Hmmm, I feel the dishes were a bit “international”, maybe lacking an identity of the chef, if you know what I mean. Some dishes like the 2 salads were quite simple, things that I am kind of making at home, so for me, they weren’t that special. But don’t get me wrong, they were fine.
Ok. There are so many places I want to go to when we visit in November, and there’s no way to fit all of them in. But I won’t be focussing on Fulgurances.
I bet the menu changes with the seasons. In November, you won’t be eating fresh tomatoes, for sure.
I’m sure you’re right. But if someone whose opinion I respect is doubtful about a restaurant, then I wouldn’t run there to check it our.
Repeating what i wrote in another thread, the durrent chef (nov '18), Mariana Villegos, is superb. Combines her native flavors with those she picked up in her international posts. She will be in house “until late December” and is well worth a visit. I only wish we’d be here for another meal.
Good to know you had a great meal. Mind sharing a bit more detail, what did you have?
The current chef will be leaving in June, and he’s been changing up the menu regularly while he’s been in the kitchen, so food details are probably not too helpful in reviewing this place. However, the experience of the place itself was excellent, with the partner/owner patrolling the tables getting feedback and doing some waitressing herself. Reports from friends & noted food bloggers indicate that Fulgurances keeps getting very good chefs to rotate thru & this one was an example of that. Some conversation with the staff, chef and partner suggested that the other partner was currently in NYC looking for a site to open an offshoot & that this current chef was, at the end of his rotation, going to move there to helm the kitchen. Brooklyn will be a possibility and we look forward to going if that’s the case.
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So, 3 ½ years later, we’re back in Paris and intend to return to Fulgurances, probably next week. In the interim, they opened the Brooklyn location last year and we’ve been there 5 or 6 times, with only once being a repeat of the same chef. Winning dinners each time and Hugo, who moved to Brooklyn to do this, has brought the Paris style with him. So, tonight, needing. to eat again (seems like every day this happens) we decided on a small dinner and went to their new (to us) Wine Bar across the street. Its a very limited menu of 5 or so small plates and, from our experience eating most of them, this is a great addition. Lots of wine to choose from & Pierre took his time to help us determine what we’d like. As a result, both my wife and I had 2 glasses each of different wines - white for me, red for her - and really liked all 4. Seems like some regulars of all age groups come in, hang out before their dinner reservations across the street or to have a small meal, and socialize. Perfect for us. I’d recommend going.
Given the number of very similar and very good wine-bars in Paris, I am not convinced that Fulgurances en face bar à vins is such a standout to qualify as a destination in its own right. Yes, very very good and well worth it if you happen to be in the area but, this being Paris, there is probably another wine-bar just as good nearer to where you are staying (although, admittedly fewer in the very touristy quartiers than elsewhere).
Recommendations for a closer/better wine bar gratefully accepted. We’re staying just off Boulevard Voltaire where it crosses rue du Chemin Vert. Yesterday, we had wine with friends at Septime la Cave, a little closer but without the seats or small plate quality. Thanks, as always.
Any wine bar recs for the Batignolles area would be appreciated. Staying there for a month from 18 October on.
@SteveR . From your location, a little exploration of places around the Square Gardette would seem a natural. For a wine-bar, I like tiny La Buvette on rue St Maur and Le P’tit Pinard on rue St Ambroise, and if I’m in mood for a lecture on natural wines, Chez Lui on rue St Maur. Not a wine-bar but a fun brasserie (with excellent versions of typical brasserie fare rather than gastro), Brasserie Martin on rue St Ambroise
L’Ebéniste du Vin on rue Boursault, for sure. And since man does not live by wine alone, the awesome Cidrerie des Batignolles on rue Condamine.
I’d be interested in knowing if SteveR’s “Pierre” wine guru at Bar Fulgurances is the same as charmed us at Bones and Le Baretin. If so, you were indeed in good hands
Hugo decamped to Brooklyn! I’m broken-hearted. Hopefully Sophie has stood her Parisian ground.
@pilgrim. Mme Mangeur, should we recommend Cave à Michel to @SteveR ? You know him. I don’t. But I have a feeling he would love it, the usual cast of chatty regulars, and the atmospheric rue Sainte-Marthe mini-quartier. It’s a long trek from rue Chemin Vert @ boulevard Voltaire and I’d have to take back my previous declaration that wine-bars aren’t really destinations. Of course, hopping on the #46 bus on avenue Parmentier to the Hôpital Saint-Louis would make the journey less of an ordeal.
Interesting suggestion. As you know, the Tischenko brothers have our hearts. That said, I have no handle on the demographics of Cave a MIchel at this time. I would go in a heart-beat were I able to stand through a tapas meal. Or maybe just waft through to blow kisses to our old friends. I would guess that SteveR would have no problem.
Thank you for the recommendations. Much appreciated. It sounds like we have some exploring to do.
Not sure whether its the same Pierre (probably not. This one just returned from a week or two in Brooklyn & was keen to discuss the places he visited while there in between directing our wine choices). Sophie stayed here in Paris & Hugo has been living in Brooklyn for a couple of years, traveling back here periodically. They had a pretty wild time negotiating some arcane licensing and zoning issues in Brooklyn during the pandemic that really required his continued presence.
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By the way, if you scroll up on this thread to Naf’s photos of Fulgurances, the guy in grey shirt/blue pants in the shot above the cookbook one is also living in Brooklyn & helping run that location.
