The Concierges’ Gazette

01Feb

Going out in February

Written by james, the 01 February in category The Concierges' Gazette, 0 comment

Exhibitions

The Centre Georges Pompidou presents Dance your life, an unprecedented exhibition devoted to the links between the visual arts and dance. Paintings, sculptures, installations, videos, choreographic pieces … One common interest shared by all these disciplines: the moving body. Until April 2nd.

Giorgio di Chirico is honoured at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris which has just received 61 pieces from the Giorgio and Isa di Chirico Foundation. The museum has now one of the most important collections of di Chirico pieces in the world. Don’t miss it! Until June 10th.

Dance

Go to the Théâtre National de Chaillot and enjoy Inanna, a political and poetic piece as well as a wonderful choreography by Carolyn Carlson. This is a real ode to the incarnation of the feminine being in which 7 dancers express the harmony of bodies and passion. From February 15th to 18th.

Restaurants

The bistro L’Escient and its Chef, the owners’ daughter who worked with Ducasse, offer since last summer a good French cuisine in which she adds delicious Asian flavors: beef maki with coriander, piglet loin glazed with soya honey, coffee tiramisu with Grand Marnier. Count 50 to 60 Euro. Closed on Sunday for lunch and Monday evening. 28 rue Poncelet, 17th. Tel: +33 9 66 92 49 13.
In a chic new bistro close to the Saint-Lazare station and called Neva, the lady chef, who made her classes at the Paul Bocuse Institute and with Senderens, will delight you with her creative cuisine: squid spaghetti with lomito Iberico de Bellota, veal sweatbreads glazed with apple syrup, destructured chocolate sphere… Count 50 to 70 Euro. Closed on Saturday for lunch and Sunday. 2 rue de Berne, 8th. Tel: +33 1 45 22 18 91.


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02Jan

Going out in January

Written by james, the 02 January in category The Concierges' Gazette, 0 comment

Exhibitions

Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was one of the major philosophers and critics of the 20th century. The Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme presents you his archives (handwritten notes & letters, postcards, reports, photographs, press articles …), thus revealing the vision this famous thinker had of the world.

Until January 23rd, the Centre Pompidou is supporting by means of 60 paintings and 50 photographs the theory according to which Edvard Munch was much more modern than pre-expressionist or symbolist and that he was maintaining a constant dialog with the cinema, the theatre and the photography. Not to miss!   

Opera

From January 10th, the Opéra Bastille presents a new production of Manon by Jules Massenet, with a staging by Coline Serreau and under the musical direction of Evelino Pido. Savour this sublime and heart-rending reflection about time that flies and the ephemeral joys of life through the story of Manon Lescaut.

Restaurants

The Figaroscope has published his “Best Of 2011” list of restaurants , ranged by categories:

Grand style: L’Abeille at the Shangri La, 10 av. d’Iéna, 16th and
Annex: Frenchie Bar à Vins, 6 rue du Nil, 2nd
Classic :Auberge, 15 rue de la Santé, 13th
New: Pantruche, 3 rue Victor Massé, 9th
New cuisine: Septime, 80 rue Charonne, 11th
« Bobo » favourite: Au Passage, 1 Bis Pas. St Sébastien, 11th


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06Dec

Going out in Paris in December

Written by james, the 06 December in category The Concierges' Gazette, 0 comment

Show

The Cirque du Soleil is back to Paris with Corteo, its new show, still so impressive. Enjoy this festive parade imagined by a clown who brings together the passion of the actor and the powerful grace of the acrobats in a theatrical universe between heaven and earth. With wonderful sets and costumes, here is an occasion to live a magic moment. Until January 8th, 2012.

 

Museums

If you are curious about the Maori culture, visit the Quai Branly Museum and the exhibition Maori, their treasures have a soul. 250 pieces are featured for the first time outside New Zealand and are a testimony of a strong and living culture, affirming a people’s will to master their own future. A discovery of the Maori culture as seen by Maori, free from Western views and biases. Until January 22nd, 2012.

 

At the Marmottan-Monet Museum, Henri-Edmond Cross and Neo-Impressionism. From Seurat to Matisse proposes about a hundred oil paintings and watercolours and traces the evolution of his work in the context of work by other members of the Neo-Impressionnist movement, as Seurat and Signac. The exhibition highlights the distinctive, poetic quality of Cross’ work and demonstrates his importance and decisive influence in modern art. Until February 19th, 2012.

