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    Ruth Reichl Weighs in on Paris Restaurant “Jules Vern”

    By PDX Food Dude Last Update October 12, 2014 4 Comments

    ruth-reichlOuch! In my last news roundup, I mentioned Ruth Reichl‘s blog, and writings about a recent trip to Portland. She has followed her original piece with two more, the latest covering Feast Portland, Salt & Straw, Portland Farmers Market, and Longbaan.

    Most recently she traveled to the French Restaurant Jules Vern by famed restaurateur Alain Ducasse, which is halfway up the Eiffel Tower. Ruth posted about them in a piece titled, “Paris – One Sad Night“. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to her Portland experiences.

    Of the interior, she says, “I felt as if I had been transported back in time to one of those depressing seventies discos. ”

    She moves on to the service – “I have never had such bad service in an expensive restaurant.  (There are only two options here: the 6 course prix-fixe at 230 euros, or the 5 course menu at 185.)  We sat for a full 10 minutes before anyone appeared to offer so much as a glass of water. It took forever for the wine to arrive.  The amuse bouche – if you could call it that – was a little dish of stone cold gougeres. When we told the surly waitress that we thought they would taste better hot, she said testily that ‘they can be served hot or cold, but if you’d like them hot I can warm them up.’”

    Finally, the food – [For many] “they come away having had sloppy, indifferent service and food that reminded me of nothing so much as first class airline food”.  “The worst course was called truffled macaroni au gratin with pearled veal jus.  It was five long stands of macaroni, very tough, stuck together with some cheese and topped with tasteless bits of meat. It was very much like something you’d get on an airplane.”

    Ruth is not currently a restaurant reviewer, but as onetime editor of Gourmet Magazine, author and one of the most established and respected writers in the foodie world, her words carry a lot of weight. She has a way with words, and the “review” makes for entertaining reading.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sarah says

      October 10, 2014 at 6:15 pm

      Wait… I’m confused. What do you mean when you say Ruth Reichl isn’t a restaurant reviewer? Isn’t that how she made her name before becoming editor for Gourmet?

      Reply
      • PDX Food Dude says

        October 11, 2014 at 1:06 pm

        Well of course she used to be a reviewer. I just meant that she is not currently working in that capacity.

        Reply
    2. Angie says

      October 11, 2014 at 11:09 am

      Ruth Reichl may not be a restaurant reviewer NOW, but she was the LA Times restaurant editor and reviewer for several years, followed by six years as the New York Times’s restaurant reviewer.

      Reply
    3. PSP2FLR says

      October 11, 2014 at 5:07 pm

      I just finished reading the entire article, scratched Jules Verne off the bucket list and added Leydon ( which sounds wonderful) . Appreciated the candor in Reichls writing, her reviews during her LA Times and NYT stint were right on…….thx

      Reply

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