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Surveying the Paris food scene: a mecca again -- but is it French?
The blogosphere, social media and even some normally sober dead-tree publications roar 24/7 about Paris's contemporary food scene. Hyperbole artists daily declare this the globe's greatest restaurant city, rebooted after lengthy decline. Upstarts in New York and London are fini, and eternal Rome is ancient history.
French cuisine is back, again?
Well, maybe.
One thing's certain: Paris is a favorite of food lovers and peripatetic hedonists. They wing and waddle here for the cosmopolitan dining scene and the peerless patisseries, world-class bakeries, chocolate-makers, specialty food emporiums, wine and cheese and butcher shops, and scores of open markets. Goods and services range from the sublime to the ridiculous. But the overall effect, the sense of epicurean opulence, is mesmerizing.
Paris also happens to host one of the world's great hayseed jamborees, the annual agricultural fair. Earthy, nose-twitching and kitsch, the Salon d'Agriculture transforms the Porte de Versailles into a farmyard feeding frenzy for nine days in late February. The 1,000 exhibitors draw an average 650,000 gawkers. Showcased are the combines, farming techniques, Far Side bovines, and rustic eats that make France the world's number-two agricultural power. Thirty-five countries participated this year. But as always, France was the star. Its roosters crowed louder. And when it came to prize-winning cattle, there was plenty of French bull.
The fair's thundering herds have barely had time to vacate as thousands of foodie professionals swarm city eateries. For the second year running, this week (March 3-6) Paris welcomes the International Cookbook Fair and Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, truly a mouthful. Last year's edition enticed 154 countries, with eight in ten of the cookbooks coming from outside France. The trend continues in 2011. Is this a commentary on French cooking?
Well, the imminent death of la cuisine française was already announced in the 1990s -- but strangely enough, the invalid still seems healthy. Last November, UNESCO declared the French way of cooking and eating part of humanity's "intangible cultural heritage." Cocky nationalists were not the only ones to crow, but some skeptics wondered whether UNESCO was championing a species that was crossbreeding itself into oblivion.
At the very least, assuming the intangible heritage exists, it's only one of many models for contemporary French cuisine. The truth is that the French culinary table is now more varied – and some would say, vibrant -- than ever.
Trendy Paris restaurants like Mini Palais, Spring, Le Chateaubriand, Frenchie, La Gazzetta, Yam'tcha, Rino, Les Tablettes, La Bigarrade or Thoumieux are booked solid weeks ahead. Whether any of the above serves French cuisine as contemplated by UNESCO is an open question best not asked. Paris's hip and monetarily mobile glory in the wild confusion of ingredients and techniques. The orgy of neo-post-fusion and retro flavors, served separately or folded together, is dionysian. Paris's avant-garde chefs riff on haute and cuisine d'auteur, dipping into the passé as desired. Menus, when used, promise culinary adventurism of the kind pioneered abroad – in New York, London, San Francisco and Sydney.
Surprising? No. Many new wave Paris chefs are foreign or trained outside France. Daniel Rose (Spring) is from Chicago. Inaki Aizpitarte (Le Chateaubriand) is Basque. Grégory Marchand (Frenchie) cut his teeth among les Anglo Saxons. Petter Nilsson (La Gazzetta) is Swedish. Giovanni Passerini (Rino) is Italian. Adeline Grattard (Yam'tcha) worked in Hong Kong, returning with husband and a passion for tea.
It's only natural that many of Paris's hottest venues are see-and-be-seen playgrounds of gastronomy. Self-styled foodistas and gastronauts groove with acolytes of the burgeoning Parisian foodie fundamentalist movements Le Fooding and Omnivore. They reward novelty for novelty's sake, challenging the ancien régime symbolized by the seriously passé Michelin-starred chefs. These days Robuchon, Ducasse and Savoy are so many Ben Alis, Mubaraks, and Gheddafis.
Stir in the global fashionistas and le people – hipster-speak for beautiful people – and yesterday's bread-and-circuses becomes today's edible art. The bread is the circus. Edibles are playthings. In this universe excellence is measured in terms of le fooding experience being ludique – i.e., fun. No matter how skilled the cook is, entertainment and atmosphere outweigh his artworks.
