Good food finds at the Paris fleamarket

Designer Philippe Starck has finally given we flea market lovers a smart, trendy, easy place to lunch before or after wandering the stalls. I’ve been a regular visitor to the Clignacourt market since 1980, and have furnished many a room with treasures gleaned from long and leisurely Sunday strolls. His Ma Cocotte, right at the parking entrance of the Paul Bert market is conveniently located, and since its opening in October, 2012 has been a surefire hit, especially at lunch on weekends, when no reservations are taken. So go early, and walk off the lunch as you stroll the aisles. The food here is nothing more than “correct” but if you go with that in mind, you’re not likely to be disappointed. The huge open kitchen sports a giant rotisserie, with roasted chicken and beef often on the menu. Simple salads of beets, lamb’s lettuce, and soft-cooked egg arrive fresh and perky, while the first course of smoked salmon is divine. The bread is outrageously delicious, and the wine list – which includes some well-priced Burgundies from Olivier LeFlaive – make the experience all that much more digestible. The restaurant is comfortable and not an “in your face” Starck experience. There is plenty of space for outdoor dining, the all-white bathrooms are a must visit, and service was as the French would say, without a fault.

MA COCOTTE, 106 rue des Rosiers, 93400 Saint Ouen, Tel: +33 1 49 51 70 00, Métro: Porte de Clignancourt

Open: Daily, 8 am-11 pm. No reservations taken at lunch on Saturday or Sunday. www.paulbert-serpette.com

Lunch and dinner: A la carte 28-40€.

Abri: A shelter from the mundane

Inexpensive, vest-pocket restaurants keep turning up in the most amazing places in Paris, and that’s great for all budget-conscious diners. Worth the detour is Katsuaki Okiyama’s latest venture, a tiny, “hole in the wall” steps from the Poissonière Metro in the 10th arrondissement . Carefully decorated on a budget – simple but pleasant hanging lamps, exposed stone walls, an efficient open kitchen – Abri  indeed shelters us from some of the expensive, mundane fare one might find elsewhere. The Japanese chef, trained with Robuchon and at Taillevent and Agapé Substance – offers simple, carefully prepared food, no surprises but no real disappointments either. Fresh, seasonal fare prepared right in front of you. What more could one ask? The 22-euro lunch menu offers a daily choice of either fish or poultry/meat as the main course,  with a no-choice starter, soup, and dessert. A first-course carpaccio of daurade (sea bream)(photo) was a feathery light, protein-rich starter, showered with paper thin slices of  fennel and radish, alas a bit too salty for even my salt-loving palate. Next, an alabaster soup arrived, almost like an angel, a delicate parsnip soup with a heavenly jasmine mousse, almost more of a dessert, but instantly appealing.  Main courses might include carefully seared and roasted duck breast, meaty and full-flavored, adorned by a light port reduction, garnished with ratte potatoes; or delicate lieu jaune (pollack, in the cod family) in a yellow tomato sauce. The sure star of the meal was the chocolate tart, a delicate layer of pastry topped with a thick and soothing ganache, paired with a light chocolate sorbet. When a simple café or wine-bar meal can easily cost way more than 22 euros, Abri is definitely worth the Métro ride, unless you live in the 9th or 10th, then walk!

ABRI, 92 rue du Faubourg-Poissonière, Paris 10. Tel: +33 1 83 97 00 00. Metro:  Poissonnière, Cadet, or Gare du Nord. Closed Sunday. 22-euro four- course lunch menu. 38.50 euro six-course dinner menu.

Atao and Galette Café: Good small bites

It was one of those dark, dreary, damp Paris days when not even the sturdiest umbrella could keep you dry. So what a delight to walk into the pristine blue and white restaurant Atao near the Batignolles covered market in the 17th arrondissement. Dining in the  small, 28-seat restaurant is almost as good as a trip to the Brittany seashore (without an umbrella!) with an original selection of shellfish, including a must-have serving of plump langoustines wrapped in a "leaf" of tender blanched turnips, showered  with the bright, welcoming flavors of mint, basil, and chives and brushed with a touch of top-rate olive oil (photo). This is a dish I will surely copy at home: quick, easy, healthy, delicious. A beautiful serving of daurade (sea bream)  carpaccio was executed with elegance and flair, though even this citrus-loving gal found the seasoning  a bit on the tart side. The palourdes au saké were correct but no more than than, and the generous serving of lieu jaune (a version of cod) flavored with a  coating of the zest of the brightly flavored  Japanese citrus, yuzu, was a great idea, but the fish was a tad overcooked. Despite a few hiccups here,  I'll be back, hopefully on a sunny day to enjoy Aota's oysters and savor once again the incomparable mixed herb and green salad from  Annie Bertin, vegetable grower to the stars.

Atao, 86 rue Lemercier, Paris 17. Tel: +33 1 46 27 81 12. Métro: Brochant.  Closed Monday. About 35 euros per person.

