Les Cocottes- Restaurant review

135 Rue Saint-Dominique
75007 Paris, France

01 45 50 10 31

(closed Sundays/no reservations)

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor
€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; $$$$ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on plats--main course)
1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  4 - Stars.............................................€€...................................................3 - Bells

Since we’ve returned to Paris almost 3-weeks ago, we’ve been doing nothing but eating out and catching up with friends. It’s not a bad thing, but the waistline, that’s another story.

We’ve been experiencing really warm fall weather in Paris. It’s been hovering around the low 80’s, but with the humidity it seems even warmer.  So, last night friends Matt and Elissa were giving a tour of the 7ème to show Matt’s mother Patty around, who recently arrived for vacation.  I recommended we go to Christian Constant’s “Les Cocottes” which is very close to the Eiffel tower.  For the locals, you may recognize his name, he’s one of the judge’s on “Top-Chef” France. Since they do not take reservations, I suggested that we meet there at 7:30 pm to ensure that we would get seats.  We could’ve actually gone later because it was quite warm and on warm Parisian nights most people like to eat later, and al fresco, so what were we thinking?





The restaurant is a small long narrow restaurant.  You can eat either at the bar or long tall tables to be shared with others.  You sit up high on “high-chairs”,  hence, because you sit up high, you look the wait-staff eye-to-eye, I kind of like this. It was quite warm in the restaurant since there was no cross-breeze, and as most of us know, it’s rare that a restaurant is air-conditioned in Paris.

Staub cocotte

The names cocottes usually refers to a cast-iron pot.  This restaurant uses “staub.” There is a blackboard with the menu written but you also get a the menu in either English or French at table which helps if you can't see the blackboard.  They also have listed on the black-board that evening’s special. 

We started out with some cold rosé to literally cool down from the heat.  As we perused the menu, we decided on the following:

“la vraie salade de César Ritz.” I believe it’s his interpretation of a “caesar’s salad”, it came with either chicken or anchovies. Patty ordered it with chicken.  It looked nothing like a Caesar, in fact, it had slices of hard boiled eggs on it. It didn’t look very appealing, and honestly after seeing the plate, I’d probably never order it.

Matt got the "emietté de thon, caviar d'aubergines et gelée de tomates".  We all tasted this dish, and this one was a hit. It was nice and creamy and surprisingly had a little kick to it as you got to the bottom of the dish. Imagine, what French Chef would think of adding a little “spicy heat” to food?

Elissa ordered the “velouté de champignons, chantilly parfumé au foie gras”. Elissa said the soup was OK,  but had very little foie gras taste, but very strong mushroom flavoring. So, for mushroom fans, this would be a soup for you.

Jack had the entrée of the evening, and by this time with a few drinks the name of the dish escapes me.  It was a fish filet atop a toasted baguette. I loved this dish, but Jack just said it was just good.

I had the oeuf “poché aus lardons croustillants, belle salad de roquette”. I loved this dish, but then again, who wouldn’t like bacon. The bacon was crispy and carmelized with balsamic.  It had a slight bitter taste, as a result of the carmelization, but with the argula and the egg, overall it was a nicely composed dish!

For the main courses:

Elissa had the “ravioles de langoustines, mousseline d'artichauts”. This dish came out bubbling hot.  It was listed as an entrée, but we asked the waiter if they can make it a “plat” (main dish) portion, and they obliged.  It looked very rich, but Elissa said it was very good.

Patty had the special of the evening which was a “porc avec haricot blanc”. This dish looked very French country, with pork sitting atop of white beans, almost like a simple cassoulet. Patty liked the dish.

 
Matt ordered the “palombe farcie au foie gras cuit sur son crouton”. At first glance I thought it was a quail, but it turned out to be “ring dove”, which is known for their more delicate and tender meat than a quail.  Matt thought the dish was very good.

Jack had the “cabillaud à la plancha, lentilles liées a jus de viande”.  The fish sat atop small green lentils. I tasted the dish, I liked it, but Jack thought it was just a bit bland. The restaurant does provide a small condiment of red crushed peppers (note: very unusual in France), Jack added the powdery spice to his dish and said, “it made it very good and tasty”.



I had the “pommes de terre caramélisées farcies au pied de porc”.  This was probably my favorite of all the dishes I tried. It was basically pig trotters de-boned sitting atop a poached potato with a nice salad of greens, so I had the contrast of the hot and cold. The trotters were perfectly cooked, very tender.  It was extremely tasty, definitely a hit.