Gauging deliciousness or the fun-quotient is perilous. Silly complication rules. But anyone noting the emperor's nakedness on an Ipad menu at Les Tablettes risks electronic crucifixion. Evoking le funky old Chateaubriand – before it was declared the world's top restaurant – is heresy. Only traitors wonder what's fun about a four-hour culinary ordeal at La Bigarrade – with postage-stamp, mismatched, roughly sliced raw veal topped with carrot flowers, herring eggs, translucent radish and ginger. And why succulent squab should share space with sublime sweetbreads at Spring is a question only an uninitiated anti-revolutionary could ask. Eat at home if you don't like tea.
What's astonishingly retro is how alike the songbooks are of ancient Nouvelle Cuisine evangelists and current foodie fundamentalists. "The more things change," quipped Alphonse Karr, "the more they stay the same." And that was in 1839.
Media noise makes it easy to forget that complication, choreographed creativity and covens of fashion-conscious cultists are only one slice of the Parisian pie. Michelin's vision of haute still has followers. Taillevent is the flagship of a fleet of grandes tables preserved in a sea of aspic. A remnant population of classic French and authentic – not faux retro – bistros serve grandma's real recipes to the unregenerate. Bistronomie, the trumpeted gastronomic bistro fare so many taste buds and wallets endorse, bridges the genres.
Even the bottom link of the food chain shines bright. McDonald's France has 1,161outlets – the conglomerate's second largest earner. But, of course, en France macaroons grace Ronald's menu. C'est chic et ludique. UNESCO surely approves.
[flickr photos via dcbasson and 100five]
Well, the imminent death of la cuisine française was already announced in the 1990s -- but strangely enough, the invalid still seems healthy. Last November, UNESCO declared the French way of cooking and eating part of humanity's "intangible cultural heritage." Cocky nationalists were not the only ones to crow, but some skeptics wondered whether UNESCO was championing a species that was crossbreeding itself into oblivion.
At the very least, assuming the intangible heritage exists, it's only one of many models for contemporary French cuisine. The truth is that the French culinary table is now more varied – and some would say, vibrant -- than ever.
Trendy Paris restaurants like Mini Palais, Spring, Le Chateaubriand, Frenchie, La Gazzetta, Yam'tcha, Rino, Les Tablettes, La Bigarrade or Thoumieux are booked solid weeks ahead. Whether any of the above serves French cuisine as contemplated by UNESCO is an open question best not asked. Paris's hip and monetarily mobile glory in the wild confusion of ingredients and techniques. The orgy of neo-post-fusion and retro flavors, served separately or folded together, is dionysian. Paris's avant-garde chefs riff on haute and cuisine d'auteur, dipping into the passé as desired. Menus, when used, promise culinary adventurism of the kind pioneered abroad – in New York, London, San Francisco and Sydney.
Surprising? No. Many new wave Paris chefs are foreign or trained outside France. Daniel Rose (Spring) is from Chicago. Inaki Aizpitarte (Le Chateaubriand) is Basque. Grégory Marchand (Frenchie) cut his teeth among les Anglo Saxons. Petter Nilsson (La Gazzetta) is Swedish. Giovanni Passerini (Rino) is Italian. Adeline Grattard (Yam'tcha) worked in Hong Kong, returning with husband and a passion for tea.It's only natural that many of Paris's hottest venues are see-and-be-seen playgrounds of gastronomy. Self-styled foodistas and gastronauts groove with acolytes of the burgeoning Parisian foodie fundamentalist movements Le Fooding and Omnivore. They reward novelty for novelty's sake, challenging the ancien régime symbolized by the seriously passé Michelin-starred chefs. These days Robuchon, Ducasse and Savoy are so many Ben Alis, Mubaraks, and Gheddafis.
Stir in the global fashionistas and le people – hipster-speak for beautiful people – and yesterday's bread-and-circuses becomes today's edible art. The bread is the circus. Edibles are playthings. In this universe excellence is measured in terms of le fooding experience being ludique – i.e., fun. No matter how skilled the cook is, entertainment and atmosphere outweigh his artworks.