 

 Restaurants

The famous restaurant Lapérouse, created in 1766, presents its new owner, new Chef and new bar ! The Chef, from the Bristol, will delight you with his spider crabs, Dublin bay prawns, rack of lamb, or with his soufflé Lapérouse. This restaurant that used to be one of the most famous of Paris should soon become again one of the “places to go”! Beautiful private rooms. About 150 Euro without drinks, tasting menu at 155 Euro. Closed on Sundays and Saturdays for lunch. 51 quai des Grands Augustins, 6th. Tel.: +33 1 56 79 24 31.

The Fooding Awards 2012 have just been given. Best table for Chatomat (20th), best wine bar for Frenchie Bar à Vins (2nd), best “Régalez-vous” for L’Agapé Substance (6th), Honorary Fooding for the Septime (11th). We have already suggested you these promising addresses, do not hesitate to ask us to book a table for you!


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03Oct

To do in Paris in October

Written by james, the 03 October in category The Concierges' Gazette, 0 comment

Opera

The Opera Bastille presents until October 25th one of the greatest successes of French opera: Faust by Gounod. With its youthful and turbulent lyricism, this opera has been celebrated all over the world and comes back to Paris with this new production staged by the master Jean-Louis Martinoty and interpreted by Roberto Alagna and Inva Mula. Very faithful to Goethe who inspired it, this master-piece is considered as the memory and the emblem of French opera.

Museums

Don’t miss Matisse, Cézanne, Picasso… The Stein Family at the Grand Palais from October 5th 2011 to January 16th 2012. This exhibition shows how important the patronage of this family was and how it helped to establish a new standard of taste in Modern Art. First people to buy Matisse and Picasso, receiving the avant-garde into their homes, this important family of patrons had very early made up a collection of pieces from artists who all became “masters”.

Baselitz, one of the main contemporary artists is honoured at Musée d’Art Moderne until January 29th 2012. An occasion to discover his exceptional and unknown huge pieces created between 1979 and 2010. The exhibition unveils sculptures in wood pruned with the chainsaw and the axe, heads and standing figures with sexual ambiguity, in a very minimalist scenography supervised by Baselitz himself, an artist haunted by his past but a great spirit “as Matisse”.

 

Restaurant

In the Menilmontant area, here is a new address which isn’t much to look at but which is excellent: Chatomat. Two young chefs who made their class in the best restaurants (Arpège, le Gavroche, Ledoyen, …) will treat you with a delicious French and creative cuisine: celery cooked with coarse salt -  cod perfectly cooked, romaine lettuce and semolina with Iberian ham – crusty lamb covered with herbs – Mont d’Or cheese – chocolate ice cream with almond nougatine… It is far from the center in a popular district but Chatomat is worth going! Around 50 Euro. Closed every day for lunch, on Mondays and Tuesdays. 6 rue Victor Letalle, 20th. Tel: +33 1 47 95 25 77


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01Sep

Our September favourites

Written by james, the 01 September in category The Concierges' Gazette, 0 comment

Show

Discover Mikhail Baryshnikov’s « In Paris » at the Théâtre de Chaillot between September 8th and 17th. To present the fortuitous meeting of two Russian immigrants in Paris in the 1930s and their most moving love-story thereafter, he conceived a show involving theatre, dance, music and video. Contact us to book your tickets!

Exhibitions

Explore the mysterious world of voodoo at the Fondation Cartier with the biggest collection of Voodoo sculptures ever assembled. Made of rope, bones, terra cotta or shells, the statues displayed in the exhibition “Les Trésors du Vaudou” play a capital role in this very ancient cult that is still observed in a vast region of Africa, from the coasts of Togo to Western Nigeria. Until September 25th.

Starting September 16th, the Pinacothèque de Paris unveils an unknown side of Giacometti’s inspiration with the exhibition « Giacometti et les Etrusques ». He was fascinated by the Etruscan civilization and especially by an art that already used long vertical figures, as emaciated as possible. The influence of Etruscan art on the sculptor’s work is astounding.

Restaurant

Frenchie bar à vins: Frenchie opened a wine bar across the street with superb products to match its very good bottles: tasty piccalilli terrine, foie gras with cherry chutney, burratta and crushed peas with mint; tepid braised pig’s head, beans, chanterelle mushrooms and poppy buttons with vinegar… as well as many delicatessen and cheese planchas. Count 8 to 14 € per portion. Wine glasses from 6 €. Open evenings only from 7:00 to 11:00, except Saturdays and Sundays. 5 Rue du Nil, 2nd. Tel : 01 40 39 96 19.


