Chassorney is Frederic Cossard, not a small producer these days.
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Thanks. I’ve lost track of their business and wines. Haven’t bought in quite a while. He struck me as “smaller” back when, possibly incorrectly.
https://www.wineterroirs.com/2010/01/fred_cossard.html
RT
I do miss the holiday catalog that Augé used to do.
Maxime who has been there forever is a nice guy.
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Maxime was who I dealt with, but he moved on and purchased his own store on the outskirts of Paris, L’Epicurien Saint-Mandé. I saw him in July of 2022 just as he was leaving Auge, so I hope things are going well for him. Marc Sibard was an arrogant ass, I tried to avoid going to the store if I knew he was there, he made the whole thing rather unpleasant. I was not surprised to hear he had gotten into trouble, though I don’t know who owns the store now.
The other stores listed here are pretty good, there’s lots of options in Paris, especially if you are looking for more natural wines (which I tend to do, though I do ask that they be on the cleaner side). There was a place across the street from Aux Deux Amis that had a nice selection, but again of the more avant-garde stuff.
For more every day wines, I usually hit the Rue des Martyrs area as that’s where the apartment I rent is located. There are a few boutiques there that carry fun, new things. Some are good, some not so much, but it’s never too expensive and always interesting to talk to the shop owners.
Lastly, for more classic selections, there is Caves Legrand et Filles, now run by Arnaud Tronche, who used to be at Racines in NY. I saw him as well in January, he had taken nicely to his role and they were giving him the freedom to rejuvenate the list, especially as it had gotten stuffy in the past few years. I look forward to seeing what he’s done when I’m back in January/February.
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Deleted.
Gtk. I walked by the store last month and did not know that there were changes. I was killing time to meet up others at Willi’s Wine Bar for lunch and would have gone in had I known, but just walked on thinking it’s the same stuffy-overpriced place and just grabbed hot chocolate at a nearby cafe.
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You will not see the new stuff Arnaud has sitting on the floor. You have to ask.
I preferred it six years ago when you could buy Allemand Sans Souf by the case for 100€/bottle.
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Sounds perfectly suited for retail. 
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Just back from a trip to France that included a handful of nights in Paris:
- David Toutain: Disappointing. The food was very good and the service was friendly enough, but the meal was way, way too long (4.5 hours). This wasn’t because we were served some absurd number of courses, but rather because the pacing was way off. We had ~30 minutes between our last savory dish and our server dropping dessert off with an apology. An older gentleman at a neighboring table nodded off at one point which gives you a sense of the problem…
- Solstice: Very good and one of the more fun tasting-menu-fine-dining meals we’ve had in a while. A sharp contrast with David Toutain. We went with the “omakase” option and were served everything from a lobster and kimchi-driven dish to lièvre à la royale. Service was great. Wine pairing leaned “natural” as is the trend with several Corsican wines, but all were clean.
- Clown Bar: I wanted to like this meal more than we did, especially after a great meal at Maison Sota last time we were in Paris. While a couple of our dishes were very good – in particular I remember the tartare and crudo being quite good – others weren’t as well executed (like a somewhat rubbery duck breast). Service was friendly. Can’t help but feel we “missed” the restaurant.
- Scaria: Picked by my relatives who are local. I believe it’s run by two brothers who wait tables there; one told us that their family has a wine-making background in the Loire. The menu is small plates-driven, and the wine list is relatively short with a natural bent and a fair number of wines from Southern France. It’s the type of place where if you express interest in wine there’s a decent shot some “special” bottle will appear from the cellar. We really enjoyed our meal here and felt it overdelivered relative to expectations.
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I’m trying to plan for several days in Paris in mid-February and Meg Zimbeck (Paris by Mouth) raves about Café des Ministères. She makes it sound fabulous. Has anybody been?
We arrive on a Monday, so first night is booked at La Bourse et la Vie. I’ll do my best to secure a table at Septime.
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The food at Café des Ministères is outstanding. The wine list, a little pedestrian.
We did our usual Thanksgiving trip to Paris and went pretty hard for three days.
First stop as always Les Enfants du Marché outstanding meal. Chef Shuntu has really evolved and to me it is the most satisfying meal in all of Paris. Other than the all around great vibe their sourcing of ingredients is outstanding. And I love that if you get there early you are guaranteed a seat so I leave at least two slots open for lunch.
