simon says french food blog

MOM, THE FOX AND THE JEW'S HARP

CASTELBUONO, SICILY

PRELUDE

Driving through Sicily, Mom asks if there are many foxes roaming the island – a question completely out of left field, and as likely a subject as if she had a sudden interest in stock quotes.

FOOD

Dinner at Nangalarruni in Castelbuono is a snapshot of Sicilian cuisine. A starter salad of blood oranges and pearl onions is served with thin slices of tobacco-smoked pork, sprinkled with salt flakes and dappled with olive oil and deeply-flavored musto cotto from 1987. The dish shows a native love for sweet and savory, reverence for history and an inventive playfulness. Much of that can also be seen in the following course - a bread pie served next to a big, comma-shaped swirl of ricotta cream.

It’s at this point in the meal where chef Peppino Carollo, who I’ve blogged and written about, sits down one table away to have dinner with his brother on a quiet Monday night. Staying undercover would have been nearly impossible, not to mention really awkward. Besides, it’s hard to braise a wild boar shank (our next course) in 10 minutes.

Instead, we talk. The brother is in town from Rome to hunt mushrooms with Chef in the hills above town – Nangalarruni may mean ‘jew’s harp’ but the restaurant is a mushroom-lover’s heaven and the walls here are covered with paintings of fungi and pictures of Chef and friends after successful mushroom hunts.

Who’s manning the kitchen while chef is having dinner with his brother?

“He’s young,” Chef says of sous-chef Giandomenico Lammonica, but it’s not hard to understand why he is Carollo’s right-hand man – Lammonica has a mushroom farm above town that he tends to as a hobby.

A several-course tasting meal at Nangalarruni is a bargain at 30 euros and the great wine list has gentle prices, perhaps owing a bit to Chef’s wife running two small wine shops in town.

FULL CIRCLE

Walking back after a late-night stroll through town, a fox appears in front of our door.

…

When in Castelbuono, stay at the Casa Ilaria B&B. It’s hidden, quiet, beautiful, spacious and run by gracious owners. It’s also a steal at 30 euros per person per night.

Nangalarruni MAP
Via delle Confraternite, 5/7
Castelbuono
+39 0921 671428
www.hostarianangalarruni.it

Casa Ilaria
Piazza Tenente Schicchi, 5
Castelbuono
+39 0921 676268
http://www.casailaria.it/

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting.

WILD ROSES

Ragusa Ibla, Sicily

By Joe Ray

We took my friend, almond and olive oil producer Francesco Padova, to lunch at Ragusa Ibla’s Il Duomo restaurant – not an easy feat, considering Sicilians’ amazing hosting skills. It was a great way to see what chef Ciccio Sultano’s been up to – more a check on concepts than a critique.

Chef, who I’ve written about previously, came out to say hello and explained a few dishes, but was almost completely knocked out by a cold.

Highlights from the tasting included fusilli lunghi alle rose – long fusilli supporting rockfish fillets, a bed of fennel and a tiny skewer of sautéed fish liver. The fish was firm, the fusilli floppy, the fennel … feral – at least in the ‘wild’ and more alliterate sense of the word. The liver? That just melts on your tongue.

The secret weapon, however, is in the sauce: rose water. Light, like you’re smelling perfume without drinking it, and, as Sultano says, a wink at Sicily’s history, where it showed up as a luxurious ingredient.

Rose water shows up again at dessert, this time in the sorbet accompanying a ‘pistachio couscous’ dessert. The dish is playful in concept – couscous being another wink at Sicilian history – but serious in execution, giving it a divine, cake-like quality.

At 100 euros including wine, the tasting menu is a splurge but still a great value.

Il Duomo MAP
Via Capitano Bocchieri, 31
Ragusa Ibla, Sicily
+39-0932-651265
www.ristoranteduomo.it

La Poularde, in down-home France

By François Simon

If you’ve traveled across France, you may have sometimes spent the night in what was formerly a post house.  They’re just about everywhere.  Always in the center of town, right on the main drag, they embody the history of our country, an extraordinary heritage that’s quietly disappearing.
They’re often marvelous places.  Today, these hotels may not have a park, or a heliport, or a spa perfumed with ginseng.  But they’re still there.