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04Jul

To do in Paris in July and August

Written by james, the 04 July in category The Concierges' Gazette, 0 comment

Music

To relive the flamboyance of the reign of Louis XIV in Versailles, don’t miss the “Grandes Eaux Musicales” a superb show in the castle’s gardens. Explore the garden, its wooded groves and fountains while listening to music and with astonishing sights at night. Just before, in the Hall of Mirrors, enjoy a round dance of a French ball to the sound of a serenade.

Exhibitions

Until September 4th, the Summer Garden of the Musée du Quai Branly shows “L’Eloge de la Lenteur”, or “how to enjoy slowness”: readings, electronic naps, visits, tales, workshops, cooking discoveries or concerts… Surrounded by temporary objects created by Leopold Banchini, awarded at the Architecture Biennale of Venice, come and take the opportunity to stand back from the crazy modern life!

Stay at the Musée du Quai Branly if you are a fan of the Maya culture. The exhibition “Maya, from dawn to dusk, National collections of Guatemala” presents more than 150 extraordinary pieces that have never been seen before in Europe and that retraces rise and decline of this civilization before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors. Until October 2nd.

Restaurants

After 136 years, the Opera Garnier has finally a restaurant! In a wonderful decor signed by Odile Decq (who redesigned the MACRO – Contemporary Art Museum of Rome in 2010), you will enjoy the delicious cuisine of the famous Chef (Christophe Aribert, 2 stars in the Michelin guide)! Around 40 Euro for lunch, 60/80 Euro for dinner, in the main room, on the mezzanine or on a covered terrace.

Enjoy a walk in the Jardin d’Acclimation and a lunch at La Grande Verrière, a nice terrace with a very fresh and light cuisine, supervised by Christian Le Squer (Ledoyen): Grapefruit and fennel salad, carrots and orange in remoulade sauce, brandade nem with a tartare sauce. Open every day from 10am to 7pm (6pm in winter), closed in the evening. Tel. : +33 1 45 02 09 32.


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09Jun

Going out in Paris in June

Written by james, the 09 June in category The Concierges' Gazette, 1 comment

Opera

From June 3rd to 30th, the Opera Bastille will welcome The Twilight of the Gods by Richard Wagner. One of the most monumental opera in music history comes to close Wagner’s tetralogy, shown in Paris for the first time since 1957. The masterpiece ends on an injunction for everyone: how can you break fatality, violence, jealousy and betrayal? Still a current them…

Exhibition

At the Louvre museum, Rembrandt and the face of Jesus showcases the masterpiece The Pilgrims at Emmaus, newly restored. What did Jesus look like? That is the question Rembrandt seems to try to answer with this painting and others, his and his students’. In order to retranscribe at best the emotion aroused and felt by the Christ, Rembrandt might have asked a young Jewish man from Amsterdam to pose. This masterpiece also shows the intensity and the intimacy of his relations with Jesus. Until July 18th.

Restaurants

C’est mon plaisir… A very nice name for an elegant restaurant on the Ile Saint Louis, where 2 friends serve an audacious cooking: carpaccio of preserved shoulder of lamb with asparagus – roasted croaker, aubergine caviar – sirloin steak from the Bourbonnais with fresh vegetables – Almond biscuit, strawberries and coco Chantilly cream. Lunch menu from 17.50 Euro, dinner menu from 28.00 Euro. 42 rue Saint Louis en l’Ile, 4th (+33 1 43 26 79 27). Open every day.

You plan a lunch or a dinner on a terrace ? Some suggestions: La Maison Blanche (near the Champs Elysées), the Café Richelieu (Louvre Museum), La Terrasse (at the Galeries Lafayette, from noon to 6 pm), L’Arc, with a fabulous view of the Arc de Triomphe, the 39 V, the Mini Palais (at the Grand Palais), La Grande Cascade (Bois de Boulogne), Laurent…


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04May

Going out in Paris in May

Written by jamie, the 04 May in category The Concierges' Gazette, 0 comment

Ballet

In echo to the celebrations of the Franco-Russian Year, the Opera Garnier welcomes the Bolchoï Theatre Ballet for a double bill: Flammes de Paris, performed in 1932 and set in the French Revolution, and the famous Don Quichotte, created on the stage of the Bolchoï Theater in 1869. From May 5th to 15th.

Exhibitions

The Musée Marmottan Monet presents Complicity and Rupture, dedicated to Raoul and Jean Dufy. This is the first time that the two brothers’ pieces are put together. If Raoul’s work is very well known (fauvism and cubism), Jean’s remains less popular. The exhibition shows one hundred pieces and tries to underline what linked the brothers but also what distinguished them. Until June 26th.

