Delicatessen was on my list of places to go. Nicolas recommended it several years ago.
In 2009, I visited Paris to pour wines from the Mosel Wine Merchant portfolio for Mark Williamson. Peter Liem joined us, and he later suggested that we have lunch at Le Verre Volé. We shared a bottle of Christophe Mignon’s Pinot Meunier Brut Nature. That was my first time at Le Verre Volé. I went back a few more times and always enjoyed the food and atmosphere.
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We started the evening off with another pre-dinner visit to Delicatessen. As usual the gang was all there and we ran into several people from NYC. As usual it was a real chore to chill our wine and we had to watch out for speeding buses. Rumor has it someone was recently hit by one in front of Delicatessan and hurt badly. And as usual it was delightful and nothing like anything we have in LA or NY. The evening turned towards where to go for dinner and who was in… I suggested Le Saint Sebastian. I recall meeting the owners many years ago when the restaurant was still in the planning stages. I have had a few great meals / experiences over the years and have some friends who had given me glowing reports of recent meals. My idea won out, we called and yes they could fit in 8 people. Amazing that they picked up the phone during a very busy Monday night service. It was within walking distance and across the street from Bambino both added benefits. And I was excited by the prospects of the wine list. We were greeted warmly by proprietor Daniela who was thrilled to see us and to reconnect. The meal was wonderful on all levels. The Cod was exceptional and light as a feather. The wine list did deliver and was extremely fun and a nice blend of casual and natural. If you have not gotten the memo the Jurancon region is the hipster region of the moment and I have fallen for it and we have been trying many different producers and wines. Domain Lajibe is the one most seek out and we were treated to a rare 2021 Serres-Serres yellow cap, 12.5% abv with 20 grams of RS and a ton of acidity. It was a major success at the table and a big crowd favorite.
As usual we ended the evening at Bambino, this night I politely declined the offer to jump in an DJ…
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Overall I have done an amazing job of not making any major blunders with our itinerary. Only one or two small issues up until now. I reserved Cafe du Coin for lunch because I remembered a lunch there fondly and it was associated with the Sri Lankin spot we loved, La Joie. The Chef of La Joie used to work at Cafe du Coin and the owners partnered with him to start La Joie. Only minor issue is the lunch I remembered was at Recoin. In spite of this we still had a lovely light lunch. They have a 25 euro lunch special that features their small pizzas. This place would be absolutely great for a lunch or dinner with children or a large group on a budget.
Mid lunch Renée suggested a bang bang and soon thereafter we sped off to Le Dauphin which we keep hearing about from local industry friends! More to come…
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Post Cafe du Coin we head over to Le Dauphin. One of my all time favorite restaurants from a pure design standpoint. Somehow or other Rem Koolhaas designed it shortly after Chateaubriand become world famous. It is showings a little wear and tear which I like even more. We have had many, many wonderful meals here. Tuesday lunch is a 20 euro lunch special that gives you a Oeuf Aioli and Salad plus a bowl of perfectly executed pasta and if you are lucky a bottle of Selosse Rose but I think we got the last one…
Up next one of our absolute favorite Paris restaurants Le Cheval d’Or!!!
I have not had a German Riesling in almost ten days and I am hoping since I introduced them to Keller’s Paris distributor that I might get lucky!!!
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Careful there - sounds like your Riesling levels are running dangerously low!
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You’re visting some really cool places. Isn’t Jon Bonné a big fan of Le Saint Sébastian?
For German Riesling, I’d recommend Caves Legrand or Willi’s Wine Bar. But didn’t Le Saint Sébastian have some? I saw that they have Wolf on the wine list.
Is that Lebanese guy selling the Keller in Paris?
Samer Chehade is the Paris’ Keller agent.
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Yes Jon is, I have gone dined there with him.
And yes on Caves Legrand, I have purchased Falkenstein there. And have stopped in for an SO2 fix at Willi’s with some Clemens Busch. Le Saint Sébastian had some German wine but I only recall Wasenhaus. Wolf is definitely around Paris, I can’t remember which place (maybe EME) but I did see for the first time ever his Piedmont project. BTW I hear he went back to Germany?
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Thanks! Le Dauphin looks awesome. I remember when it opened, but I never went there or to Le Châteaubriand. But I could say that about most of the places you visit. I like the red-trimmed bistro plates and the food on them. And I agree that restaurants gain charm with patina. I was a big fan of the old Willi’s Wine Bar before it was renovated and expanded.
I met Dennis Wolf at La Paulée Moselle in Merl a few years ago, but I didn’t hear that he was returning to Germany. On Instagram, I saw that a friend of his helped him with the harvest in Piedmont last month.
He’s our agent, too.
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Def enjoy Dauphin has grit and charm. Good for a pre drink as well.
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Le Cheval d’Or was not surprising excellent. It is our 4th visit plus we have eaten Chef Hanz’s food at three popups in NYC. It is easily in our top tasting menu options in Paris (along with AT, Cypsele, EME, Septime and Sota).
I love how they blend the elements of a casual Chinese restaurant with a proper French restaurant. They do this with both the vibe / decor and in the creation of the dishes. And I LOVE the wine list it is a nice mix of classical and natural. I am seeing more restaurants in Paris, like NYC, moving to this approach and it is welcome! They know I love German wine so they ordered some Keller and had it waiting for us.
The food pictures are just a subset of what we had (the board limits pictures to 10 per post). If I had one knit it would be there was too much food. To be fair there are two menu options and we took the 9 course which was the larger of the two. We had intended to do the smaller menu but everything sounded so great we ended up opting for the larger. We went with Hubacker and Bürgel, both performed exceptionally well with the food. It was surprising though which dish a wine worked with and not at all intuitive which just speaks to the uniqueness of the cooking.
Up next lunch at 19 Saint Roch, a visit to Plaq Chocolate our favorite Chocolate store in Paris, Brian Jackson and Yasiin Bey performing Gil Scott Heron and whatever other trouble we get into along the way!
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That is useful. We just booked an apartment in this area for November. We try to stay in different areas most times we visit, to get to know the city better (although about 25% of the time we end up in the 3rd).
It is very serious. Right on the same street as Frenchie and a bunch of other top food shops. A great butcher with awesome chickens. A wonderful cheese shop.
Inside tip - Frenchie has a very small wine cave on the street that occasionally has some very attractively priced Burgundies.
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Given the length of our stay we are getting to try a lot of new places to us. One that has been on my radar for some time is 19 Saint Roch. I remember the Chef Pierre Touitou from Vivant. He has also worked for Alain Ducasse and is still relatively young. We sat right next to the busy kitchen and watched all of the action. The dishes worked really well for us. Some worked better than others in combination with the broader meal others like the excellent Skate worked on their own. We did a la carte and spent some time with the Chef who told us the dinner menu is more adventurous because they have a decent work crowd for lunch. The wine list was all natural, we chose a very complex, shapeshifting wine from Gerard Schueller that had some RS, high acidity and crazy guava like flavors. The wine paired very well with the food.
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I saw so much Wasenhaus on my last trip all over France. They had it at Pere Bise in Annecy, and pretty sure I saw it on Ma Cuisine’s list too.
Yeah it is everywhere and Basti’s wine also.
I thought electric Riesling was his Samson hair to keep the incredible pace (we’re all benefiting from it)!