in fact I made a point of recreating it once I got home. Chocolate ice cream, pear sorbet, dark chocolate sauce, crushed almond nougatine, Chantilly cream. Man, it was good!
RSETAURANT ÎLOT VACHE
Strolling through l’Île Saint-Louis we passed this place at dinnertime. It looked good, we asked for a table, we went in. It was small, cozy, busy. It seemed more of a neighborhood place than anything. Awfully good is all I can say. Not too cher, either.
NOTE: The exchange rate is awful, and while it made no sense whatsoever we pretended quite irrationally that the dollar was equal to the euro. Otherwise there would have been a depressing edge to everything we did over there. Trips to places like Paris are a big, big deal for us, and there’s just no better place to splurge.
LA CAGOUILLE
We’re loyal Zagat Guide users back home, so we gave it a try in Paris and it didn’t let us down. It was there that we learned about La Cagouille, in a residential neighborhood a short walk (2-3 blocks) in the rain from Montparnasse train station. It had a high rating for food (23 if memory serves me right). No tourists to be seen. Nice people, excellent seafood. Simply very good. Worth finding.
More when I can get to it…
Eating. Shopping (We’ll discuss how to get twelve boxes of dishes and whatnot from les marchés aux puces home in a future episode.)
My partner and I arrived in Paris July 4th and spent 8 nights there. We would have been quite happy staying in the same apartment on Rue de Renard that we rented five years ago (my report from that trip is still posted hereabouts), but this trip was put together on fairly short notice and it wasn’t available. We took a place through www.yellowstay.com (a studio at 4 rue Villersexel, near the Musée d’Orsay) that was adequate but not much more. In fairness, it was inexpensive, clean, exactly as described, and in a terrific location (a half block north of Blvd. St-Germain). I now know for sure, however, that I need air conditioning. Especially in a neighborhood that’s mosquito-prone. ‘Nuf said? (scratch scratch)
(Oh! Keep in mind that just because the place you stay is near the Métro doesn’t mean it’s necessarily convenient. Which line or lines go THROUGH that station is crucial. Otherwise you’re transferring all over Creation. Our station – Solférino – only had one line going through it.)
Because we had, at various times in Life, already had our respective First-Time-in-Paris tourist frenzies, this trip was just for hanging out and relaxing. And eating. And shopping for French tableware.
Before we left home we reserved only two tables for nine days' eating out: at Taillevent and Alain Ducasse. Despite warnings in all the guide books that these top-notch restaurants must be booked weeks, if not months, ahead, it turned out to be surprisingly easy. In both cases I e-mailed the dates I would be in town (and this only a week ahead) and asked nicely for a table for two, lunch or dinner, anytime during our stay. And in both cases they replied with good news: dinner at Taillevent and lunch at Alain Ducasse. (Note to centime-pinchers: The rule-of-thumb about eating at the best places at lunchtime in order to save a little money does not apply at Alain Ducasse. Same menu, day or night.)
Le Train Bleu
Saturday night, July 5
I wanted, at least once while in Paris, to eat in a big, lavish, ornate, classic room. After doing a little research we settled on Le Train Bleu, in the Gare de Lyon. Judging by American standards of airport dining, and definitely of bus station dining (we don't have trains here), it might be reasonable to worry a little about the food in a train station. Forget that attitude, though, when arriving at the Gare de Lyon. The location of this restaurant – and it is nothing if not big, lavish, ornate and classic – only enhances the dining experience. One can almost hear the whistle of the steam locomotives...
The menu ( http://miseajour.apicius.com/letrainbleu/uk/carte.asp ) indicated that the tasting menu was available only till 10pm, which was the time of our reservation. Having arrived about 15 minutes early and being seated right away we asked for the tasting menu and crossed our fingers. The waiter looked at his watch, held up a finger and went away for a minute, then came back with gobs of silver and glassware. It looked like we were in multi-course business!
Every morsel of the meal was flawless, but the warm smoked scallop first course was one of the best dishes I had all week. The foie gras was accompanied by big slices of toasted darkish bread. I was pretty sure it was from Poilâne, and I asked the waiter. He confirmed its provenance, then soon arrived with a large stack of several slices more, nestled in a crisp white napkin cocoon. Nice gesture.