Restaurants

Come and discover Speakeasy, a new lounge restaurant with a smoking room. The chef, who worked with the Pourcel brothers and Rostang, concocts : tuna toro in a soya sauce with yuzu, cod with pepper from Madagascar, Speakeasy tiger… Every evening, a singer on the piano plays a mix of jazz, blues and soul music from the 50’s and 60’s. DJ on Friday evenings from 11pm. About 50 / 70 Euro. 25 rue Jean Giraudoux, Paris 16th (+33 1 47 23 47 22). Open every evening (closed for lunch).

Akrame Benallal, who has just been elected “Grand de demain” by the Gault & Millau guide, has opened his first restaurant Akrame (ex L’Etoile Lauriston and L’Orchidée). In a modern and uncluttered setting, with an open kitchen, you will really enjoy: egg cooked at 62°C on a potato and herring tartare, cod on black quinoa… Lunch menu at 35 Euro, about 45 / 65 Euro for dinner. 19 rue Lauriston, Paris 16th (+33 1 40 67 11 16). Closed on Saturday and Sunday.


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06Apr

What to do in Paris this April

Written by jamie, the 06 April in category The Concierges' Gazette, 0 comment

Ballet

From April 11th to 30th, the Opera Bastille will be the scene of the unfortunate love story Romeo and Juliet. Rudolf Noureev’s choreography manages to translate all the beauty of Prokofiev’s music and the passion of Shakespeare’s drama. Full of emotion.

Exhibitions

At the Musée Jacquemart André, « The Caillebotte brothers’ private world» invites us to enter the intimacy of an important Parisian family at the beginning of the XXth century, a period of major urban and technological transformations. Gustave’s paintings and Martial’s photographs reveal the underlying similarities between the two brothers as well as the way of life described by the Impressionists. Until July 11th.

The dazzling and disconcerting Dutch painter Kees Van Dongen is celebrated at Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris which offers us a look at his multifaceted personality: the socially-conscious man ever ready to caricature and denounce, the avant-garde artist and iconic Fauve, as well as one of the Roaring Twenties leading figures of the trendy Parisian scene. Until July 17th.

Restaurant

For the sake and Japanese tapas lovers, Isse has just opened Izakaya Isse, a kind of bistro devoted to the rice alcohol (50 different bottles). Pork from Pyrénées on a skewer and tempura vegetables, chicken wings in a sesame sauce, breaded breast of poultry, shizo leaf and runny French brie… Delicious meals to go with the famous drink. Menus from 30 to 60 Euro. 45 rue de Richelieu, Paris 1st (+33 1 42 96 26 60). Closed on Sunday.


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01Mar

Going out in Paris this March

Written by jamie, the 01 March in category The Concierges' Gazette, 0 comment

Opera

At the Opéra Garnier, from March 8th to April 5th, enjoy the masterpiece of Leos Janacek : « Kátia Kabanová ».  This opera created in 1921has been adapted by Janacek himself from Ostrovski‘s « The Storm ». Through the dramatic life of Kátia, it shows the female condition and the tragedy of oppressed women in rural Russia in the 1860s.

Exhibitions

The newly renovated Musée du Luxembourg reopens with a statement of its European dimension and an exhibition dedicated to one of the most important artists of Renaissance in the German World:  Lucas Cranach (1472-1553).  It displays the diversity and the fullness of the work of this artist who was a direct witness of major political and religious changes, especially the Reformation. Until May 23rd.

The Musée du Louvre has organized a cultural clash for you. During the first retrospective dedicated to the German sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1736 – 1783), the museum presents five works by the English artist Tony Cragg (born in 1949). An unexpected art dialogue to witness before April 25th.

Restaurants

Kei: the Japanese chef Kei Kobayashi took over Gérard Besson’s restaurant at nr 5 rue Coq Héron, 1st, where he prepares a superb French cuisine with:  vegetable and salmon composition, duck risotto, lobster with condiments, boileau of mushrooms and its glass of Xeres, suckling lamb from the Pyrenees as well as a delicious vacherin with citrus fruits. Menus of 4 to 8 dishes, at 38 and 48 € for lunch, 75 and 95 € for dinner. Closed on Sundays & Mondays. Tel: 01 42 33 14 74.

The Guide Lebey des Bistrots 2011 will soon be issued. The nominated for the best bistro prize this year are: Volnay (1st), Le Café des Musées (3rd), Les Coulisses Vintage (9th) and la Table d’Eugène (18th).


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