Heidi Ellison
Les Trois Bornés Restaurant
One-Track Mind
The French word “borné” means “narrow-minded” or “blinkered,” but let’s give it a kinder translation: “having a one-track mind,” in this case, focusing on good food. It doesn’t really matter, however, since this new restaurant’s name is just a jokey … Read More
Hors Normes
Do-Good, Feel-Good Film
Directors and screenwriters Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache seem to be making a career out of feel-good movies about gnarly subjects. Their huge hit, Intouchables (2011), the second most successful film ever made in France, was an upbeat film about … Read More
Loup! Qui Est Tu?
Who's Afraid ... ?
In French, the expression “image d’Épinal” refers to something that’s traditional, naively upbeat, clichéd, maybe even corny. The expression’s origin goes back to the Imagerie d’Épinal, founded in 1796, which became famous all over France for its brightly colored, simplified … Read More
Petit Boutary Restaurant
Offspring of Caviar House
Le Petit Boutary is the younger, more casual sibling of Boutary in Saint Germain-des-Prés, a restaurant opened in 2016 by the house of caviar Boutary, which was founded in 1888 but recently acquired by a new owner. The petit version … Read More
Giacometti/Sade: Cruel Objects of Desire
Sculpted Theater of Cruelty
From photos and films of him, I’ve always had an image of Alberto Giacometti as a gentle, mild-mannered man, but the current exhibition at the Institut Giacometti, “Giacometti/Sade: Cruel Objects of Desire,” reveals a darker side of the sculptor famed … Read More
Oyster Club Restaurant
Ocean Current to Happiness
It’s a well-known fact (I think) that inhaling the salt air by the sea is not only good for you but also makes you feel great. And, as I discovered when I ate lunch at the Oyster Club the other … Read More
Hans Hartung: La Fabrique du Geste
Assiduously Abstract
A fascinating exhibition called “Deadline” at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris a decade ago presented works by 13 artists made in the run-up to their deaths, mostly when they were ill or disabled. One of the … Read More
Fleur du Pavé Restaurant
(Mushy) Food for Thought
Note: Fleur du Pavé was awarded one star in the 2020 Michelin Guide. Chef Sylvain Sendra has traced quite an itinerary through Paris. He started out in a pocket-sized bistro, Le Temps au Temps, on the Rue Paul Bert in … Read More
Funny Girl
Fanny Brice Revisited
Until recently, musical comedies were unheard of in France, but now that the Parisians have taken to them like showgirls to glitter, American musical comedies are popping up all over the place. Americans in Paris will open at the Théâtre … Read More
Barbara Hepworth
Forgotten in France: A Great British Sculptor
At the press opening of the Musée Rodin‘s exhibition of the work of Barbara Hepworth (1903-75), not one but two journalists, one French and the other Canadian, told me they had never heard of the great modernist British sculptor before … Read More