Heidi Ellison
Quedubon Revisited
iPhone App Saves the Evening
Pros: hearty, unpretentious food; great, crusty bread; big wine list; warm ambiance Cons: cooking times need attention After a stroll through Paris’s Parc des Buttes Chaumont on a recent Indian summer evening, a friend and I were wondering where we … Read More
Le Bien Décidé
Star-Backed Bistro Puts on a Good Act
Pros: fresh food; easygoing, accommodating service; pretty decor; reasonably priced wine Cons: out-of-season asparagus, desserts lacking in oomph At first glance, Le Bien Décidé seems to be a meat-eaters’ paradise – the extremely limited menu the other night offered pied … Read More
Le Garde Temps
Solicitous Service and Hearty Nouvelle Cuisine
Pros: Excellent, friendly service; quality ingredients and mostly good cooking Cons: Some dishes needed work, no fixed-price menu, noisy The service at Le Garde Temps, a railroad-car-shaped restaurant just down the street from the Moulin Rouge, is so sweetly solicitous … Read More
Salome
Salome (Angela Denoke) remained fully clothed and veil-free throughout the famous dance of the seven veils. Photo: Opéra National de Paris/Elisa Haberer The poetry of Oscar Wilde and the music of Richard Strauss paired with a story that offers equal … Read More
La Guerre Est Déclarée
After seeing that the new movie La Guerre Est Déclarée (Declaration of War) had received an aggregate four-and-a-half out of five stars from French critics, I rushed out to see it on opening day without reading any of the reviews … Read More
Frenchie Wine Bar
Successful Re-Frenchification
Pros: Tip-top ingredients, creative cooking, friendly atmosphere and service, reasonable prices Cons: Rather noisy, uncomfortable stools After enjoying two utterly delightful meals at Frenchie soon after it opened in 2009, I wanted to go back often and introduce friends to … Read More
Les Petits Plats
Small Plates, Big flavours
Pros: Fun, cozy, foodie-friendly, great service Cons: None I dined at Les Petits Plats on the same day that I lunched at Septime – yes, it’s a hard life – and loved them both for different reasons. Septime is hip, … Read More
Septime
The stark interior of Septime, in Paris’s 11th arrondissement. Pros: Original ideas; delightful flavor pairings; fresh, high-quality ingredients Cons: Can be noisy I went to Septime knowing nothing at all about it, taken there by a friend whose friend’s daughter … Read More
La Cantine du Troquet
Chef Christian Etchebest’s justly popular Cantine du Troquet. Pros: super-fresh, high-quality ingredients; friendly, efficient service; lively ambiance Cons: noisy, TV screen At Basque chef Christian Etchebest’s lively and popular La Cantine du Troquet the other night, my dining companion and … Read More
Jean-François Piège, Thoumieux
The amusing amuses-bouches at Jean-François Piège’s Paris restaurant. My friends Chris and Helen and I had all followed the recent Top Chef series on French TV, so when Chris’s 40th birthday rolled around, Helen and I decided to treat … … Read More