Tonight, I’m in Monrond les Bains, near Saint Etienne.  The address is well-known: la Poularde.  The chef is a reference: Gilles Eteocle.  And yet, as the service begins the vast dining room is barely a quarter full. 

I chose the 99 euro prix-fixe menu.  It was truly a privilege.  A remarkable dinner marked by great attentiveness; squab terrine with foie gras, beef, cheeses, and a rather complicated but expertly crafted dessert.

Gastronomy is filled with cynical shooting stars – take the example of Gordon Ramsay at Versailles, skipping town after pocketing his stars and royalties – and that's all the more reason for us to seek out these places which are perhaps a bit outmoded, but which are sensational in their own setting.

It’s high time that you lend your support to these overtly luxurious places, sample their authentic cooking, and hold onto this France that is slipping through our fingers.
Hostellerie la Poularde, in Montrond les Bains 42210.Tel : 04.77.54.40.06.  (Affiliated with the chain Châteaux & hôtels collection)

Hostellerie la Poularde, à Montrond les bains 42210.Tel : 04.77.54.40.06.  Map

Châteaux & hôtels collection

10.50 euros at la Vie en Fruits

Paris,

By François Simon

10 euros for lunch : My little promenade continues, this time with a set menu I discovered at La Vie en Fruits (Saint Germain). The lunch set menu at 7.50 euros does the job with a good carrot-apple-ginger juice and this salad with bulgar, carrots and some chicken. A bit filling, to be honest, but it works. I might have gone a little far by taking the dried fruits and nuts (3 euros). In any case, you receive a very warm welcome in this little place. There’s also frozen yogurt with fresh fruit at 3.50 euros and smoothies from 3 euros.

La Vie en Fruits : 116, Boulevard St Germain Tel : 01 46 33 48 18 Map

Photo F Simon

53 Passage, another success !

Paris,

By François Simon

 For hot new Parisian restaurants, there is no economic crisis. The most recent just opened in Passage des Panoramas, in front of the wine bistro Racines. What you get is simple and uncomplicated (vegetable platter, terrines, oyster and veal tartar). In the kitchen is a chef formerly of Aida, and in the dining room are a bunch of young go-getters.

A very nice wine list that’s short, but solid. It was impeccable the first night. Get moving.

53 Passage des panoramas Tel : 01.42.33.04.35. Figure around 30 euros. Map

Restaurant Paris 2

Photo F Simon

Caffé dei Cioppi, Italian restaurant of the month !

Paris,

By François Simon

You’re gonna like this one.  If I lived in the neighborhood, I’d keep my own personal napkin ring there (Translator’s note: refers to a now rarely-observed tradition in French restaurants whereby regulars would keep a personal napkin or napkin ring at the establishment, often in little cubby holes along the wall).  Delicious, warm and welcoming, here’s a place that will make you love restaurants again. Take note – it’s not big (it barely seats 15), but in return what a wonderful experience: lamb shoulder with carrots, with the shoulder delicately cooked; the carrots and a few onions accompanying the lamb, and a sauce that doesn’t overwhelm.  Indeed, it’s sufficient to respect a dish, to avoid hounding it, pestering it by adding all sorts of bells and whistles - no, you have to let it express itself, find its own path; what good does it do to interfere?  To over-embellish recipes is nothing but vanity. 

For an appetizer, mozzarella with translucent eggplant.  Frederica and Fabrizio watch over their clients out of the corners of their eyes.  When the lamb shoulder arrives, from off to the side comes the proposal, “You wouldn’t like a little chervil with that?” And bam, just like that a little saucer of freshly-cut chervil appears. 

Count on less than 30 euros per person.

