Restaurant-Dining Critiques » Paris

Bûche De Noël, Pâtisserie Sadaharu Aoki – Paris

Kit Marshal — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:21:27 +0000

Japanese pastry chef Sadaharu Aoki creates a whimsical Bûche De Noël. 56 boulevard de Port Royal 75005, sadaharuaoki.com, 01.45.35.36.80; 40€

Related link: Hidemi Sugino Pâtissier Tokyo

Vin Bourru (Very Young Wine) – France

Kit Marshal — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:02:27 +0000

Le vin bourru est un moût en fermentation. Ce vin trouble (levures en suspension) contient encore beaucoup de sucre. Il ne se conserve pas longtemps, les levures continuant à transformer le sucre en alcool.

As you can clearly see in the image above the wine is still fermenting and is cloudy. It is the first wine to be released to drink, usually around this time in September.

Agapé Substance – Paris

Kit Marshal — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:44:08 +0000

Hottest New Paris Bistro . . . Agapé Substance
66 Rue Mazarine 75006 Paris, France Tel. 01 43 29 33 83
There is no question that Agapé Substance is one of the most extraordinary new tables in Paris, and take comfort in knowing, it is basically for just one reason: the cooking.

2011 Michelin Starred & Bib Gourmand Restaurants in France

Kit Marshal — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:08:22 +0000

Images, logos, book design: property of Michelin Guides France

Starred & Bib Gourmand Michelin Restaurants in France 2011
N : the new stars 2011

THREE STAR
25 three-star restaurants
Location (department) Establishment

Baerenthal / Untermuhlthal (57) L’Arnsbourg
Chagny (71) Maison Lameloise
Eugénie-les-Bains (40) Michel Guérard
Fontjoncouse (11) Auberge du Vieux Puits
Illhaeusern (68) Auberge de l’Ill
Joigny (89) La Côte St-Jacques
Laguiole (12) Bras
Lyon (69) Paul Bocuse
Marseille (13) Le Petit Nice
Monte-Carlo (Principauté de Monaco) Le Louis XV-Alain Ducasse
Paris 1er Le Meurice
Paris 4e L’Ambroisie
Paris 7e Arpège
Paris 8e Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée
Paris 8e Le Bristol
Paris 8e Ledoyen
Paris 8e Pierre Gagnaire
Paris 16e Astrance
Paris 16e Le Pré Catelan
Paris 17e Guy Savoy
Roanne (42) Troisgros
Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid (43) Régis et Jacques Marcon
Saulieu (21) Le Relais Bernard Loiseau
Valence (26) Pic
Vonnas (01) Georges Blanc

TWO STAR
Location (department) Establishment

Annecy (74) Le Clos des Sens
Arbois (39) Jean-Paul Jeunet
Arles (13) L ‘Atelier de Jean Luc Rabanel
Les Baux-de-Provence (13) L’ Oustaù de Baumanière
Beaulieu-sur-Mer (06) La Réserve de Beaulieu & Spa
Béthune / Busnes (62) Le Château de Beaulieu
Bonnieux (84) La Bastide de Capelongue
Bordeaux / Bouliac (33) Le St-James
Le-Bourget-du-Lac (73) Le Bateau Ivre
Cannes (06) La Palme d’Or
Cannes / Le Cannet (06) Villa Archange N
Carantec (29) L’Hôtel de Carantec-Patrick Jeffroy
Le Castellet (83) Du Castellet
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (74) Hameau Albert 1er
Chasselay (69) Guy Lassausaie
Courchevel 1850 (73) Les Airelles
Courchevel 1850 (73) Le Chabichou
Courchevel 1850 (73) Cheval Blanc
Èze (06) Château de la Chèvre d’Or
Gundershoffen (67) Le Cygne
Honfleur (14) Sa. Qua. Na
L’Isle-Jourdain / Pujaudran (32) Le Puits St-Jacques
Lorient (56) L’Amphitryon
Lyon (69) Auberge de l’Ile
Lyon (69) Mère Brazier
Lyon / Charbonnières-les-Bains (69) Philippe Gauvreau
Magescq (40) Relais de la Poste
Mandelieu / La Napoule (06) L’Oasis
Megève / Leutaz (74) Flocons de Sel
Mionnay (01) Alain Chapel
Monte-Carlo (Principauté de Monaco) Joël Robuchon Monte-Carlo
Montpellier (34) Le Jardin des Sens
Nantes / Haute-Goulaine (44) Manoir de la Boulaie
Nîmes / Garons (30) Alexandre
Obernai (67) La Fourchette des Ducs
Onzain (41) Domaine des Hauts de Loire
Paris 1er Carré des Feuillants
Paris 1er L’Espadon
Paris 1er Le Grand Véfour
Paris 2e Passage 53 N
Paris 6e Relais Louis XIII
Paris 7e L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon-St-Germain
Paris 7e Jean-François Piège N
Paris 8e Apicius
Paris 8e L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon-Étoile N
Paris 8e Le ”Cinq”
Paris 8e Lasserre
Paris 8e Senderens
Paris 8e Taillevent
Paris 17e Bigarrade
Paris 17e Michel Rostang
Pauillac (33) Château Cordeillan Bages
La Plaine-sur-Mer (44) Anne de Bretagne
Plomodiern (29) Auberge des Glazicks
Pont-du-Gard / Collias (30) Hostellerie Le Castellas
Porto-Vecchio (2A) Casadelmar
Puymirol (47) Michel Trama
Reims (51) L’Assiette Champenoise
La Rochelle (17) Richard et Christopher Coutanceau
Romans-sur-Isère / Granges-les-Beaumont (26) Les Cèdres
Rouen (76) Gill
Saint-Émilion (33) Hostellerie de Plaisance
Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert (42) Le Neuvième Art
Saint-Martin-de-Belleville (73) La Bouitte
Saint-Sulpice-le-Verdon (85) Thierry Drapeau Logis de la Chabotterie N
Saint-Tropez (83) Résidence de la Pinède
Sens (89) La Madeleine
Toulouse (31) Michel Sarran
Toulouse / Colomiers (31) L’Amphitryon
La Turbie (06) Hostellerie Jérôme
Uriage-les-Bains (38) Grand Hôtel
Val-Thorens (73) L’Oxalys
Vence (06) Le St-Martin
Versailles (78) Gordon Ramsay au Trianon
Vézelay / Saint-Père (89) L’Espérance
Vienne (38) La Pyramide