Bretons seems to be storming Paris these days, and that's a good thing. The newest member of the Breton family is the Galette Café, a small, bright, casual creperie on rue de l'Université in the 7th arrondissment. The organic buckwheat galettes are downright  delicious, almost cracking on the edges, infused  with butter that all but seeps from the  pores of these lacy treats. Always the traditionalist here, I loved their classic galette complete, an almost crunchy perfectly cooked buckwheat galette filled with cheese, ham, and egg, a perfect small bite lunch. I was not as convinced about the daily special with an added touch of tomato sauce (photo), an ingredient that somehow seems at odds with traditional Breton fare. Briny oysters from Brittany are another specialty here, and arrive with a warm rolled galette and plenty of butter to go with it. Students from the various universities in the neighborhood have already turned it into a hangout, making the cafe a lively, fun spot. Service could not be friendlier or more sincere. I think I'll become a regular here.

Galette Café, 2 rue de l'Université, Paris 7. Tel: + 33 1 42 60 22 04. Métro: Saint-Germain des Prés. Open Monday-Saturday. Closed Sunday. Galettes from 7.50€, 6 oysters for 12.80€.

Anne-Sophie Pic plays her cards right

Anne-Sophie Pic's week-old La Dame de Pic near the Louvre is the sensation of the rentrée, a pure and calming all-white space,  with crisp white linen table runners, sturdy modern wooden tables,  her black signature knives from Forge de Laguiole in the Auvergne, all punctuated by a series of vases holding single, long-stemmed pink roses. The restaurant -- whose name translates as queen of spades --  is not a place for compromise. Nor is her herb, spice, and aroma-filled menu. Like the dining room itself,  it offers a balance of elegance and comfort, haute-cuisine and everyday fare, all bearing her unique, ultra-modern signature. She sports her feminine role, but does not flaunt it or play it cute. Ingredients are impeccable, preparations are complicated but not overdone, and the taste theme throughout is one of  softness and smoothness with a required touch of crunch. I would never think of pairing warm oysters with cauliflower, but Anne-Sophie offers a regal, cloud-like presentation of warm Gillardeau oysters bathed in a frank and fragrant cream of cauliflower and jasmine, surprising as well as satisfying. Sardines are paired with some of the best tasting leeks I have witnessed, punctuated by thé matcha, making for an exotic turn on the everyday fresh Mediterranean sardine.

Bresse chicken breast arrives meltingly tender, paired with a blend of cooked and raw spinach and a touch of finely sliced couteaux (razor clams) adding a bit of texture to the soft greens. But for me, the triumph of the meal was the vibrant pea soup (le petit pois de montagne) flavored with a touch of réglisse and galanga, and tasting as though the peas had been picked in palace gardens only seconds before (photo). Her flavored butters are not to be missed -- one anise, another thé matcha -- to be carefully if  not sparingly spread on whole wheat or rye-miso bread. The cheese course consists of three perfectly aged picodon goat's milk cheeses from the Anne-Sophie's home Département of the Drôme --- one young, one slightly aged, one firm and well-aged -- served with a delicate rosemary gelatin and another gelatin of beer and honey. Although I am not a huge fan of baba au rhum (usually too boozy)  hers is a delicate delight: tiny mouthfuls of light baba, paired with a burst-in-your-mouth passion fruit creation.The staff is casually but impeccably dressed in crisp blue jeans and  blue shirts. And they all actually seem to be having a wonderful time serving the guests at La Dame de Pic. A  tiny powerhouse of a woman with endless energy, Anne-Sophie will of course continue running her Michelin three-star restaurant in Valence, south of Lyon. She says she'll probably be in Paris a day or so a week. Most of the youthful chefs -- cooking in a beautiful all plancha and induction open kitchen overlooking the street -- spent the summer working in Valence to learn  the tricks of the trade. They seem to be playing their cards right, as well.

La Dame de Pic, 20 rue du Louvre, Paris 1. Métro: Louvre-Rivoli. Telephone: +33 1 42 60 40 40. 49-euro lunch menu. Other menus at 79, 100 and 120 euros. Open Monday-Saturday. Closed Sunday. contact@ladamedepic.fr and www.ladamedepic.fr

