Nina66

In 1988, we ate the one one near Porte Maillot. DH says that they were doing some street construction and the area outside of the restaurant was like a cul de sac.

Suddenly a Ferreri Testarosa roared onto the little street, screeched to a halt and parked on the sidewalk right across from the front door. Both doors flew open, and out stepped a gorgeous man, about 6-4, with his overcoat draped over his shoulders, and two equally gorgeous blonds. (DH says that it since it was a two seater, one of the blonds must have been sitting on the lap of the other.)

The women looked like models and both were about six feet tall, and dressed to the the nines.

Monsieur Gorgeous sauntered into the restaurant, with a blond on each arm, and was immediately greeted by numerous French diners. He had the looks and style of a movie star and was greeted as such. Although no one rushed towards them, they temporarily interupted their dinners to wave greetings at him - which he returned with a wave of his hand.

The entire scene was surreal and made a good meal even better.

We haven't eaten there since, but I will always remember that night - it was something out of a Fellini movie.

Nina

Nina66

ooooops- Ferrari (sorry Enzo).

JeanneB

Would someone please tell me how to pronounce "Entrecote". Is it "Awn-truh-coe-tay" or "Awn-truh-coat"?

kwren

It's closer to "Awn-truh-cut", but when you say 'awn', but don't touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth as you say it.

lesm

Just a quick clarification question. It sounds like the restaurant on Rue St. Benoit was the original, and the one on Rue Marbeuf offers the same items. Is the restaurant on Rue Marbeuf as good as Rue St. Benoit, because it's much closer to my hotel??

JeanneB

Thank you, wren. That word (And Cote d'Or) have always baffled me.

Bigal

LESM

They are the same owners.

JeanneB

May I ask a totally unrelated question? I hate to start a new thread for such a small matter.

Is it OK to bring a croissant/pastry to have with one's coffee at a cafe? Is that considered rude?

Christina

You don't pronounce an ending e as "ay" unless there is an accent mark on it (accent aigu). French pronunciation is fairly simple if you know the basic rules, even if you don't know the word.

kerouac

JeanneB, some cafés will even send you to the bakery across the street to buy you own when they don't have any. But when they sell croissants themselves (as most of them do), I would say that generally 95% of cafés will "tolerate" bringing in a pastry item and consuming it, but if you suddenly unloaded an entire picnic basket, most places would immediately inform you that you had crossed the line.

dxrx

I know the owner. She only has the two restaurants in Paris. The young man in the Ferrari is her son.

Clayoquot

It's easy to mix up the various restaurants that include the word "entrecôte" in their name.

The genuine ones are (i) the restaurants that go by the name "L'Entrecôte" in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes, Montpellier, and Lyon, (ii) the restaurants called "Le Relais de l'Entrecôte" in Paris (6th and 8th arrondissements) and Geneva, and (iii) the restaurants called "Le Relais de Venise - L'Entrecôte" in Paris (in the 17th arrondissement at Porte Maillot), with new locations recently opened in Barcelona and London. These three groups are owned by two sisters and one brother, and they have exactly the same main dish with the same sauce, as well as the same dessert list. The "Le Relais de Venise - L'Entrecôte" in Paris at Porte Maillot was the original location, founded by their father.
There's a Wikipedia article that explains it here: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'Entrec%C3%B4te>.

But any other restaurant that uses the word "entrecôte" in its name is just trying to copy the originals, and won't be the same.

kerouac

I wouldn't say they are necessarily just trying to copy the originals any more than an American restaurant with "Fried Chicken" in the name is necessarily trying to copy KFC. The other restaurants with "entrecôte" in the name merely specialize in entrecôtes as well.

janisj

kerouac: I'm pretty sure Clayoquot is a member of the family owning the "real" L'Entrecôte's (or maybe works at one of them)

He has only ever posted twice and both were to recommend and give details about their restaurants.

Brazilnut

Really, it beats me why should anyone go to a steak house in France, and even worse, go to a French steak house in London!!!

For good steaks, come to Brasil or Argentina - or go to Brazilian and Argentinian steak houses instead of French ones...

Clayoquot

To reply to "janisj", No I've got no personal connection to these restaurants at all, except that I stumbled upon them quite by chance and quite like them. I learned of Le Relais de Venise (the one at Porte Maillot) one night when I was having dinner at the location in the 6th arrondissement (the one off Boulevard St-Germain), and struck up a conversation with the people at the next table. They told me that the two sisters who own the two restaurants don't get along, and that was why they operate their restaurants under different names and don't advertise one another, even though they're both essentially the same thing.

As for "Brazilnut"'s comment, I agree that a plate of steak-frites from a French brasserie is something entirely different from what you'd get at a good Argentine, Brazilian, or Uruguayan steak-house. But steak-frites is not meant to be anything special. It's just a quick and easy dish -- a sort of French fast food from the 1920s.

I've never been to the new location in London, and I can't say I'm particularly curious to try it. But I was stuck in Geneva over the Easter weekend once, a few years back, and I found the location there a godsend. It was pretty well the only place in town that was open.

janisj

well - that's good to know - since advertising isn't allowed on here