In the midst a 10 day Paris / Burgundy trip!
A few observations:
Much like NYC there has been an explosion of new restaurants in the last 12-18 months yet many older restaurants are struggling.
Inflation has hit, wow Paris is expensive, seemingly more so than just our last visit four months ago.
I hate to complain but warm white wine drives me insane! And it has been almost everywhere.
And wine selection is getting tougher. I think partly because there are so many new restaurants they have not had time to build their list and partly because they don’t have the capital.
On to some quick observations from our first three days!
Les Enfants du Marché - As good as always and in some ways even better. The new Chef is Italian and will be here while Chef Shunta is focused on opening their new restaurant in Biarritz. We had an absolutely stunning John Dory for two. Everything else was great. Just a note to the reader prices are very high. The John Dory was huge and more than enough for three of us but it was 150 euros and a couple of the other main type dishes were well past 50 euros. Secondly the wine selection is getting tougher. We still LOVE this place so much and will always go and usually more than once.
Tarantula - The Chef / Owner is a close friend so take this with a grain of salt. I love the food and vibe. We went for dinner on our first night and again for late night drinks. The food is a blend of Mexican food mixed with influences from Paris bistro food. Odd combination but it is pulled off because Maniu is a Mexican Chef who has spent the last 13 years in Paris and understands cultures well. It is a real hit in Paris.
Dandelion - This is fascinating situation. For some reason this is a divisive restaurant amongst locals. I feel like half the people we mentioned it to said they love it and it is their favorite restaurant of the moment and half went out of their way to say how much they did not like it. The Chef comes from Septime and I think that is part of the issue. I thought most of the food was excellent. The best dishes were very similar to Septime. We ate outside under a special table they set up for us under a tree.
L’Attache - They have a new chef and are quietly doing some amazing work. The foodie crowd is just starting to catch on. They also have a small but very impressive wine selection fairly priced. We had a few dishes on the street while drinking Labet and Selosse that were beyond fairly priced more like pre-pandemic pricing.
JIP - We were EXTREMELY excited for this meal as the Chef (Esu Lee) was at CAM which we loved! And it did not disappoint. It is a three course meal for 35 euros! Each course has one vegetarian option. Knowing the Chef not surprisingly it was a genius, creative and delicious meal. Small wine list but we managed to drink well. The add on “potato salad” is a must. Despite only three courses where the first two were very small it is an extremely fulling meal because the third course is a substantial noodle dish. We had a Radikon and a Fanny Sabre Burgound Rouge that performed way above its category!
La Tour d’argent - We made a reservation for the roof. Stunning, stunning, absolutely beautiful experience. I can’t wait to go back. The reader should note the wine prices have really moved up. They are still fair but nothing like they once were even compared to our last visit 8 months ago. You just have to forget how the list used to be priced. We drank a 92 Guffens Heynen Puilly- Fuissé Petits Croux, 88 Joly coulee de serrant, 14 Ravenau Foret all were in the 350-400 euro range. Interestingly only one table out of 20 was drinking good wine, most others had cocktails or a simple glass of bubbles. One of the captains knows how much Reneé loves aged Comté and brought us a huge overflowing board of some of the best we have ever had!
Butcher of Paris - I don’t really eat much beef or pork. I do love to stop by here after lunch at Les Enfants du Marche usually to say hello to Paris legend Clovis who is a fixture. And I do really respect what they do so when a friend demanded he take us here I acquiesced. All I can say is that it was amazing. Any meat lover should make a stop here. Luckily for us they also have a new spot in the market focused on Chicken so they brought a special bird over for us. We enjoyed the chicken with a lovely Labet Vin Jaune. And the Croque Monsieur is decadent and stunning! A very special place.
Double - Another slightly controversial place amongst the locals. Not everyone loved it, we did. It is very small and two totally different experiences. Half the seats face the kitchen, half face a wall that has a mirror so you can see the kitchen. Luckily I sent word ahead to the Chef who has worked at Saturne and Le Verre Vole both places we were regulars at and requested seats facing the kitchen and we were seated right in front of him. Stunning meal of incredible unique combinations of flavors paired around a main ingredient that was always executed at the highest level - the tuna was mindblowing. The pasta dishes reminde me of Blanca. Given the Chef’s worked in Italy and it is a combination of Italian and Japanese it reminded me of Blanca! I absolutely loved this experience and it will be added to our rotation as will JIP which incidentally have the same owners.
Dreamin Man - Our favorite coffee shop now has three locations. We stopped by the one in The Broken Arm store in the Marais and it was as great as usual.
Laize Paris - A new to us coffee and tea shop. Beautiful design. We loved the coffee and the cube savory pastries. The Black Sesame Cube is a must. We will be going back here!
Not bad for the first three days!!! Busy day today as we have the Tarantula X Dauphin popup followed by dinner at Le Doyenne!