Bravo to the Bras boys: Embracing the earth

I admit that I had not sampled Michel Bras's fare in decades, a bit put off by photos of the restaurant's ultramodern architecture and the hyped "nature boy" publicity. Now I am glad that I gave him, and son Sébastien, a chance. Perched at 1,200 meters in the open, verdant and rugged Auvergne, the Bras complex is welcoming, open, organized, and completely original. The food is kaeidoscopic and full of  Kodachrome flair, but most of all, tastes are  full-flavored and thoroughly delicious. A vegetable garden and  well-chosen plots of  edible herbs and plants provide a living larder for the chefs. You cannot say the Bras family does not make use of every single herb and vegetable that the earth offers. Their famed  gargouillou -- on our visit a colorful and abundant  vegetable salad mix of yellow and green zucchini, caulifower, paper-thin slices of turnips and beets, nasturium flowers, pimprenelle, garlic flowers and arugula, to name a few of the ingredients -- made me return home to appreciate the "supermarket" of herbs and salads I had in my own garden, and had stupidly ignored over time. But the star of the day was ther onion and summer truffle tartelette (photo), a generous, lively creation: a buttery pastry base, topped with soothing and mild young onions (here cébes de Lézignan), then a festive froth of cream and a generous halo of fresh summer truffles. An accompanying herb salad was reminiscent of Joel Robuchon's trademark salade aux herbes fraiches, a well-measured mix of fresh herbs and mixed salad greens. Even though I am not normally a fan of vegetable desserts (I don't like seeing carrots on my plate at midnight), the Bras dessert of dried, paper thin slices of eggplant paired with tomatoes cooked long and slow with a touch of sugar was beautifully architectural and  rapturous in flavor. Although one might not think of going all the way to the Auvergne to sample great Burgundies (or any other French wines)  Bras is worth the detour for the well-priced wine list alone. All the greats are there, and we sampled two favorites from the Lamy collection: including their white Saint-Aubin La Chaténiere 2009 and the red Saint Aubin Derrière chez Edouard 2009, both at their peak of perfection.

Michel et Sébastien Bras, route de l'Aubrac, 12210 Laguiole, France. Tel: + 33 (0)5 65 51 18 20. www.bras.fr. Menus at 120, 145 ,and 191 euros. A la carte, 170 euros. Rooms from 270 t0 580 eur0s. Open early April to end of October. Closed Monday ,  Tuesday lunch, Wednesday lunch (except July and August.)

Back to the country: In Paris

Thank you, Yannick Alléno, for bringing us yet another chic, casual, well-priced good-food bistro that’s open seven days a week. I am loving this trend. Alléno is the Michelin three-star chef at the outstanding Hotel Meurice, who several years ago began a lunch menu centered around products of the Paris region: Special carrots and onions, poultry and mushrooms, lettuces and even beef and lamb. He’s now carried his passion one step further with the brand-new bistro Terroir Parisien, a bright, light, airy space in the Maubert-Mutualité area of the 5th arrondissement, home to the twice-weekly produce market, Eric Kayer’s  bread and pastry boutiques,, and Laurent Dubois’s top-flight cheese shop. As Alléno began at the Meurice and continues here, most of the dishes are historic, relating to the days when the bulk of what Parisian ate came from the city’s surrounding fields. There’s a classic – and perfect – salade de frisée, cresson à l’ouef mollet et croutons et lardons (photo), tender curly endive and watercress topped with a flawless soft-cooked egg, crunchy croutons and crisp rectangles of fragrant bacon. A few grindings of the pepper mill and I was good to go. I’d be proud to bring to the table their navarin printanier d’agneau de chez Morisseau, a moist, delicate spring lamb stew teamed up with baby carrots, potatoes, green beans, peas, and herbs. I have not seen the old-fashioned merlan Colbert (whole whiting breaded and deep-fried) since the 1980’s, when Joël Robuchon brought it back to the table at Jamin. Here the dish was as golden, tender, and crisp as can be, served with a delicate herb butter. There is also the classic French onion soup, stuffed cabbage, platters of excellent charcuterie from Gilles Vérot’s boutiques, and a cheese plate. Service here was tentative and distracted, and the wine list needs a serious boost. Soon they hope to continue service nonstop from noon to midnight, meaning you can pull up a stool and enjoy a croque monsieur and a glass of wine at 4 in the afternoon. Sunday brunch will also be offered in the coming weeks.

TERROIR PARISIEN, 20 rue Saint-Victor,Paris 5. Tel: +33 1 44 31 54 54. Métro: Maubert-Mutualité. Open daily.

www.yannick-alleno.com Email reservations@bistrot-terroirparisien.fr Lunch & Dinner: 11-35€

Another Saint-Germain opening: Pinxo

Another Saint-Germain opening today, with Alain Dutournier’s all-modern, red, grey, white, and black Southwestern-accented Pinxo, his second in the city. Pronounced “pinch-oh,” the word comes from the Aquitaine region of France’s Southwest and signifies “pinching something from someone else’s plate.” Here, Dutournier offers a tempting trio of three significant bites of each dish, focusing on all the finest ingredients of the region: baby squid, or chipirions; foie gras; local ham: beef from Chalosse;, brebis sheep’s milk cheese from Gabas; plenty of piment d’Espelette to perk up any dish; as well as the famed tourtière Landaise (a local strudel-like dessert filled with apples or prunes) and here served with a prune ice cream.The food is streamlined and beautiful, with a well-seasoned variation of the Vietnamese spring roll, tasty pieces of crab and vegetables wrapped carefully in rice paper, a lovely starter (or meal on its own) with crunch and character (photo). The sautéed gambas topped with a fiery green curry were set on a bed of fragrant, perfectly cooked rice, laced with a touch of coconut milk (photo). A third choice, an unusual mix of baby squid and piquillos peppers, tiny macaroni, strips of fried ginger and thin chips of garlic, was pleasant enough, but lacked spark. A sprinkling of ground piment d’Espelette (at each table, along with salt and pepper) helped boost the flavor. Overall, I found the food could have come with a bit more punch, brighter flavors, more focus. But I’ll be back, loving the idea that I could stop in a 4 in the afternoon for a serving of grilled bread and smoked salmon paired with an avocado mousse, or a simple tartine, or open-face sandwich of tomato and aged ham.

