First, sorry about the title. I wanted something I can easily find
We had an amazing 7 days of eating, mixing in all sorts of experiences, including the touristy. A few regrets here and there, including with the dishes we ordered, but overall happy with the result. Many thanks to the contributors here. Iâll try to do this quick, but will prob need a few days. By order of visit.
LâAubergeade
First meal turned out to be one of our favorites of the trip. Many thanks to Parn for the recco. A rustic old bistro packed with locals. Older twins easily handled the entire house, running around like teenagers. One thing that was so glaring in most places in Paris as in so many other cities, we saw half the number of employees as in similar establishments in NYC. No busboys, no hostesses, no lack of hassle.
Started with a silky smooth, buttery Foie Gras with clementine jam. Escargot was perfectly garlicky and well balanced. Just like we like them
The deconstructed steak tartare was more deconstructed than I anticipated with all the ingredients including sauces on the table, but after mixing it up with some adjustments I think Iâm ready for a chef de Tartare at Granite. Not sure I prefer it this way but enjoyed it.
Amazing lunch. Turned out to be our only Michelin of the trip so opted for the full Granite experience (175 pp). Roughly 15-20 or so dishes by the end of it. As expected friendly and efficient service, but it was hard to understand the description of each dish as the accents were quite strong. But the flavors did much of the talking.
We both concluded that the weakest links, but certainty not weak, were probably the meat courses. The seared Wagyu was slightly over salted and out-staged in a not so bad way by the rest of the ingredients. Similarly but not so, the lamb was overpowered by the sharp sauces, although it was probably the prettiest dish of the bunch.
The triumph may have been the âtomatoâ that was anything but just a tomato of course. It was a âwelcome to a Michelin star in Paris tomato. A flavor symphony with each morsel. The crab was another memorable one, inside what looked like a galette taco Another noteworthy one was the Chocolate with currant. Desserts rarely excite me. This was pure magic.
Had a nice chat with young Tom Meyer about his trip to NYC among other things. I got the sense that Michelin is very respected and cherished even while traveling abroad. He gave me a hot tip on a place that will open next month on the upper west side. Nice down to earth guy.
Light meal after a big lunch. This is of course part of the Pink Mamma group. Good beer selection even though some were not available. Fine Neapolitan. Not the most balanced. Could have used more tomato and less cheese. Still worth it for beer and pizza, and the disco toilet.
I guess it was too hot for me to handle. I cant find the card he gave me . Though Iâm now thinking it was Essential by Christophe which opened last Dec. Maybe he meant last November.
Anyway unless something opens next month that fits the description, lets say itâs Essential. The way he described it, its âon the cuspâ
Another exceptional lunch. Managed to snag a table at the only time available during the week. Two young guys ran the house. They managed but unlike with the twins at LâAubergeade you could feel some of that stress in the room. Coupled with the fact that you are pretty much surrounded by FOMO Americans, some of which had a very hard time with the menu, perhaps not the best ambiance on this day. But the food more than made up for it.
Sweetbread - This! This is the reason to come IMO. Whether you like sweetbread or not is almost irrelevant. We dont normally order it but really liked this. With that mashed potato, dark veal jus and capers, a spoonful of pure bliss. Surprised to learn that they only make 10 of them a day. Some call to reserve it for dinner.
The monkfish was cooked well but relied a little too much on the sauce IMO. Fine dish nonetheless. Chocolate tart with caramelized pecans was another standout. I would come back just for this. Special thanks to Nina for the push.
The steak was fine but could not be cooked to my liking unless I made a mistake. I requested âa Pointâ and she requested medium in English. The waiter mumbled something that prompted me to ask if mine will be closer to rare or medium. He said medium and what I got was indeed a solid medium. I came to France thinking âa Point" is closest to our med-rare, but this and another experience got me thinking its closer to medium. And I get the sense that at Paul Bert they only cook it rare or medium. Not the best quality meat of the trip either, but the stellar sauce saved it. Very peppery and just the right consistency.
A hidden old gem among the Guccis and the Louis. I dont know if I hit Jambon Beurre royalty, or this is just how its supposed to taste like, but this was awesome. One classic, and one with quality black pepper and goat cheese. Just my kind of old school at a price of less than half of some of the other notables i was reading about with the long lines. You can have them only at the bar or takeout. Nice atmosphere, music, and fun happy waiters even when super busy
If thereâs one tip I can give back to this board, this is probably it. Though last day lunch isnt far behind.
