Paris Update - Restaurants

Paris Update
Flash News

FISH FLASH
While the governmental organization Ofimer is busy promoting the fishing industry during the month of April, Yves Miserey, Le Figaro’s science writer, and Philippe Cury, director of a French research center on the Mediterranean, have just published Une Mer sans Poissons (Calmann-Lévy), chronicling the conversion of the world’s oceans into “liquid deserts.”

MORE BUBBLES!
The jealously guarded moniker Champagne (just try to use it for any unauthorized purpose and you will be sued faster than a cork pops) will soon be applied to a wider swath of French wine-growing territory. With global demand and prices for Champagne rising, and production limited to a restricted area designated by the Institut National de l’Origine et de la
Qualité in the early 20th century, the authority announced on March 13 that the authorized grape-growing area would be increased from 319 communities to 357. Now the squabbling begins as public hearings are held to decide exactly which pieces of land will actually have the right to use the valuable Champagne appellation. A final decision will not be made until 2015.

DINNERTIME OPERATICS
Designer Sir Terence Conran’s Paris restaurant Alcazar (62, rue Mazarine, 75006 Paris; tel.: 01 43 26 75 96), better known for its DJ-spun music and trendy crowd, has a new attraction: live opera singers performing on Monday evenings. The price for a fixed-price menu and concert is €50. An Italian restaurant, Bel Canto (72, quai de l’Hôtel de Ville, 75004; tel.: 01 42 78 30 18) has been serenading diners with Italian opera and Neapolitan songs for a number of years now.

BURGER BLISS
We all love French food, but who doesn’t crave a good hamburger and fries now and then? For years, the only place to get a decent burger in Paris has been the always-reliable Joe Allen (30, rue Pierre Lescot, 75001 Paris; tel.: 01 42 36 70 13), but now competition has arrived with Floors (100, rue Myrha, 75018; tel.: 01 42 60 88 88 or 08 08), a new bar/café/restaurant in an unusual setting: a three-story glass-fronted Flatiron-style building in Barbès. The delicious burgers, made with freshly ground meat, have a hint of charcoal flavor and are served with just-right fries and a choice of side dishes, including a tasty mayonnaise-free coleslaw. Non-meat-eaters can try variations on the theme, such as a fishburger. The place is already full of trendy 20- and 30-somethings plying iMacs, and the service is provided by adorably friendly bilingual students.

POPOTE DES POTES
Want to impress your friends with your culinary skills but don’t have the space to welcome them in your tiny Paris apartment? The restaurant Chéri-Bibi (15, rue André-del-Sarte, 75018; tel.: 01 42 54 88 96) has had the great idea of letting an individual take over its kitchen on the third Monday of every month (the "Popotes des Potes" evening) to cook up a meal with the help of its staff and serve dinner to as many as 80 friends for the laughable price of around €10 a person. Opened by the Samot brothers of La Famille and Le Réfectoire fame, the restaurant specializes in simple, fairly priced food like grand-maman used to make and is every bit as trendy as the brothers' other two restaurants.

SMART SUSHI
A few years ago, Chinese takeout shops sprang up on every block in Paris. Now sushi bars are mushrooming all over the city as the French discover Japanese cuisine, but suffice it to say that not all of them boast highly skilled sushi chefs. To avoid mediocrity or worse, check out the site of the Japanese Cuisine Evaluation Committee, which recommends 50 Japanese restaurants in Paris for their authenticity.