I remember liking the cod but can’t recall any details right now. I do know that the rum sorbet that came between the fish and the lamb was very good on its own, and the perfect thing before a hearty main course.
It occurs to me that what I want to do here is not to describe in detail every single bite of food I ate, but rather to convey my great pleasure with the whole experience. Yes, the food was superb, but the location, the décor, the service, the ambiance…all of it came together in just the right way.
(Note to the gentlemen: It’s a little unnerving, while, er, standing at the urinal in the men’s room, to realize that you’re looking out through a transom window right into the station itself. That said, even if going to la toilette isn’t a physiological necessity I recommend it as an interesting side trip. You walk through the bar end of the restaurant, and you’d swear you were in an English men’s club. I noticed a large orange cat asleep on one of the leather sofas; later, he made a casual stroll through the dining room, which was clearly his dining room.)
Our dinner was hardly inexpensive, but at 96 euros each – including a bottle of good Champagne for the two of us – it wasn’t exorbitant. Expensive but not astronomical but worth it is how I’d characterize it.
TAILLEVENT
(Notice how casually I say that? Repeat after me: Taillevent.)
I had e-mailed them a week or so before the trip and nicely asked for a reservation – lunch or dinner – anytime I was in Paris. They wrote right back offering me a Tuesday dinner. Very civil.
This was, quite simply, the best restaurant experience I’ve ever had anywhere on earth. It wasn’t the least bit stuffy. We were made to feel absolutely welcome. The surroundings were elegant but the feeling was that we were in our own living room (or a very wealthy friend’s), being served on a special occasion. The food? Flawless. (I’ll not go dish-by-dish through every meal we ate for a week since almost every place has a website nowadays where you can look at menus.) After you order they bring you these little pouffed (I mistyped that – meaning to write “puffed,” but pouffed makes more sense, considering the ethereal airiness of these particular pommes de terre, so I think I’ll leave it alone) potatoes. I could seriously have made a meal of them.
Dinner for two with a Champagne aperitif and some good-but-not-extravagant wine, plus a little something extra added for the terrific service, was 750 euros.
CAFÉ DE FLORE
Just because it’s famous and full of English-speakers and its picture appears on lots of postcards doesn’t mean it’s not a darn good place to eat. We had our first meal in town there – lunch on the Fourth of July – and even sitting inside it was a great experience. I had a cold plate of three salmon preparations (smoked, half-smoked and gravlax), and it was the perfect thing (with some good Chablis) on a summer afternoon.
The “Coupe de Flore,” their ice cream concoction de maison, was one for the ages, and in fact I made a point of recreating it once I got home. Chocolate ice cream, pear sorbet, dark chocolate sauce, crushed almond nougatine, Chantilly cream. Man, it was good!
RSETAURANT ÎLOT VACHE
Strolling through l’Île Saint-Louis we passed this place at dinnertime. It looked good, we asked for a table, we went in. It was small, cozy, busy. It seemed more of a neighborhood place than anything. Awfully good is all I can say. Not too cher, either.
NOTE: The exchange rate is awful, and while it made no sense whatsoever we pretended quite irrationally that the dollar was equal to the euro. Otherwise there would have been a depressing edge to everything we did over there. Trips to places like Paris are a big, big deal for us, and there’s just no better place to splurge.
LA CAGOUILLE
We’re loyal Zagat Guide users back home, so we gave it a try in Paris and it didn’t let us down. It was there that we learned about La Cagouille, in a residential neighborhood a short walk (2-3 blocks) in the rain from Montparnasse train station. It had a high rating for food (23 if memory serves me right). No tourists to be seen. Nice people, excellent seafood. Simply very good. Worth finding.
More when I can get to it…
Eating. Shopping (We’ll discuss how to get twelve boxes of dishes and whatnot from les marchés aux puces home in a future episode.)
