Paris tips and trends

Last post (for the moment) from Paris! A quick run-down of the most interesting food and wine ideas I picked up for those of you who haven’t time to read the full reviews:Sardines - cheap, sustainable - this summer’s must-eat fish, it seems. Grilled (Le Temps au Temps), served with red peppers and black-eye beans (La Gazzetta) served whole in a tin with seaweed butter (Cristal de Sel)

Dishes la barigoule - i.e. served with braised artichokes and, usually, bacon.

Also seems to diminish their antipathy to wine. A short-term trend while artichokes are in seasonIndividual cheese plates - one cheese and an accompaniment such as sheeps cheese and rocket sorbet (Le Temps au Temps) Bleu d’Auvergne and pear pure (La Gazzetta) or Bleu des Causses and poached prunes (Les Papilles). Makes wine matching much easier

Cocottes - stews and other braised dishes presented in a cast-iron casserole. (Les Cocottes, Cristal de Sel, Les Papilles)

Simple seasonal veg cooked this way are a great alternative to soup. Homely and comforting

Soup in a tureen (Les Papilles) - pile the topping ingredients in the bowls then ladle the soup around them.

Looks fabulously cheffy but basically a cheap, easy-to-prepare starter with no last minute fiddlingVerrines (les Cocottes) - sweet or savoury dishes, layered in a glass. Great way of presenting starters and dessertsCold pizza. Doesn’t sound too appetising but think of it more as transforming a thin crispy pizza base into an open sandwich. Top La Gazzetta-style with creamed goats cheese and mandolin-thin raw beetroot and fennel.

Coffee and mini desserts.

Not spotted by me but reported recently by Terry Durack in his Indy blog Eat. Don't feel you have to make them yourself - just buy them in (easier in Paris admittedly) Alternatively serve with a glass of sweet wine or cognac.Natural (i.e. unsulphured/unfiltered) wines - seemingly in every trendy Paris joint. Some are much better than others which makes for a frustratingly inconsistent experience. The best are great, the rest weird. There’s nothing to disguise the failings of the winemaker or vintage.

Corsican wines. And Corsican charcuterie and cheese, come to that.

Everything Corsican seems hot right now. Presumably because the French can’t bring themselves to eat or drink anything that comes from outside France (unless it's Japanese or Italian) and Corsica is about as exotic as it gets. Tiramisu and Patrimonio Rappu from Domaine Gentile (Il Vino) is a tremendous pairing though.

Four great restaurant finds in Paris

Even if you’re the most enthusiastic gourmet you can’t eat in 3 star restaurants all the time. And for most of us the prices of Paris’s top restaurants simply put them out of reach. Here are four very varied alternatives, discovered by my husband, an assiduous researcher into places that are off the beaten track, which we ate in with great pleasure last week

Les Cocottes de Christian Constant
133 rue Saint-Dominique, Paris 7e (Metro: Ecole Militaire)
Tel: 01 45 50 10 28

Les Cocottes which refers to the cast iron casseroles in which many of the main course dishes are served is the fourth restaurant of Christian Constant, the former chef at the Crillon. His three others Le Violin d’Ingres, Cafe Constant and Les Fables de la Fontaine are conveniently in the same street which enables Constant to flit easily from one to the other (we spotted him casting his eagle eye over operations, wiping a terminal screen, pointing out a customer who was waiting to pay).

In comparison with his other restaurants it’s strikingly modern with a vivid lime green colour scheme and a zinc bar which runs the length of the restaurant. They don’t take bookings and it was packed but we only had to wait 10 minutes for a seat.

The menu is imaginative, interesting enough to have two or three courses, easy to be satisfied with one. Having had a big lunch we each picked one of the two ‘verrines’ (little glass jars layered with sweet or savoury ingredients). I had a classic crab cocktail on top of a layer of shredded iceberg lettuce, my husband a triple-layered jar of chopped tuna, caviar of aubergines and tomato jelly.

Despite the lunch I couldn’t resist ordering a cocotte of confit potatoes stuffed with pigs feet which mercifully was accompanied by a salad and wasn’t quite as heavy (or as delicious) as it sounded and a little bit salty. But the cocotte of ‘legumes du moment’ hit the spot perfectly - a selection of braised root vegetables and herbs - a comforting alternative to a soup.

