i have an embarrassing
disclosure to make.
Some months ago, I was one of the people
who took to Twitter expressly to brag
about having a reservation at Balthazar.
For a short time, bagging a table at East-
End-boy-turned-New-York-star-restaurateur Keith
McNally’s brasserie was the talk of most foodie parties,
usually involving the words, “Have you been yet?!”
This followed on from the opening of Brasserie Zédel
(
brasseriezedel.com
),
a take on buzzy Parisian
eating halls from Chris Corbin and Jeremy
King, the men behind The Wolseley.
Zédel brought the glamour and menu
classics of Paris’s brasseries to Soho,
keeping the price points at the same
level as its French cousins – more
than can be said for Balthazar…
Question is: do the British need
to get so excited about French
brasseries by way of New York or
London when we’re a couple of
hours from Paris? Having just
visited the real thing, I’d say
nothing can compare.
Food writers in Paris
are in our element, of
course. We all have our
favourite brasseries;
mine is Chartier
(
bouillon-chartier.com
),
on Rue du Faubourg
Montmartre, where you must wait in line with a largely
local crowd. When a table (or, more likely, a couple of
seats at an already-inhabited table) becomes available,
you’re ushered in by one of the suited, bow-tied
waiters, menus and bread thrust down onto the paper
tablecloths in typically brusque manner.
At this stage, I like to dip a slice of baguette into
the mustard and take in the scene. The shiny gold light
fittings, brass rails, art-deco windows and scurrying
waiters balancing huge trays of steak frites.
One of the best things about Chartier is
that you can eat very well, and very
French, for very little. Enjoy classic,
perfectly made dishes like celeriac
remoulade (€2.50), endive and
Roquefort salad (€5.50) and pavé de
‘
rumsteak’ with pepper sauce and a
mountain of frites (€11.30).
Finish with a rum baba, oodles of
Chantilly cream (€4.50) and a
glass of Calvados (€3.70), then
stroll up to the Sacré Coeur
to burn it off and admire
the view. Now that’s
something you
certainly can’t do in
London or New York...
alotonherplate.com
“
You can eat very well,
and very French, for very little”
Forget the pretenders - there’s nothing quite like an authentic
Parisian brasserie, says
Rosie Birkett
A L O T O N
H E R P L A T E
P A R I S
Stroll up to
the Sacré Coeur to burn
off lunch. Now that’s
something you can’t do in
London or New York
ILLUSTRATION
TANG YAU HOONG
1 0 9
V I E W P O I N T S