Caffé dei Cioppi, 159, rue du faubourg Saint Antoine, 75011 Paris (01.43.46.10.14). Closed Saturday and Sunday, as well as Monday and Tuesday nights.Map

Photo F Simon

The Crèmerie – I’ve got to stop

Paris

By François Simon

It’s funny. As soon as I like a place, I’ve got to go back and try it again. As if with each new visit, another truth will emerge. This tendency can no doubt be attributed to having lived with an art conservator.

Sometimes when she walked towards a painting, passing through the solvent vapors that hung in the air of the workshop where we lived, beneath one portrait would appear another, perpendicular to an earlobe, or a jewel. It’s a bit similar with a restaurant. At the moment, it’s Crèmerie.

Two times in one week – I promise, I’ll stop. It’s too bad, though – the burata (cow’s milk mozzarella) that will knock your socks off, the lovely Provencal vegetable gratin, the smoked tuna from the Île d'Yeu, the fresh goat cheese of Stéphane Baly, the excellent wines that will have you imbibing without restraint. Nothing complicated.

La Crèmerie 9, rue des Quatre vents, 75006 Paris (01.43.54.99.30). Closed Sunday and Monday. Open from 10am to 10pm.  Web  Map

Restaurants Paris 6

Photo F Simon

 

Tourte at Stella Maris and then sleep like a baby

Paris

By François Simon

I’m always a bit wary of returning to “fetish” restaurants.  And I’m especially wary of revisiting certain   dishes, like Tateru Yoshino’s game meat tourte (pie) at Stella Maris (4, rue Arsene-Houssaye, 75008 Paris; 01.42.89.16.22).  Ouf, it made quite an impression with its intense flavors of wild duck, pheasant, venison, foie gras and truffles, and especially the decadent sauce: prepared with red wine, game animal blood, and deer, pheasant, and duck carcasses.  After a meal like that, there’s nothing left to do but sleep like a baby.

Stella Maris : 4, rue Arsene-Houssaye, 75008 Paris. Tel : 01.42.89.16.22

 Map

 

The softness of the twilight: Casa Olympe

Paris

By François Simon

Good God, these pan-fried vegetables with bacon! Best dish of the week, and the crowning moment comes when you lick the casserole dish, the sauce thick and redolent.  This was at Casa Olympe. An impeccable meal that delighted everyone in my party: sole with thyme, scallops, chestnut galette (like a crepe, but made from buckwheat flour)…

48 rue Saint Georges, 75009, Paris Tel : 01.42.85.26.01  Web Map

 Photo François.Simon

SNAIL’S GRACE

Paris,

by Joe Ray 

An old standby is a new favorite.

I’d been to L’Escargot, tucked away in the far reaches of Belleville, years ago when Canadian singer Sarah Slean and her entourage were in town and they turned to me for a place to go.

It’s been a bit too long to remember what we ate, but my favorite moment was when the diva’s dad turned to me and said, “That was the best meal we’ve had in France.”

Recently, I ate at L’Escargot a couple times in a two-week span – enough to notice that chef Frederic Valade had the guts to propose gizzards as a bar snack. Earning more points, I also learned he runs a triperie (hard-core butcher shop) down the street. … but I’m putting the cart in front of the horse.

Like Mehdi As-Siyad, what Valade is doing is some of my favorite stuff in Paris right now – young chefs, making some seriously good food and having fun.

One night, Valade walked out into the open kitchen in a pink wig, then giant sunglasses, then a cabaret-style sequined hat, all of which would have made him look really dumb if the food wasn’t good. Instead, his duck confît is among the best in town – crunchy on the outside, melting on the inside and packed with flavor. Add to the plate a little tower of mashed potatoes with truffle oil and a salad with a vinaigrette that keeps your taste buds awake and - Petit Fer A Cheval take note - you’ve got something comforting, luxurious and well-priced.