We passed on the tempting-looking puds which included the inevitable crumble (about which the French are curiously obsessed) and finished with a verveine (lemon verbena) infusion, again served in a cast-iron pot.There’s a very short wine list but you’d be better off ordering by the glass or fillette (25cl bottle) of wine. We had a perfectly decent Macon Villages which I’m ashamed to say I didn’t note but which went very nicely with the crab.

All in all Les Cocottes which was voted ‘meilleur comptoir’ of 2007 by Figaroscope, is a clever, stylish idea and a fun place to go for a light supper.Price of our meal for 2: 69€

La Gazzetta
29 rue de Cotte, 12e
01 43 47 47 05

Over in the 12th, the other side of La Bastille and near one of Paris’s most colourful markets L’Aligr is La Gazzetta, another bistro moderne opened last year by Swedish chef Peter Nillsson who had two stars for his cooking in Uzs.

Although it’s one of Paris’s hottest tickets in the evening when the restaurant admittedly looks wonderfully glamourous it’s the lunchtime deal which is unmissable - a basic formule of 14€ for 3 mini starters and a main dish (with a supplement if you order fish or steak)

On the day we visited the starters included a dish of marinated sardines (one of Paris’s hot ingredients this spring) with red peppers and black-eye beans, a slice of cold pizza topped with goats cheese cream, wafer thin slices of raw beetroot and fennel (delicious) and an extraordinary shot of what was described as ‘creme de boudin' (black pudding) with a pear and ginger pure which tasted a bit like spicy Nutella. (I was sure it had chocolate in it but our waiter insisted it didn’t). It was a great deal nicer than it sounded anyway and a surprisingly reasonable match with a white La Clape (Chateau de la Negly Brise Marine 2005) from a short but well chosen list, served by the fillette.Main courses were more conventional. Some excellent roast chicken with rosemary and citron and a bavette steak (the latter 5€ extra) both served with some great potato puree topped with stir-fried chard and celery seasoned with mint, which kicked a slightly overoaked but tasty Mascarone 2003 Provencal red perfectly into touch.

In the interests of my forthcoming cheese book we finished with a fine slice of Bleu d’Auvergne served with a pear pure (maybe the same one as the earlier shot?) which interestingly was fine with the Mascarone.Service is unusually friendly for Paris and there’s a great buzz about the place but a tip. If you have a choice the front of the restaurant is much nicer than the back.Cost of our meal for 2: 73€

Le Cristal de Sel
13 rue Mademoiselle (Metro, 15e (Commerce or Felix Faur)
Tel: 01 42 50 35 29

Why would you head down to the 15th for dinner when there are so many great restaurants in central Paris? Because you can get some of the best cooking in Paris for a song, that’s why. And it’s not that far - five stops on the metro from Concorde - a bit like going to Fulham.

Your destination is a curious one. An uninviting brick building with just the blackboard outside to tell you it’s a restaurant. Inside what looks like a converted Italian trattoria of the 70s - all awkward corners and beans. While there’s slightly more space than Le Temps au Temps (which isn’t saying much) it’s hardly spacious.

At the back there's a tiny but classic kitchen full of copper pans and four busy chefs, immaculate in their whites and formal toques. The improbably young head chef Karil Lopez, who bears a passing resemblance to Harry Potter, came from the Bristol and has brought his old habits with him. It’s an incongrous sight in what is basically a bistro. A mini-Bristol.

There’s no menu. A short daily menu is chalked up on the blackboard with a couple of specials - their coups de coeur - which includes their best produce including Yves Camdeborde’s charcuterie and sardinas Ramon Pena which are served in their tin. We gave them both a try. The sardines, tiny and sweet came in their tin with a wedge of lemon and a couple of pats of homemade butter with seaweed and salt crystals. It was improbably good. The sardines seemed boneless, sweet and delicate and the butter and accompanying bread was heaven. It would have made a full meal - in fact portions are all incredibly generous maybe making up for the fact that - surprisingly for the French - there are no prix fixe menus. The charcuterie is exemplary too, lean and full flavoured. The ultimate charcuterie platter.

Sadly I chose wrongly for my main course. Feeling like fish, being unable to resist artichokes and urged by our waiter who said it was the chef’s recommendation for the day I went for the roast dorade with artichoke risotto. It wasn’t that it was bad, just not as good as everything else. The fish was slightly overcooked and the risotto slightly too wet and soft.I envied my husband his pot au feu which he pronounced the best he’d ever eaten. And our neighbour’s lapin a la bire and cod en cocotte with tomatoes. My advice is definitely to stick to the bistro classics.