Links to the complete listings of Michelin starred and Bib Gourmand restaurants in France for 2011 is below. Simply download the PDF file to your computer:

Michelin Starred Restaurants France 2011

Bib Gourmand Michelin Highly Recommended

McDonalds with a European Look & Feel – Paris

Kit Marshal — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:07:07 +0000

“We hate it and go to it. It’s our paradox,” a journalist for the French magazine Challenges, Alice Mérieux, said. “We’re very anti-American in principle, but individually, if you’re going to the movies and have to eat in 10 minutes, you go to McDonald’s.”

After years of stagnant sales, McDonald’s success also appears to be spreading throughout the rest of Europe, which posted first-quarter 2007 sales growth of 8.9%, outpacing growth in the American market. McDonald’s is now one of the biggest private-sector employers on the continent, with a workforce approaching 300,000.

Even the harshest critics of McDonald’s acknowledge that the burger company has its admirers. “French people are not against McDonald’s. They are against the Bush administration,” José Bové, the radical farmer and French presidential candidate, said in an interview.

Mr. Bové, who became a folk hero of the anti-globalization movement in 1999 when he and other protesters dismantled a McDonald’s in the southern French town of Millau, said he doesn’t personally know anybody who eats the food, which he calls la malbouffe, or junk food. He blamed the growth of McDonald’s in his country on the incorrigible youth. “Maybe it’s a new way of life. Maybe they believe this is modernity,” he said.

To McDonald’s executives, the triumph of the burger company in France and, increasingly, around Europe is not a paradox but the fruit of a grand strategy cooked up by a Frenchman named Denis Hennequin, a maverick in a company that made its fortune on standardization and duplication.

The idea of Mr. Hennequin, the first non-American to hold the job of president of McDonald’s Europe since the company first arrived on the continent in 1971, was to re-imagine the entire McDonald’s brand from a European perspective. It was an idea that was first received coolly by Oak Brook, Ill., executives, who now embrace Mr. Hennequin as a visionary.

“We truly became an international company,” he said in an interview. “We were a global company, but I’m not sure we valued the experiences of other parts of the world. You can tell them yes, we are born in the USA, but we are made in France, made in Italy, made in Spain.”

Mr. Hennequin, a compact man with a balding pate, wide eyes, and a prominent nose, embodies the concept. His hobbies are motorcycles and rock music. In his spare time, he and his wife and three children perform as a family band and play covers of Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Rolling Stones. His corporate role model is Apple’s Steve Jobs. His favorite sandwich is the Big Mac, which, like most Europeans, he eats without a drop of ketchup.

When McDonald’s first arrived in Europe in the early 1970s, the selling point was America. The American fast food experience — cheap, quick, sanitary — was an exotic import. By the 1990s, the novelty wore off, while scares over mad cow disease, increasing concerns about fatty diets, and growing anti-American sentiment turned off customers. McDonald’s was aggressively expanding but sales were sluggish.

