I can't tell you how relieved I was when Steinberger's recent book, "Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine, and the End of France" (Bloomsbury USA), came across my desk not long after we got back from Paris. ... Maybe we were just old and out of it. ad_icon Even if all those things are a little bit true, reading Steinberger, a wine columnist for Slate magazine (which is owned by the Washington Post Co.) and admitted "food-loving Francophile," reassured me.
... We'll be in Paris on Monday and we have plenty of old standards to go to (some not as good as they used to be), but I'm glad that we don't have to try to find places to eat "au pif."
Friends are just back from Paris and here are their quick recommendations and (very) short comments: Lots of Amarino ice cream (they keep opening new locations beyond Rue du Buci)
... La Petite Cour for dinner (8, rue Mabillon 6th) -- we really like this one too We, including and especially the kids, LOVE Amarino ice cream, but eschew the rue de Buci location for other less touristy spots because the lines go down the block. ... We love the decor, which allows us to bask in a fantasy that we are a truly bilingual French-American editor at Gallimard having yet another intellectual tête-a-tête with the real denizens of the 6th.
This writer does have one thing right though: it's impossible to get a table at lunch, and worse at dinner. ... Luckily for the disorganised amongst us (myself included) no booking is required at lunch and during August this policy extends to dinner. Time your arrival correctly (think just before 12.30 or just after 1.30 for lunch) and you are likely to only have to wait a couple of minutes for a table.
Here's another good round-up of food feasts in Paris, many in our neighborhood, and old favorites like Pierre Hermé and La Durée (though we've soured on the last given prices and crowds). ... Stop by Pierre Hermé on rue Cambon on the right bank or rue Vaugirard or Bonaparte locations on the left bank for mouth watering macarons – these are the best in Paris, seconded, perhaps by Ladurée (skip the macarons at Paul). Another worthwhile stop for an afternoon pause gourmande is the Grande Epicerie du Bon Marché, where you can sample many top shelf products, from cheeses, to meats, to a shellfish bar, more types of water than you have ever seen, and speciality products from Fauchon and Hediard.
Of course, as I read this article in NY Times , I was reminded once again, the democratic pleasures of Paris... that the Proustian aspects of Paris need not be costly.... 
IF YOU GO HOW TO GET AROUND The Vélib’ bicycle-rental system has become exceedingly popular. ... Le Bar à Soupes, 33, rue de Charonne; (33-1) 4357-5379; www.lebarasoupes.com, offers an excellent lunch deal: a fresh market soup, two types of cheese, bread and a glass of wine for 9.90 euros.
My husband and I always talk about being a month ahead of NY Times on finding and discovering new places in the neighborhood. ... A tiny, successful restaurant from the 11th Arr. decides to open Itinéraires, twice as large, in the Latin Quarter. ... What intrigued me was the blackboard menu: Jerusalem artichoke soup comes garnished with a granita of foie gras; roast cod is topped with layers of tempura vegetables; and pheasant breast is accompanied by dates, pistachios, fruit compote and the odd nugget of buckshot.
John Talbott's site is always chock-full of food reviews. This man is eating all the time, and mostly great stuff. Emmanuel Rubin in Figaroscope gave 2/5 to just one place, the strangely named (for its two owners/principals) Le Marcab, 225 rue de Vaugirard in the 6th, 01.43.06.51.66, open 7/7 with lunch menus at 19 and 24, dinner at 32 and a la carte 40 € with a carpaccio od scallops with wasabi, turbot, chocolate “soup” with bananas [From John Talbott's Paris: Reviews of reviews: The Week of March 2nd, 2009 ]
The views are great and you get a different perspective from that of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe or Sacre Coeur. ... The last restaurant of this ilk I tried was the Jules Vernes at the Eiffel Tower and that was already fifteen years ago when it had a Michelin star. ... First let me say that we spent a wonderful evening last night at the 56th floor restaurant, Le Ciel de Paris - Tour Maine Montparnasse.
