Au Bascou is something of an institution on Paris’s Basque restaurant scene. Over the years, it has changed hands a few times, and now a new chef/owner has taken over, brightened the place up with a fresh coat of paint … Read More
I was saddened when a friend who, like me, loved the Basque restaurant Iratze told me that it had closed, but I recently discovered that it hadn’t really. The same owners, a friendly young couple, are still there, but … Read More
There was an awful lot of grumbling when we arrived at La Canonnière and tried to get settled at our high table, which was on wheels and kept moving around. Even worse were the heavy, cast-iron stools. Once seated on the stools, … Read More
I was flying solo for lunch the other day and tried out a new restaurant in a still seedy but gradually gentrifying part of the 11th arrondissement. I got there early and received a warm welcome and a table for … Read More
First, a word about the unfortunate name of the new restaurant GAG. The French know, and use all the time, the English word “gag” to mean “joke.” But apparently they don’t know its other meaning: “to choke or to retch.”In this … Read More
Incredibly, the ground-floor shops of some of the prime real estate in the heart of Paris are still occupied by wholesalers selling clothing, leather goods and jewelry, which makes for a rather dismal atmosphere in the neighborhoods where they are … Read More
The Mr. T at the trendy Paris restaurant of the same name is not a bulked-up wrestler with a warrior’s hairstyle and gold chains, but a rather petit Japanese chef, Tsuyoshi Miyazaki, who is scarcely visible above the countertop in … Read More
Rodolphe Paquin, 43, a.k.a. “The King of Terrines,” grew up on a Normandy farm, studied hotel management then made his way to Paris where, for 16 years, he has presided over the kitchen of Le Repaire de Cartouche in the … Read More
I discovered the other day how difficult it is to find a good restaurant open for lunch on Saturday in Paris. After calling several places I had been wanting to test, I tried the Bistrot Populaire, which has been on … Read More
Shaun Kelly, 28, is the new chef at Au Passage, the bistro everyone’s talking about in the 11th arrondissement. Originally from the small Australian town of Eumundi, he trained as a chef in Melbourne, Manchester and London before moving to … Read More