This is a tiny Argentinian in the 11er with a lot of soul. We were the only tourists there confirmed by our waitress. Itâs time to change that . On top of the great food, live music every Wednesday. A very talented young multilingual singer. He plays guitar and other instruments with his mouth. Like I said, very talented.
Started with shishitos with a light creamy guac that worked very well together, and cheese empanadas that tasted much better than they looked. Some of the better quality bread too. Owner/chef Violetta has friends in high places including baker Thierry Breton (the other one) and his famous bread
Argentinian EntrecĂŽte was superb. Unlike at Paul Bert cooked to med-rare perfection, and packed with flavor. Cheaper too. I hesitated to put anything on it because it was so good but after trying I happily poured the homemade vinegary chimichurri and black pepper.
Also enjoyed the chicken. We got it by mistake after ordering the monkfish (so many menus with monkfish) but once we saw it we opted to keep it. Expertly cooked, super moist, with morels and mashed squash if I recall. Finished with a nice, light flan with caramel. A flawless meal helped by the super friendly Mexican waitress. Washed it down with a nice Argentinian Cabernet. Go!
You described my issue with Parcelles better than I did, or even was able to do for myself. The sweetbreads are phenomenal, and I was thinking Iâd probably return just for them.
But at my lunch the service was unenjoyable, and you helped me realize that my issue with the service was that they didnât feel like they were there to welcome me, but rather that we as customers were an imposition on them (and FWIW while there were certainly some other Americans there when we were, it didnât seem like a majority to me), as you see sometimes at popular mid-tier places in the U.S. Your write-up makes me suspect the service issues may not be just a one-off.
There are enough other restaurants in Paris with great / very good / good service, where in all cases they genuinely seem to be at least trying to deliver pleasant service that it doesnât make sense for me to subject myself to one that didnât seem to even be trying to be âpleasantâ. And I want to be clear that I am not referring to friendly or personable here, merely pleasant, which roughly equals at least âcorrectâ. If most âcorrectâ service is not actively âfriendlyâ, it is rarely actively unpleasant.
When I got bad service at Bistrot Paul Bert the one time we went, it was so obviously bad, it was an easy call to say ânever againâ. Our service at Parcelles was not that. But looking back, itâs clear that they made little to no effort to be pleasant. Iâll just have to find great sweetbreads elsewhere.
Yes, this was good. Elegant, seemingly mostly local business clientele. Talented Korean chef adds subtle Korean touches. We opted for the 5 courser for a very pleasant 90 minute lunch. We really liked the flow of the flavors.
The amuse bouches of tuna and something that looked like beef macarons were like little umami bombs. Bread with black sesame butter was addictive. Other highlights were the stuffed cabbage (ratatouille moment for Mrs Z), the delicate whiting (quite a looker too), and BBQ pork cooked three ways. The pear and caramel dessert was right up my alley as well. No complaints here.
Our service for dinner at Parcelles was good although the sommelier got in a diss about Calif wines when we told her we were from Calif, but it was all in fun (I think). Probably more Americans because we had the early seating but it was definitely a mixed cultural bag.
Enjoyed this one too. We really didnt have a bad meal, just some better, or more memorable than others. This was good but not without some ordering regrets. Initial plan was Pianovins but by this point we wanted to fit in one more traditional. Attractive room(s), packed with tourists as was expected for trad near Place de la Bastille I suppose. Really great service by a fun, young girl.
Started with the award winning egg mayonnaise. Although a bit one note, good and comforting. Itâs a classic that Iâve had in Eastern European restaurants but not in French I donât believe, or remember. It was served on a creamy âI canât believe itâs not pastaâ celery root (celeriac) salad. Escargot not as garlicky as the one at LâAubergeade, but enjoyable nonetheless. Its actually a relatively new item here.
Beef tartare exactly what youâd expect from a place like this. Just about all tartares weve seen in Paris were hand chopped, but not nearly as good as in Italy. Another good Au Poivre. This time a cut Iâm not too familiar called Merlan, presumably called as such because it looks like the other Merlan (Whiting). Unlike at Paul Bert this was cooked perfectly and the meat is very tender and top notch. It just doesnât look as pretty as PB, and the sauce was more like a thin gravy, not nearly as peppery as PB. Combine PBâs sauce with this cut and you got a winner.
Finished with just about the best Profiteroles I ever had. Enjoyed this one, but by the end of it was regretting we didnât order the lamb shoulder for two after seeing it being paraded.
. Though Iâm now thinking it was Essential by Christophe which opened last Dec. Maybe he meant last November.
