by phyllisflick on March 12, 2012
After leaving his Aux Berges du Cerou in Salles, a tiny village (50 habitants) near Toulouse, and spending some time at the Verre Volé, Patrice Gelbart has opened Youpi et Voilà, a modern French bistro on a nondescript side street in Paris’s 10th arrondissement.
The restaurant is small and the decor simple with stone walls, a handful of dark wood tables, cherry-red leather banquettes, industrial lights, and an open kitchen where 5 lucky customers can dine while watching the chef perform.
Gelbart, a self-taught chef, is passionate about working with small local producers and the best seasonal products, many of which are organic. His cooking is subtle and creative, using generous amounts of fresh herbs and plants with a mix of textures and flavors. There are no heavy sauces, and little fat-just clean bright flavors. [click to continue…]
by phyllisflick on January 29, 2012
I am a big fan of gyoza, those crescent-shaped pan-fried Japanese dumplings, and would be happy to make a meal of them, if I could manage to do so without seeming like a glutton.
Guillaume Guedj and Shinichi Sato have solved this dilemma with the newly opened Gyoza Bar located a few doors down from Passage 53, the restaurant which earned them two Michelin stars, in the beautiful Passage Panorama.
The space felt more like New York than Paris with hushed zen surroundings, counter seating and an open kitchen–if you could call it a kitchen since there’s not much cooking going on. [click to continue…]
by phyllisflick on January 16, 2012
If Fernand Siré has his way, menus in French restaurants will soon have to disclose if a particular dish is made in-house and whether it was prepared with fresh, frozen or canned products.
Sadly, in a country known for its gastronomic heritage, more and more restaurants in France are relying on prepackaged, industrially made products rather than making food from scratch. Some estimates say that up to two-thirds of France’s 120,000 restaurants rely on industrial products.
Two exposés on French television this past year painted a shocking image of the French restaurant industry by filming unscrupulous restaurateurs filling their shopping carts at Métro (the restaurant industry hypermarket) with ready-made traditional French dishes and desserts that only need to be reheated and served to customers. [click to continue…]