La Ménagerie de Verre--a well-kept secret in the 11th arrondissement

During an appointment with my physical therapist, she told me about a new place that is cheap and innovative and delicious. It is not a restaurant but a small café-like space in what is a Dance Center with performances and classes. They serve lunch there during the week only. It is very cheap!

I was game to try it and so went today. I was amazed at the beauty of the dishes and creativity coming from the kitchen--all for a very low price. The menu changes daily and they serve lunch until they run out of food.

There are two choices for each course. I chose the Velouté de Butternut au piment d'Espelette. This is a wonderful thick squash soup with a hint of spice. It was a perfect beginning on a cold day.

The main course was wonderful: Filet de Poulet au gratin de chou-fleur au conté. The chicken was prime white meat, delicately sautéed and served with a beautiful green salad and served with cauliflower that had been gratinéed with conté.

The other appetizer was a mackerel tartare. The vegetarian main course was a tatin d'oignons.

I was too full for dessert which was poire pochée au chocolat blanc et aux baies roses. There was another dessert of fondant au chocolat à la crème, noix, fruits.

For two courses and coffee, I paid 13 euros!!! This is the equivalent of about $16 for what I would consider a gourmet lunch. With dessert you would add another 3,50 euros.

The canteen is right near my house and I can't wait to go back. It is at 12 rue Lechevin in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.

Soufflés of all types

One of the very first restaurants I ever went to in Paris was Le Soufflé right near the Place de la Concorde.

It is a classic restaurant and although you can get all sorts of dishes, the specialty is of course, le soufflé. Since they are just a preparation of eggs and a meat, fish or cheese or a dessert flavoring, they are not very expensive.

A soufflé lunch consists of two soufflés, a salad and a glass of wine for just 27 euros!

I recently went back there, craving soufflé au fromage. I wasn't disappointed. It was cheesey and airy. I must say I prefer my soufflés a bit more creamy--that is, cooked just a little less so that center becomes like a sauce. But nevertheless, this rendition was very good.

The mixed green salad with a creamy vinaigrette was also fresh and well seasoned.

With the soufflé, I chose a Brouilly from the Val de la Loire. It was a perfect match.

Dessert was a rich chocolate soufflé with a chocolate sauce and crème chantilly. This was not only beautiful but delicious. Nevertheless, my only criticism is that I like my soufflés creamier.

This restaurant has been open for years and years and is a wonderful secret on a quiet street right in the center of a bustling historic area full of museums, shops and other restaurants. It rests on its firm reputation and is always full. The restaurant is on rue du Mont Thabor in the 1st arrondissement.

Pizza on the UWS: Numero 28

I discovered Numero 28 at its flagship restaurant in the Village, but the offshoots are all excellent. The one on Amsterdam and 92nd takes reservations, which is a great feature. I met my friends, Sophie and Mason there for my last dinner in NYC on this trip.

It is a simple meal but my favorite: pizza and red wine. What could be bad about it? Sophie and Mason chose the San Daniele which is a regular tomato and cheese pizza with prime prosciutto and arugala. It is delicious and one I will order the next time.

I got my usual D.O.C. which is the appelation of (in this case) pizza that includes the guidelines for the authentic Neapolitan pie. It has bufala mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes and fresh basil. It was excellent and authentic.

We all wanted some of the tartufo pizza which includes fresh mushrooms and truffle cream, so we ordered the 18" rendition. Spectacular!!

With our meal we had beers and glasses of Montepulciano di Abruzzo rosso.

I adore pizza and this place was excellent. It was great that we didn't have to stand on line for a table especially on a cold winter evening.

Another Successful Lunch at Red Farm, UWS, NYC

I met Chris for lunch before I was to fly back home to Paris. We chose Red Farm, which I wrote about last October. Once again, the lunch was stellar.

To start with, we had tiny Bass-Avocado tarts which were a special that day.

They were crispy, savory and creamy with the fresh avocado. A good way to start a lovely meal.

This was followed by a spectacular Salad of Cold Sesame Noodles and Chicken. The cooked and cooled noodles formed a 1/2 dome covering a wonderful mixture of succulent chicken, blueberries, avocado and a sampling of different fresh vegetables. Beautiful to look at and wonderful to eat.

