All the new foodie and travel mags. seem to be hot on L"Affriole, in the 7th. I'd rather have a recommendation from someone who has been there. Any hep?

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Jody, <BR>I'll just repeat a post I wrote in April on our dinner at the terrific L'Affriole: <BR> <BR>Just last week we dined at "L'Affriole", a wonderful husband and wife team, creative bistrot on Rue Malar #7 (7th) where we enjoyed stunningly good food, as Chris, Fodor's Paris editor, in his hosted Forum, promised we would. I'm told the verb "affrioler" means "to seduce, to charm" (if my sources are correct!), and this little bistro did indeed seduce us. I went to Paris armed with reviews from Bon A., F&W, Wine Spectator, Gourmet, Patricia Wells, Bonjour Paris, Belle France, NY Times, Cheap Eats, Zagat and all of the fine Fodor folks (we *really* wanted to eat well!), and "L'Affriole" was by far the best of the many recs we tried in 8 days (2 recs per day!-but lots of walking!) and not at all the most expensive. We both chose the 4-course "formule" for 190 ff.. The menu is market driven, ("cuisine du marche" sp?), so it changes daily depending on what's freshest at the market, and it keeps going on and on with truly original dishes. Our meal started with addictive country bread (I think it's from Poujauran nearby) and seductive olive butter (a real calorie buster) along with a plate of tiny appetizers, then came the starter, the main course (I had the grilled tuna Basque style with Espelette peppers and chorizo), a cheese course (two exquisite whole rounds of southwestern goat cheese accompanied by finely dressed greens (walnut oil dressing), then dessert (I had the orange souffle) along with 2 individual pots de creme (one chocolate, one caramel) as an extra little dessert, then coffee, plus a plate of whole walnuts served with a nutcracker (to cleanse the palate) and candied dried apricots to end the 2 1/2 hr. repast. With a bottle of really fine house Bordeaux (only 80 ff), our bill came to about $75 (524 ff). We dropped by late one afternoon 3 days in advance and made reservations with the owners, the chef himself and his wife, who runs the prettily and kind of whimsically decorated Art Deco d. room, outfitted with faux marble moldings and columns. And when we arrived at 9, to our surprise we didn't find ourselves dining exclusively with our fellow Americans (as had happened at Le P'tit Troquet the night before and at many other highly recommended bistros), but instead we were surrounded by large groups of fashionably dressed, animated locals (a real Parisian evening out), although there were 2 other American couples sitting next to us on the banquette in the back rm. I suppose you could call this a type of segregation, putting the Americans together in the back, but we applauded it and were delighted by it, because we were finally able to dine among the locals! We 3 lone American couples were served by a charming, friendly and amusing waiter who spoke excellent English but also encouraged us to try out our limited French. Madame attended to her regular customers. I really urge you to try "L'Affriole", but if you go, be prepared to spend the entire evening. It's a culinary experience to be savored (but yet so affordable), a destination in and of itself. I think this is your perfect Parisian full multi-course dinner thing without spending a fortune, and the chef has trained under some of the best in France (inluding Jacques Cagna, I've read). Its rating in the 2001 Zagat guide was calculated before the current owners took over the helm in '96 and doesn't at all accurately reflect this chef's amazing talents. I can hardly wait to return! <BR> <BR> <BR>

MARIBEL_ <BR>Thank you so much , I can hardly wait until October!!Your response is much more telling than reading revues in magazines . I hop I can find some place to make reservations online so we are not disappointed if we don't get there soon enough. we willonly be inParis 5 days before going on, so will make that our first, and maybe second and third stop! Many thanks

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