Gauging deliciousness or the fun-quotient is perilous. Silly complication rules. But anyone noting the emperor's nakedness on an Ipad menu at Les Tablettes risks electronic crucifixion. Evoking le funky old Chateaubriand – before it was declared the world's top restaurant – is heresy. Only traitors wonder what's fun about a four-hour culinary ordeal at La Bigarrade – with postage-stamp, mismatched, roughly sliced raw veal topped with carrot flowers, herring eggs, translucent radish and ginger. And why succulent squab should share space with sublime sweetbreads at Spring is a question only an uninitiated anti-revolutionary could ask. Eat at home if you don't like tea.
What's astonishingly retro is how alike the songbooks are of ancient Nouvelle Cuisine evangelists and current foodie fundamentalists. "The more things change," quipped Alphonse Karr, "the more they stay the same." And that was in 1839.
Media noise makes it easy to forget that complication, choreographed creativity and covens of fashion-conscious cultists are only one slice of the Parisian pie. Michelin's vision of haute still has followers. Taillevent is the flagship of a fleet of grandes tables preserved in a sea of aspic. A remnant population of classic French and authentic – not faux retro – bistros serve grandma's real recipes to the unregenerate. Bistronomie, the trumpeted gastronomic bistro fare so many taste buds and wallets endorse, bridges the genres.
Even the bottom link of the food chain shines bright. McDonald's France has 1,161outlets – the conglomerate's second largest earner. But, of course, en France macaroons grace Ronald's menu. C'est chic et ludique. UNESCO surely approves.
[flickr photos via dcbasson and 100five]
Filed under: Food and Drink, Europe, France
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
harriet rochefort Mar 4th 2011 2:13PM
As usual, Downie's got the Paris food scene down pat. It's indeed still and always the food playground of the world and don't you dare challenge the sometimes odd and not always successful offerings of today's chefs who are revered by what he calls the "self-styled foodistas" (who probably can't even boil an egg but that's another story). I prefer the true bistros, no fuss, no muss, who offer simple but "real" French food what Downie calls "grandma's real recipes" to the unregenerate. And I admit I'm lucky: when I go to my French mother-in-law's house, that's the kind of food I eat. It's savory, hearty, homey, and has no bells or whistles other than it's made with the best ingredients and lots of time and love.
David Downie Mar 4th 2011 2:23PM
Harriet, coming from the author of one of my favorite books on Paris -- French Toast -- this is a great compliment! French food can be so good. Why do so many chefs have to turn it into something ridiculous, in the name of novelty? Experimentation is swell, but when I have to undergo an hours-long ordeal of culinary nonsense AND pay dearly for it, no thanks!
harriet rochefort Mar 4th 2011 9:57AM
As usual, Downie's got the Paris food scene down pat. Paris is indeed still and always the food playground of the world and don't you dare challenge the sometimes odd and not always successful offerings of today's chefs who are revered by what he calls the "self-styled foodistas" (who probably can't even boil an egg but that's another story). I prefer the true bistros, no fuss, no muss, the ones that offer simple but "real" French food, what Downie calls "grandma's real recipes", to the unregenerate. And I admit I'm lucky: when I go to my French mother-in-law's house, that's the kind of food I eat, blanquette de veau, boeuf bourguignon, potato omelette made with goose fat... Her traditional French fare is savory, hearty, homey, and has no bells or whistles other than the best ingredients and lots of time and love.
Cara De Silva Mar 4th 2011 12:19PM
As always, David Downie writes beautifully and insightfully about anywhere he travels (or lives). This is a wonderful, highly informative, and evocative piece. Have posted it on Facebook and circulated it in other ways as well. Thank you, Gadling for publishing this.
David Downie Mar 4th 2011 2:21PM
Thank you, Cara, for your lovely comment! I try my best... Sending you it and more! David
Robert Mar 4th 2011 6:15PM
Another wonderful piece by David Downie. If you haven't read his books, you should!
I can't wait to visit Paris again.
