The lobster with sweetbreads was pricey butsuperb Pros: Pleasant decor and buzz, good service Cons: Square plates, limited wine list Believe it or not, when Bertie the Gastrohound and I turned up early at L’Ardoise Gourmande for a fivesome the … Read More
Tapas with a twist are a specialty of the house. Pros: Outstanding vegetable cooking; great staff; restful, understated decor. Cons: Wine list a bit short; at these prices, diners could be seated a little less cheek by jowl; two dinner … Read More
When you walk into La Marée, you get a sense of having entered another world. Outside is the heaving eighth arrondissement, with Rue Daru itself being home to the Orthodox Cathedral and other things Russian, plus a noticeable density of … Read More
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
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
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
Yellow Cab Cuisine Cheerful dining with often sublime results. February 2005; updated Oct. 15, 2008 THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED The cheerful Taxi Jaune, located in the wholesale leather-goods section of the Marais (where tourists often fear to tred), has … Read More
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
Regional Byways Seasonal berries with a melon-ribbon bow. I take real pleasure in seeing a new restaurant open and take off seemingly effortlessly. A la Chataigne opened earlier this year, but when I was there very recently, it felt as … Read More
Simon Says: Don’t Miss It The decor is minimal, the food memorable. Japanese food remains largely terra incognita for me, and I have more than a sneaking suspicion that like other “ethnic” cuisines, Japanese food is dumbed down here for … Read More