Desserts: at this point we were all feeling pretty full, but we got one order of the “fromage basque, configure de cerises” and “la fabuleuse tarte au chocolat de Christian Constant”.  The cheese was a brebis (sheep cheese) since it is our favorite cheese, we were happy. The chocolate tarte was excellent, very rich and decadent.

In summary:  this is not a restaurant you want to go to for an intimate romantic dinner, nor a place to be seated with your own group, since you will share a table or a bar with strangers. In the U.S., we would call this type of restaurant, “down home cooking” well this is French “down home cooking” à la Basque.  What we had ranged from good to, as Edwina would say, “absolutely fabulous”.  And, honestly, for the price (dishes range from €7- €28) and the quality of food, you can’t beat it.  Even though they do turn tables, you don’t feel at all rushed. I understand that they oftentimes have lines out the door because they do not accept reservations, with that said, go either earlier or later, and I also suggest you not go when it’s warm, since it is not air-conditioned.

Ten years ago

It has been ten years since that fateful September day. I was standing in a customer's office. The tv in the office was blaring out something about a tragic accident involving an airliner flying into the World Trade Center.

I left that customer's office and started to make my way down to Bamberg, South Carolina, where I had to examine a real estate title. My mobile phone rang. It was my mother. She said another plane hit the other World Trade Center tower. She also reminded me of something I had not thought of, my father was on an airplane headed for Chicago.

I turned around the first chance I got. The title exam in Bamberg could wait. I went to my home. By the time I got to my suburban Columbia home, The Pentagon was hit. I still remember VH1 of all stations having the news on.

I spoke again to my mother. She had yet to hear from my father. I quickly made plans to go to their home in Honea Path. Between the time I left for Honea Path and arrived, my mother spoke to my father. He was stranded in Columbus Ohio with some business associates.

I had a chevy astro van at the time, something I had for NASCAR races and the like. But, it became clear that my van and I were Ohio bound. My father's best friend, a man I call "Uncle Skip" was at my parents house and ready to go with me. "Uncle Skip" was an old army special forces guy, a guy who had been called up to go and rescue the ship Mayaguez during the Ford administration. Having old Skip with me was invaluable. He kept me both awake and sane.

And, there were crazy things Skip and I saw in our trip from Honea Path to Ohio the night of September 11th and the day of September 12th. There was an improvised checkpoint in the state of Tennessee. For what, I still don't know. There was a soldier and his wife we met at rest stop in Kentucky on his way to Ft. Campbell after being recalled from leave. There was gas prices as high as $5 a gallon in Kentucky and Ohio. We both listened intently to President Bush on the radio.

I got tired. I got irritated. But, ole Skip kept me sane. He kept saying things like " we got a duty here boy," and the like.

Eventually, we reached my father and his business associates in Columbus. They cramped into my little van and made their way home. They were grateful for the ride home. For, you see, there were no airflights, and all rentals had been frozen as well.

Many people remember where they were when they heard that an attack had happened. I remember that as well. I also remember the long, weird night into day trip I had with ole Skip to go get my father and his business associates. The time was surreal. So much was so odd.

I will never forget what happened on September 11, 2001, not only because of the tragedy, but because of what I learned about the best and worst of America. The best was ole Skip, a true friend who was a companion in getting my dad back home. The worst was the folks who wanted to charge us $5 a gallon for gas south of Cincinnati.

If I live to be a hundred, I will never forget that day, and the barbarians who threw our lives into surreality. It is something we should remember. I will never, ever,forget the images of people jumping from the trade tower out of my head. I will never, ever, forget the images of the towers falling. I will never, ever, forget the surreal night and day Skip and I had to get my father and his business associates home.

So many of us forget what happened that day. Politics or whatever inspires so many of us to forget. I will never forget. When I later learned that the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania came very close to my father's flight, I cringed.

Ten years later, the memories of September 11th burn in my mind. It is why I am proud that I voted for President Bush twice. At least he got the fact we have to fight the Islamic fascists head on.

Regardless of the politics, I will never forget, and I will always be grateful to ole Skip. He is one helluva man.

Enjoy Labor Day, but drive sober

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend.  But, if you a few cold ones, ride home with a friend or call a cab.  Two reasons for that.  First, you will not be risking lives if you do not drive drunk.  The other reason is the boys in blue are out to get you and they will see you before you see them.  Thanks to all the deputies and troopers out there who work to keep the roads safe. 

Whats wrong with blogging today

I like blogging.  I have broke some stories here that it took the mainstream media a couple of weeks to catch on to.  I take pride that not one of those posts were proven false or without merit.  But, I do this just to inform and entertain, not to make myself famous or make a buck off of running down someone’s name.