Jonell Galloway Mar 5th 2011 6:08AM
For the twenty plus years I lived in France, I listened to the French declaiming the decline of French haute cuisine, first because of Nouvelle Cuisine and later because of fast food. There was a period when even great chefs like Michel Trama said he only saw doom for the future of French cuisine, that the future was in the U.S. and Britain. His own son refused to stay in France and went to work as sommelier at the Brown in London. As Downie so aptly notes, this is a curious French “disease” (or perhaps forte) that is as much a reflection of the discerning manner of the French as it is of the cuisine itself.
Last year American oenologist Michael Steinberger, in his book “Au Revoir to All That,” danced to the same music, but as Jean-Philippe de Tonnac so rightly points out in his critique of the French version of the book, and as Downie says, the French have just switched tunes on the jukebox and we didn’t hear it. It’s Steinberger who seems to have some antiquarian view of what French cuisine “should” be. Mr. Steinberger, I can assure you that it is alive and kicking, not only in Paris, but in hidden corners all over France where they relish and have always relished good local products and have a reverence for use of these ingredients in their local fare.
Many years ago, when I first heard rumbling about the great chefs that were rising in Britain and the U.S., I started planning my trips so that I could try these young “genius” chefs. Never once was I convinced. Because what the Anglos are just now starting to grasp is a whole food culture that has existed in France since Carême and probably even before. It’s the link the Anglos are missing, the link that a Frenchman of any social class has, and that means the French will always have one up on them. This “foundation” allows them to play with the basic ingredients and techniques, because they’ve had them down pat for ages.
And even if many of the chefs are of foreign origin, like the artists of Picasso’s time, Paris is their Elysian Fields.
Since leaving France, I often say to my husband, “We need to go to France and get a good meal,” and off we go, to a different rhythm than in the past, but still a distinctly French rhythm that has done sol-fa much longer than the rest and is standing on firm (and tonic) ground. Downie has hit the right note, like a true maestro.
David Downie Mar 5th 2011 6:29AM
Jonell: thank you for your thoughtful comment. My piece reflects my ambiguous feelings about current French cooking and food. Anyone who has read my book "Food Wine Burgundy" will know that I have little patience for silly food, trendy food, showy food, or novelty for novelty's sake in the kitchen. It's said that Art Follows Life, but Art also Follows Art. Those who rediscover hot water, so to speak, and master the art of stitching the Emperor's New Clothes really have little sense of what has come before them, and might follow. That's called hubris, and it goes hand in hand with ignorance. I agree with you on all points, though I am slightly more skeptical about the continued excellence of the dining experience in France. The French obsession with their own perceived decline crosses all fields, from culture and art to politics and technology. Few nations flail themselves as consistently and constantly, and few shout as loudly about their own greatness. C'est complique'. This is a good thing, though those of us who've lived in France for decades and have usually been the country's best boosters ought to remember to step back and let the cool heads prevail when the prophets of decline and those of trendy nonsense preach from their soap boxes. In terms of cooking, I hope the current cadre of fearless self-promoters and knights of novelty don't toss out the baby scallops with the bouillon. There is much to celebrate and even more to defend.
Carol Spurling Mar 4th 2011 6:02PM
Thanks to Cara for posting on ASFS listserv. Wonderful article. I want to comment on this statement:
"Last November, UNESCO declared the French way of cooking and eating part of humanity's "intangible cultural heritage." Cocky nationalists were not the only ones to crow, but some skeptics wondered whether UNESCO was championing a species that was crossbreeding itself into oblivion."
It is worth pointing out that the intangible cultural heritage as defined by UNESCO does not include any particular French recipes, ingredients, or style of cuisine. It does include the convivial multi-course meal, shared with family and friends, at the table. This is not a "species," but a way of living, and thank goodness, that in matters of cuisine, the French have always found unity in diversity. We must be careful not to assume that the UNESCO listing is meant to enshrine - and therefore mummify - what we think of as typically French food. French gastronomy and cuisine is very much alive, as this article illustrates so well.