PINXO SAINT GERMAIN, 82 rue Mazarine, Paris 6. Tel: +33 1 43 54 02 11.Métro: Mabillon. Open daily noon to midnight.

www.pinxo.frEmail pinxo.pinxo@orange.fr. Lunch: 29€ lunch menu (includes glass of wine). A la carte, 10-45€

Dinner: A la carte 10-45 €

The original Pinxo is at 9 rue Alger, Paris 1. Tel: +33 1 40 20 72 00. Open Monday-Saturday. Closed Saturday lunch and Sunday.

Semilla: A new kid on the block

American Juan Sanchez and New Zealander Drew Harré have become favored food and wine fixtures in the Saint-Germain neighborhood (with restaurants Fish, Cosi, and wine shop La Dernière Goutte) and my good friends seem to have hit yet another all-bases-loaded home run with their newest endeavor, Semilla, a tapas, or small-plate style restaurant carefully designed for the way we want to eat today. A “soft” opening on Thursday produced winning dish after winning dish, with Meilleur Ouvrier de France chef Eric Trochon at the helm, dreaming up a mix of totally new and amazing to-the-point inventions, as well as soothing classics with a modern, updated edge. Here’s the idea: a nice mix of little and large tastes for vegetarians, meat eaters, lovers of the classics as well as the adventurous. Juan, Drew, and their crew have spent more than a year fine-tuning this lovely spot, updating the beams and brick décor into a clean white yet bistro-like space, with an all-stainless open kitchen. On the menu: paper-thin slices of delectable charcuterie from Corsica;  an amazing  starter of grapefruit, coconut cream and Asian herbs; a creamy velouté of mushrooms; a must-have plate of seared shitake mushrooms grilled-seared with just a touch of oil, salt, and pepper (photo); fabulous skate-wing topped with a peppy sauce vierge;  a state-of-the-art blanquette de veau; a rosy-rare côte de boeuf; a  dessert of winning citrus-based soupe d’agrumes. And more to come! The wine list is on its way, with always dependable and affordable selections from Juan the Magnificent. They are still in test mode, so lunch only this Friday and Saturday. Sunday will be brunch, then steaks and stuff for dinner. Coming Monday, it’s 7/7. To be continued…………..(By the way, Semilla is Spanish for “seed.”)

SEMILLA, 54 rue de Seine, Paris 6. Tel: +33 1 43 54 34 50.Métro: Saint-Germain des Prés or Mabillon. Open: Daily.

Lunch: 19€  unique menu. Open between lunch & dinner for charcuterie and drinks.

Dinner: A la carte 35-55 €

Chez Rene: Back to the classics

Anyone in the mood for classic Parisian bistro fare should reserve a table at the ultra-traditional and purely authentic Chez René set on a sunny corner along Boulevard Saint Germain in the 5th arrondissement. This has been a favorite haunt for decades, with copious portions of excellent preserved duck leg (confit de canard), whole beef kidneys (rongon de veau), and classic Burgundian beef stew (boeuf Bourguignon). The fries are hot and crispy, and taste of real potatoes. The cheese comes from Madame Quatrehomme, so you know that the warm goat cheese salad (chèvre chaud) will be first rate, with the greens a superb blend of lamb’s lettuce (mache) and arugula (roquette). In winter months there is a terrific starter, a gratin of blettes (Swiss chard), a recipe that uses the wilted leaves as well as the chopped stems, tossed with a flavorful Bechamel and topped with plenty of beautifully gratinéed Gruyère cheese. On my last visit, the famed saucisson de Lyon chaud pistaché left me a bit disappointed: the potatoes were lukewarn and rather tasteless, while the slices of pork sausage were dry and ordinary. But I’ll keep coming back, for the service is thoroughly professional and décor right out of central casting: regular male diners feasting all on their own, newspaper in hand and napkins tucked beneath the chin. The walls are filled with classic art show posters dating from the 1940’s. Woody Allen would be right at home here!

CHEZ RENE, 14 boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris 5. Tel: +33 1 43 54 30 23 Métro: Maubert-Mutualité. Open: Tuesday-Saturday. Closed Sunday-Monday, 10 days at Christmas, & August.Lunch and Dinner: A la carte 40-55€

