MARIANI’S

  December 19, 2004                                                         NEWSLETTER

 
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EDITOR'S NOTE:  Readers may now access an Archive of all past newsletters--each annotated--dating back to July, 2003, by simply clicking on  www.johnmariani.com/archive

     Trying always to bolster its image as the "City of Lights," Paris  trims itself each Christmas with more and more glittering trees (and a bit of fake snow). Its boulevards are decked out in white lights, its boutiques teem with Noel images of French tradition, and its hotels are done up like gift boxes.  The effect is just as magical as you wish it to be, so staying put in Paris for the holidays is uniquely beautiful and evocative of the best of the season.
     Were I to throw my wizened US dollars to the wind and book rooms in Paris this season, here are some wonderful hotels that would leap to mind. 
      My first choice would be the Four Seasons Hotel George V (31 Avenue George V; 011-33-01-49-52-7000; www.fourseasons.com), transformed four years ago from a forlorn, dismal dinosaur into a gorgeously refined rare bird.  Indeed, upon re-opening, it set a cast and standard for modern hotels in Paris that quite literally forced its competitors--grand palais grown gray and not so grand--to upgrade and update every aspect of their decor, service, and cuisine.
     The George V opened in 1928 and was one of the finest in the city for decades, then went into sad decline, but a massive, three-year, $125 million  renovation by new owner Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia (who paid $167 million for the property) has made this the most stunning of the city's grand palace hotels.Simply opening up the George V to Paris' soft light was a major breakthrough: from the moment you push through the smooth revolving doors into the splendid lobby (right), you are in a space where light plays off every surface, where plants and flowers flourish, where the psyche of the staff seems buoyant and eager to please.  Every advantage has been taken of tall French windows, every room is filled with light, every foyer has a gaiety never before so vibrant.  The restaurant, which I shall  speak of in an upcoming newsletter, is certainly among the finest in Paris, and the most appealing.   
    There's a first-rate, state-of-the-art spa and pool, impeccable service throughout, and a sense that nothing is impossible here.
 
    Similar renovations have been made at the Hôtel Meurice (228 Rue de Rivoli; 33-44-58-1010; www.meuricehotel.com) across from the Louvre and facing the Tuileries.  To me this is Paris' most romantic place to stay, now more than ever, for everything has been freshened and brought up to date.  It is a place where you readily expect glamour to spring from every corner and movie stars to breeze through the magnificent lobby. The 125 rooms are done with titillating flair in the style of Louis XVIII, and of the 36 suites, there are two Presidential Suites, one with a breathtaking panoramic view of Paris from a terrace set within 2,700 feet of space.  But my favorite room here is the quirky Marco Polo suite (left), which looks like the poshest of seagoing cabins, with fine woods, arched ceilings, and light draperies throughout.  The Meurice, too, has a fine spa, and its restaurant, under Chef Yannick Alleno, is an haute cuisine dining room of spectacular rococo marble, gold, mirrors, and crystal. For lighter fare the art nouveau Jardin d'Hiver is very popular, and the Bar here is as swank and sophisticated as any in the city.

      Equally as romantic in a more ebullient way is the Plaza-Athenée (25 Avenue Montaigne; 33-53-67- 6665; www.plaza-athenee-paris.com), which is currently offering a "Sex in the City" package based on the TV show that spotlights places Carrie visited with Petrovsky and Big, and a program for women guests called  "Parisian Ultimate," by which, for an entire day, a fashion expert counsels them according to their personality, their look, their lifestyle and points out the season's trends, followed by a session at the hairdresser, a light lunch,  then a tour of some of the best and least known shops and boutiques of the city, based on your preferences.

    The hotel (right) has two restaurants run by Alain Ducasse, and one of the sexiest bars in Paris. There are 145 rooms and 43 suites here, most done in the 18th-century style, the two top floors in Art Deco. The spa offers personal trainers, courses in Tae-bo, yoga, and shiatsu.
 