La Pièce de Résistance was the Long Life Noodles with Lobster. This was fabulous, if not a bit messy. We were served a whole cut up lobster that had been roasted in a spicy sauce and served over delicious noodles. There were lobster crackers of course, but a lot of the work was with our hands. The food was succulent and delicious and we couldn't get enough of it. A spectacular dish.

With the meal, we each had a glass of Chardonnay Dry Creek "Foggy Oaks" 2011.

By then, I had had enough, but Chris is always up for trying a bit of dessert. I let him choose and was not disappointed with the Ginger Panna Cotta with Blueberry Sauce.

The service is efficient, youthful and very helpful. Everyone knows the menu well and can gear you to the best dishes. I love this place.

OUEST on the Upper West Side

When I was in NY in December, it snowed three times in just one week! Andy, Jenny and I had big plans to go to the Village for dinner at one of the best restaurants in the city, but with the snow on the ground and the cold, we didn't feel like venturing very far so we chose, instead, to go to Ouest. It is a really excellent restaurant on Broadway and 84 St.

After drinks, we ordered an excellent Sangiovese Amaranta Rosso Toscana 2011 and had that with our superb meal.

There was a Raviolo with pumpkin and brown sage butter; Warm Barley and Kale Salad with mushroom, bacon and feta; House smoked Duck Breast with crispy egg, bitter greens and Parmesan. This was followed by our main courses: Crispy Duck Breast, Pine Nut stuffing, onions, honey nut jus;



Rack of Lamb, and sautéed spinach.

And finally, Mahi Mahi, white bean purée, shaved trumpet mushrooms, sage brown butter.



With the Mahi Mahi, Andy chose a glass of Chardonnay Au Bon Climat Sta Barbara 2011.

This restaurant is a jewel among the many excellent restaurants in this part of the city.

We were stuffed but had to sample one of their beautiful desserts to be shared among three:

Dense Chocolate Cake (of course) with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Lazare!!!

I had the most fantastic time at the brand new Lazare. It has been open two months at the newly renovated Gare St. Lazare. The brains behind the operation is three-star chef Eric Frechon who is at the stoves of his restaurant at the very fancy Hotel Bristol.

The restaurant is not only beautiful but fun. I got a seat at the counter with many walkins and lots of singles and became friends with everyone around me, including the lovely server, Sandrine.

The specialité is the jambon-beurre that you can get in any boulangerie in the country. But not like this one. They must put grams and grams of fresh Normandy butter on the delicious baguette and then stuff it with lots of delicious jambon de Paris. The result is heavenly: rich and flavorful. At 7,50 euros, it will not break the bank and is fine for a filling lunch.

I wanted to have more of a feel for the workings of the kitchen.

The kitchen is open to view and there is a lot going on. I chose a wonderful salade d'haricots verts, coeurs d'artichaut, noisettes grillées, with a wonderful vinaigrette.

It was fabulous!! The vinaigrette was balanced and highlighted the other freshly-made ingredients. They served me another baguette with the salad which I hid in my bag for tomorrow's breakfast.

Another specialty was one of the desserts: the Paris-Deauville. It is a cross between a flan and a soufflé with a light caramel sauce. Excellent!!

I met a number of interesting people while I had my wonderful lunch. One man had a train to catch but at the Gare Montparnasse. He said he came early to Lazare because there is nothing good to eat at the other station!

Some good affordable restaurants in Paris

Le Pantruche is a place really off the beaten track which I found in the Guide Pudlo. Pudlowski is my favorite French restaurant critic because he is not shy about saying what he doesn't like and has been known to "award" broken plates to places that don't meet the muster.

Yumiko and I decided to try Le Pantruche one summer night. We were not disappointed. It is an inexpensive menu for delicious food and is not easily found by tourists.

We chose different dishes on the menu. First was crab in a shellfish bouillon with fresh almonds.

Yumiko had a carpaccio of black mullet (a white fish) with a light cream of salmon eggs and fennel.

Next came more fish dishes: Minute de bar, petits pois bouillon de coquillages (quickly seared bass with fresh peas and a shellfish bouillon).

And a Pavé de Lieu jaune au lard fumé, courgettes, seiche et encre (a more complex dish of a flavorful fish with smoked bacon, zucchini, squid and its ink).

Both were excellent. The fish tasted as if it had just jumped out of the sea. Everything was fresh and flavorful with carefully chosen ingredients.

