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A Beloved Bistro

regalade La Régalade is one of this city’s most beloved classic bistros. Founded by Yves Camdeborde in 1992, it was left in the hands of Bruno Doucet, a chef who (high praise) didn’t ruin it. I visited this bastion of bistronomy last year, loved my meal, but never returned. I suppose that distance trumped delicious. How excited was I, then, to learn that Doucet was opening a new location in central Paris? Daniel Rose filled me in about this when I ran into him yesterday at Spring Boutique (I am addicted, of all things, to their spelt). After chiding me for not being up on the news, Rose suggested we try to book a dinner right away. Right away turned out to be the very same (opening) night.

I hesitated for a split second before accepting, not wanting to criticize a place before the paint on the walls was dry. But I was hungry and up for some fun after a solid week of website construction. So off we went, a motley crew of seven, into the brand new restaurant around the corner. If it sucked, I would remain silent.

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By: Meg Zimbeck | 04/30/10 | Food & Dining | Trackback | Comments [RSS 2.0]

2 Responses to “A Beloved Bistro” »»

Milt Gersh

Comment by Milt Gersh | 05/01/10 at 6:47 pm

Hi, The restaurant’s food sounds delicious., but you overpaid for the vin. I’ve been in the wine business for 30 yrs.so you’ll just have to trust me on this . The pinot gris is a fine wine from the alsace area, but its not consididered anything special. At 40 euros it was way over priced. I know osterdag and they make nice wines. A pinot gris , that a restaurant pays is under 10 Euros. Even if you went to Bon Marche at the epiciere you would be hard put to find a pinot gris over 10 Euros. It seems that restaurants here are doing the same as in the states , marking up their prices 3 to 4 times. It’s time that customers let the restaurant people know that when they overprice their wines, customers should stay away from those outrageous prices. Thanks . Milt Gersh
Meg Zimbeck

Comment by Meg Zimbeck | 05/01/10 at 7:44 pm

Hi Milt,

You’re absolutely right. I was sitting next to a wine buyer that night and he also said it was 4x higher than the retail price. To be honest, though, I don’t expect restaurants to sell their wine at retail cost any more than I expect a cup of coffee to cost ten cents. If jacking the wine is one of the ways that Doucet is managing to offer his 33 euro menu while paying outrageous rent on the rue Saint-Honoré, I can live with it.

Having said that, I really appreciate places like le Verre Volé and les Papilles where you can select an outstanding bottle and pay only retail prices plus corkage.

Cheers,
Meg

A Beloved Bistro

2 Responses to “A Beloved Bistro” »»

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