Except when it comes to dessert when you’re presented with a three star quality menu. (Is this the only restaurant of this size and price level in Paris to have its own pastry chef?) My passionfruit souffl with pineapple and fresh coconut was just a dream. The most delicious dessert I’ve had all year by a long chalk.The other original aspect to this place, and this may put you off if you’re a wine lover is that it has a very humble winelist, again chalked up on the board like the food.

With a couple of exceptions - an Aloxe Corton and bottles of Dom Perignon (at 160€) the wines are modest in ambition (affordable Loire, Burgundy and Bordeaux) and modestly priced. We had a Henri Bourgeois Sancerre (6€), a Brocard Aligot (4€), a minor Graves Chateau Vignolles-Peyroulet (4€) and an extraordinarily good Vin de Pays des Cotes de Var (Les Aurliens from Domaine de Triennes - also 4€). There’s no arguing here that the food is the star but it’s suprising they don’t take the opportunity to sell more expensive wine.

What it means however is that this restaurant is affordable - just over 100€ for the two of us - and sustains a local clientele which makes for a very congenial atmosphere. (On a Friday night two tables had small children with them). It’s one of Paris’s great bargains but I wonder if it’ll remain so. With that talent they’re bound to move to greater things.Cost of our meal for 2 - 103€

Les Papilles
30 rue Gay-Lussac, 5e (Metro Odeon)
Tel: 01 23 45 20 79

To say that Papilles is focussed on wine is an understatement. You sit virtually on top of it with bottles from floor to ceiling.

Basically it’s a wine shop that moonlights as a restaurant. You can drink any wine in the shop for 7€ corkage which makes for some great drinking. The ideal scenario would be to go with friends so you can try a few bottles. There were only the two of us and it was the end of a hard three days eating and drinking so we contented ourselves with just one - a faded but still charming 1995 Volnay Clos de la Rougette which went swimmingly well with our menu but I guess that most wines do. The food is obviously designed to be as wine-friendly as possible.

There isn’t a choice, by the way, on Saturdays at least, although I suspect they could rustle up something else if you really had a problem. We were more than happy with the dishes that arrived. A fabulously fresh pea soup which arrived in its own tureen enough for 4 generous helpings. At the bottom of each bowl were some fresh peas, lardons, croutons and a dollop of whipped cream which made the finished soup look really dressy.

Next was a copper pan full of classic boeuf bourguignon with its own vegetables - onions, carrots, mushrooms and potatoes. Again you serve yourself and again there’s more than enough. The heartiest appetites are catered for here.It was interesting how well such an old burgundy went with these dishes - a delicate counterfoil to the freshness of the peas, robust enough to go with the beef (though the sauce had been skilfully crafted not to be overbearing) and even to stand up to the cheese - a bleu des Causses which was served with a drizzle of sweet syrup (possibly plum) and a poached prune.

The final course was also ingeniously devised to go with almost any sweet wine you might want to drink. Pannacotta on top of a caramelised tatin-type apple base, topped with a layer of whipped up caramel froth (foam-loathers should not be put off - there was real substance to it.)

Service was charming and efficient. The atmosphere, highly convivial. Our fellow diners, clearly wine-lovers too, were leaning over us to peer at what was on offer on the shelves. The only downside is that it’s not the easiest place to get to - there’s no Metro immediately nearby but there is the enchanting Jardin de Luxembourg to walk off the after-effects of all that indulgence. On a perfect April day it was looking quite lovely.Cost of our meal for 2 - 120€

A great base to explore Beaujolais

I’m embarrassed to admit that until last week I’d never been to Beaujolais - it was the one French wine region that had passed me by. I’d heard it was attractive and even on a bleak early March day it was - the famous villages are clustered improbably closely together in the middle of pretty, rolling countryside, spiked by soaring church towers.

Being just outside Lyons it’s well set up for tourists with plenty of restaurants and places to stay. Most are traditional but my husband - an avid researcher into all things gastronomic - had discovered a boutique hotel in Saint-Amour-Bellevue, L’Auberge du Paradis, with a self taught chef whose speciality was spicing.

Reading the menu I have to say my heart sank. It sounded like one of those over ambitious excursions into fusion food of which the French are over fond. But Cyril Laugier has spent a good deal of time travelling - to Turkey, North Africa and Mauritius - and really has an extraordinarily sure-footed sense of what works.