La Table d'Aki: A one man show

Akihiro Horikoshi brings new meaning to the phrase "one man show." His new, 16-seat restaurant has a single employee: Aki. He shops, he creates the menu, he cooks, he takes orders, he serves, he cleans up. And this is the way the Tokyo native wants it. He has been on his own at La Table d’Aki since January 10, having worked under the tutelage of Bernard Pacaud at the Michelin three-star L’Ambroisie since 1991. The spotless, tiny restaurant is bathed in light and white from head to toe, with a few flashes of red from the lamp cables that bring the room together in a quiet, festive way. His food, too – pure, simple, and sensational in an understated way  – is white. A giant. alabaster ravioli filled with sweet, fresh langoustines dotted with herbs arrives with a thin but potent meat sauce that makes the dish look like dessert (photo). A delicate, moist fricassée of chicken with carefully turned potatoes and baby onions tastes as though it was dropped from on high by the angels. The delicate lieu-jaune (Atlantic cod) is offset with the punch of a brunoise of celery root, all those precision-cut cubes, and a nice hit of capers. Dessert, all white again, arrives as silken crème brûlée, paired with an apple baked with a touch of cake inside, a pleasant surprise on the palate. At night, Aki cooks only fish. On the menu now, the freshest scallops from Brittany. The food has the Aki signature, as well as the echo of Pacauad’s sublime perfection. La Table d’Aki is a nice little new star in Paris’s ever-glistening sky.

LA TABLE D’AKI, 49 rue Vaneau, Paris 7. Tel: +33 1 45 44 43 48. Métro: Vaneau. Open: Tuesday-Friday. Closed  Sunday & Monday.

www.latabledaki.com. Lunch & Dinner: A la carte 38-50€

Chez Denise: Midnight madness

Thank goodness for old-time bistros like Chez Denise, those red-checkered tablecloths, efficient waiters, liter bottles of Brouilly, and nearly every bistro classic in the books: well-seared, rare and juicy hanger steak (onglet), decent fries, steak tartare, lamb’s brains (cervelle d’agneau), stuffed cabbage(chou farcie), veal kidneys (rognons) in mustard sauce, and cassoulet (white beans and varied meats). This is a good-time place for feasting, sitting elbow to elbow with your neighbors, living in carnivore utopia. We love the copious frisée aux croutons, wintry curly endive topped with croutons freshly made with the famed pain Poilâne, as well as the haricot de mouton, not mutton at all but a casserole of creamy white beans and the tenderest of lamb. Chez Denise is open until 5am, so if you can’t sleep and have a hunger for grilled pig’s feet, (pied de porc) you know where to go.

CHEZ DENISE/À LA TOUR DE MONTLHÉRY, 5 rue des Prouvaires, Paris 1.Tel: +33 1 42 36 21 82.Métro: Louvre-Rivoli or Les Halles. Open: Monday-Friday. Closed Saturday, Sunday, mid-July to mid-August. Open until 5am.Lunch & Dinner: A la carte 35-50€

Café des Musées

This fun and funky corner café in the center of the Marais is a perennial favorite. I’d go just for platters of their delicate, silken house-smoked salmon, served up with a tangle of greens and tangy dressing for dipping. Chef-owner Pierre Lecoutre is a master at the stove, and diners can watch him perform in his tiny, open kitchen, shifting copper pots, stirring and searing, offering up gorgeous, giant entrecôte (beef rib steak), frying up deliciously crisp and golden French fries, roasting Basque pork topped with the famed smoked garlic from Arleux in the north of France. On my last visit we adored the Parmentier de pintade fermière,  a winning hachis parmenter of minced farm-raised guinea hen topped with soothing mashed potatoes (photo). Café des Musées also offers briny Brittany oysters from Paimpol in season. The wine list and “medicaments du jour” (daily medicine) measure up to the cuisine, with a crisp and tart Champagne Drappier Zéro Dosage (meaning no sweet wine is added before bottling), and a spicy, mineral-rich Chardonnay, the Viré Clessé Quintaine from Domaine de la Bongran 2004. A good place to know anytime, but especially when visiting the Picasso and Carnavalet museums nearby.

CAFÉ DES MUSÉES, 49 rue de Turenne, Paris 3. Tel: +33 1 42 72 96 17. Métro: Chemin Vert or Saint-Paul. Open daily. Breakfast 8am-noon (weekends 10:30 am-noon); lunch noon-3pm; dinner 7 pm-11 pm.Email cafe.des.musees@orange.com. 

Lunch: 13€ menu. A la carte, 40€.

Dinner: 22€ menu. A la carte 40€

Willi's: Don't forget old friends

As diners, all too often we only look forward, to the newest address, the chef with biggest current hype,  and we race to keep up with the flavor of the week. Rather, we should stop every now and then and reflect upon great places we seem to have  forgotten in the rush. The solid and classic, dependable, old friends who will always be there once the hyped up spots have been forgotten or closed their doors. I confess it had been years since I visited Mark Williamson’s now landmark wine bar, established in 1980 and still going as strong as ever. My last meal was a revelation: food with character and history, a chef with a classic education at the stove, a wine list that’s hard to beat anywhere in the world, a staff that is clearly well-trained and seem to enjoy being there. I love their attention to detail, food that seems intent on satisfying the customer, a place that is what it is (fabulous!) and not trying overtly to prove anything. The food on that visit was superb: a beautiful plate of Roseval potatoes, warm, bathed in a light and tangy sauce, showered with the freshest grilled walnuts and bits of salty bacon; a flavorful, wintry bed of mixed wild mushrooms topped with a round of fresh pasta. The chef, Francois Yon, there since 1993, understands searing like no one. That evening our moist and perfectly cooked farm-raised breast of veal had a thick, mahogany-toned exterior and a delicately tender interior, all set upon a bed of mixed vegetables, carrots, leeks, potatoes, turnips. The same can be said of his super-seared farm-raised guinea hen (pintade) set on the same soothing bed of vegetables. His chocolate terrine (photo) should go in the record books as one of the best ever, and of course Willi’s wine list will bring any wine lover to his or her knees. The 2005 red Chateauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Marcoux from sisters Sophie and Catherine Armenier is a dream, a balance blend of opulence and refinement, as well as tons of pleasure.