Almost every dish at L’Escargot is this good – a venison steak with winter vegetables, braised lamb shank that bursts with flavor, incredibly tender kangaroo (!) filet and ‘beef bo bun’ – a bowl of bite-sized seared flank steak in a lemongrass sauce. Dessert? The only problem with the crispy crepe (think: thin cousin of a sugar cone, broken up, and shaped into a little puck of goodness nestled under a dense cloud of whipped cream) was that I got a little aggressive with my spoon and launched half of the dish onto the table and my lap. I ate it anyway.

L’Escargot 50, rue de La Villette 75019 Paris Tel +33 1 42 06 03 96  Map

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherlandand contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting.

My favorite of the month : Glou

Paris,

By François Simon

Well, I certainly won’t be the only one singing the praises of this new restaurant opened by Julien Fouin (formerly of the magazine Régal).  And that’s as it should be.  Because this place is just plain good; charming, as it aspires to be. 
 
Yeu Island albacore tuna (“non-threatened and marinated”), baby sardines, lomo iberico bellota, a country terrine, pork belly confit, wild shrimp from Madagascar (photo) with pesto, wild lavender and sweet potato purée, a super fruity, 24 month-aged Comté.…and, of course, the usual profusion of “in” wines (Bizeul, Ostertag).  It was a wonderful evening. 
 
Closed Tuesdays.  101, rue Vieille du Temple, 75003 Paris (01.42.74.44.32)

Map

(photo F.Simon)

 

Le Paul Bert, vibrancy in your plate

One of my favorite places.  A place for lovers of fine food, bold, with a wine list that's eye-popping. 

At Paul Bert, meat is served extremely rare, rare or…. badly cooked. Humor is part of this cuisine, cuisine that’s worthy of a great restaurant, but it stays simple.  The dishes are vibrant, with plenty of energy, like those scallops served in a buttery jus.

They’re firm, sweet, and served in their salty element.  I remember a Paris-Brest that was just perfect, the crust just as it should be.  They approach perfection here in terms of the quality of their products.

The ambiance is Parisian, the clientele is happy to be there – and so, a bit noisy – you’re going to love it.  Ask to be seated in the first room.  And count on at least 50 euros.

Le Paul Bert. 18, rue Paul Bert. Tel 01.43.72.24.01). Closed Sunday and Monday. Map

Photo : 3MyR

Puits du Trésor, go with your eyes closed

Lastour,

By François Simon

A chef who, out of the blue, talks to you about the « truth of the products » on his menu is pretty cheeky.  That’s precisely the kind of thing Jean Marc Boyer of Puits du Trésor says.  When he proposes a hare with porcini mushrooms, there’s nothing else in the plate.  The mushrooms had been picked that morning (a raw mushroom gill reveals all the tenderness of dawn), and the hare must have been scampering about not long before in the Provencal shrubland.  A celery purée accompanies them. And then : lobster fricassee with crispy pasta, fried frogs legs, rack of lamb…

That evening, at the far end of the Aude countryside, we were overcome by an irresistible feeling of happiness just being in that dining room, surrounded by regional wines (wonderful and bold), and happy locals.  You can prolong the pleasure by getting a room in a bed and breakfast just a short distance away – the estate of La Villatade – amidst countryside overwhelming in its beauty.  Bright rooms of boundless tranquility from 60 euros.  The next morning, you’ll almost be promising yourself to change your life. Château La Villatade, à Sallèles-Cabardès (04 68 77 57 51).

Le Puits du Trésor, à Lastours Tel : +33 4 64 77 50 24. Menus from 39 euros. Map Web

Mère Brazier is back

Lyon,

By François Simon

At 7:30, there wasn’t much of a crowd.  Mère Brazier in Lyon. Sounds like the name of a hip-hip group – it just happens to be a culinary legend.  Taken over by Mathieu Vianney, the place looks terrific with all of the art-deco ceramics restored.  As for the food, it wouldn’t be too much to say it’s impeccable: a pâté en croûte (with a crust), Bresse poultry and lobster, a thin chicory tart…It was delicious, uncomplicated.