      Quite in the same league and offering some of the friendliest and most congenial service in Paris is Le Bristol (112 Rue de Faubourg St. Honoré; 33-53-53-4300; www.hotel-bristol.com), set rather conveniently on the city's most deluxe shopping street. There are 173 rooms and 48 suites, and its restaurant is gorgeous, filled with polished woods, tapestries, and a beautiful  glass ceiling.  In the warmer weather the dining is best outdoors. 
    This is a very sumptuous and quiet hotel, and to look out from your room over the rush of shoppers on the street  then to join them during the Christmas holidays, then having tea back at the hotel is one of the city's special delights.  Just going up and down in its charming Belle Époque elevator (left) seems like a rite of passage in Paris. The afternoon fashion shows have become a big hit. 
     Most of all, service is paramount at the Bristol. Ask anything of the concierges and you'll receive not a "perhaps" but an "of course." Unless you ask in French, in which case it will not be "peut-être" but "bien sûr."
  
     If, on the other hand, I were in Paris for both business and pleasure, I'd book a room at the two-year old Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme (3-5 Rue de la Paix; 158-71-1234; www.paris.hyatt.com), which epitomizes refined modernity and very good business services, along with a strikingly handsome Grill—quite an innovation for Paris restaurants--built around a pillared rotunda, done in soft grays and off-whites, with an open kitchen overseen by Chef Christophe David, featuring a menu of impeccably grilled meats and seafood.  It’s become very popular for business lunches and dinners.
     The hotel was cobbled together from five different buildings to enclose 178 guest rooms, including 35 suites, a lovely casual café called "Les Orchidées," 8 meeting rooms, and two board rooms. Try to get a room with a terrace overlooking the Place Vendôme (right) and you'll feel merged with the true heart of the city.  The hotel has an extensive art collection. 
   As you might expect from a Park Hyatt, the service here is the closest thing to an American ideal of efficiency, and the young staff here is as fleet-footed as it is multi-lingual and extremely friendly;
     All the rooms have Bang & Olufsen entertainment systems, satellite tv, and complimentary high-speed internet service. (If your airline lost your laptop, you may use a hotel computer on the ground floor free of charge.) Bathrooms have heated floors and stone-enclosed rain showers. The Presidential Suite is a duplex on the sixth floor. 
    
   A little down from the grand palace style of Paris hotels are three excellent smaller, less expensive properties I like very much: the Sofitel Astor (11 Rue d'Astorg; 33-53-05-0505), which was built in 1907 near the Place de la Concorde and done in Regency and Art deco style, with 132 rooms, 2 suites, and a restaurant whose consultant is Joël Robuchon; Le Parc (50 Avenue Raymond Poincaré; 33-44-05-6666), with 95 rooms, and an Alain Ducasse consultancy at the restaurant; and the Hôtel Vernet (25 Rue Vernet ; 33-44-31-9800; www.hotelvernet.com), with 42 rooms  in Louis XVI and Empire decor, many with balconies (left)  with happy red awnings, and the two-star Les Elysées restaurant with a landmark Gustave Eiffel glass roof. (See the next story below for a special Hôtel Vernet package.)  Each of these is distinctly cozier than those of the bigger, more flamboyant hotels, and for that reason you will be well known to the staff and concierges within an hour of checking in.  

     The reason I have not given prices for any of these hotels is because I encourage you to go to their individual websites, or to travel websites, or to your own travel agents for the best deals.  Be mindful that Paris hotels are offering lovely package deals to draw Americans, who, poor as we are, still on the whole spend more money than do European visitors. 
   The time just before Christmas is very busy in Paris but not so much immediately afterwards.  Don't expect to get away with much below $500 a night at the grand palace hotels, but although European hoteliers are not as eager to negotiate over the phone as American room managers are, it is certainly worth trying. An empty room is an empty room, and these days Parisian hoteliers are eager to fill every bed every night, which has not been something they've been able to do for quite a while.  Indeed, depending on the time of year, many of the best hotels in Paris suffer from 40% occupancy, and the kinds of hotels mentioned in this article have always depended very heavily on American traffic.  So give it--and them--a ring. You never know how much Christmas spirit there is unless you ask for it.

