Crystal-Clear Memories The smiling chefs keep an eye on the clientele and vice versa. Photo © Paris Update “It is an adult’s duty to remember,” opines the central character in Anita Brookner’s Brief Lives, mourning the loss of “primal spontaneity” … Read More
Hats Off! For sheer kitsch, the interior can’t be beat, but the food is freshness itself. The large vases of cut flowers are the first thing you notice when you walk into La Grille, followed by the tiny size of … Read More
Film Icon Reborn Yet Again Part of the Hôtel du Nord’s cozy dining room. September 14, 2005; updated July 11, 2007 It’s a rare pleasure to see a restaurant get better over time rather than deteriorate, but that is the … Read More
French Lessons Alain Ducasse may have a few things to teach his fellow Frenchmen about running restaurants. At the root of the word “benoît” is the Latin “benedictus,” which means “blessed” or even “happy.” This is an appropriate name for … Read More
Hot and Cold Reception, Pleasure on the Plate The Maison du Jardin doesn’t have its own garden, but it is located near one of Paris’s most beautiful, the Luxembourg Garden. If you are welcomed to La Maison du Jardin by … Read More
A Winner, Front and Back May 9, 2007 Gordon Ramsay, known for his 15 restaurants and very bad language, has an occasional TV series called “Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares,” in which the ubiquitous überchef is invited into a failing restaurant to … Read More
Contemporary Correspondences Photo: Georges Meguerditchian Following the successful rehang of its modern art collection (1906-60), the Centre Pompidou has scored another hit with the new presentation of its contemporary collection (1960-present), showing individual pieces chronologically in loose groupings that bring … Read More
Condensed History of Modern Art Giorgio De Chirico’s “Portrait Prémonitoire de Guillaume Apollinaire” (1914). Photo © Centre Pompidou, ADAGP, Paris, 2007 The Centre Pompidou’s just-opened chronological rehang of its permanent collection of modern art (1906-60) offers a certain vision of … Read More
Artistic Soul for Sale? Some critics of the French government accuse it of wanting to sell off the country’s artistic heritage, even the “Mona Lisa,” shown here being put into place in the Salle de la Joconde in 2005. Photo: … Read More
Dear readers, before we proceed to further our acquaintance, I feel the time has come for me to own up to a nerdy addiction to cookery books: I am one of those people (you can add the “sad” yourself, if … Read More
