For those of us in the Bay Area accustomed to Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Café and the like, cozy surroundings and exquisitely creative cooking may seem nothing new. Fresh locally sourced food and wine, spontaneously bought yet prepared to exacting standards, form a definitive part of the casually elegant style that is the way of life in Northern California.
In Paris however, small restaurants serving moderately priced in-season fare with haute touches, are considered a culinary movement. Known as gastro bistros, they take the techniques – and chefs – of traditional three star restaurants and make them shine in a more relaxed, near-improvised and tucked away dining atmosphere.
Inside Le Comptoir
Yves Camdeborde was one of the first chefs to open a gastro bistro, embracing a sense of wonder and hospitality in his work with a focus on the art of gastronomy itself, rather than status and reputation in the French culinary world. In the early 1990’s he opened La Régalade while his contemporaries in the ‘movement’ opened other, similarly small and obscure locales in various outskirt neighborhoods of Paris. But now, with the opening of Le Comptoir du Relais Saint Germain in the Left Bank, his place and other gastro bistros (Thierry Blanqui’s Le Beurre Noisette, Thierry Breton’s Chez Michel, Thierry Faucher’s Le Cave de L’Os à Moelle) often have a longer wait list for reservations than some of the finest Michelin garnished three star restaurants in the vicinity.
Lobster Bisque
Salade Nicoise
Osso Bucco
Dessert
Join Chef Marc as he visits with Yves Cambdeborde at Le Comptoir. After listening to this, you just might need to plan that much needed trip to Paris. Make your reservations now!
Le Comptoir
Hôtel Relais Saint-Germain
9, carrefour de l’Odéon
Paris 75006
phone: +33 (0)1 44 22 07 97
fax: +33 (0)1 46 33 45 30
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Posted by Chef Marc in Podcast, Restaurant Visits, Conversations with Chefs | RSS 2.0
