Friday, October 08, 2004
Between business meetings here in Paris and just enjoying the city, I've been a tad remiss on my notes so this is a summary of yesterday.
I started the morning with a cup of coffee, a croissant and orange juice at a cafe a few blocks from my hotel that offers free Internet access. It's reliability and speed was somewhat suspect, proving the value what T-Mobile has done with Starbucks. Still it was nice to get out of the hotel room and still be connected.
I then went over to check out two wine bars, Zinc de Cavistes and Autour d'Un Verre. Zinc was not yet open and so I kept moving on to Autour where I met the American owner and his partner from Sweden. Their angle is neat and takes a page out of Baratin, a wine bistro in the outskirts of Paris I've enjoyed. Home cooking, organic foods, organic wines.
2003 Les Carteries Cheverny Le Clous du Tue Boeuf
The meal was simple but very tasty. An organic Greens and Goat Cheese Salad with organic greens followed by Chicken with Orange and Honey coating, served on the bone.
2002 Foillard Morgon Beaujolais Cotes de Py
This is a solid red with a light spritz on the attach, then gobs of cherry fruit. Folliard is one of the members of the Kermit Lynch "Gang of Four" if memory serves me correctly, and this wine needed time in the glass. In discussing this wine with Mark Williamson later at Willi's he commented on how good the 2003 will be as he just came back from tasting some of the Folliards in Beaujolais.
2003 Domaine Jean Louis Trembley L'Alba Cotes du Roussillion Rouge
This was a very good red with lots of forward black raspberry and blueberry fruit with inky black purple color with a bouquet of pepper and blueberries. Really soft and lush, the wine ended with a burst of grape jam.
Zinc des Cavistes looked very nice, high end versus the more traditional Autour d'Un Verre but a meeting was looming so I went by it and ended up at one of Paris' more famous cafe's, Cafe de Flore near Odeon on the Boulevard St. Germain. It's a hangout for literary and business types in the book business and just around the corner from one of my favorite stores, Loft Design By, a chain of five mens, and now ladies, clothing stores.
I popped back over to Willi's for a chat with Mark about his web two sites that are about to undergo a renovation, in between segments of a TV shoot going on at Maceo, where I'll be tonight for dinner. The web sites are one of the reason's I'm in Paris. But to get to Willi's usually means walking by Juveniles, and there was Tim Johnston hard at work loading up the car to make a delivery. There I grabbed a bite, a sausage with potatoes, that was served with a curry coulis. Think British bangers and mashers only tasty. At the small wine/tapas bar that is as much fun as it is simple, I tried out two wines. The 2003 Domaine du Pujol Pico Vin d Pays L'Herault and of course the 2002 Torbreck Juveniles Barossa Valley. The Pujol was to say the least, lovely. It has a light golden yellow color, some fresh spring flower aromatics, and an very smooth taste of tropical melons, peaches and apricots. The Juveniles is an amazing wine. I recall just tasting it upon arrival last year here and now can remark how it has changed. The Mourvedre component is much more dominant, but in a positive manner, while the Syrah and Grenache have taken a back seat.
I then went back to Maceo, now that the interview with the originator of the French Paradox had concluded, before heading over to dinner. There mark sent me over a glass of a neat wine, with bottle age from the Southwest part of France. The wine, a 1999 Primo Platum Jurancon Sec had a deep golden amber color with a slight botrytis like appeal. The flavors were all honey and blood orange, sweet peaches and over ripe pears. All in all a very interesting wine.
I ended up the night at Pinxo. The food is great, but the service a tad distant. The place was almost full by the time I finished dinner around 11 PM, as all but the dinner bar was full with couples and four tops. The King Crab roll was basically a sushi inspired dish, while the main course, a fried leg of lamb with quinoa was scintillating. I think if I was back in Paris soon, I would just drop in this place and eat at the dinner bar and candidly, was surprised more folks weren't. Perhaps the issue of being a "hot spot" has scared people out of trying to dine there on a walk in basis.
While at Pinxo I kept thinking how Carl Schroeder could pull off this type of cooking so easily at Arterra, so I grabbed a menu for him on my way out. I had a glass of a VDP de Cevernes with the lamb, that was tasty, fruit forward. I thought about the St. Joseph from Pierre Gaillard but opted to end the meal with a 1988 Bas Armagnac which was smooth and did the trick. I got back to the hotel and fell right to sleep, getting for the most part 8 hours, something I never get in San Diego. I did wake up but that was due to some hysterics in the hallway as some late night arrivals were making too much noise checking in.