Recently, FITS News , ran by Will Folks, a blog and a man I actually have defended on this blog, posted allegations that South Carolina Gamecock baseball hero Scott Wingo  had someone else take his SAT for him.  Follow up posts were promised but as of this post, were not delivered.

Frankly, I do not worry about such being posted.  Perhaps they will be.  But, the great problem with blogging, face book, twitter, all of it is made clear by that point.  Some guy tells some blogger some story that will  make the blogger famous if it is true.  So, the blogger runs with it.  Fair enough.

When such happens in politics, it is par for the course, so to speak.  Politics is nasty in South Carolina.  We are known for it.  But, when a kid, a civilian if you  will,  is maligned over an anonymous tip without digging deep, it shows the problem with the blog media.  I am not going to accuse Folks of this, but too many bloggers are willing to post allegations they know are flimsy in the hopes that they prove true and get them on ESPN or  Fox News or wherever to drive up their hits and satisfy their ad buyers.

The problem is with the people that are hurt by it.  In Wingo’s case, it is extraordinarily difficult to have someone take the SAT in your place.  Procedures are in place that are far more stringent than getting a SCDL or voting, even under the new voter identification law.  The College Board’s currency is its credibility with the colleges and universities of the nation. To think they would allow a slip up for, at the time, a medium talent baseball recruit at South Carolina is just dim.

Further, Coach Ray Tanner has a reputation of impeccable adherence to rules and ethics.  The kid in question has performed in the class room and on the field.  To malign Tanner, the University of South Carolina, and some kid who plays ball, to have a shot a ESPN type fame is irresponsible.

But, such happens all the time now.  People block ex wives or business partners from seeing their social network pages and blast them on them.  Blogs like the Huffington Post fire off with little substance.  The list of those types of blogs go and on.  The truth gets lost in the din of noise of those who write the loudest.

And, who is hurt?  Well, all us are to some degree.   But, that kid is hurt especially bad.  He has his whole professional life ahead.  And, now, with one of the most prominent writers publishing allegations he cheated, that will go with him.  Once the allegation is made, there are some people who believe it even if its proven wrong.

That’s fine for politics.  But, in sports and other private endeavors, those of us who claim to inform, commentate or entertain have to have some sense of decency, especially when it comes to young people.  Again, not making allegations,  but if a blogger  makes allegations based on anonymous and flimsy information just to take a shot at being famous, well, that blogger  has got a hole in his soul.

I  imagine the folks like that won’t like how I put things and gun for me.  That only will make the hole for them bigger.  And, it will make my point stronger,

"Stuff Parisians Like" by Olivier Magny

Stuff Parisians Like: Discovering the Quoi in the Je Ne Sais Quoi
Author: Olivier Magny
Can be purchased at Amazon.com, Itunes, or any major bookstores

We first met Olivier Magny at a social function at his wine bar "O-chateau wine bar" in Paris, Spring 2011.  I was very impressed with his knowledge of wine as well as the beautiful wine bar itself.  While vacationing in the US  I got a text from my best friend Steve, also vacationing in the U.S. (San Diego), that Olivier is having a book signing party.  I thought is this the same Olivier we know in Paris, and sure enough it was.  I had no idea he was also a writer. So, I immediately went on Itunes and bought and downloaded his book, “Stuff Parisians Like”.  I was expecting a book about wine, but instead Olivier wrote a book about the Parisian psyché.  I remembered he had an excellent command of the English language, but I was very surprised how well he also writes, considering English is not his primary language.  There have been many books written about the French psyché, but none more informative and entertaining than from a French/Parisian perspective.  His book is extremely well written, witty and just enjoyable.  His view of Paris and Parisians is honest and simply spot on.

I was hoping that part of his tour would bring him to Northern California, but unfortunately, he was not able to include Northern California for this trip. I wanted so much to organize a book signing party to introduce him to our community, but, oh well “à la prochaine” (next time).  However, I was able to interview him and ask him questions about himself and his book.

Olivier, I know you’re a native Parisian, but can you tell me a little about yourself and how you started in the “wine” business?
Well, I longed for a life with a bit more poetry. Wine seemed like a sensible path.


Now that I’ve recently discovered that you’re also a writer, what inspired you to write this book?

Well, it seems as if many foreigners just idolize Paris glamour, Paris beauty, Paris culture. On the other hand, many provinciaux simply hate anything Paris. Both sides seemed to me quite exaggerated, full of clichés and rather uninformed about the real Paris life. I guess in the end, I just wanted to provide people with good reasons to love or hate my fellow Parisians. So I started to write. Turned out that I realy enjoyed it and that people liked what I was writing. I’m just truly lucky.


