What’s in a Name – Part 3

In my neighborhood, a pretty dingy eating establishment has recently undergone a facelift and its new awning outside proclaims it to be La Timbale – Brasserie Bistro Restaurant Café Bar. “Well which,” demand I to myself of course? Are you a brasserie, a bistro, a restaurant, a café or a bar? You cannot be all five – or can you? In prior essays I’ve discussed the differences between, among and evolution of brasseries and bistrots and zincs, bistrots and bars. Here let’s deal with subcategories of bistrots and restaurants. Francois Simon’s “Croque Notes” in a Saturday-Sunday’s Figaro in 2004 had an article entitled “A New Atlas of Gastronomy,” in which he drew a chart with two axes: Ethnic-Terroir (the “Y” axis = North-South) and Tradition-Futurism (the “X” axis = West-East). The Ducassians and Robuchonistes are smack in the center; ethnic chic chefs are between Ethnic and Tradition; Gourmet Bistros, Micheliners, Old School, Best cook and workers of France and Slow food chefs are between Tradition and Terroir; the “Neo-pures” are between Terroir and Futurism and Singulars, Fooding, Generation C, Schoolchildren food and the Molecular folks between Ethnic and Futurism. He then listed the star chefs in 15 categories, as follows: Gourmet BistrotsYves Camdeborde at Le ComptoirThiery Breton at Chez Michel DucassiansDidier Elena at Les Crayeres in ReimsFranck Cerutti at Louis XV in Monte Carlo Ethic chicThiou FoodingLa Famille and soon Chateaubriand under Frederic Peneau and Inaki Aizpitare Generation CDavid Zuddas at PrenoisPascal Barbot at l’AstranceThierry Marx at Cordellian Bage Old schoolGerard Besson Paul Bocuse Best cooks in FranceMichel Blanchet in Maison-LafitteJean Bardet in Tours Best workers (MOF) in FrancePhilippe Legendre at Le Cinq Michelinersboring food providers, not named to avoid retaliation Molecular biologistsJacques Decoret in VichyMarc Veyrat in Megeve Neo-simplistsMichel Guerard in Eugenie les BainsMichel Bras at Laguiole Schoolchildren’s food (kid brothers of “le fooding”)RefectoireTransvзrsal RobuchonistesAntoine Hernandez at the Atelier RobuchonFrederic Anton at Pre Catalan Singular folksPierre GagnaireOliver Roellinger in Cancale Slow foodiesMarco Tonazzi at I Golosi What can we learn from this? I suspect very little except to see that Simon is a splitter (in nosology jargon) rather than a lumper. One thing of interest, however, is that one does find bistrots in several categories – Gourmet bistrots, Le Fooding and Schoolchildren’s food – the rest falling under restaurants. I think we’ve got to plunge on. Next week more variety. Of all the above I’ve got to admit a fondness for: Chez Michel 10 rue de Belzunce, 10th (Metro : Gare du Nord) T : 01 44 53 06 20 Closed Sunday, Monday and all of August. About 30 € a la carte ©2008 John A. Talbott