“Top of the world, Ma!” - Bests 2011

In fact, before that gas tank explodes in White Heat, James Cagney actually yells, “Made it, Ma. Top of the world!” But let's not nitpick. It's that time again, actually, it's 10 days past that time again, to name my top five restaurants of the year, in this case 2011. Hard to believe, but Paris Restaurants and Beyond is now entering its fourth year, with somewhere around 80 or so restaurants reviewed, so I first have to give myself an award for keeping with it. Congratulations, me. It would be nice to hear from more readers, especially with your own recommendations, but I know, you are shy and I don't want to press you. I'm happy you come to this site and welcome your contributions.

As mentioned in previous PR and B 'best of' installments, I have no claim to suggest that any restaurants named here are in fact the 'best' restaurants, which would be a ridiculous claim to verify anyway - only that my best meals outside my own kitchen were found in the venues listed. 'Best' for me includes originality from the chef, fresh and inventive ingredients, and an overall enjoyable and memorable experience, the latter of which includes conviviality, atmosphere, and service from staff and fellow diners. Without further ado, here are my top five for 2011 (full reviews and addresses by clicking the relevant links in the 'restaurants reviewed to date' list to the right):

1. Le Gaigne - two really terrific dinners at Le Gaigne in 2011. I don't know why we don't hear or read more about this little gem situated between Beaubourg and the Marais, but the menus degustation for the two visits were inventive and completely satisfying. You've read my reviews, now check out another from the One Spoonful at a Time blog. Le Gaigne is tiny, but chef/owner Mickael Gaignon performs some grand magic in his kitchen.

2. La Gazzetta - regular readers of this blog should not be surprised by this choice, as I have been praising the restaurant since 2010.

3. Chateaubriand - I wouldn't go so far as to agree that this is the best restaurant in Paris, as has been claimed, but it's damn good. Multi-dishes pass before you in a blur, creative and hip, but alas, some of those dishes are just too tiny for their own good. And they are good.

4. Septime - This new addition to my 'go to' Paris restaurant list, along with Chatomat, were the most promising restaurants I dined at in 2011. Not great, but enough to suggest that they may soon be. I really enjoyed my dinner, particularly at Septime, last Fall, but it's hard to jump to conclusions after just one visit. I'm really looking forward to the next time.

5. Chatomat - see no. 4 above, and it's true, I did call this one 'great' in my review. In retrospective, let me just amend that by saying 'we'll see.'


Co., my dining cohort, is pretty much in agreement with these choices, although she'd probably nudge Septime or Chatomat from their mutual slots to include La Table D'Eugene, one of her personal favorites.

Best tapas - Aux Deux Amis - chaotic and crazy in the early evening. That herring ended up on the floor, but too much fun to care. And even the simple tapas were fresh and memorable.


Best oyster restaurant - Le Pleine Mer. 'Restaurant' may be stretching it, but there's no denying this is one of the top, if not the top 'o the world, places to eat oysters in Paris, especially if you are seeking authenticity down by the seashore in the heart of Paris.

Best online shopping for Mexican condiments - Dos Mexicanas, hands down. Based in Villepinte (France metropolitan). Sauces, hot peppers, chipotle, you name it. Great selection, reasonable prices, and I've already received orders within one or two days of ordering online.

Best movie about food: El Bulli - Cooking In Progress. This documentary about Ferran Adrià's majestic, but alas now closed, greatest restaurant in the world is mesmerizing from the opening shot of Adrià tasting a flourescent lollipop, to the final close-ups of the 38 dishes served during a typical meal. The film covers the six months the El Bulli team spent in their experimental labs in Barcelona, and follows the evolution of the new menu items for the restaurant's upcoming season in Roses, Spain. At one point during the experimental phase, Adrià tells his chefs, 'Don't worry about the quality of the taste, it must be magical!'

