Heidi Ellison
Les Saisons
Successful Rebirth of An Old Favorite
First there was Velly, a neighborhood bistro in Paris’s ninth arrondissement that was good enough to attract gourmets from all over the city. When Velly’s well-liked owner sold, it became Villa Victoria, which, since the chef stayed on, continued to … Read More
2 Days in New York
Neurotic France Meets Neurotic New York
I found Julie Delpy’s 2007 film 2 Days in Paris, about a Frenchwoman who brings her neurotic New York boyfriend to meet her neurotic family in Paris, to be extremely funny and became an instant fan of this French female … Read More
Green Paris Walks
Who knew that Paris’s 13th arrondissement, bristling with towering apartment buildings, was also home not only to the city’s largest Chinatown but also many discrete green spaces and a terribly charming little triangular enclave of small houses (originally built for … Read More
Sakebar
Japan Meets France Over a Glass of Sake
Note: Chef Victor Magsaysay has moved to the restaurant Ito, but his former assistant carries on in the same vein at Sakebar. Dec. 4, 2013 Paris’s hottest new restaurant (according to some of my informants) turns out not to be … Read More
Le Bistro des Gastronomes & Les Trois Seaux
A Tale of Two Bistros
Given comparable levels of food quality and cooking skill and slightly off-the-beaten-track locations, what makes one bistro a popular success while another has a feeling of doom hanging about it? Last week, I ate in two bistros on successive nights. … Read More
Au Revoir, Mademoiselle
Exactly 30 years after the U.S. government recommended the use of “Ms.” in official documents so that women would no longer be identified by their marital status, the powers that be in France have finally decided to relegate “Mademoiselle” to … Read More
Les Infidèles
Men Just Want To Have Fun!
From the country that brought you Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Jean Dujardin, introducing Les Infidèles (The Players), a film about men cheating on their wives that rolls the two men into one fictional character. The movie is string a of short … Read More
Verjus Wine Bar & L’Avant Comptoir
Bliss in the Basement Bar
Sometimes you’re just not in the mood for a long, drawn-out sit-down meal in a restaurant. One of my favorite places to eat in Paris is L’Avant Comptoir, the tiny sliver of an annex to star chef Yves Camdeborde’s restaurant … Read More
Marie et Louise
VIP Treatment at Neighborhood Bistro
Guess what? I have finally made it to the VIP circle. Or at least that’s what Christophe, the co-owner of Marie et Louise, a small bistro near the Canal Saint Martin, told me when I called to change my dinner … Read More
La République de la Malbouffe
FRENCH MICHAEL MOORE TAKES ON NATIONAL FOOD INDUSTRY
Xavier Denamur, the owner of five small restaurants in Paris, is a man on a crusade. It began with the 2009 decrease in value-added tax from 21.6 percent to 5.5 percent on restaurant meals, which he says favored big chain … Read More