Heidi Ellison
Pirouette
Turnabout Is Fair Play
The dire dining situation in the area around the Forum des Halles seems to be turning around, or should I say pirouetting, since I recently ate at a good bistro there called Pirouette. The restaurant is located on a small hidden square in a strange one-story structure with high ceilings and big industrial windows that looks as if it had been tacked onto the building next to it. Its large, traffic-free terrace must be a pleasant place to sit in warm weather.
Loin des Hommes
Subtle Western Set in the Middle East
The life of Daru, the hero of the fine new film Loin des Hommes (Far from Men), directed by David Oelhoffen and loosely based on a short story by Albert Camus, couldn’t be any simpler: a teacher living in a … Read More
La Table d’Ugo
No Fishing for Compliments
When the restaurant critic for the magazine Télérama described a meal at a new Paris restaurant, La Table d’Ugo, as a “feast” and raved about each and every dish he sampled there, my immediate reaction was to pick up the … Read More
52 Faubourg Saint-Denis
Three’s Lucky for These Bistro Entrepreneurs
The owners of the immensely (and deservedly) popular bistros Richer and L’Office in the 9th arrondissement have scored another hit with their new restaurant, 52 Faubourg Saint Denis in the 10th, adding yet another fine eatery to this up-and-coming gourmet … Read More
Four and a Quarter
Paris Update What’s New in Paris TOTAL IMMERSION THEATER Cinémorphe, the most inventive theater company in Paris, is staging a new production this month called 4¼. These specialists in immersive theater like to surprise their audience, so all they will … Read More
Le Timbre
Does Size Matter? Not in This Fine Bistro
THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED The restaurant Le Timbre, which owes its name to its postage-stamp-sized kitchen and a dining room that’s not much bigger, has had a new chef/owner, Charles Danet, since September, so it was time to make … Read More
Le Verre Volé sur Mer
Fishing Expedition in The Tenth Arrondissement
THIS RESTAURANT HAS BEEN REPLACED BY SUR MER. When the original Verre Volé opened on the Rue du Lancry in Paris’s 10th arrondissement some 15 years ago, it was a tiny, funky place with a wonderful feeling of bonhomie, basically … Read More
Dix-Huit
Picking the Winning Number
An attractive interior is only one of Dix-Huit’s attractions.The owners of Dix-Huit didn’t show as much imagination when naming their restaurant as they did when creating the menu and the casual-chic decor, with colorful cushions on the banquettes, a big … Read More
Mommy
Teenage Jekyll and Hyde and His Dearest Mommy
Mommy, the latest film by French-Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan, is no Mommy Dearest. If anything, it is the child who is abusive in this tale of a dysfunctional mother- son unit. Mommy is Diane (Anne Dorval), feisty, attractive and sexy … Read More
Café Trama
Getting Out of the 10th to Dine in a ‘Chic’ Neighborhood
Café Trama vibrates with a lively buzz.A reader named Alexandra recently wrote in to complain that Paris Update reviews too many restaurants in the 10th arrondissement, saying, “For us frequent visitors in Paris, other than two train stations, there isn’t … Read More