WILLI’S WINE BAR, 13 rue de Petits-Champs, Paris 1; Tel: +33 1 42 61 05 09. Métro: Bourse or Palais-Royal or Pyramides.

Open: Monday-Saturday. Closed Sunday. www.williswinebar.com (reservations on line). Lunch: 20.50€, 23.40€ and 26.50€ menus.

Dinner: 33€ & 36€ menus.

Le Coq Rico: Poultry has it's day

I don’t like restaurants that make me feel guilty. But that’s not the fault of Antoine Westermann, owner of the new and fantastic Le Coq Rico in Montmartre. I’ll first of all say, reserve right away, the place is fantastic and open 7 days a week, so there’s no excuse. How much of a genius do you have to be to come up with a single-ingredient concept restaurant? Poultry, meaning chicken and guinea fowl, duck, and pigeon. And everything it brings to the table. The reason that Le Coq Rico makes me feel guilty is how they use every bit of those tender birds and turn kidneys and hearts and livers and wings into miraculous morsels. And I don’t. I stuff my freezer full of chicken livers for the terrine I never make. I stuff the birds with hearts and gizzards as I roast them, when I should be treating the ingredients with greater honor. But to the reason of Le Coq Rico: the whole bird. Chef  Thierry Lébé and his ultra-professional staff cook with precision and quiet perfection, roasting farm-raised poultry from all parts of France (each comes with a pedigree and the name of the farmer) whole on a rotisserie set in their small but efficient kitchen. Diners can choose to sit at the bar and watch the action, or dine in one of the two small dining rooms. The place is bright, modern, understated. The menu offers something for everyone: from a golden-brown, intense poultry and celery root broth ladled over tender ravioli filled with foie gras (photo), and on to their signature planchette de béatilles: poultry hearts seared, gizzards cooked tenderly in fat, wings lacquered, and little curried balls of herbs deep-fried. I love pigeon but am never 100% satisfied with my efficient use of the bird, yet here it’s roasted perfectly rare and rosy, teamed up with mushrooms and bacon with the tender liver crushed atop a rectangle of toast. A single serving of Challans farm-raised chicken is a wonder of nature, moist, tender, as it should be but not always is. And, well, the fries are about the best ever, deep golden brown, crispy, can’t stop eating them delicious. Even the little green salad here is fresh and attentively dressed. I can’t imagine having room for dessert here, though somehow I did: the l’ile flottante is gorgeous, rich, and flawless, the seasonal salad of pineapple, pineapple sorbet, with a touch of ginger and lime zest add a tonic that takes you bravely into the cold winter air.

LE COQ RICO, 98 rue Lepic, Paris 18. Tel: +33 1 42 59 82 89.Métro: Lamarck-Caulincourt. Open: Daily.www.lecoqrico.com

Lunch & Dinner: A la carte, 35-70€

Taillevent, as good as ever

An American friend spends part of each year in Paris, and when he is there his rule is to lunch at Taillevent each and every Friday. A worthy goal, I say! This was one of the first Michelin 3-star restaurants I ever visited, back in the 1970’s. Over the years, the elegant, understated dining room has been our family’s choice to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, honors. Today, the club-like restaurant is as alive, alert, and up-to-date as any I know. As it always did, it provides the very definition of modern French haute cuisine. Chef Alain Solivérès and his pastry chef Matthieu Bijou make this one of the finest dining spots in the country. They both know how to update classics to modern-day tastes and expectations, working always with the finest of ingredients. Fish, shellfish, game, poultry, and meat are all treated with utmost respect. I have recreated the chef’s gorgeous crab rémoulade, sweet and delicately seasoned crab topped with a crown of colorful and crunchy radish rounds, though I know that I could never duplicate his lobster boudin, an Asian-inspired lobster sausage bathed in a delicate cream with a touch of caviar. On my last visit, he wowed me with flower-like tartare of fresh sea scallops topped with a nice hit of Asian herbs, followed by ultra-tender venison fillets served with a melting, warm touch of foie gras. The accompanying autumn vegetables – beets, turnips, and parsnips – could have been a meal on their own.  In winter months, black truffles reign here, with a creamy risotto of Provencal epeature (spelt) topped with a crown of truffles (PHOTO); a magical lièvre à la royale, fashioned into a rich, fragrant, perfectly seasoned terrine studded with truffles and served with a well-matched saffron-sauced pasta; and an outgrageous portion of smooth and buttery potato mousseline showered with minced truffles and a golden egg yolk. Save plenty of room for Bijou’s dessert creations: I dream of his super-perfect chocolate tart (the thinnest of crusts, the most ethereal chocolate), while his vanilla millefeuille has to be one of the lightest and flakiest in Paris. One cannot dine here without regretting the absence of perhaps the city’s greatest restaurateur of modern times, Jean-Claude Vrinat. We will always miss him.  Jean-Marie Ancher, long Vrinat’s right-hand man, carries on with absolute attention and care, while the extensive wine list remains one of the glories of the establishment.

