Heidi Ellison
Au Palais de l’Himalaya
Spicy Night on the Butte Montmartre
The search for good Indian restaurants in Paris goes on. This week I tried Au Palais de l’Himalaya on the recommendation of a friend. A great advantage of this Montmartre restaurant during the hot Paris summer is its terrace on a quiet, narrow street only a block away from Rue Steinkerque, where endless torrents of tourists stream up and down the hill as they head to or leave the Sacré Cœur.
Beaurepaire Revisited
Basquing on the Terrace of a Summer Evening
Summery weather and an evening reading at Shakespeare & Co (Zadie Smith and Nick Laird), could lead to only one conclusion: dinner at one of Paris’s top terraces, the nearby Beaurepaire. A meal there was also an occasion to check on the evolution of a restaurant first reviewed here in 2012.
La Dispensa
Little Italy Moves to the 10th
Paris has lost a wonderful little Italian restaurant, Caffè dei Cioppi, but has gained La Dispensa. Sicilian chef Fabrizio Ferrara has closed his trattoria in an alleyway of the 12th arrondissement and opened a lunch spot/Italian deli on an equally obscure side street in the 10th, where I treated myself to lunch the other day.
The Cost of Courage
Fighting the War From the Inside
One aspect of the popular international sport of France-bashing involves attacks on the country’s collaborationist record during World War II, so it is refreshing to be reminded occasionally that collaboration was not the whole story and that there were many … Read More
Le Musée de l’Annonciade
A Day in Saint Tropez: Beyond the Bling
The last thing you would expect to find in Saint Tropez, best known for its bling, is a museum. And not just any museum, but the Musée de L’Annonciade, housed in a charming little deconsecrated 16th-century chapel right next to … Read More
Grand Cœur
Paying Court in the Marais
Paris is seriously lacking in restaurants with quiet terraces where one can have a meal in peace on a summer evening. And, when such a place does exist, the restaurant is often not up to par – it’s almost as if the owners figure they don’t have to make an effort because they know they will fill their tables anyway.
L’Axel
Pampered in the “Provinces”
Last week I trekked out to Fontainebleau with two friends to test L’Axel, a restaurant they had heard great things about. When we walked in, I knew we weren’t in Paris anymore
Domaine de Chamarande
Summer Escape at “People’s Palace”
A spirit of fun always reigns at the Domaine de Chamarande, where a once-aristocratic residence and its park have become something of a “people’s palace” with contemporary art exhibitions and a vibrant program of performances and activities, all open to … Read More
Tannat
Gourmet Strip In the 11th Arrondissement
The first block of Avenue Parmentier, near Rue du Faubourg du Temple in the 11th arrondissement, once a no-man’s land food-wise, is turning into something of a gourmet strip now that “old-timers” Chateaubriand and Le Dauphin have been joined by a new restaurant, Tannat.
Bicentenaire Oberkampf / Toile de Jouy
The Joys of Jouy, The Storytelling Fabric
Not everyone may know what it is called, but everyone has seen the pretty ecru fabric with delicate pastoral scenes printed on it, usually in red or blue. This is Toile de Jouy, so-called not because it originated in Jouy-en-Josas, … Read More