After these rather light beginnings, we decided to splurge on the Soufflé Grand Marnier, caramel au beurre salé (Grand Marnier Soufflé garnished with the French favorite: fresh caramel from salted butter sauce).

This is a place to watch.

My friends, Rusty and Joel, rented an apartment in Paris for the month of October. They are both excellent cooks but rather than stay home every night, they went to restaurants at lunch and dinner, armed with their Guide Michelin. I joined them several times (served as an adviser as I know many places). Here is a sampling of what we discovered.

Le Villaret

This place is in my neighborhood. The food is very good but I think they use too much cream. The night we went, they had a Squid dish in Cream with Breton white beans and Chanterelles. The squid had been simmered in milk and melted in your mouth. I have never had such tender squid. But the dish was rich.

Steven (Joel's cousin) came along with us and that enabled us to try many of the dishes.

Two of the main courses were Scallops with Breton white beans, tomatoes and chorizo sausage and this was spectacular.

We also had Roast partridge with potatoes and roasted garlic that you could spread on the excellent country bread.

Joel and Rusty shared a Pot au Feu de Cochon which is a very French classic dish of boiled pork with potatoes and vegetables.

We followed up with desserts: Fraise-Basilic Façon Melba (Strawberries Melba with Basil Ice Cream) and Mousse au Fromage Blanc et Rhubarbe Compotée, sable Breton (Fresh white cheese with a compote of rhubarb and a Breton butter cookie).

Au Passage

Also in my neighborhood and a popular place. There is a line after 10 pm but we went at 8:30 (early by French standards). Au Passage has been open for a couple of years and is always hopping. At dinner they serve everything in tapas portions so we just chose whatever sounded good. A fine dinner.

We had my favorite huîtres speciales Roumegas(very meaty oysters from a small town in Brittany) no. 4 (indicating a small size), Belons no. 3, Huîtres Kys no. 2 (the largest of our choices); Terrine Maison (always a must in a place like this--the house terrine of pork and other meats); Burrata (high end mozzarella di bufala) with zatar (a Moroccan spice) and honey.

We continued with Raie with capers and tartar sauce; a very interesting cauliflower with treacle (Christmas sweet sauce from the UK),

and Pintade au Chou (guinea hen with cabbage). Everything was well prepared and delicious if casually served. They didn't allow us clean plates until we demanded them after being served the fish.

Here's a collage of the highlights

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The original owner of this restaurant named it after the model number of his Peugot. I had been there many years ago, when he was still working. That evening, his son was the manager. He took good care of me, especially when I told him about my aversion (allergie) to cilantro (coriandre). The bad news for me is that every dish is prepared with it except a few appetizers. I decided that the sauces would mask the flavor of the cilantro and I would be happy. Luckily, for the things I chose, I was right.

The restaurant is very atmospheric and especially dark so there are not photos of this meal. It was delicious though, if you like cous cous dishes and tagines. We did and had a sampling of many. I was thrilled with my fresh yogurt and cucumber salad appetizer. Others chose a lentil soup with cilantro and shrimp in crunchy filo. The main courses were superb tajines and I loved my chicket tagine with pears and fresh almonds. Other choices were lamb with artichokes and peas as well as one with raisins, prunes and fresh almonds. We didn't spend much money for a wonderful meal in a very friendly environment.

Le Baratin

This place, in the Belleville area, is always a welcome surprise. The lone female chef is an Argentine woman who has mastered the art of complex, flavorful French cooking. I have written about it before but the lunch we enjoyed there deserves a replay.

That first day we went with Steven and so tried most of the dishes on the menu.

The 3-course meal is 19 euros which is the first bit of good news. The proof is in the menu. Starting with the house terrine,

we moved on to a delicious garbanzo bean soup with cumin

and a salad of judiones (large fava beans) with herbs.

Main courses were saucisson (thin sausage) with a smooth velvety mashed potatoes;

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a fricassée of chicken with spices and vegetables,

and a slab of swordfish with mussels and cilantro. I actually ordered the latter but it was so aromatic with the cilantro that I was about to return it when Rusty happily offered to trade with me. I was very pleased with my chicken.

We had eaten enough but dessert was on the way. We had wonderful soft pudding of apples and almonds, pots de crème a la vanille (rich vanilla custard), and a portion of the cheese St. Nectaire

This was a wonderful end to a delicious meal.

I am looking forward to Rusty and Joel's next visit!