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bellastraniera
a.k.a. Marcy Swingle - obsessed with food and fashion.View my photography website.
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Tag Archives: French food
Buvette
Buvette is easy to overlook. Situated on a quiet block in the West Village, it’s narrower than most coffee shops. The bar takes up nearly half the space in a restaurant lined with little cafe tables on one side and a communal table in back. It’s so petite it’s practically miniature.
Recently a French expat we know recommended Buvette as one of the most authentic French restaurants in Paris. Vraiment? Chef Jodi Williams wrote the book on small Italian plates at Gusto, Morandi, Gottino and more. And now she was cooking the most authentic French food in the city? There have been several positive reviews of Buvette, but this recommendation was what convinced us to go.
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Breizh Cafe
On a rainy day in Paris, there’s little else as satisfying as a savory crêpe served up in a warm little cafe. There are many crêperies in Paris, but as long as you’re so close to Brittany, their place of origin, you might as well seek out the real item. Breizh Cafe brings the hearty country cuisine of Brittany to the Marais with dozens of types of crêpes, sweet and savory, and a variety of hard cider.
We arrived for a late lunch at quarter to three, but the place was still packed. Breizh Cafe has gotten a lot of press and is listed in a number of guidebooks, but don’t be put off by the menus in English and Japanese. Surprisingly, their crêpes are also big in Japan, where Breizh Cafe has another outpost. The staff is equally international, with French managers, Japanese chefs and a British waiter all at work on that particular day. The unifying factor for everyone here seems to be the love of crêpes. (more…)
Chez Janou
This little Provence-style bistro on a quiet corner in the Marais is no longer a neighborhood secret. If you arrive here on a nice evening, you won’t be the only one looking wistfully at the sidewalk tables, hoping to be seated.
So if the hostess tells you they’re “complets” (the French version of “we’re fully committed”), she’s not kidding. After two failed attempts to dine at this Chez Janou on two separate nights, I walked up for the third time, at the very start of dinner service, and tried again for a table. (more…)
Posted in food
Tagged bars, French food, Le Marais, Paris, Paris restaurants, restaurants
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Robert et Louise, Paris
If you’re a stranger in a strange land, sometimes it’s better to ditch the guidebook and get lost, as former Frugal Traveler Matt Gross recently did in Paris. After all, all the other tourists are probably reading the same guide books as you are.
But when it comes to walking into a restaurant blind, what should you consider? First of all, don’t be afraid to keep walking. It would be easy to settle on the first vaguely familiar place that comes along. (Presumably this the secret of Olive Garden’s success in NYC, a city full of good Italian restaurants, and the baffling success of Starbucks in Paris.) But the best finds usually come after some investigation. (more…)
Posted in food
Tagged bars, French food, Le Marais, Paris, Paris restaurants, restaurants, steak
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Le Petit Marché, Paris
The Marais neighborhood on Paris’ right bank may be known for its excellent shops, cool crowd and Galliano’s meltdown, but for great dining, most Parisians head elsewhere. Seemingly as soon as the area became trendy several years ago, the restaurants started catering to tourists looking for convenience over quality.
There are still some very good meals to be had here for a reasonable price, and since we were staying in the Marais this past trip to Paris, we decided to dine in depth in this one particular neighborhood. One key is to head away from main drag and look for places off the beaten path – as on the quiet rue Béarn just north of the Place des Vosges. Here a local crowd gathers at the outdoor tables of Le Petit Marché, a modern Parisian bistro with a pan-Asian spin to the classics.
Posted in food
Tagged Asian food, French food, Le Marais, Paris, Paris restaurants, restaurants
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Lunch: Ai Fiori
A restaurant on the second floor of a Midtown hotel may not sound promising, but Ai Fiori has couple things going for it. Not only is it the latest project by chef Michael White, it’s such a zen, air-conditioned oasis that you will forget you’re on the second floor of a hotel in Midtown.
This is particularly good if you work in Midtown and can take advantage of the discounted Restaurant Week lunch happening there now. Step out of the steamy city, up to the second floor of the Setai and into an elegant, minimalist, flower-bedecked space that recalls the old days of hotel dining, when many of the best restaurants were in hotels. It’s like walking out of the urban jungle and into civilization. (more…)
Posted in food
Tagged crab, French food, Italian food, lunch, Michael White, Midtown, New York, restaurants
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Best Outdoor Dining 2011
As much as we complain about the heat, it’s so nice to be able to dine al fresco when summer finally comes to New York. But what we’re looking for isn’t any old table plunked on a sidewalk next to a major truck route, but a nice setting, fun scene and preferably some good food. Here is an opinionated guide to the best outdoor dining in town. (more…)
Posted in food
Tagged American food, Asian food, bars, BBQ, burgers, fireplaces, French food, German food, guides, Italian food, New York, outdoor dining, pizza, restaurants
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Boulud Sud
The opening of a new Daniel Boulud restaurant is reason enough for a downtowner to head uptown, but there are two things about his new Boulud Sud that make it particularly exciting. When most American restaurants take on the genre of Mediterranean food, they stick to the usual suspects: Italy, Spain, France and Greece. But one of the first words on Boulud Sud’s menu is “harissa,” and the African and Middle Eastern influences take off from there.
This is a welcome change, because our American idea of what constitutes Mediterranean fare is behind the times. Despite New York chefs’ emphasis on food like one’s nonna would have made it, many restaurants in France and Italy have changed radically since the ’50s, with many more African and Middle Eastern techniques and ingredients making their way onto menus. (more…)
Posted in food
Tagged African food, bars, French food, Italian food, Middle Eastern food, New York, restaurants, vegetarian food
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What Happens When (Version No. 3)
This temporary pop-up restaurant by chef John Fraser is as much an interior design story as it is a food story. The challenge: create a themed restaurant that can be up and working in 24-48 hours. Make it easy to disassemble, because you’re going to have to do the whole thing over again in 30 days.
The results, by designer Elle Kunnos de Voss of the Metrics, are astonishingly clever, even revolutionary, because it’s like seeing the chef’s creative process in 3D. Though there are other seasonal restaurants with rotating decor, like Park Avenue Spring, What Happens When reveals what’s beneath the facade, not just through the windowed kitchen but in the architectural hashmarks painted on the walls and floor. Just as a chef starts with the building blocks of a meal – seasonal vegetables, various proteins – and keeps expanding on the riff, so the design starts with the designated number of tables, and builds up to the theme, but lets the hooks, staples and wiring show through. What Happens When has taken away the sleight of hand involved in creating a restaurant and shows us what’s going on underneath – and the view is fascinating. (more…)
Paris Dining Map
Posted in food, travel
Tagged bars, French food, guides, maps, Paris, Paris restaurants, restaurants
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