You ask the Question - Is Food The Only Thing I Think About When In France? OUI! OUI! OUI!

French Food critic, Francois SIMON; love him or hate him, I love his honesty and his recommendations is a frequent contributor to the newspaper Le Figaro and numerous magazines (GQ, Cassa Brutus-Japan, le Figaroscope, etc.) He also has his own television show on the French station Paris Première.He is the author of a number of works on gastronomy and the hospitality industry, the most recent of which, Pique Assiette, analyzes the conservative tendencies of certain French chefs. He has also published a novel entitled Toscane. Simon’s hallmark is never showing his face on television or in other media, so as to avoid being recognized in restaurants and to be able to maintain his independence. He is a devotee of rock and roll, and he can cook a chicken 200 different ways.
In his review of George,(Below) I hardly concur in every way. he is right on target!
Bravo! M.SIMON

He writes:

"I’ve been coming to Georges rue du Mail, near the Place des Victoires, for 20 years. And I’ll admit it – I always get the same thing. When I say always, I mean always, without exception. Everyone has their little rituals that they won’t give up. This is one of mine. Rain, snow, or sunny weather like this evening in June: I’m there! I love the place, especially the table in the entry near the window.

It’s this kind of meal you think about when you’re out of the country. As soon as I’m off the plane, I stop by to get myself back in the groove and give my stomach a treat. A cheerful welcome, a high-flying clientele, upwardly mobile and hip…In the kitchen is Alain, from Bretagne, who I’ve gotten to know. He’s going to retire soon, so get moving! "

George : 1, Rue Mail, 75002 Paris‎ - 01 42 60 07 11‎ Figure 40 euros

Temps Perdu - Howard's Style

"Americans are just beginning to regard food the way the French
always have. Dinner is not what you do in the evening before something else.
Dinner is the evening."
~ Art Buchwald

This morning as I sit here in my sunny Beverly Hills office, my thoughts turn to ,oh, so many, many years ago, when I first visited Paris on a lovely crisp Autumn day and immediately feel in love with the city and the country. On that day, I had lunch at the Le Dome Restaurant on Montparnasse Blvd.
On my first day, I made a beeline for the legendary seafood restaurant, Le Dome, whose Art Deco traditional atmosphere with overstuffed booths and large floral arrangements filling every nook and cranny was my kind of place. No fusion, no foam, no pan-something, cuisine was to be found here, but good, honest, straightforward French traditional dishes were to be found.
I was told that Le Dome had the best sole à la meunière – a simple and sublime panfried fish embellished with nothing more than its buttery cooking juices, a sprinkling of parsley, and a shower of lemon juice. Le Dômes prized fish came, I was told, from the Ile d’Yeu on the Brittany coast and had and still is a staple at this marvelous Art deco restaurant for decades.
The advice I was given was spot on and the restaurant, low these many years later, has become one that I always go to when I am in Paris. Its like going home!

COCO BEFORE CHANEL

A new movie opens on the 25th of September about the legendary designer, Coco Chanel, who began her life as a headstrong orphan and,through an extraordinary journey, became the legendary couturier who embodied the modern woman.

Paris - Off The Beaten Track - a Lovely Museum

Paris' Musee Carnavalet, is dedicated to the history of Paris, and is housed in a unique Parisian 16th-century mansion. The luxury town house, with a typical French center courtyard, was once home to Madame de Sevigny, noted for her detailed letters to her daughter (more than 1500 of them) that tell of Parisian life in the late 17th century. The museum is located in the trendy Marais neighborhood, just steps away from the Place des Vosges.

Rarely crowded, the Musee Carnavalet is an intriguing mixture of old and new. Entire rooms have been recreated within the museum, such as an 18th century Louis XIV-style salon, complete with gold-leaf paneling, and the Art Deco early 20th century ballroom from the Hotel de Wendel. Other of the 140 rooms are devoted to such things as prehistoric artifacts from the Parisii tribe who once inhabited the Ile de la Cite, souvenirs from the Revolution, antique maps and important paintings, as well as the furniture from the room where Marcel Proust wrote his lengthy "A Recherche du Temps Perdu." There is also a spectacular ceiling painted by the French muralist Le Brun. The gardens, too, are spectacular, and are a pleasant oasis in the middle of the bustling city.
..............great to visit on a rainy day!.........
And best of all......It's Free!

My Reading List for November on France

I want to share with you, three terrific books about France that I am reading at the moment:
Paris: Wish You Were Here! ( Christopher Meason) is the ultimate postcard from the most romantic and glamorous city in the world. Filled with writings, facts, and trivia about this most sought-after destination for lovers, writers, artists, fashionistas, and travelers, Paris captures the best of the City of Lights.


A Table in the Tarn is Orlando Murrin's intimate account of how he painstakingly transformed the simple 19th-century Manoir de Raynaudes into a celebrated gastronomic destination. Beautifully written and photographed, this cookbook and food memoir includes more than 80 recipes for the Anglo-French dishes that have brought the Manoir acclaim, along with tales of the extraordinary people and gorgeous countryside of the unspoiled Tarn Valley


Savoring France: Recipes and Reflections on French Cooking. The latest entry in this Williams-Sonoma series provides a wide-ranging,look at Gallic cuisine. YUM...my dream book!

Sunday In Paris - Where You'll Find Me at 12 noon

On an Sunday when I am in Paris, you'll find me at Chez Jenny , one of the city's most famous Alsatian restaurants that was established in 1930 by members of the Jenny family. Little has changed since its inauguration except that the clientele is a lot more contemporary-looking than in the old days. Up to 220 diners can fit into this nostalgia-laden setting,( asked to be seated downstairs) where Alsatian Gemütlichkeit prevails. An ongoing specialty is the choucroute (sauerkraut) de chez Jenny, piled high with sausages, tender pork knuckles, and slices of ham, YUM!.
The local regulars have their set tables.
Also available are salmon with sorrel, grilled meats, grilled fish, and chicken supreme flavored with Riesling. Any of these tastes wonderful accompanied by one of the Alsatian wines that fill the wine list. BUT what to really have here is a Choucroute! Don't look for trendy at this establishment, its all about food, food and food!
Metro: Temple

Discover Renoir - The Later years

Organised by the Réunion des musées nationaux, the Musée d’Orsay and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition is sure to be the biggest popular art even for the end of 2009.
One of the most popular and well know impressionist painters, the exhibition will concentrate on the painter’s later years, especially interesting as there have been no studies or exhibitions focusing specifically on them, as has been the case for Monet or Cezanne.

Bringing together about a hundred of Renoir’s paintings, drawings and sculptures, from public and private collections all over the world, the idea is to to explore a period and aspects of Renoir’s work which are little known to the public (decorative painting, drawings, sculpture…) while demonstrating his influence on other artists in France in the first half of the twentieth century :