 

     Away in Épernay, 90 minutes' drive from Paris, there is a magnificent 18th-century mansion named Maison Belle Époque (11Avenue de Champagne) that has been owned by the Perrier Champagne family since the 19th century.  The façade (above) has a genteel prettiness that hides one of the most romantic and finest collections of original Art Nouveau furniture in France, and, since 1990, has been  used as a showcase for their prestige cuvée, Perrier-Jouët Fleur de Champagne.     
An avid antiquarian might spend hours in the house just looking at every square inch of its curving, sinuous woodwork, asymmetrical patterns, a leitmotif of plants and vines, and superb wallpapers, the style of which is echoed on the famous Perrier-Jouët flowered bottle, which was designed by Emile Gallé, a master glassmaker at the Ecole de Nancy in Nancy.   Here, in room after room, sits exquisite Lalique, over there an ecstatic bronze nude by Guimard, on the wall a fetching Mucha, and furniture that is breathtaking in its imagination and sheer workmanship--especially for a style that only arose in the 1880s and faded out by  World War I.
   Winelovers on the other hand might be more interested in a "Fleurtation" travel package that begins with a three-night stay in Paris, with deluxe rooms and breakfast,  at the Hôtel Vernet (see story above), which includes one picnic lunch for two, one couple’s massage and a 5-course Champagne dinner with a bottle of '96 Fleur de Champagne at the restaurant Les Elysées, at €1,750 ($2,327) for two people.   You may supplement this with a day trip to Épernay and to the Maison.  There you get to tour the Cramant vineyards in Côte des Blancs and caves, the little museum of Champagne history, then stroll the grounds of the Maison before either lunch or dinner, which will be cooked for you and your friends by your own personal chef, Alain André, who will spoil you unremittingly with a “100 Years of Romance Fleurtation" dinner full of caviar, oysters, and truffles geared to the enjoyment of various vintages of the bubbly. 
    Here, in an intimate dining room (below)  that can hold up to 10 people, the 5-course menu teems with  luxury ingredients, beginning with truffled lobster "deshabillé" (out of its shell but wrapped in black truffles), then a roasted poularde with generous foie gras and a flan of morel mushrooms, an array of ripe cheeses, and a "palette" of desserts and sweets. Accompanying the meal are four of the house Champagnes, including Blanc de Blancs '99, '95, '85, the '97 rosé and for the red wine, Château Cos d'Estournel. 
      Upon finishing their meal ladies are presented with a set of six crystal flute Champagne glasses and gentlemen with a bottle of Fleur de Champagne. Then you head back to Paris, which is the only thing that will keep you from sighing for more time in Épernay. 

   The cost of the Maison Belle Époque day trip is €450  ($600) and €380 ($500), and may be arranged by calling  Fréderique Baveret at 011-33--3-26-53-3810 or e-mailing her  at Frederique_Baveret@perrier-jouet.fr. Reservations for the entire Fleurtation package may be made through Small Luxury Hotels of the World at 800.525.4800 or www.slh.com. 
 