At 9 o’clock I was on the train home, relieved to have rediscovered an old haunt that hadn’t moved.  Highly recommended for those who enjoyed old-fashioned pleasures and experiences (the best kinds!). 
12, rue Royale (04.78.23.17.20). Menus from 45 euros. A la carte figure on 100 euros. Map

The frog's house

Montreuil-sur-Mer,

By François Simon

A restaurant must be experienced through the nose.  You have to let it come to you, like one does when river fishing. There is a river – the Canche - that follows a course through alder trees on its way to the ocean.  It meanders through night mists.  There isn’t a sound. Earlier today, at the Genouillère, we could hear only the humming ventilation from the kitchen and the clinking of utensils.  This is one of those bucolic little places that seem to come from another time, as though gliding through a dream.  Sometimes, it materializes near Montreuil-sur-mer where you climb aboard and set sail in its sepia-toned cinema.

In the first dining room (the one on the right), the batrachian (ie. frog) occupies the place of honor, adorning the walls in a variety of splendid poses. We see him wearing a tailcoat and cavorting with a lady, gulping down champagne, appraising the maitre d’hotel.  Tonight, nothing seems to have changed – that same honey-toned lighting, the service that attends to all the little things, the clients a bit taken aback by it all.    It’s a restaurant as we always want it to be.  You arrived in the late afternoon, you’d reserved one of the four little rooms long ago. You’ve put on a nice suit to respect the decorum of the restaurant; it also stimulates the appetite.

The story of la Grenouillère is the story of a father and son.  Roland Gautier passed the torch to his son, Alexandre.  But Roland still stops by now and again, like this evening, to welcome the diners.  He is meticulous, with a kindness that is ever-ready.   He must sometimes purse his lips as he watches his son’s dishes pass by.  Because you’ve got to be pretty confident to offer portions as small as the pigeon de Licques, barely elevated by a bed of beats and red currants.  In the upper corner of the plate, on the left, expressly off-center, are two fowl salami.  And that’s it, just a checkerboard pattern of Vassarelli in the center of the plate, and there you are in front of this new kind of cuisine, marked by the excellence of the product (as for the generosity, it leaves much to be desired). 

Previously, the frogs came twisted and intertwined with a purée of garlic and parsley.  Upon hearing this description, my editor, who is moreover accustomed to such aspects of gastronomy, felt a pang of sympathy for the poor legs exhibited in such a way.  Well, sure, but did she think about all those poor frogs that all became legless cripples in the service of our cuisine? Following all this was a bold dessert with a base of strawberries and ginger  (in a naked rectangle straddling the crème and reddening it).

It was all perfect, and all the more so for the morning train having a few little difficulties.  You could feel there was something off when we made turns.  And then it completely stopped.  A bit too abruptly – you could hear in the conductor’s voice that he was remorseful.    The train slowed, and then we were gliding along in silence.  It was wonderful, because the sun was just rising.  There was a mist all about, and horses in the flat countryside.  We would have applauded, but the eight people in the car were sleeping like babies.  The train finally got going again, seemingly regretfully, and thankfully it went quite slowly for a time. 

La Grenouillière, la Madelaine-sous-Montreuil 03 21 06 07 22. Four rooms from 80 euros, menus from 39 euros.

Web  Map  Photo F.Simon

Auberge basque, the new face of French hospitality

By François Simon

Saint Pee sur Nivelle,

If you want to know what the new face of the French hospitality industry looks like, this is where you should come. Auberge Basque harkens back to the time when hosts were thoughtful, unaffected, and genuinely happy to receive you.  Cédric Bechade (formerly of Bocuse and Ducasse) has come here to give free reign to his passions, side by side with an exceptional sommelier, Samuel, and a young staff overflowing with enthusiasm and dedicated to their profession. 