Disappointments of the Year - there were a number of these, although if you're not expecting much (see Millesimes 62, La Cerisaie, and Tintilou), it would be unfair to classify a venue as disappointing. But when Frenchie and JaJa get so many rave reviews (albeit 'rave' is an exaggeration for JaJa), disappointment definitely does apply. People talk about Frenchie like it's the bees-knees, so maybe I hit a bad night, but I was distinctly underwhelmed. And as for Jaja, fuggedaboutit.

Not So Frenchie

Given the effusive reviews and significant buzz about Frenchie dating back to 2009, I finally was able to snag a table for two last Friday night. That magical triumvirate of Spring, Yam' Tcha, and Frenchie, three of the most talked about contemporary bistrots on the Paris restaurant scene over the past couple of years, makes for a heady challenge just to get through the door. To date, I still haven't succeeded at getting a reservation at Spring, although I haven't been trying too hard after the last phone conversation I had while trying to book - 'Table? You want a table? At Spring? Do you think we actually allow diners into our sacred batiment? Ha! surely you jest monsieur.' Or something like that.

Long story short, it wasn't that difficult to get that table at Frenchie, at least when asking for the reservation a solid two months in advance. Viola, nothing to it. The problem is, I expected a very special experience (only a week earlier L'Agrume's chef Monsieur Marchesi-Grandiand included Frenchie among his preferred Paris venues), but what I ended up getting was, 'uh, not so bad, actually pretty good.' Voted the Fooding 2009 du meilleur cuisinier (best cook award), chef Greg Marchand, from Nantes to New York City (including a stint at Gramercy Tavern) to Paris kept peering out from the spatially-challenged kitchen in the back of the diminutive stone and red brick duplex dining area, as if to get some sort of confirmation that he was on the right track. A couple tables away, I gave him a polite nod and smile, which seemed to satisfy him enough to send him scampering back to the kitchen.

Frenchie is one of those places - at least on the basis of me and Co.'s Friday night visit - where you hear English being spoken as soon as you pass the threshold, where waitresses answer in English even though you ('you' being me with my pitiful accent) make an effort to speak in French. The menu was printed on a sheet of paper, which self-destructs in one week - that is, different menu every week. Here's what was on tap (click on the menu if it isn't totally readable):



The foie gras torchon, agrumes was a 14€ addition, served as a fine start to the meal, a savory wedge of foie gras with accompanying dollop of citrus fruit jam and toasted bread. I don't know, this must be the period of the mackerel in France, with that otherwise unappetizing fish serving prominently in various guises as an entree, the night before at Le Villaret (as a mackerel press with far too many carrots), and at Frenchie with cauliflower and pickels. Monsieur Marchand's maquereau fume elevated the lowly status of that fish, although I'm not sure why he chose to call two miniscule circles of marinated carrots as 'pickles.' Meanwhile, Co. pondered where on earth the lardo di colonnata was hidden in her salade tiede de legumes. Her assessment of the papardelle, ragout d'agneau was similarly less than inspired. I couldn't fault my well-prepared, fresh pieces of merlu de ligne - the flavor of the two halves of a walnut rounding out this round pretty effectively. No complaints around the table for the panacotta, avocat, chocolat dessert, which was satisfyingly orgasmic. All washed down with a Penedes Indigena red, priced at a reasonable 30€.

In short, the meal was very good, but far short of memorable. Marchand eschews rigorous sauces, and his dishes are Italian and, to lesser extent, American inspired, with the addition of variously subtle ingredients. Although the room is satisfyingly urban/rustic, I could have done without the buffoon at the next table who was opining at a relatively constant rate at a decibel level that was more appropriate for a football match, in some bizarre language that I pegged as Eastern European and Co. dubbed Danish. But that was the rare exception in the largely English-speaking dining area. Strangely enough, when we arrived on time for our 7:30 pm reservation, the dining area was nearly full, something you rarely see at the notable Parisian bistrots. Given the 38€ three-course ever-changing menu, there's no reason not to give Frenchie a second chance, but I have a feeling I won't be trying too hard to get that elusive reservation next time.

FRENCHIE
5 rue du Nil
Paris 75002
tel. 01 40 39 96 19
Video (with Greg Marchand interview)