David Downie Mar 5th 2011 6:29AM
Thank you, Carol. I'm delighted to know that this post is being widely shared, and in prestigious fora. French cuisine and the French way of eating are indeed alive and well, and let us hope that things continue in this vein and actually improve! The greatest threat, to my mind, to this precious patrimony is probably factory farming, hitched to the increasing trend among chefs to buy their ingredients from huge discounters, instead of sourcing locally. (Home cooks do the same, buying at "hyper-markets," abandoning small, high-quality shops across France). Also, while I applaud the fact that UNESCO listed France and its foodways and cooking, I wonder about the ramifications of the decision. Does Italy not have at least equal claim to such status? What about China, Morocco? Turkey? Vietnam? There are many, many countries with marvelous, centuries-old culinary cultures and ways of eating which deserve recognition and protection. UNESCO has a big job ahead, if you ask me. The French, as always, are consummate self-promoters (rightly so).
russ Mar 7th 2011 4:42AM
David,
Your words are even tastier than the food you describe, a delicious mouthful in their own right. Though drivinfg from Atlanta to Boston, I'm compelled to pull ver, rad and comment.
Again, Bravo!!\Russ Schleipman
sofia harris Mar 5th 2011 12:12PM
David,
Such a pleasure to read your insightful and very amusing take on French food. Tonight I will raise a glass to you as I eat a perfectly cooked confit de canard at my favorite bistro. Great article!
Sofia
Randall Price Mar 7th 2011 4:41AM
I had one of those 'emperor's new clothes' dinners at one of the highest-rated, highest priced Michelin 3-star restaurants a couple years ago. The place was packed and diners seemed in awe of the parade of tiny precious parcels the waiters placed before us with great solemnity. At one point it all became too much and I began to laugh, which brought the chef, scowling, out of the kitchen. 'It's so intellectual, so magical!' said my host. But you can't eat magic and intellect, can you? After dinner my date and I seriously considered ordering a pizza. It would have been more satisfying. But that restaurant is still a temple for gastronomes.
Chilla Mar 7th 2011 4:41AM
First time have read David's article on Gadling! I want to read the past.
New York fini! No way!
I find NY more creative in cuisine and architectual venue.
The epicurian opulence in Paris is mesmerizing !
The other day, lunch at the Mini Palais was more grand than mini.
We were seated and later realized that the row of tables seemed to have been reserved for only anglophones. The enormous place looked empty, so we could have been easily dispersed. Negative point.
Lunched on a beautifully presented exotic cabillaud in a light citronelle bouillon and white coco beans with a dash of coriander, which was excellent. Service with a smile... oh, so rare.
Bravo to the Parisians for accepting international chefs!
Carol Mar 7th 2011 10:59PM
David, as others have said before me, your words are so well expressed and connected, a joy to read. We are coming in May and have been putting together our own little guide book of architecture to see, stores to look at and shop in, and of course, places to eat. Planning more lunches than dinners out, and NO novelty for novelties sake. Planning on shopping for fresh fish, poultry, fruit and veg and cooking at the apartment. Planning on more chocolate, caramels and pastries in two weeks than I'd eat in the other 50 combined. Planning on eating slowly and enjoying every bite.
Clare Mar 10th 2011 9:08AM
Great piece David. Very interesting. Do you think they'll listen? You'd have thought the economic crisis would have been the death of over-priced talent less restaurants.... or is Paris exempt of this world wide crisis?
David Downie Mar 10th 2011 9:15AM
Thanks, Clare! It's not that these chefs lack talent. Au contraire, they might have too much of it... an over-active desire to reinvent the wheel and rediscover boiling water, while tossing out the baby scallops with the bouillon. They're not immune to the crisis, but their bobo-trendy customers appear to be. The fashion-beautiful people-hardcore foodie groupies of the world continue to wing and waddle to Paris, as noted, hungry for entertainment, and $ does not seem to be an issue.
Jordan Simon Mar 12th 2011 3:53PM
As ever, David Downie's comments on Paris and food are sharply observant, witty, even a tad wistful, conveying a true insider's knowledge and appreciation. Reading his words, no matter how serious or ludicrous the topic, is indeed un experience ludique. You can find no better guide (apologies to Michelin, Gault-Millau, et al) to the twists and turns of Paris in its many guises and reinventions. Rome, too, for that matter. As for the foodie arrivistes, well, just as NYC and London are the destination for actors to demonstrate their mastery, Paris remains the ultimate proving ground for gastronomic gallivants. I look forward to more posts from Mr. Downie on all things European.