The set six course (but no choice) menu is a bargain at 45 euros. Given that most chefs would go for a ‘greatest hits’ approach in terms of ingredients but Laugier kicked off with an improbably delicious starter of pan-fried apple spiced with caraway served with shallots flavoured with dill, peppered whipped cream and caviar d’Aquitaine. This and the succeeding course (marinated langoustine with honey, sesame, soya and fresh coriander and a pure of physalis - Cape gooseberry) both worked really well with the half bottle of rich buttery Macon Viré-Clessé 2002 from E.J. Thevenet we had ordered (Macon being a mere five kilometres or so to the north).

Our venture into Beaujolais - a half of 2006 Saint Amour from Denis Barbelet - was less successful with our umami-rich main course of stuffed chicken leg with chervil and - would you believe - cacao served with a ravioli of yellow carrots, pinenuts and aniseed and a chicken and pinenut oil bouillon (the latter a triumph - I must find out a way to recreate that). The wine was just too young and sharp.

But it managed quite well with the stylishly presented cheese slate with a Chèvre de Valençay, Brillat Savarin and Mont d’Or with a dusting of paprika, a mirabelle (plum) pure and cumin seed-impregnated breadstick.

The two desserts were also quite lovely - an orange salad with fresh turmeric, sage ice cream and a grain mustard sabl and a pain d’epice with a saffron-flavoured sorbet and lemon cream. I’d have liked to have been offered a sweet wine with these - their wine service could do with improving. In fact the only downside is that service overall is a bit slow.

Breakfast carries on in a similar vein with the most gorgeous home made jams and lemon curd and homemade vanilla yoghurt. Why Laugier, who has been cooking here for 11 years, doesn’t have a Michelin star is beyond me and says a lot more about the shortcomings of Michelin than it does about him.

The hotel is also a delight to stay in as you can see below and from the website. Apparently all the rooms have been designed and the furnishings chosen by Laugier and his wife Valrie. Our large suite of a room (Paprika) with its open plan bathroom cost a very reasonable 135 euros.

All in all a great find - both for a Beaujolais lover or a couple in search of a romantic weekend.

 

Food and wine pairing in Trentino

For many foodies, Italy is way up there on the must-visit list. Not only are there world-class restaurants in all the big towns, even the smallest villages boast places where the chefs (who are often self-taught) take pride in bringing out the best in the ingredients they work with.

Regionality is king in Italy, of course, and local traditions influence even the most innovative of chefs. This is definitely the case with Marcus Baumgartner, who was recently awarded a Michelin star for his work at Maso Franch in Trentino’s Valle di Cembra – although that’s not to say that he’s unaware of trends in top-class international cooking.

A recent dinner there kicked off with escalopes of goose liver (a nod towards the cuisine of Central Europe – Austria is only a few kilometres away, over the Brenner Pass) served with marinated apricots and aged balsamic vinegar. Although the dish itself was a success – the sweet-sharp flavours of the apricots and balsamic proving a perfect foil to the rich livers – the wine match was a catastrophe. A Pinot Noir Pavia IGT 2006 from Canaletto provided a horrendous mismatch, with not enough acidity, too much tannin (even though the tannins were relatively gentle) and altogether the wrong kind of fruit.

The next course – mullet with a salad of thinly shaved raw artichokes dressed in a sharp lemon vinaigrette – could easily have proved equally disastrous: vinaigrette, citrus and artichokes are not really known for their food friendliness. But Santa Tresa’s Rino Janka IGT 2006, a southern blend of Grillo and Viognier, struck exactly the right balance. Its fresh minerality worked beautifully with the tricky ingredients, while its ripe fruit highlighted the sweetness of the mullet fillets.

A rich, buttery lasagne with lobster and green asparagus was paired with two wines, both from Cantina La Vis. The Ritratto Bianco 2003, an unusual blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Riesling, had had enough time to develop a rich, honeyed complexity, but the vintage’s lack of acidity made it a slightly clumsy wine. As a match for the dish, it was just pipped at the post by a DOC Chardonnay 2006, whose light, crisp style worked well with the asparagus without being overwhelmed by the lobster.