Lovely rooms, in both contemporary and classic styles, and remarkable cuisine that’s a welcome change from genteel, stuffy gastronomy: here there are only fresh regional products and an élan marked by refreshing creativity.  The cuisine is playful, precise, vigorous, colorful….and there’s plenty of it.  If you go, you’ll notice that the attention to detail extends even to the bread.  It comes from the Boulangerie Darrigues.  While not the prettiest bakery in the village, it’s the best, especially the gateau basque, excellent bread, brioches with raisins and nuts.  An impressive wine list and, overall, throughout the hotel a scrupulousness that ensures everything is just right.

Auberge basque : Saint Pee sur Nivelle. Tel.: 05.59.51.70.50.

Web Map

(photos F.Simon)

ISSAUTIER KEEPS UP THE FIGHT

Saint-Martin-du-Var, French riviera

By François Simon

Astonishingly, Issautier lost a Michelin star last year. There’s perhaps no point in whining over something that is ultimately of little importance for a great talent.  That talent, issuing from genuine pleasure, feeling and delight, is on display in this lively, vibrant, and affecting (if somewhat dated) place.

Here, when the chef proposes asparagus, it’s not like in Paris, i.e., served with a mango-ginger vinaigrette.  Definitely not.  Here, the portion is generous.  Not only are the asparagus plump, high grade and flavorful, just to be on the safe side they’re served with foie gras and shaved parmesan. One comes to this auberge for the challenge, to confront nature in all its extravagance: next up is the half-salted cod, and to drive the last nail in the coffin, a vegetable aioli.

Nobody talks about Jean-Fançois Issautier anymore. He’s no longer fashionable, no longer à la mode. All the more reason to pay him a visit.

Issautier, route de Dignes – Saint Martin du Var (83), RN 202 – Tel : 04.93.08.10.65. 100-150 euros Map

Photo : A. Kertész. La fourchette, 1928.

London, tucked away but a real find: Sheekey

London, UK

By François Simon

Whew, it isn’t easy to find the little nook where this place is hidden. Even the storefront is rather inconspicuous, but once you’re inside: excellent fish and seafood. Definitely not cheap at 23£ for a crab (shelled) and a bottle of water. But regardless, not to be missed.  As good as, if not better than, Bentley’s.

J. Sheekey, 28, St.Martin's court, London WC2N (020.7420.2565) Map

French version  (Photo F.Simon)

Pasta Linea, love it….

Paris, France

By François Simon

It’s funny that I’ve never mentioned this charming place.  You’ll find a couple there (Sylvie and Alexis) with a passion for gourmet Italian products who regularly dig up all sorts of little goodies: hams, truffles, pastas, olive oils….You can even get a delicious lunch of home-made pastas of surpassing goodness (vegetable lasagna; sage, fig, basil ravioli); tiramisu that more than holds its own…. Too good.

Pasta Linea, 9, rue de Turenne, 75004 Paris (01.42.77.62.54). au déjeuner seulement. Map  French version

Photo F.Simon

Jean Paul Hevin, Killer Chocolate Mousse

PARIS

By François Simon

Finally - Jean Paul Hevin’s salon de thé has just reopened. And it was an absolute must to be there on the first day to hear the renewed tapping of little spoons! 
You get the idea – a devilishly light milk-chocolate mousse, airy but eminently chocolaty, superb work that evokes the flavor of the cocoa beans. You almost get the impression that the chocolate is lightly perfumed with berries. It isn’t so, in fact – there’s only the chocolate, expressed here in all its purity. It’s a wonderful moment. As for the tarte au chocolat (which will be available soon), one musn’t hesitate to ask for it served warm. That’s when you’ll really lose it. It practically stings; not unlike being slapped in the face. Retreat is no longer an option, by now you’ve been properly enveloped in a wall of chocolate. It’s a funny feeling – the chocolate actually seems to penetrate; a gustatory shock. It’s like being hooked up to a chocolate IV. As good as opium. 
Jean Paul Hevin, 231, rue Saint Honoré, 75001 Paris. Tel : 01.55.35.35.86

Web Map

(photo F.Simon).