Thanks, it looks like a very good resource.
Will be in Paris the first week of the year and most of the places I’ve been thinking if are taking the week off.
Any comments on the following;
Verjus
Le Grand Bain
Pur (in the Park Hyatt Vendome)
ETA I see Mark K reported a good meal at Verjus
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We arrive 12/26 in Paris and depart 1/4 have a few places lined up, but one of the places we had reserved just sent an email they were closing for the last 1 weeks in the year, reopening 1/3.
Which one?
By the way, I’m thinking of cancelling my lunch at le cinq on Friday 1/4. I’m thinking LeSquer and his Chef de cuisine will likely be off. Anyone have thoughts on going there anyway?
We had an amazing dinner there at the end of September. We had some very memorable dishes including the gratineed onions and the black market beef. Even if the chef isn’t there, I’m sure his team is well trained.
Afaria
We had lunch at le cinq in August and it was outstanding. I have no idea if the chef was there that day or not but they were the only three star open during the week we were there. I would definitely go back there in early January with no concern about whether the chef was there. The celebrity chef touches very few of the dishes we are actually served at those restaurants
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Thanks!
Sounds like no-ones been to Pur.
I love fish, so am likely going back to L’escalier du Bistro. The other choices are le grand bains (never been but recommended by Paris by Mouth) and Au Passage. Any opinions on the relative merits of those three?
Never been to any of those places, but for fish/seafood dishes I’d recommend L’Avant Comptoir de la Mer. Lots of small seafood dishes to try and interesting wine list.
I’m interested but they don’t take reservations, and that’s a requirement for me in winter or otherwise inclement weather.
Is it true that you eat standing up there like some reviews imply?
But thanks for the tip!
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Yes, sorry, I should have mentioned that. It’s a standing room only place, from what I remember. It’s also first come first served, so getting there earlier is better. It’s more of a riff on a tapas bar.
@Barry - three restaurants lined up next to each other and, if you get there early enough, you can wander around Maison du Whiskey.
I can appreciate wintery Paris weather being a deterrent, but Yves Camdeborde is… Yves Camdeborde. I don’t recall if he made one of the Bourdain specials, but I’m almost positive he was on Ludo Lefebvre’s Mind of a Chef season. To me, the Le Comptoir spots are one of the gems of Paris.
sigh. I’m grilling a Flannery rib cap tonight?
I’ve tried to get in a few times to the main one. If I’m walking in the neighborhood, I’ll pop in. But no matter how good, I’m not waiting in line in the cold to stand to eat.
L’Avant Comptoir de la Mer has stools. Never encountered a wait there to eat.
For cocktail fans, one of the best cocktail experiences I’ve ever had was at Danico. It was hard to find using google maps but well worth the search. the cocktails were incredibly inventive, prepared by extremely knowledgable mixologists, and we got a cocktail education WHILE he was busily making 5-6 cocktails at once the entire time we were there. Highly recc for anyone looking for a fun experience in Paris.
La Pur was excellent. Didn’t get the tasting menu but went a la carte, abalone and turbot. Very pricey but in my hotel so convenient for the first night. Waiving the 50 euro corkage on my half bottle of my clos des Lambrays 2014 kept the price more reasonable.
Verjus was tasty and fun. Very vegetable centric; if you want a lot of protein, you’ll be disappointed. (Example : roast celeriac in truffle sauce as one of the more major courses). They are very accommodating, it would be be very good for vegetarians. Clos Salomon Givry 2016 by the glass, lovely.
I loved l’Ecallier du Bistot (my second visit). Go for pristine perfect seafood. Oysters, scallops, sole were great! Chablis by the glass was unmemorable but the Muscadet was nice.
Juveniles was a real positive surprise. I had read good things elsewhere do have it a try. Duck fois gras terrine, squid in its own ink and pollock were all very toothsome, and the last two were more complex than they sound (in a good way). Fine wine by the glass, a Saumaize Vire Clisse was nice but the star was their house Beaujolais (2015) by Chermette. If you love Beaujolais, this is the wine deal of Paris at 20 euros a bottle. Great price point all around.
My only disappointment was Semilla, would not go back. It started well with lovely sheep cheese ravioli with hazelnuts.
I have come to expect high quality ingredients but the scallops were without flavor or seasoning (I’m a low salt guy but had to add salt and pepper just to get any taste) in a simple preparation it (served with bland fennel, which I normally love). And a chick pea and squid soup had flavor, but none from the diced cubes of squid which added nothing to the soup but texture (they didn’t even pick up the flavor of the soup). However, very nice wine by the glass choices, including Descombes 2015 Morgon Vielle Vignes which was excellent.
David Toutain tonight for my last meal.
David Toutain was great for 2/3 of the meal, but an epic fail for a main (think parsnip roots that had the consistency of sticks and no seasoning for my wife, well seasoned parsnip roots with 1.5 oz of a protein I said I didn’t want for me) marred the evening. Pre desert of caramel and seaweed was odd too, but would have been a minor thing if not for the main.
While I liked the inventiveness of many of the courses, it didn’t leave a great impression overall.
Could you hear him yelling at the staff? Loved the food when we went, pairings were ok, but I could have sworn Gordon Ramsay was in the back, pandering for the camera.
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