Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [192]
CHEZ PLUMEAU Map French €€
01 46 06 26 29; 4 place du Calvaire, 18e; starters €9.8-17, mains €17-20.50, menu €16 (lunch only); lunch & dinner to midnight daily Apr-Oct, lunch & dinner to 11pm Thu-Mon Nov-Mar; Abbesses
Once the popular Auberge du Coucou restaurant and cabaret, today’s ‘Feather Duster’ caters mainly to tourists fresh from having their portraits done on place du Tertre. But for a tourist haunt it’s not too bad and the back terrace is great on a warm spring or summer afternoon. Plats du jour are a snip at around €15.
CHEZ TOINETTE Map French €€
01 42 54 44 36; 20 rue Germain Pilon, 18e; starters €6-9, mains €15-20; dinner to 11.15pm Tue-Sat; Abbesses
The atmosphere of this convivial restaurant is rivalled only by its fine cuisine. In the heart of one of the capital’s most touristy neighbourhoods, Chez Toinette has kept alive the tradition of old Montmartre with its simplicity and culinary expertise. Game lovers won’t be disappointed; perdreau (partridge), biche (doe), chevreuil (roebuck) and the famous filet de canard à la sauge et au miel (fillet of duck with sage and honey) are the house specialities and go well with a glass of Bordeaux.
LE CAFÉ QUI PARLE Map French €€
01 46 06 06 88; 24 rue Caulaincourt, 18e; starters €7-14, mains €13.50-20; menus €12.50 & €17; lunch & dinner to 11pm Thu-Tue; Lamarck Caulaincourt or Blanche
The talking café is a fine example of where modern-day eateries are headed in Paris. It offers inventive, reasonably priced dishes prepared by owner-chef Damian Moeuf and cuisine amid comfortable surroundings. We love the art on the walls and the ancient safes down below (the building was once a bank), but not as much as we do their brunch (€15), served from 10am on Saturdays and Sundays.
LA TABLE D’ANVERS Map French €€
01 48 78 35 21; 2 place d’Anvers, 9e; starters €11, mains €19, menus €17.90 & €23.90 (lunch only) & €34; lunch Tue-Fri, dinner to 11pm Mon-Sat; Anvers
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PHILIPPE FAURE-BRAC
The much decorated Philippe Faure-Brac – he was named Best Sommelier in France in 1988 and Best Sommelier in the World four years later – owns and operates the highly successful Bistrot du Sommelier, produces his own label (a Côtes du Rhône Villages called Domaine Duseigneur) and has written a half-dozen books on the subject of wine and on wine and food pairing, including Exquisite Matches (Éditions EPA, 2005).
Bring me a bottle of... Red from the Rhône Valley – a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, maybe – or a good quality Riesling from Alsace.
Let’s cut to the chase. Is there life beyond French wines? Yes, of course, but understand that my references are French. Parisians are very keen on so-called New World wines and we list bottles from three-dozen different countries on our card, including one from Kent (Chapel Down 2006 Bacchus). The best sauvignon outside France is made in New Zealand, shiraz from Australia is especially good and the best malbec is from Argentina.
I’m going to have a glass of red wine with the chicken and my friend wants white with the lamb. OK with you? The code de couleur does not have to be rigid. What you drink is really a matter of taste; at the end of the day a good wine is a good wine. The question you have to ask yourself is: ‘What is the dominant characteristic of the food?’ Cream sauces can go well with red wine, for example shellfish with champagne and certain cheeses (Chaource, Comté) with rosé.
Then what should I have with my Mexican chilli and my (even spicier) Thai tom yum gung? These two cuisines are especially difficult to pair with wines. Try a white or, even better, a rośe. Avoid reds, particularly complex ones.
About wine whiners... What do you do when someone claims a wine is corked and you know it isn’t? We always smell it first, which tells us whether the wine is off. But one can make mistakes, and the customer is always right. Of course we will change it even if we don’t believe it is corked.
It’s a kind of snobbery, isn’t it? It’s not easy to stay a wine snob for long. A blind taste test is a great equaliser.