TAILLEVENT, 15 rue Lamennais, Paris 8  Tel: +33 1 44 95 15 01 Métro: George V or Charles de Gaulle-Étoile

Open: Monday-Friday. Closed Saturday, Sunday, and holidays www.taillevent.com Email resa@taillevent.com

Lunch: 82€ & 195€ menu. A la carte 120-260€ Dinner: 195€ menu. A la carte 120-260€

In Japanese dumpling heaven

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Fans of those spicy, addictive Japanese dumplings known as gyoza, should make a beeline for this modern, streamlined bar set in the historic Passage des Panoramas. Find a stool and settle into a mini-feast. Chefs Guillaume Guedi and Shinichi Sato of the Michelin two-star restaurant, Passage 53 nearby, have an instant hit on their hands, offering simplicity at its best with their yuzu zest and chile pepper-spiced wheat flour dumplings, filled with the succulent ground pork loin from star butcher Hugo Desynoyer. The dumplings are seared right in front of you in a touch of oil in customized cast iron pans, sprinkled with a touch of water, then steamed, so one side is golden and crunchy, the other soft and soothing. Dip the cresent-shaped goodies into a citrus-rich ponzo sauce touched with grapefruit and orange and your palate breaks into a smile: The contrast of textures, a touch of spice, a hit of citrus makes for one happy diner. The only other offerings here include a tiny bowl of bean sprouts laced with nutty sesame oil, and a simple serving of white rice. There’s both Yebisu and Kirin beer to wash it all down. The bar is efficiency personified, with excellent service from a trio of young Japanese women. The décor is pure, understated Japanese all wood, grey stone, and glass, a perfect contrast to the passage, with its charming patina of age.

GYOZA BAR,  56 passage des Panoramas, Paris 2. Tel: +33 1 44 82 00 62.Métro: Bourse and Grands Boulevards.Open: evenings only, 6-11 pm. Monday-Saturday. Closed Sunday. Dinner: 6€ for eight dumplings; carryout available.

Yum tum dim sum

When two Parisian friends came back from several years in Hong Kong, what they missed was dim sum, those endearing little steamed dumplings stuffed with meat, seafood, vegetables, and all manner of herbs. So the pair set out to learn the intricacies of dim sum with the help of Chinese chefs. Today they have not one, but two dim sum restaurants, their year-old spot on the fabulous market street Rue des Martyrs, and another just a week old on rue Gregoire de Tours in the 6th. Their places are hip and modern looking, and while you don’t have the grand-ballroom steamy setting of old Hong Kong, they’re fine spots for a quick, light lunch when you need an Asian hit. I love that their combinations are a little out-of-the-box, with vibrant-tasting dumplings filled with beef, ginger, soy, and basil; others stuffed with mushrooms, carrots, satay sauce, chicken, peanuts, and coriander. The small menu moves all over Asia, with some delightful Thai shrimp meatballs (photo), boulettes thai pimentées aux crevettes; and soothing Vietnamese rice paper crepes filled with chunks of smoked sausage, fish sauce and chile sauce. Yoom is a bit pricey (5 to 6 € for just two to three dumplings), and too many dishes arrive lukewarm, reducing the pleasure by half. So ask for everything to be served steaming hot, and the message is, don’t come too hungry or too poor.

YOOM, 5 rue Gregoire de Tours, Paris 6, Tel: +33 1 43 54 94 56, Métro: Mabillon or Odéon. Open: Monday-Friday. Closed Saturday & Sunday.Lunch & Dinner: Dim Sum from 5.50-6.50€

YOOM, 20 rue des Martyrs, Paris 9 Tel: +33 1 56 92 19 10. Métro: Saint-George or Pigalle. Open: Monday-Friday. Closed Saturday & Sunday. Lunch & Dinner: Dim Sum from 5.50-6.50€

Little Breizh

This postage-stamp sized crêperie near Odéon is a real find. The buckwheat galettes are prepared with a very dense, black-flecked organic flour (blé noir) milled specially for the owners --- brother and sister team Pierre and Claire Goasdoué --  who put their heart and soul into this little enterprise. Stone walls, giant wooden beams and bistro chairs give it a true neighborhood air, setting it apart from the tourist restaurants that line this narrow little street. I could lunch here each day, sampling the elegant, filling ham and cheese galette, a creation that is like a love poem to Brittany. The galette is paper-thin, crisp and crunchy with a deep, rich freshly milled texture. Wash it down with a cup of chilled cider, and you’ve got a meal for under 10€. Their salmon galette is equally appealing, and service comes with cheer and a smile. This is a good place to know late in the morning (galettes for breakfast, anyone?) since they open at 11 am. It’s also child and vegetarian friendly.

