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A Wine Bar for All Seasons
Two bars offer delicious sanctuary
LEGRAND
Since 1880, the Legrand family has been dazzling Parisians
with its sweets and bonbons, rare mustards, liqueurs
and of course wines. Now, the respected family shop
has expanded once again, with a new tasting center,
an expanded wine course, and continued efficient service.
The new “wine bar” is not big, just a large
round bar in the back of the stunning turn of the century
boutique, and a shared communal table in the charming
covered passageway, the Galerie Vivienne near the Bourse
in the 2nd arrondissement.
When you go, be sure to enter through the stunning
turn-of-the-century storefront and then gaze up at the
ceiling, a masterfully arranged collection of wine corks.
Try to maintain composure as you pass the colorful apothecary
jars filled with special sweets from all over France,
lend a gaze at some of the well-priced wines from Bordeaux,
the Loire, the Rhone, the Languedoc, you name it, and
settle in at the circular bar or at the communal table
outside.
If I ever opened a wine bar this is the kind of food
I would serve: simple, no-nonsense, and the sort that
satisfies as it should. There is just a small selection
of lunch-time or snack platters, including extraordinary
smoked wild Norwegian trout served with perfectly tangy
crème fraiche, with freshly grilled toast set
at your elbow as you tuck in your napkin. I also loved
the fine cheese trays – a generous assortment of
five goat cheeses or five cow’s milk cheeses all
from the reputable cheese shop Quatrehomme --- one served
with a tapenade-like black olive cream showered with
basil, another with nuts and raisins, both with a nice
green salad alongside. A charcuterie platter, a cheese
and charcuterie platter, foie gras, or a can of prized
Rodel sardines are the remaining choices. Prices range
from 9 € to 16 € per plate.
I could imagine a weekly afternoon rendezvous here,
with the additional chance of ordering any wine in the
shop for a 15 € corkage fee. I admit I was not
dazzled by two white wines sampled from the brief list
of those available by the glass. Neither the 1998 Domaine
Zind-Humbrecht Riesling, with a promise of a flinty
mineral richness, nor the 1999 Bourgogne Chitry chardonnay
with a hopeful hint of hazelnuts, did anything for my
palate. I found solace, however, in my beloved Domaine
de Cascavel 2000, the silken and rich Cotes du Ventoux,
fairly priced at 5.30 € a glass.
Once you have been lured to the tasting center, linger
in the book shop, buy yourself a set of new wine glasses,
sign up for one of their wine courses, or make a note
of their next winemaker’s open tasting. And don’t
forget the bonbons.
CHEZ RAMULAUD
Chez Ramulaud looks like the old-fashioned bistro of
our dreams: A tattered, old-fashioned dining room decorated
with bric a brac, clocks intentionally set to the wrong
time, a stern-faced patron that can quickly be won over
with a good smile and a choice of the right wine, and
a lively, varied clientele that is there for one reason
and one reason only, to have a good time.
As you enter the 1930’s style bistro – with
bare wooden tables and worn patchwork tile floors ---
you find wine cartons stacked up towards the ceiling
and you take a look at some of the familiar labels and
you know you’re, too, shall have a good time.
The wine list is one of the best reasons to set your
foot into this popular 11th arrondissement bistro, with
its healthy, well-chosen, list that includes the lively
100% Grenache Domaine Gramenon Cuvée Sagesse
from winemaker Michelle Laurent, a remarkably pure-flavored
wine that tastes of, guess what, grapes and nothing
less. Equally appealing is the powerful Cotes du Roussillon
Village Domaine Piquemal, a dense, purple wine made
just across the Spanish border where the intense summer
sun turns their fittingly named wine “Terres Grillées”
(grilled soil) into a dense, deep-flavored red that’s
a combination of the rugged Carignan grape tempered
by the silky smoothness of the Syrah with the tannic
aromatic hit of the Mourvedre grape. A fine third choice
is the Domaine Gauby Cotes du Roussillon Villages, another
intense red that’s loaded with flavor and thoughts
of southern summers.
The food at Ramulaud is a combination of classic bistro
fare --- grilled entrecote with a fabulous potato and
mushroom gratin – tempered with a few modern additions.
I loved the brilliant and beautiful ricotta and eggplant
terrine, a full-flavored dish that served as a wave
goodbye to summer; as well as the feather-light gnocchi
teamed up with well-chosen fresh wild cepe mushrooms
that lent a distinctive perfume and flavor to a dish
that lingered for a good long time.
The bread here is delicious (I think two of us polished
off two hefty basketfuls) and although the rolling antique
cheese house is charming and the selection is overly
generous (on a quiet night they wheel the basket to
your table and you help yourself) the cheese would be
less dried out if it did not sit all day in the open.
Alas, after a few visits the charm wears thin. Much
of the rest of the food was consistently undercooked
(rare fish is one thing, bloody rare lamb is quite another),
and under seasoned, and waits for service can be excruciatingly
long.
But go thirsty, with a dose of patience, and you should
have a fine time.
Espace Dégustation Legrand,
1, rue de la Banque,
Paris 75002.
Tel: 01 42 60 07 12.
Fax:
01 42 61 25 51.
Wine bar open Monday through Saturday noon to 7 pm.
Epicerie and Wine Boutique open Monday 11 am to 7 pm,
Tuesday through Friday 10 am to 7:30 pm, and Saturday
10 am to 7 pm.
Chez Ramulaud,
269 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine,
Paris
75011.
Tel: 01 43 72 23 29.
Closed Saturday lunch and Sunday dinner. Credit card:
Visa. About 35 € per person, including service
but not wine.
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