Bon Appétit: Part Deux

The choices for dining in Paris can be overwhelming. With thousands of restaurants in the city, dozens of guidebooks the proprietaires pay to advertise in, and the dreaded tourist traps waiting to lure the innocent, your hard earned dollar is easily frittered away. It is the same for parisians, one must choose wisely! I would like to recommend a few of my favorite places to you. From moderately priced to a special occasion, I have never been disappointed. For Italian comfort home cooking, and the best "mafia cake" in Paris visit Mario and Maria at La Trattoria. Located in the 15th arrondissment, it is a 5 minute walk from metro ligne 12, arret "Convention", address: 155 rue de la Convention. Open for dinner from 7:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m monday through saturday, closed sunday. The pizza "margherita" is divine, 9 euro for a medium size pie. It is customary in France for each person to order their own pizza, (but it is possible to share). The average cost for a generous main course meal is 12.50 euro, the house red is good, and you MUST have the tiramisu for dessert! The decor is warm and homey, casual, and unpretentious. No reservation neccesary, takeout available. 01 48 28 87 86. Minimum english spoken. Chez Janou 2 rue Roger Verlomme (near Bastille and the Place du Vosges) reservations recommended, 01 42 72 28 41. Popular with parisians and the international set alike, it is crowded every night from 8:30 until 11:00. Noisy and chaotic, it is a typical bistro complete with tiny tables crowded together and plenty of posters that pass for decor on the walls. The staff is friendly, all speak decent english, and are literally running three hours a night. They have the best olives I have ever had in my life, served as appetizer to keep the savages at bay, and if you like mussels, Chez Janou is the place to have them! The moules gratinée and spinach salad with warm goat cheese (salad epinard avec chévre chaud) are excellent starters for sharing, and I always enjoy the entrecote (delicious here). When it is time for dessert, chocolate mousse is offered in a ginormous bowl, you take as much as you please with an equally large spoon.....decadent! The average main course is 17 euro, 9 for entrées. BAM bar à manger the cuisine here is upscale but not pretentious, well thought out and executed, and the menu varies constantly. This is one place I recommend the prix-fixte menu. The chef offers an entrée, plat, and dessert for 30 euro per person, wine not included. I usually have a glass of the house Bordeaux, (verre de vin rouge) which is quite nice, at 5 euro. Located in Chatelet, the neighborhood is lively and fun. The address: 13 rue des Lavandières Ste. Opportune, metro Chatelet. Reservations recommended: 01 42 21 01 72. The friendly owners and staff speak english fluently. Open for dinner at 8 p.m. Le Petite Pontoise very delicious, very intimate, reservations a must! The foie gras with dates is to die (but I've promised to swear off foie gras), the lamb chops OMG.....a fabulous wine list, friendly and well trained staff. If you have one special meal in Paris, have it at Le Petite Pontoise. The ambience is country french gentleman-quiet money, but Madame welcomes you with a smile when you present yourself with dignity. After dinner, treat yourself to a walk along the sparkling river Seine toward the cathedral Notre Dame, just a stones throw away. Located at 9 rue Pontoise, metro Maubert Mutualité. 01 43 29 25 20. What to avoid: As previously mentioned, I have made a number of bad choices during my tenure as an expat in Paris. In "Bon Appétit" (part one) I discussed the pitfalls of the tourist trap cafés, but here are a few more examples of where not to eat. Chain restaurants are worldwide, a plague of mediocrity and predictibility. Let's face it, they're just plain bad! In Paris I would avoid Leon de Brussels (with their giant plastic bedpan shell depositorys and funky fish), Pizza Pino (really bad food and exploited immigrant workers), the Indiana Bar and Grill (when in France don't go for Texmex), and McDonalds because it's, well, McDonalds. Chéz Clemènt has good mashed potatoes, but I can see no other reason to dine there. The Hippopotamus has two things going for it, they actually grasp the concept of grilling a steak over a flame (instead of the traditional frying pan method), and their coctails pack a wollop! Other than that it is ordinary and expensive. The entrecote at Chez Janou is far better. Spend your vacation dollars wisely on the best food possible, and Bon Appétit!