Europe, Mr. Hennequin says, has a love-hate relationship with America. “The problem comes when we are perceived as imposing a model,” he said. McDonald’s, he figured, needed a new model.

After investing heavily in market research, Mr. Hennequin overhauled the whole operation, upgrading the décor, tweaking recipes, using more organic ingredients, providing nutrition labeling, and countering criticism from Mr. Bové and others by opening its restaurants to scrutiny.

For an American observer, the most striking change is the design. The red and yellow kiddy template has been supplanted by more mature colors. Outside signage in urban areas is more discreet and blends into the neighborhood. Restaurants now have leather upholstery seating and some have gas fireplaces, candles, and hardwood floors. McDonald’s has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to “re-image” about a third of its more than 6,300 restaurants in Europe and 70% of its branches in France.

“Brand expression is in the store more than anything else,” Mr. Hennequin said. “McDonald’s has ignored for too long the restaurant. When you enter the restaurant, you enter the brand.”

Mr. Hennequin created a “design studio,” overseen by architect Philippe Avanzi, which offers franchise owners a choice of 10 schemes. Each scheme is christened with a lofty name like “Eternity,” which feature straight wall patterns inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, and “Origins,” favored by operators in scenic and rustic settings. “Origins” is supposed to reproduce the ambience of a cozy chalet, with wrought-iron chandeliers and rough stone interior walls.

In a remodeled McDonald’s in the shopping mall in La Défense business district, the walls are decorated with giant images of lettuce and actual beef grinders and other kitchen utensils, solemnly framed as if they belonged in a museum. Nutritional messages scroll along a teleprompter installed above large round benches wrapped in coffee- and vanilla-colored upholstery. Ronald McDonald is nowhere in sight.

Even the McDonald’s play areas, called “Ronald Gym Club,” have been given a face-lift and are now being equipped with bicycle simulators, basketball hoops with electronic scoreboards, and intricate obstacle courses.

“If you have the right surroundings, suddenly everything is upgraded,” Mr. Hennequin said.

The food is still American but with European characteristics. The anchors of the menu, the French fries and one-tenth-of-a-pound hamburgers, taste almost the same as they do in America. McDonald’s performs the same “sensory evaluations” on its food supplies as it does across the Atlantic. Buns, for example, are tested for “crown-seed coverage,” “heel color,” and shape and symmetry. But McDonald’s is adding more and more “locally relevant” sandwiches and snacks.

In the United Kingdom, the company is introducing a hamburger called the “Limited Edition Deluxe” with bacon, served on a ciabatta roll, with “mature” cheddar, Batavia lettuce, grilled onions, tangy tomato relish, and garlic mayonnaise. “It’s a much more complicated burger,” said Chris Young, who showcased the company’s summer European menu in a 12-course tasting meal for reporters last week at McDonald’s modernist Germany head office in an upscale suburb of Munich.

In France, McDonald’s is rolling out le p’tit moutarde, a smaller-sized hamburger on a ciabatta roll smothered with a “sophisticated” mustard sauce. To suit European tastes, the chicken filets in the European sandwiches have a “grilled profile,” instead of the more American “roasted profile,” Mr. Young said.

The expanding Starbucks-like McCafés, which are constructed inside the regular units and aimed at Europe’s aging population, serve lemon tartelettes (a little pie dessert), flan nature (a custard dessert), and cappuccinos poured in ceramic mugs.

The result of all of these changes is that Europeans who eat at McDonald’s have stopped associating the restaurant with America — just the way American consumers no longer have France in mind when they eat a cup of Dannon yogurt.

“The food is American, but if you say, ‘McDonald’s,’ I don’t think America,” said Jan Bastel, a 16-year-old German student eating at a refurbished McDonald’s in Munich.

The branch occupies the first three floors of a neo-baroque building in front of a modern fountain in the middle of Karlsplatz, the historic old city entrance where hordes of shoppers, commuters, and tourists converge. It’s busier than any McDonald’s in America.

The whole place has an international feel. Green and yellow balloons festoon the spacious entranceways, which are decorated with white McDonald’s signs in Arabic, Japanese, Russian, English, and German. Behind the counter, more than a dozen McDonald’s employees ring up 9,000 customers a day from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m., serving them items like “Los Scharfos,” a fried snack made with gooey cottage cheese and jalapenos, and “El Pikante,” an oval beef patty in a pita dressed in picante sauce, and a “big bacon” burger topped with jalapenos. (McDonald’s executives say Germans are fascinated by Mexican culture and love spicy foods, thus the jalapenos.)