We do Thanksgiving every year with a group of friends and this year Michael from Les Enfants du Marché offered to host it as his home. Chef Shuntu cooked and it needless to say it was an incredible meal and evening.
We try to do at least one new restaurant every time. We read about Datil on Paris by Mouth and it is two blocks from where we stay so we booked it for lunch. A 65 euro tasting menu for lunch is a great deal. Nice focused list of clean natural wines and a very enthusiastic sommelier. The portions were small and very vegetable focused. Overall we loved the space, the lightness of the meal but I feel like it lacked something. The Chef worked at Arpege. I look forward to trying it again in the spring when their vegetable focus should really shine.
We did a drive by at Les Enfants du Marché after Datil and saw several New Yorkers.
We then hit up La Tour D’Argent before dinner at Le Servan. Relieved to say that although the prices are up, there are still so many steals on the list and overall with the exception of some very high end bottles extremely well priced.
So many Chefs I know love Le Servan we have been four or five times and it never fully clicks for us. This time was the best of our meals but still don’t get the raves.
The night finished at Bambino who celebrated their fourth anniversary.
For Saturday we did lunch at Restaurant A.T WOW! Just WOW! Chef Atsushi added three or four special dishes for us including a mind-blowing king crab dish that was his first time preparing.
It was a stunning three star meal from start to finish. They absolutely should be elevated to two stars this year.
Knowing we had a big lunch we wanted something simple for dinner so hit up Brutos. Overall very good meal and a great vibe. We finished at Bar Principal next door which is an elevated comfort food Bar run by Brutos. I do like the Sunday Roast Chicken dinner the best at Brutos.
Overall I would say Paris was not dead but quiet and I did not see nearly as many people from the U.S. as I usually do.
Photos from day one:
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Thanks for the great write up. I have not heard of Scaria.
I hit up the Bistrol Paul Bert / Phamily first pop up at Leo in NYC last night. It was fantastic and so cool to see the Paris crew in NYC. It was packed! There is one more night (Wed) but it is sold out. They do take some walk ins if there is a cancellation. The after-party will be at Nightmoves.
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Any recommendations for a restaurant to try Poularde de Bresse? My google searches take me to Le Coq & Fils - is that still a good place? My wife only eats chicken and turkey (no quail or game birds) and some seafood like salmon and white filet fishes (allergic to shell fish) and no beef or pork, so looking for a few places you all recommended to me earlier but I stumbled on this “local” high end bird so I am intrigued (on my wife’s behalf)
I know this is a Paris thread, but I’ll be in Lyon too if there is a “better” place to try it in Lyon.
For my wife’s taste, the simpler the preparation the better (no heavy cream sauces, mushroom sauces, etc)
Le Coq is the old Coq Rico and is very good. At one point, it was under the same ownership of the NYC restaurant, but there was a falling out, hence the name change. It is in Montmartre and can be a bit of a schlep to get there, depending on where you will be staying.
The Poulet de Bresse at l’Ami Louis is awful. Andre Allard still makes a good roast chicken but have changed to Poulet Bourbonnais since the Ducasse takeover.
Turkey is not common, outside of the falafel/schwarma restaurants, where it is often mixed with lamb.
Most of the chickens you’ll see on rotisseries at markets are dry and flavorless. I’ve always been disappointed.
thanks @M.Kaplan yes I saw Le Coq was the Coq Rico but seems like the same chef is still there. I know upthread someone said the Sunday Roast Chicken at Brutos is also good. With 3 nights in Paris, not sure I want chicken 2 nights (my wife would disagree 
)
As for Le Coq’s location, we are staying at the Hilton Paris Opera House, so it seems like ~10 min drive or 30 min walk. We walk a ton, so if weather is decent, I wouldn’t mind walking there or walking back if the area is safe and easy to navigate
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I think Brutos is still only open for lunch on Sundays (a post-pandemic change). Fun place, with good food, but more Argentinian than French if that matters.
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I couldn’t believe how dry the rotisserie chicken was that I tried. I thought it must have been bad luck, this is Paris after all. Thanks for the tip to avoid them all.