Sep 27th, 2008, 09:27 AM
#3
Bonjour,
Loved your report. We just got back from Paris, so it was fun to read your review on 2 restaurants we also loved.(review under Paris Again by TPAYT)
Le Train Bleu was wonderful. MDH missed the English Men's Clu
men's room), but I had quite a different experience in the ladies room. A tiny little box with no window. Also missed the cat.
The food was excellent, and the room stunning!
Another of our favorites was L'Ilot Vache. The table settings were so unusual, and again the food was outstanding. Our apartment was across the street and when we looked in the window we just had to go there. I'm glad we did.
We'll put your other restaurant choices on our list for next year.
Loved your report. We just got back from Paris, so it was fun to read your review on 2 restaurants we also loved.(review under Paris Again by TPAYT)
Le Train Bleu was wonderful. MDH missed the English Men's Clu
men's room), but I had quite a different experience in the ladies room. A tiny little box with no window. Also missed the cat.The food was excellent, and the room stunning!
Another of our favorites was L'Ilot Vache. The table settings were so unusual, and again the food was outstanding. Our apartment was across the street and when we looked in the window we just had to go there. I'm glad we did.
We'll put your other restaurant choices on our list for next year.
Sep 29th, 2008, 09:46 PM
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
PART 2
I’ve just unearthed a pile of receipts from our trip. Unlike in my childhood, when my typical souvenirs were more along the lines of Coke bottles in Greek, QE2 cocktail napkins or LOTS of postcards, I’m now content to read restaurant receipts as if they were old love letters. The numbers don’t mean much, just as the body measurements of past loves don’t matter much; rather, it’s about the moods and memories these slips of paper evoke. The memory of a particular dish can bring about the same wistful smile and warmth of a teenage kiss on a park bench.
Anyway…
ALAIN DUCASSE
“Badoit 1 l 8.00”
A line like that on a receipt like this seems almost sinfully banal, but I guess they DO have their own bills to pay.
Unlike Taillevent, where the overall experience was The Thing, at ADPA (Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee) it’s more a matter of food. Not that there was anything remotely wrong with the service or the surroundings here, but the food had that extra je ne sais quoi. I used to cook for a living, but there was stuff in this meal I never would have imagined.
I’d say that Taillevent was perfection while Alain Ducasse is perfectly executed imagination. One can see the menu online so I won’t itemize, but I’d go back if only for the cheese cart. Oh, the cheeses are beautiful, all right – probably fifty of them, all perfect and pure and enticing – but right here I really mean the cart itself. The wood and glass and brass and wheels…such a stunningly magnificent fixture…I was wowed.
The servers were uniformly younger than at Taillevent, and they did nothing wrong. They made no mistakes whatsoever. But just as the gravel in the voice of Sinatra at sixty rendered it richer than his voice at twenty-five – richer and more interesting – the calm, comfortable ease among the staff at Taillevent likewise left me calmer and more at ease.
Two glasses of Champagne, two “Plaisirs de Table” menus, a half bottle of Sancerre and a half bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin and a double espresso later – and the bottle of Badoit, of course! – the tally was 654 euros. It was what it was: a splurge for us (a huge splurge).
ATELIER MAITRE ALBERT
If this place is so good in the summer, it’s hard to imagine how wonderful it must be in winter. The bare stone and brick and beams and the low lights, not to mention the open fire in the kitchen rotisserie, just scream “It’s cold outside and you’re lucky to be in such a place getting warm.”
Here’s the rundown from my receipt:
1 btl Gevrey-Chambertin
1 Croustillant d’Escargots (extra-small snails rolled up in little phyllo cylinders; I’d never seen anything like that)
1 Crème de carottes (as good a carrot soup as you can conceive of)
1 Volaille Rotie (As all the guidebooks said, it was a supremely sophisticated roast chicken. Caution, though: you don’t get an awful lot of it. There’s a boned breast and a dark quarter. Crisp skin and moist meat is how it’s supposed to be, and it’s what you get here.)
1 Souris d’Agneau
1 Bocal du Chariot (you pick three little things from the cart – fruit compotes, custards, mousses, etc)
1 Fondant au Chocolat
For all that joy, 178 euros
ADDENDUM re La Cagouille
I found the bill from lunch. 1 “formule” menu, 1 starter, 1 main, six oysters and a modest bottle of wine = 132 euros. They changed the finger bowls between courses, which was pretty darn swank if you ask me.