On a recent afternoon, a middle-aged civil servant quietly ate a Filet O-Fish and sipped on a Coke during a 20-minute work break. On the second floor, a father was treating his son to chicken nuggets for his 12th birthday. On the third floor, two teenage girls sat on cushy armchairs and snacked on a hamburger and a chicken sandwich.

Around them, McDonald’s employees from Afghanistan, Turkey, Bulgaria, and China swept and mopped the floors, while a Field Mob hip-hop video on a flat-screen television embedded in the wall provided the soundtrack. Music is a running motif in the restaurant, which is decorated with wall prints of David Bowie and jazz musicians and is equipped with teenager-targeted video kiosks for downloading music and burning CDs.

Mr. Hennequin anticipates that the new European McDonald’s experience will become increasingly common in America. “The U.S. is kind of using us as a guinea pig,” he said.

Already Oak Brook executives have borrowed a number of Mr. Hennequin’s ideas. McDonald’s in America has launched its own redesign plan for many of its franchises and has adopted his “open doors” policy of inviting customers to take tours of franchise kitchens and meet executives and suppliers. Mr. Hennequin started the policy after Mr. Bové destroyed the McDonald’s eight years ago.

American executives have also taken notice of the more direct European style of message communication. For instance, McDonald’s Europe launched a poster campaign at its United Kingdom outlets that sought to raise the commonly low opinion of a McDonald’s entry-level job. “Over half of our executive team started in our restaurants. Not bad for a McJob,” the posters said.

Mr. Hennequin has attracted criticism for his McPassport initiative, which allows employees to transfer to any restaurant in the European Union, with some accusing him of trying to make it easier for Western European managers to hire cheap labor. Mr. Hennequin said the policy responded to the wanderlust of younger employees.

“There is a tremendous amount of creative thinking that takes place in Europe and our system has benefited from it,” Jack Daly, a spokesman for McDonald’s, said.

Mr. Hennequin, who is in the running to someday succeed James Skinner and become McDonald’s first CEO from Europe, has already envisioned what he could do for McDonald’s in New York City.

“In New York, we have to change the image and design of the restaurants. I think the European design would fit very nicely in a city like New York,” he said.

The favorite sandwich for most Europeans is the Big Mac, which, they eat without a drop of ketchup.

It is anticipated that the new European McDonald’s experience will become increasingly common in America. “The U.S. is kind of using us as a guinea pig,” he said.

“In New York, we have to change the image and design of the restaurants. I think the European design would fit very nicely in a city like New York,” he said.

For the complete article go to:

http://www.nysun.com/national/mcdonalds-takes-paris/57654/

France’s contribution to fast food, Sodexo, follow this Link:

http://amusingthezillion.com/2010/11/23/meet-sodexo-luna-park-coney-islands-partner-for-on-site-service-solutions/

L’Ecluse Madelaine, Bar à Vins Restaurant – Paris

Kit Marshal — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:18:03 +0000

L’Ecluse Madelaine
Bar à Vins Restaurant
15, Place de la Madelaine
Paris, France 75008
Tel. +33.01.42653469

There are several branches around Paris all offering a wine selection of strictly red Bordeaux, many are available by the glass although, as would be the case with Bordeaux the white wine choices are weak.
The menu is brief however, providing top quality is a high priority.
The Branches:

L’Ecluse Madeleine  – 15, place de la Madeleine, 8e

L’Ecluse Saint Honoré  – 34, place du Marché Saint-Honoré

L’Ecluse -  15, Quai des Grands Augustins

L’Ecluse Bastille –  13, rue de la Roquette

L’Ecluse Carnot – 1, rue d’Armaillé, 17e

L’Ecluse François –  64, rue François 1er, Paris 8e

A Bizarre Evening at “Le Petit Laugier” – Paris

Kit Marshal — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:18:07 +0000

l’Entredgeu (formerly Le Petit Laugier)
83 rue Laugier
75017, Paris

This little bistro l’Entredgeu replaced “1880” and has taken the same location of a bistro that I dined at a few years ago where I experienced a very unusual evening.

