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French food news: Secret Parisian addresses, exemplary lemon tarts
By Ann | May 6, 2009
Bonjour, mes amis! I’ll report soon on what I ate/saw/bought in New York, but first wanted to update you on the latest French food news. What’s going on? Before we dive into this week, let’s re-cap from two weeks ago, when Le Figaroscope had a truly thrilling article, “Best Secret Tables,” in which they revealed eight places you’ll never find in your guidebook. (In fact, one table was too secret — the Aviation Club of France, which turned out to be members only. Le Fig issued a correction in this week’s magazine.) I found the following four restaurants the most interesting:
Best “Entre-Soi” (Neighborhood hang-out): Montmartre’s Chéri Bibi, a tiny place that draws crowds for its cozy-chic comfort food. But their stand-out evenings occur the third Monday of every month when owner Yannig Samot offers the kitchen to an enthusiastic amateur cook, who prepares the night’s €10 menu. Le Fig says: “Despite the crowds, the service remains super-kind. The amateur cooks are cool, the atmosphere pleasant.”
Best “Partage de Midi” (Table to share at noon): Foyer de la Madeleine, a cafeteria-like restaurant in the crypt of the church at Madeleine, which has existed for 40 years. This semi-soup kitchen feeds 350 people daily, serving up a hearty lunch offered at a modest 7.50€. The menu changes daily, and offers a choice of two first courses (e.g. paté, or pasta salad), two main dishes (e.g. chicken kebob with rice and green beans, or kidneys), and two desserts (e.g. ice cream or yogurt). Le Fig says: “Bravo to the true mix of people, who unite this place: from the retired, to the employees of neighboring luxury shops.
“Best “Fauteuils d’Orchestre” (orchestra armchairs): Salon du Panthéon, a tearoom hidden in the basement of the Cinéma du Panthéon, which has been outfitted in movie memorabilia by Catherine Deneuve and Christian Sapet (cinema decorator). A deliberately small menu includes a plat du jour, savory tart, a few snacks like organic smoked salmon, and excellent house desserts. Le Fig says: “Bravo to the originality of the space, the welcome of Charlotte.” (We don’t know who that is, either.)
Best “Toques Show”: Atelier Guy Martin, the cooking school run by the former chef of Le Grand Véfour. Suddenly, this pretty space with high-tech equipment and “super-plans” has become an “eldorado” (gold mine) at lunch-time. Take a lunch course and taste a dish prepared by “foodistas.” The plan changes daily, but in 25 minutes, you can learn how to prepare Southern-style calamari (that’s southern France, btw), rouget with vanilla, or shrimp with bowtie pasta. Dessert, coffee and a bit of hoity-toitiness are included in the 25€ price. Le Fig says: “Bravo to the professionalism of the chefs, the quality of the products, the pleasant setting.”
Check out the article, including more secret venues, and all addresses here.
In this week’s round-up, Le Figaroscope examines the city’s best lemon tarts, awarding top honors to Carl Marletti (51 rue Censier, 5ème) for his superior lemon filling, pastry and ratio of quality to price (3.20€). Pierre Hermé comes in third, which makes me suspicious about the whole tart au citron survey because I found his too sweet. For all rankings and addresses, click here.
Let’s see, what else. I highly enjoyed (and will enjoy again tonight) this Indian-esque dal and vegetable soup from my favorite Indian cooking blogger, Mallika.
And here’s an interesting (but slightly off-putting, overly gluttonous) NYT article on the quest to find New York’s best hamburger. Note they rate Shake Shack #30.
Hmmm… I think I hear a glass of chilled Pouilly Fumé calling my name. But I’ll be back soon with a report on brunch at Brooklyn’s Buttermilk Channel…
Happy eating!
Topics: Food Wednesday, In the news |
2 Responses to “French food news: Secret Parisian addresses, exemplary lemon tarts”
Comments
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May 7th, 2009 at 7:08 am
interesting article! the only place ive been to is the cantine at the Conservatoire Serge-Rachmaninoff; i think the year was 1995 … nice atmosphere if memory serves me correctly.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Another phenomenal secret table is the restaurant in the French Senate, but unfortunately you can only go there if you are invited by a French senator. The menu is broad (beef, fish, poultry of all varieties), but my favorite aspect is the wine list. Each day select senators recommend specific wines from their regions. “The problem is when a senator you like recommends a wine you hate, and vice versa,” one senator quipped to me this spring.