The next course, a tribute to the local game hunting tradition, was a risotto of pigeon enriched by the addition of a Rosso di Sorni 2006, a juicy, fruit-packed wine made of Lagrein and Teroldego. Although the pigeon could arguably have been better offset by something a touch more sophisticated, perhaps a red with a touch of gaminess to add depth to the red fruit, the combination bounced along fairly pleasantly.

Our appetites flagging slightly, we moved on to the coup de grace, a beef fillet served with a Port sauce and a chicory and potato gratin. This was partnered by a San Martino IGT Toscana 2001 from Villa Cafaggio, a 100% Sangiovese made from three specially selected clones. Its richness and depth worked well with the robust flavours on the plate.

We rallied our appetites for the final assault on a plateful of buckwheat canoli filled with chestnut mousse and quince and a sauce made from strawberry wine, all washed down with a glassful of the Cantina’s Cru Mandolaia Vigneti delle Dolomiti 2006. This versatile sweet wine, which was all zesty citrus fruit with the previous night’s citrus-based pudding showed a different, more honeyed face with the canola, marrying harmoniously with nut and fruit flavours.

The Maso, which is owned by the local co-operative, the Cantina La Vis, is perched on a hillside overlooking the terraced vineyards of the Dolomites. In addition to its Michelin-starred restaurant, the Maso is also a hotel, with a dozen or so comfortably furnished rooms (from €95 per night, inc breakfast). It makes a great base from which to explore the surrounding countryside, where there’s good walking to be had and plenty of stunning scenery. Visits to local wine producers are easy to arrange and the streets of nearby Trento are lined with chic shops and cosy bars. The hotel is also within an easy hour’s drive of both Verona and Lake Garda, both of which have plenty to offer visitors to the region.

A few more places to check out if you’re in the area:

Agritur El Volt, Piazza Alpini No.8 Fraz, Palu’ Giovo, tel: +39 0461 684 132.

A visit to the Al Volt Agriturismo (which is located in a village near Maso Franch) provides the visitor with a real insight into the traditional life of local farmers. Part of the house is exactly as it was during the early half of the 20th century (and so pretty much as it has been for centuries. Guests can tuck into home-made wine, pickles, bread and charcuterie, or even a full meal, by the light of an open fire during winter or out on the terrace overlooking the mountainous landscape on a warm summer’s evening (by arrangement).

Osteria il Cappello, Piazza B Lunelli 5, Trento, tel: +39 0461 235 850.

The Osteria il Capello is simple and informal. What it does best is honest, down-to-earth grub based on local produce. It’s not fancy, but the welcome is warm, the wine list is reasonable and the prices are low.

Scrigno del Duomo, Piazza del Duomo 29, Trento, tel: +39 0461 220 030.

If you fancy something a bit grander, the Scrigno del Duomo is arguably Trento’s best restaurant – it’s even got the Michelin star to prove it. You can stop by for a drink in the wine bar (there’s about 1,000 bins on the list) or you can opt for the full monty in the restaurant, which specialises in local, traditional dishes like strangolapreti, roast rabbit with polenta and strudel.

Alla Fassa, Via Monsignor Nascimbeni 13, Castelletto di Brenzone, tel: +39 045 7430 319.

On a sunny day there are few more enjoyable things to do than to spend a long, leisurely lunchtime on the shores of Lake Garda enjoying wonderfully fresh fish. Alla Fassa specialises in dishes based on fish caught straight out of the lake, but also incorporates plenty of other local produce. The passion for food also extends to the 100 or so bottles – most of which are also available by the glass.

La Bottega del Vino, Via Scudo di Francia 3, Verona, tel: +39 045 8004 535.

This atmospheric Victorian Gothic wine bar/restaurant is deservedly popular with locals and visitors alike. The cellar boasts 80,000 bottles, but if you prefer to sample a range of wines, some 50 or so are available by the glass. Traditional dishes like polenta and bacon or baccala vicentina are served in hearty portions.

Al Capitan della Cittadella, Piazza Cittadella 7/a, Verona, tel: +39 045 595 157.

I’ve not been to Al Capitan yet myself, but a friend of mine who knows Verona (and its restaurants) inside out swears it’s the best fish restaurant he’s been to in ages. On the basis of his recommendation alone, I reckon the Al Capitan must be worth a punt next time you’re in Verona.

Natasha Hughes is a freelance food and drink writer who writes for Decanter, Wine & Spirit, Delicious, Off Licence News and Traveller. She also has her own blog 3 Little Words