LITTLE BREIZH,  11 rue Grégoire de Tours, Paris 6, Tel: +33 1 43 54 60 74 Métro: Odéon Open: Tuesday-Sunday. Closed Monday.

Email littlebreizhcreperie@gmail.comLunch: 13.50€ menu, cider included. A la carte, 10-19€ Dinner: A la carte, 10-19€

The L'Ami Louis secret

Caricature or the real deal? Are they pulling our leg or offering us authentic bistro fare? I guess that it depends upon one’s history, outlook, mood on any given day. For sure, the décor at this 1930s bistro  -- which has been a worldwide icon since the 1950s --- rates as among the most dilapidated in Paris. Dingy, dark, faded, ramshackle. But, OH that roast chicken. The L'Ami Louis secret, of course, is kitchen’s oak-wood fired oven, offering a sweet, soft, and yet intense heat, making for a succulent bird that is up there with the best – if not THE best – in Paris. Maitre’d Louis (that’s his real name), who has been at L’Ami Louis since 1978, says they are on their fourth wood-burning oven since his arrival. In my earliest visits in the late 1970s I remember famed chef Antoine Magnin (whose photo hangs ceremonially in the dining room) cooking on an ancient black wood oven, wearing chef’s whites and a red kerchief given to him by actress Romy Schneider. “Nothing’s changed,” announces Louis, proudly, and he is quite right. Today’s voluminous slabs of chilled foie gras are better than I remembered, carefully seasoned, with that nice touch of acidity. Most starters, like the foie gras and the generous serving of scallops, seared with plenty of butter, whole cloves of garlic and a showering of parsley, can easily be shared. I have had better leg of lamb, this one tasting not as young as I’d like, though cooked to perfection in that wood oven. Towers of shoestring potatoes warm the heart of any potato lover, but my favorite “new” dish on the menu is the giant potato cake – they call it pommes Bearnaises --  brilliantly exeuted, with tiny potatoes cooked in their skins, then baked in a round mold so the skin turns blisterly and deep golden. The “cake” comes embellished with parsley and chopped  garlic, though I wish  they’d hold the raw garlic, especially in winter months when it’s bitter no matter how “fresh” it may be. The wine list has improved a thousand-fold (both in selections and in value), and on my last visit we feasted on both the flinty white Sauvignon Blanc Henri Bourgeois Sancerre “Jadis,” (80€) and the heady, deep purple, expressive Gigondas from Domaine de la Bouïssiere  (59€) bargain prices by former L’Ami Louis standards. Not that the meal is a bargain: the chicken for two is 80€,  the leg of lamb for two €140. OK, if you are in a frugal mood, two people could get out of this iconic bistro for 136€, without wine, not outrageous in this day and age. A place that every Paris Food Lover should experience, at least once.

L’AMI LOUIS, 32 rue du Vertbois, Paris 3 Tel: +33 1 48 87 77 48 Métro: Temple or Arts et Métiers Open: Wednesday-Sunday. Closed Monday, Tuesday, mid-July-mid-August.Lunch & Dinner: A la carte 68-160 €

À la Bicha au Bois

A la Biche au Bois is one restaurant where you definitely get what you came for. Game and plenty of it. Hearty food, good wine, a super-generous cheese platter, and classic desserts. Whether you’re in the mood for biche (young female deer) or canard sauvage (wild duck) (photo) this classic state-of-the-art bistro is sure to please. The soothing potato puree (from the Agatha variety of  potatoes, with 10% butter, the waiter assured) is worth the detour all on its own, as is the sumptuous cheese tray, treasures stacked one on top the other, with favorites Brie, raw milk Camembert, and blue de Causses all in perfect ripeness. There’s a parade of terrines --- rabbit, duck, or a mix of meats – each one better than the other, classic and rich. I don’t remember the last time I saw coq au vin on the menu, but you’ll find it here, meaty and bathed in a vibrant red wine sauce. Oh, and yes, the chocolate mousse is the reason you come to Paris to dine. If the always reliable Côtes-du Rhone Clos du Caillou is still on the wine list, go for it. The meaty red is a Châteauneuf du Pape stand-in if there ever was one. This is a bistro where you’ll find a mixed crowd, from the well-fed SNCF conductor to youthful locals to happy tourists, all feasting on treasures of the day. The 28€ menu is a veritable bargain.

A LA BICHE AU BOIS, 45 avenue Ledru-Rollin, Paris 12 Tel: +33 1 43 43 34 38 Métro: Gare de Lyon or Quai-de-la-Rapée

Open: Monday-Friday. Closed Saturday, Sunday & Monday lunch.Lunch & Dinner: 28€ menu. A la carte, 35€