I understand that you lived in the San Diego area for a couple of years.  Did living in the US influence you in any way? And, if so how?

Probably. First it helped me gain a better command of English. And it was fascinating for the young Parisian that I was to see so many laid back, positive, enthusiastic people. Let’s say most Parisians could use a bit more of these characteristics.


Living in Paris is a challenge for most Americans, what was the biggest challenge you had to overcome when you lived in the US?

Two mainly: price of wine and absence of good bread.


Have you lived in other countries as well? And, if so, what influences did they have on you. 

Nope. Visited many but never lived in any other.


I’ve read many books about the Parisian psyché, but from ex-pats such as Stephen Clarke.  We all have our stereotypes, but as a Frenchman, what one stereotype did you want to debunk for your readers?

Several I guess. But the one that has grown to be the most compellingly untrue is the whole “joie de vivre” thing. I tried to be as “real” as possible in my articles. Being a true Parisian, I might have a denser, somehow deeper understanding of the whole social circus that Paris life is. This book is just me trying to unveil a few secrets, making fun of all these very serious clowns.


I have a love-hate relationship with Paris, as well as the U.S. As a Parisian,  what is the one thing you really love about Paris and the one thing you really “dislike”? And, on the flip-side, is there something you really like about the U.S. and “dislike”?

My favorite thing about Paris: warm baguette tradition, pas trop cuite. The thing I dislike the most: la vibe très négative.  Favorite thing about the US: I think Chris Rock is a genius
Thing I dislike the most: how slow the line at customs is for non-residents


If there is one important piece of advice you can give my readers who may be thinking about moving to Paris, what would that be?

If your love for beauty, food and wine surpasses your hatred for rain, negative people and paperwork, then you’re in good shape.


Now a little bit about your wine bar? What inspired you to open O’Chateau? My first impressions were that the layout, size and ambience, if you will, were very American in nature.  Was your design element inspired by your stay in the US?

I guess what we tried to do was to come up with a place that was not only beautiful, soothing and nice but also convivial. Paris can get quite clicky and both Nicolas Paradis (my business partner) and I wanted to create a place where it’d be easy to meet people and interact both with the sommeliers and with other similar-minded clients. That is why we designed this beautiful bar in the middle, just to create the conditions of a nice friendly moment. I think O Chateau is one of the only places in Paris where you can come on your own, for dinner and drinks and you won’t feel awkward at all because you’ll meet people in no time. Now the place is a 17th century building so we also tried to respect the history of the place by cleaning up the stunning limestone walls and the cellar vaults. I guess your American remark stems from the fact that, by Paris standards, O Chateau is quite large. It is indeed. And we love it… We wanted each space to have its own personality and for the whole thing to just be nice.
I guess in a word, we tried to create the place we’d like to come hang out at. We realy love it and it’s nice to see that other people do too.

68, rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau
75001 Paris
+33 (0)1-44-739-780
www.o-chateau.com

You’re extremely knowledgeable about French wines; however, outside of France, what is your favorite wine region(s)?

We are truly blessed in France. My preference outside of France might go to New Zealand.


You’re relatively young, what would you like to see yourself doing 10-years from now?

Wow!! Something I like hopefully. Hopefully by then I will have achieved my life-long dream: learning how to hip-hop dance.


Olivier, besides amazon and Itunes, where else can they get your book, e.g., are they available at most major bookstores?
Major bookstores do carry it yes. In Paris, you can get signed copies at O Chateau. Otherwise, English bookstores like WH Smith or Garigliani on Rue de Rivoli carry it too. And if people want to practice their French, they should look up Dessine-moi un Parisien (the French version), also available everywhere.


Olivier’s summation:
I’ve truly had a fabulous past few months and I’m so thankful. Things right now may seem all shiny and nice, but they haven’t always been. What I’ve learned since I started O Chateau is that if you truly want something and really work hard at it AND put your heart at it, things end up coming together. So voilà!! (If you haven’t already, go on YouTube and watch "What the bleep do we know" – truly inspiring).



Summary:  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Olivier is not only a great sommelier, but also a great writer and "video" personality. I’ve read so many books about Paris, but written by ex-pats, I laughed, I cried, but I’ve never really read an “honest” book from a Parisian man’s perspective.   Since I live mostly in Paris, there was a lot of information that was familiar; however, I was surprised to learn quite a bit of new information about the Parisian psyché. Who better to delve into the Parisian psyché than a Parisian himself?  I strongly encourage you to read this very enjoyable, informative and honest book.

As for Olivier's wine bar, please see my review "O-Chateau review".