Still more to come later: Brasserie Bofinger, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s “Market,” the restaurant (whatever it’s called) at the Musee d’Orsay. (Teaser: they were all good.) I just wanted to jot down some notes ‘n’ thoughts while I was looking at the receipts.
I’ve just unearthed a pile of receipts from our trip. Unlike in my childhood, when my typical souvenirs were more along the lines of Coke bottles in Greek, QE2 cocktail napkins or LOTS of postcards, I’m now content to read restaurant receipts as if they were old love letters. The numbers don’t mean much, just as the body measurements of past loves don’t matter much; rather, it’s about the moods and memories these slips of paper evoke. The memory of a particular dish can bring about the same wistful smile and warmth of a teenage kiss on a park bench.
Anyway…
ALAIN DUCASSE
“Badoit 1 l 8.00”
A line like that on a receipt like this seems almost sinfully banal, but I guess they DO have their own bills to pay.
Unlike Taillevent, where the overall experience was The Thing, at ADPA (Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee) it’s more a matter of food. Not that there was anything remotely wrong with the service or the surroundings here, but the food had that extra je ne sais quoi. I used to cook for a living, but there was stuff in this meal I never would have imagined.
I’d say that Taillevent was perfection while Alain Ducasse is perfectly executed imagination. One can see the menu online so I won’t itemize, but I’d go back if only for the cheese cart. Oh, the cheeses are beautiful, all right – probably fifty of them, all perfect and pure and enticing – but right here I really mean the cart itself. The wood and glass and brass and wheels…such a stunningly magnificent fixture…I was wowed.
The servers were uniformly younger than at Taillevent, and they did nothing wrong. They made no mistakes whatsoever. But just as the gravel in the voice of Sinatra at sixty rendered it richer than his voice at twenty-five – richer and more interesting – the calm, comfortable ease among the staff at Taillevent likewise left me calmer and more at ease.
Two glasses of Champagne, two “Plaisirs de Table” menus, a half bottle of Sancerre and a half bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin and a double espresso later – and the bottle of Badoit, of course! – the tally was 654 euros. It was what it was: a splurge for us (a huge splurge).
ATELIER MAITRE ALBERT
If this place is so good in the summer, it’s hard to imagine how wonderful it must be in winter. The bare stone and brick and beams and the low lights, not to mention the open fire in the kitchen rotisserie, just scream “It’s cold outside and you’re lucky to be in such a place getting warm.”
Here’s the rundown from my receipt:
1 btl Gevrey-Chambertin
1 Croustillant d’Escargots (extra-small snails rolled up in little phyllo cylinders; I’d never seen anything like that)
1 Crème de carottes (as good a carrot soup as you can conceive of)
1 Volaille Rotie (As all the guidebooks said, it was a supremely sophisticated roast chicken. Caution, though: you don’t get an awful lot of it. There’s a boned breast and a dark quarter. Crisp skin and moist meat is how it’s supposed to be, and it’s what you get here.)
1 Souris d’Agneau
1 Bocal du Chariot (you pick three little things from the cart – fruit compotes, custards, mousses, etc)
1 Fondant au Chocolat
For all that joy, 178 euros
ADDENDUM re La Cagouille
I found the bill from lunch. 1 “formule” menu, 1 starter, 1 main, six oysters and a modest bottle of wine = 132 euros. They changed the finger bowls between courses, which was pretty darn swank if you ask me.
Still more to come later: Brasserie Bofinger, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s “Market,” the restaurant (whatever it’s called) at the Musee d’Orsay. (Teaser: they were all good.) I just wanted to jot down some notes ‘n’ thoughts while I was looking at the receipts.
Sep 30th, 2008, 05:24 AM
#7
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 552
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How strange is this? We were in Le Train Bleu the same night! It was the night before my birthday, we were returning to Dublin the next day and my husband booked it as a surprise.
Sometimes I think that Fodorites should wear badges identifying themselves.
Sometimes I think that Fodorites should wear badges identifying themselves.
