Z is for Zenith
We’ve made it to the end of the alphabet. Thank you for sticking around, through the hiatuses and longer than planned pauses of retrospection between epistles. I knew that coming to the end would become increasingly difficult, with the thornier letters, the X’s and Y’s. But Z has seemed the most onerous, possibly because I don’t want this project to come to a close. So I’ve named this edition Part 1, with the view to extend it and to alleviate my conclusion anxiety. This idea has been a long time in the making, maybe brewing for even longer than the Alphabet Soup itself and it is dealing with a big question, one that I don’t have the answer to but that I have a lot of thoughts on. Where are all of the good restaurants?
Highly subjective but thoroughly fascinating, I have been racking my brain and pounding the pavements of Paris in search of good food but as much as I enjoy each meal (for the most part), the good good meals have been few and far between. I eat out a lot, really a lot a lot. It is a little bit ridiculous how much I eat out to be honest, the extent has become so cosmic that eating at home, cooking for myself, feels like a huge achievement in money-saving senses. But that means that I am in a position to make comments about eating out in Paris. Which brings around the Z of this letter:
Zenith (noun): the time at which something is most powerful or successful.
Is restaurant eating, or the restaurant scene if you will, at its zenith? Has the world of cheffing reached its peak or have we peaked and plateaued?
Post-service conversation at 1am, translated & paraphrased:
“Has anyone been to Cloche yet?”
“No, not yet but apparently it’s really very good. What about Cheval d’Or?”
“Yes, it’s impeccable. Another level of good. I might go to a Bouillon tomorrow, maybe Chartier.”
“Oh but you know theres that one near Chatelet, the Pharamond.”
“I’ll try that one then. I went to the new L’Orillon too, they’ve redone it really well.”
“I hope they didn’t change it too much. I liked the old one, like I liked the old Rives on Rue Saint Maur”†
The sheer density in Paris of restaurants, old and new, is slightly daunting. You’ll never be able to eat in all of them. You’ll never be able to go to all of the “classics”, nor test all of the nouveautés. I know, because I’ve tried. I’ve spoken before about my brain divide between being a creature of habit, frequenting the same joints, and wanted to be surprised, trying something new and waiting for a revelation. These days, a third factor has joined the loop, and that is the factor of not wanting to try something new just because everyone else is trying it. Vain? Possibly. Stubborn? Certainly. But with our propensity for Instagram stalking restaurants before we eat, trusting recommendations of people we don’t, “stepping the worlds” of influencers who may or may not have any taste whatsoever.
I was asked if I have eaten anywhere good recently, I checked my list of hundreds of restaurants this year and sadly replied no, not really. So this Part 1, is indeed a pre-cursor, to a my 2023 list. I endeavour to categorise everywhere I have eaten this year in order to see if there has been a good restaurant and if so, what made it so good. Call it a science experiment. I already have a sneaky feeling I know what my answer is going to be, knowing where I’ve eaten and where I’ve felt compelled to return to. But, in true disciplinary manner, I will attempt an Excel spreadsheet (if that is not beyond my technological limits) and classify my culinary labours.
This letter feels like a copout, a teaser, an amuse-bouche. But, believe when I say that the next and possibly final Alphabet Soup will be worth the hunger.
Shopping list for you
Not so new but new since my last newsletter - Olivia Rodrigo kills it again
Newest #girlchef on the block
Newest actual chef to visit when you’re in Paris, Anaïs Lechat heading up Loupiotes restaurant
New chef-in-residency everything month at Café Singuliers
New restaurant sous-cheffed by me
New dinner set up
Stay tuned for the Z-list to be coming out fresh in the New Year after the eating and drinking of 2023 has come to an end.
I eagerly await Part 2. 😁😁