Richard Hesse
Chez Léon
Chipped-Formica Heaven The pot au feu was on its last legs. Paris has more restaurants named Chez Léon than you can shake a stick at, but one of them stands out from the crowd. Not for any reasons of culinary … Read More
Les Délices de Shandong
Standout Antidote to Holiday Excesses During the Christmas and New Year holidays, the French traditionally live on a life-threatening diet of oysters, foie gras and smoked salmon, washed down with plentiful quantities of champagne and topped off with chocolates. During … Read More
Mollard
Frayed Beauty Awaits Savior The fabulous decor needs some tender, loving care, as does the food. Ask any Michelin inspector what a chef needs to get starred, and he will tell you that it’s almost as much about the decor … Read More
Ober-Salé & La Laiterie Sainte Clotilde
Two for the Price of One Ober-Salé, like La Laiterie Sainte Clotilde, has the simplest of decors. Restaurants are funny places. It’s that ritual of communal eating, people getting together to masticate. On off days, the thought of what happens … Read More
Au Chien qui Fume
Going to the Dogs You won’t find anything else quite like it in Paris. Casting around on the Web for a hook to get this piece going, I came across a 1957 photo of Au Chien qui Fume (“The Smoking … Read More
La Marlotte
Provincial Comfort in Paris A quiet, comfy setting for a thoroughly unpretentious taste of classic French cuisine. It’s been a busy week on the food front – that’s what happens when you have houseguests – with return visits to Ze … Read More
Le Dôme
Contemporary Blast from the Pas
If you were to pay a flying visit to Paris, eat at Le Dôme and then jet off to your next destination, you might start to harbor doubts about the global reputation for surly behavior that attaches to French restaurant … Read More
Le Cul de Poule
Buttering Up Customers It’s not often that everyone in a party of four at a restaurant table (or boudoir-like dining area, but more on that later) goes into ecstasies over the butter, but that was the case the other night … Read More
L’Arôme
The Sweet Scent of Stardom All the elements of success: gray-beige decor, great food sources, a talented chef and well-schooled staff. It’s getting to be a bit much, all this gray-beige decor. Every aspirational restaurant startup has it. Have those … Read More
Bigarrade
Magical Mystery Meal The cooks fashion their mystery menus from unlikely looking ingredients. There’s an almost Biblical simplicity about the first moves in a meal at Bigarrade. One of the two waiters approaches with a rectangular piece of slate … Read More