Sep 30th, 2008, 06:46 AM
#10
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 1,916
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Enjoying the report! I'm just back myself and should do one...but I just wanted to say, I also had a very enjoyable experience at Atelier Maitre Albert. We ended up there randomly, walking down that little side street from our apartment on the Seine on our way towards St Germain, liked the look of it, and decided to eat there (it was a Monday night so we didn't have any problem getting in). When I realized it was a Guy Savoy bistro, I was very psyched, as I'd had a very good meal at Les Bouqinistes on my previous trip. We didn't try the chicken though--next time for sure!
Sep 30th, 2008, 07:21 AM
#11
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 3,654
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Nice going clayrr! I am enjoying your report and have to say, you guys really know how to splurge out!
Those restaurant bills looked like hotel bookings!!
I too keep every single receipt and like to refer back when posting a trip report. Sadly mine never go into three figures..................
We had a girls night at Le Train Bleu about three years ago now and the waiter presented us all with a souvenir menu! Wasn't that great?!
Looking forward to more of your report.
Those restaurant bills looked like hotel bookings!!
I too keep every single receipt and like to refer back when posting a trip report. Sadly mine never go into three figures..................
We had a girls night at Le Train Bleu about three years ago now and the waiter presented us all with a souvenir menu! Wasn't that great?!
Looking forward to more of your report.
Sep 30th, 2008, 09:35 AM
#12
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,702
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We were thinking of Le Train Bleu in the spring. Can you give me an idea of the dress code, or at least how dressy everyone really was? I am afraid that the items I may bring wont quite measure up if I need to dress it up.
Sep 30th, 2008, 11:10 AM
#15
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 4,849
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have never seen folks Train Bleu in shorts and sandals, but it is, after all, a train station restaurant. People waiting for their train, who are not afraid of the prices, drag their luggage up the stairs and have a drink and snack in the bar/lounge area while they read the provided newspapers. I suppose they go into the restaurant itself to dine in whatever clothing they are traveling in.
I always have worn dress slacks, and sometimes a jacket, rather than my usual jeans, and DW does nice slacks, or her all purpose black skirt, and a nice top.
Not to worry; no one will point and snicker.
Enjoy your meal.
I always have worn dress slacks, and sometimes a jacket, rather than my usual jeans, and DW does nice slacks, or her all purpose black skirt, and a nice top.
Not to worry; no one will point and snicker.
Enjoy your meal.
Sep 30th, 2008, 05:45 PM
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
BRASSERIE BOFINGER
Another “I want to do this once before we go home” was the brasserie, and on our last night in Paris we had dinner at Bofinger. Maybe we should have vacationed in Las Vegas instead (or Monte Carlo!), because yet again we lucked out with a terrific dining experience. I’d never gone whole hog (poor metaphor) before – at home or abroad – and ordered a big plateau of seafood, but this was to be the place.
My receipt here indicates that we opted for the Plateau Prestige, which I recall had a half a lobster on it as well as crab, clams, several kinds of oysters, and a pile of little bitty shrimps the size of which I hadn’t seen since I had pet turtles as a kid. Using count-per-pound standards like you see in the supermarket, these had to be in the thousands. I swear they were the size of pencil erasers. But I get ahead of myself.
The restaurant was everything you’d expect, including a gigantic man who arrived when the opera let out next door and sat next to us. He wore a flamboyant silk scarf and a vest and enjoyed his food a LOT. (In a good way)
Yes, we ordered a plateau de fruits de mer, but darn it all I wanted choucroute as well. After all, what if I walked out of there and was hit by a bus?
I ordered the plateau, DP ordered the three-course menu (cold foie gras followed by veal fricassee), and then, as the waiter (direct from Central Casting – picture the guy in “Victor, Victoria” who brings Julie Andrews course after course, right before she unloads the cockroach into her salad…THAT waiter) dotted an I or crossed a T with his pen and began to turn around, I said, “et aussi la Choucroute Speciale.”
He stopped, looked over his half glasses at me, and said, “Monsieur, zee people zay usually order eezair zee plateau or zee choucroute – pause, with a curl of the lip – but not both.”