Today...Guy Savoy's newest...thanks to arm twisting by Sylvain Fadat who is friends with the manager, an ex sommelier who adores Sylvain's wines. Le Chiberta is the hottest table in town these days....and you'll be there with me....virtually
I started the morning with a cup of coffee, a croissant and orange juice at a cafe a few blocks from my hotel that offers free Internet access. It's reliability and speed was somewhat suspect, proving the value what T-Mobile has done with Starbucks. Still it was nice to get out of the hotel room and still be connected.
I then went over to check out two wine bars, Zinc de Cavistes and Autour d'Un Verre. Zinc was not yet open and so I kept moving on to Autour where I met the American owner and his partner from Sweden. Their angle is neat and takes a page out of Baratin, a wine bistro in the outskirts of Paris I've enjoyed. Home cooking, organic foods, organic wines.
2003 Les Carteries Cheverny Le Clous du Tue Boeuf
The meal was simple but very tasty. An organic Greens and Goat Cheese Salad with organic greens followed by Chicken with Orange and Honey coating, served on the bone.
2002 Foillard Morgon Beaujolais Cotes de Py
This is a solid red with a light spritz on the attach, then gobs of cherry fruit. Folliard is one of the members of the Kermit Lynch "Gang of Four" if memory serves me correctly, and this wine needed time in the glass. In discussing this wine with Mark Williamson later at Willi's he commented on how good the 2003 will be as he just came back from tasting some of the Folliards in Beaujolais.
2003 Domaine Jean Louis Trembley L'Alba Cotes du Roussillion Rouge
This was a very good red with lots of forward black raspberry and blueberry fruit with inky black purple color with a bouquet of pepper and blueberries. Really soft and lush, the wine ended with a burst of grape jam.
Zinc des Cavistes looked very nice, high end versus the more traditional Autour d'Un Verre but a meeting was looming so I went by it and ended up at one of Paris' more famous cafe's, Cafe de Flore near Odeon on the Boulevard St. Germain. It's a hangout for literary and business types in the book business and just around the corner from one of my favorite stores, Loft Design By, a chain of five mens, and now ladies, clothing stores.
I popped back over to Willi's for a chat with Mark about his web two sites that are about to undergo a renovation, in between segments of a TV shoot going on at Maceo, where I'll be tonight for dinner. The web sites are one of the reason's I'm in Paris. But to get to Willi's usually means walking by Juveniles, and there was Tim Johnston hard at work loading up the car to make a delivery. There I grabbed a bite, a sausage with potatoes, that was served with a curry coulis. Think British bangers and mashers only tasty. At the small wine/tapas bar that is as much fun as it is simple, I tried out two wines. The 2003 Domaine du Pujol Pico Vin d Pays L'Herault and of course the 2002 Torbreck Juveniles Barossa Valley. The Pujol was to say the least, lovely. It has a light golden yellow color, some fresh spring flower aromatics, and an very smooth taste of tropical melons, peaches and apricots. The Juveniles is an amazing wine. I recall just tasting it upon arrival last year here and now can remark how it has changed. The Mourvedre component is much more dominant, but in a positive manner, while the Syrah and Grenache have taken a back seat.
I then went back to Maceo, now that the interview with the originator of the French Paradox had concluded, before heading over to dinner. There mark sent me over a glass of a neat wine, with bottle age from the Southwest part of France. The wine, a 1999 Primo Platum Jurancon Sec had a deep golden amber color with a slight botrytis like appeal. The flavors were all honey and blood orange, sweet peaches and over ripe pears. All in all a very interesting wine.
I ended up the night at Pinxo. The food is great, but the service a tad distant. The place was almost full by the time I finished dinner around 11 PM, as all but the dinner bar was full with couples and four tops. The King Crab roll was basically a sushi inspired dish, while the main course, a fried leg of lamb with quinoa was scintillating. I think if I was back in Paris soon, I would just drop in this place and eat at the dinner bar and candidly, was surprised more folks weren't. Perhaps the issue of being a "hot spot" has scared people out of trying to dine there on a walk in basis.
While at Pinxo I kept thinking how Carl Schroeder could pull off this type of cooking so easily at Arterra, so I grabbed a menu for him on my way out. I had a glass of a VDP de Cevernes with the lamb, that was tasty, fruit forward. I thought about the St. Joseph from Pierre Gaillard but opted to end the meal with a 1988 Bas Armagnac which was smooth and did the trick. I got back to the hotel and fell right to sleep, getting for the most part 8 hours, something I never get in San Diego. I did wake up but that was due to some hysterics in the hallway as some late night arrivals were making too much noise checking in.
Today...Guy Savoy's newest...thanks to arm twisting by Sylvain Fadat who is friends with the manager, an ex sommelier who adores Sylvain's wines. Le Chiberta is the hottest table in town these days....and you'll be there with me....virtually
Comments:
Post a Comment