We were just beginning to eat the amazingly sublime chicken liver salad, one of the dishes this small bistro, Le Petit Laugier was known for. I lifted the first forkful of the warm, pink, and peppery liver that was a perfect contrast to the crisp and cool, bitter and vinegary greens. At the same time, a couple was struggling to leave the long, crowded table next to us, which was difficult from their position in the middle of the banquette. Somewhat trapped standing halfway out and halfway in an attractive women with long brown hair was being playfully groped by another woman who would not let her pass. She was protesting slightly and laughingly crying out, “rape, rape.” At this point the other woman became more aggressive and put her hand under her skirt, she struggled free and started to kiss and pet her long-haired lap dog, cuddled in the arms of the man accompanying her. The other women, in a final gesture, lifted her own skirt and exposed her frontal area; she was not wearing anything underneath! I had no idea what was going on, it was totally unexpected, as I had not been briefed about what went on here. I asked my dining companion, an old roué and longtime resident in Paris (of course, it was his suggestion that we dine here in the first place) “What goes on in this crazy place”. He explained to me, “Sunday nights are special nights with a special crowd. On other evenings during the week, it becomes just another quiet neighborhood bistro but on Sunday night anything can happen, and does.”

He went on to tell me that years ago it was the meeting place for vintage Morgan automobile owners of France. He motioned toward two middle-aged ladies sitting chatting at one of the window tables. “They must be the wives of two of the Morgan owners that used to meet here.” They were so engrossed in conversation that they were unaware of what was going on around them. My friend, hoping to spice things up, said something in French to the woman who had just lifted up her skirt. She came over to me and put her face down close to mine as if to kiss; I could smell the rancid odor of cigarette breath, stale garlic and perspiration and turned my head away from hers.

Has anyone else ever been to this place on a Sunday night?

Les Papilles, Wine Bistro – Paris

Kit Marshal — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:25:53 +0000

Les Papilles
30, rue Gay-Lussac
75005 Paris
Tel. 01 43 25 20 79
Opening Hours: Monday-Saturday,10:30 a.m.-midnight. Lunch: noon-2pm; Dinner: 7:30pm-10pm Closed Sunday.
Website: www.lespapillesparis.fr
Credit Cards: Yes
Prices: Moderate

Les Papilles is a bistro combined with a retail wine store. The name means “sense of pleasurable taste” or “taste buds”, only it means more than that. The policy they are using regarding wine pricing, is a quite common and successful one that we see used more and more these days; sell the bottle at the takeaway price and add a small markup to consume it on the premises. The kitchen is serving good straightforward dishes that are visually appealing yet not frou-frou in the least.

Chez Rene – Paris

Kit Marshal — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 06:33:35 +0000

14 bd. St-Germain
The Quartier Latin
Paris
Tel. 01-43-54-30-23
Cuisine: Bistro
Location: Quartier Latin
Metro: Maubert-Mutualité
Opening Hours: Dinner: Tues-Sat; Lunch: Tues-Fri; Closed Sun, Mon, Christmas Week, and Aug
Credit Cards: Visa, M.C.
Prices: Inexpensive-Moderate

Chez René is a classic bistro located at the foot of Boulevard St. Germain. They serve good, classic renditions of boeuf bourguignon, coq au vin, cuisse de grenouilles and other Burgundian standards that are becoming harder to find as more modern fare comes into favor. Although ownership has changed, the authentic bistro favorites have not, at least they were still in place on my last visit. Due to the fluctuating inconsistencies of the restaurant business, one who attempts to write about them and those that read their words, must keep in mind that nothing is cast in bronze and what was true a day ago might not be so now; and that is why I lean toward more of a comment-style than a review-style when reporting on restaurants. These dishes may not be exactly in vogue today, the contents on the plate are not stacked to form a tower and damn it, on occasion it is quite pleasing to have everything on the ground floor as after all, this is bistro cooking not haute cuisine.
The wine list is dominated by wines from the Mâconnais and Beaujolais regions, which as it happens is your best bet.

Le Pré Catelan – Paris

Kit Marshal — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:56:07 +0000

Bois de Boulogne
Route de Suresnes Map
75016 Paris
Tel. 01 44 14 41 14
Métro: Porte Maillot (thereafter taxi)
eMail : leprecatelan-salons@lenotre.fr
Website: www.precatelanparis.com
Credit Cards: All major
Prices: Expensive-Very Expensive

On several visits Le Pré Catelan has shown beyond a doubt to be absolutely first rate down to the minutest detail, from service to the outstanding cuisine and not to forget the superb setting in the Napoleon III style pavilion surrounded by forest.

Opening its doors in 1907, in the Bois de Boulogne, the Le Pré Catelan has been visited by royalty, presidents and Captains of Industry over more than a century. It is a lovely location, and an absolute must on any gourmet journey. Chef Frédéric Anton, once next in command to Joël Robuchon, delights guests with his sophisticated culinary artistry and amazing technical insight. The restaurant’s sommelier will guide you through the extensive wine menu with its comprehensive selections from all wine-producing regions of France from the large cellar.