La Panetière

  For anyone in search of  the ideal country French restaurant, a 40-minute drive from Manhattan  up the beautiful eastern edge of Westchester, brings you to a place you might believe existed only in Provence. A panetière is a French bread cupboard, an example of which sits in the entrance of the charming La Panetière restaurant, set quaintly on a hillside looking like an affluent French family's  house.
    For nearly twenty years now Toulouseanne owner Jacques Loupiac, always impeccably dressed, always fretting over each and every customer, ever vigilant that something is going awry, has maintained his labor-of-love with the dedication of a man who knows no other way to do it. As a result, the fidelity of his clientele has made La Panetière a perennial favorite. 
     The main dining room (right) is as pretty as a postcard from Mougin (in fact, it looks a little like Roger Vergé's restaurant Moulin de Mougins), set with soft linens, pretty china, seasonal flowers, and perfect little lamps.  Country artifacts are placed discreetly, wooden beams stripe the ceiling, and the armchairs are very comfortable. The gentlemanly demeanor of Monsieur Loupiac rubs off on his entire, largely French, staff; everyone is helped up from his or her chair; tables are kept free of crumbs; butter is maintained at an ideal temperature in a small crock; cheeses are in perfect condition.
      La Panetière has always been lovable, but it has also had a string of chefs over the years of tremendous talent, including Thomas Henkelmann who owns the wonderful Homestead Inn in nearby Greenwich, Connecticut.  So consistent has Loupiac's choice of strong chefs been that I always returned year after year sure that each would both maintain the restaurant's classic Provençal style of cuisine while adding  his own personality to the menu.  I was both disappointed and baffled, then, when La Panetière's last chef seemed so lackluster, his cooking so often flavorless and dull.  So news that Loupiac had hired a new fellow  last year brought me back to La Panetière with both fond nostalgia and high expectations, both of which were rewarded with elegant refinement.
      Chef Florian François Victor Hugo's name certainly  carries all sorts of  artful associations: indeed, his bio reads that he is "A native of Provence. . . from a family of generations of artists and poets." (It was his great-great-great-something-or-other who wrote, "God made only water, but man made wine.")  The young Hugo's  culinary career includes stints with Paul Bocuse and eight years with Alain Ducasse in Paris, Monaco, London, and NYC, all of which shows in the precision of his cooking. 
    We began with something I often long for and rarely find on a French menu anymore--a soufflé au fromage, warm, puffy, and golden brown, made with goat's cheese and a thyme-scented béchamel. What an old-fashioned dish just waiting for a renaissance, at least if prepared as well as Mr. Hugo's version!  Ravioli of foie gras were scrumptious, made moreso by a duck broth. Sweetbreads and black truffles, served on braised cabbage in a richly reduced sauce périgueux, could hardly have been more welcome on an autumn evening.
     Among the main courses I most liked was rack and saddle of organically raised suckling pig with a casserole of vegetables and dauphine potatoes. Wild striped sea bass was quickly seared to a turn, its flesh of fine texture, suffused with the flavors of leeks, potato, and black truffles with a foamy sauce parmentier. Although quite savory in its black trumpet mushroom and lime crust and a sauce poivrade, New Zealand venison should be replaced by better American deer. 
      Few people fail to leave room for La Panetière's cheese selection, which is more than ample and in perfect condition.  Then move on to Niçoise pâtissier Didier Berlioz's wonderful desserts, like his millefeuille of chocolate with an orange compote, cocoa nougatine, and pomegranate juice, or his claflouti of autumn's ripest pears snuggled in a lovely chestnut custard beneath a sugar crust and light whiskey-laced cream.  His sorbets and ice creams are all excellent, and if you love hazelnut macaron, here it comes with crunchy praline ice cream and fruits.
         La Panetière's 900-selection, 15,000 bottle winelist is one of the best in the region, by which I mean the Tri-state area, particularly strong in French bottlings. I think it's a younger list than it once was, but that is all to the good, since old-timers like Château Figeac '66 at $1,370  and a Griveley Chambolle-Musigny  '37 at $720 are more curiosities than true rarities.   Alas, the list is weighed down by very expensive price tags, with little on the list under $50; mark-ups are high:  Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne '01 retails for $60, while costing $180 at La Panetière; Château Léoville-Barton '99 is $40 vs $130; the better buys seem to be in American labels: Duckhorn "Three Palms Vineyard" '00 will run you $80-$90 in a wineshop; here it's $165. 
         A three-course dinner here is  $62; six courses run an extremely generous $78, which in a Paris restaurant of this stripe might well be the cost of a single appetizer.
      So consider a trip to the country for that rare thing, a truly French auberge with a very serious commitment to standards not often encountered, even in New York.  You can't miss it: It's the darling house on the hill glowing like a beacon of light. 

In Copenhagen, police arrested a man who tried to pay his restaurant bill with Monopoly money. He was carrying $57,000 worth of it when he was arrested .

NOTE TO COPY EDITOR: Please check breed of puppy-dog husbands; also, make sure Jeremy irons is still alive.

"Il Melograno has a devoted constituency, from rich Greeks over for a quick weekend, to lean and mean signore of a certain age (with their puppy-dog husbands), to fortyish couples from England with vague Hollywood connections (lots of nail-biting lunch talk of Jeremy Irons and whether he'll be signing with HBO").--From "Puglia Rustica" by Christopher Petkanas in Travel & Leisure (July 2004).

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MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET NEWSLETTER is published weekly.  Editor/Publisher: John Mariani. Contributing Writers: Robert Mariani,  Naomi  Kooker, Kirsten Skogerson,  Edward Brivio, Mort Hochstein, Lucy Gordan, Suzanne Wright. Contributing Photographers: Galina Stepanoff-Dargery,  Bobby Pirillo. Technical Advisor: Gerry McLoughlin.

 John Mariani is a columnist for Esquire, Wine Spectator, Diversion and the Harper Collection. He is author of The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink (Lebhar-Friedman), The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink (Broadway), and, with his wife Galina, the award-winning new Italian-American Cookbook (Harvard Common Press).   To  purchase from amazon.com, click on the image below.
 

copyright John Mariani 2004