I said, “I understand, but this is my first time at Bofinger, and if I walk out of here tonight and get hit by a bus, well…I would be very angry at myself for not trying the choucroute as well as the fruits de mer.”
He considered this for a second, pursed his lips again – but this time with a raised eyebrow of comprehension – and started writing.
We were in brasserie business!
Excessive? Yes. Regrets? Pas du tout.
The plateau was all we imagined and more, but those little shrimps! I had to ask the waiter what to do with them, and he kindly explained that some people eat the whole things, shells and heads and all, but that others twist them apart and peel them, just as with full-size shrimps. I went sissy and did the twist 'n' peel thing, and while the meat was beyond sweet, the amusement wore off pretty quickly.
The choucroute was very, very good. As I said above about Atelier Maitre Albert, if Bofinger is this good in July, it must be mind-blowing in the winter.
Oh, yes, we had three desserts, too: flan abricots, coupe agrumes (I forget what was in this, but the memory is good), and profiteroles.
With a Kir Cremant d’Alsace each to start, all that food, a half bottle of Riesling Grand Cru, a half bottle of Sancerre rouge, and a glass of Vendange Tardive apiece (remember, last night in Paris PLUS there was that bus that might have hit me), the tab was 218 euros.
What a night.
Another “I want to do this once before we go home” was the brasserie, and on our last night in Paris we had dinner at Bofinger. Maybe we should have vacationed in Las Vegas instead (or Monte Carlo!), because yet again we lucked out with a terrific dining experience. I’d never gone whole hog (poor metaphor) before – at home or abroad – and ordered a big plateau of seafood, but this was to be the place.
My receipt here indicates that we opted for the Plateau Prestige, which I recall had a half a lobster on it as well as crab, clams, several kinds of oysters, and a pile of little bitty shrimps the size of which I hadn’t seen since I had pet turtles as a kid. Using count-per-pound standards like you see in the supermarket, these had to be in the thousands. I swear they were the size of pencil erasers. But I get ahead of myself.
The restaurant was everything you’d expect, including a gigantic man who arrived when the opera let out next door and sat next to us. He wore a flamboyant silk scarf and a vest and enjoyed his food a LOT. (In a good way)
Yes, we ordered a plateau de fruits de mer, but darn it all I wanted choucroute as well. After all, what if I walked out of there and was hit by a bus?
I ordered the plateau, DP ordered the three-course menu (cold foie gras followed by veal fricassee), and then, as the waiter (direct from Central Casting – picture the guy in “Victor, Victoria” who brings Julie Andrews course after course, right before she unloads the cockroach into her salad…THAT waiter) dotted an I or crossed a T with his pen and began to turn around, I said, “et aussi la Choucroute Speciale.”
He stopped, looked over his half glasses at me, and said, “Monsieur, zee people zay usually order eezair zee plateau or zee choucroute – pause, with a curl of the lip – but not both.”
I said, “I understand, but this is my first time at Bofinger, and if I walk out of here tonight and get hit by a bus, well…I would be very angry at myself for not trying the choucroute as well as the fruits de mer.”
He considered this for a second, pursed his lips again – but this time with a raised eyebrow of comprehension – and started writing.
We were in brasserie business!
Excessive? Yes. Regrets? Pas du tout.
The plateau was all we imagined and more, but those little shrimps! I had to ask the waiter what to do with them, and he kindly explained that some people eat the whole things, shells and heads and all, but that others twist them apart and peel them, just as with full-size shrimps. I went sissy and did the twist 'n' peel thing, and while the meat was beyond sweet, the amusement wore off pretty quickly.
The choucroute was very, very good. As I said above about Atelier Maitre Albert, if Bofinger is this good in July, it must be mind-blowing in the winter.
Oh, yes, we had three desserts, too: flan abricots, coupe agrumes (I forget what was in this, but the memory is good), and profiteroles.
With a Kir Cremant d’Alsace each to start, all that food, a half bottle of Riesling Grand Cru, a half bottle of Sancerre rouge, and a glass of Vendange Tardive apiece (remember, last night in Paris PLUS there was that bus that might have hit me), the tab was 218 euros.
What a night.
