tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174461443579168085.post976955864819300539..comments2024-03-13T22:33:31.935+01:00Comments on not drinking poison in paris: despite the name: la pointe du groin, 75010aaron ayscoughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12595822449248202660noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174461443579168085.post-32704275446167241842013-07-08T23:54:15.731+02:002013-07-08T23:54:15.731+02:00This ain't your normal anonymous. I don't ...This ain't your normal anonymous. I don't get to spend as much time as I like in Paris, but I will always frond time for a dinner at Chez Casimir. However tonight I had just a few hours on my own in Paris. I wanted to walk by and see what the vibe was like at this new place and I ended up walking in, being slightly confused and then loving a very cheap, although necessarily small lobster salad with tomatoes and chickpeas. Oh, and a glass of Chasselas, the very name of which made me feel inadequate since I had only the vaguest recollection of somewhere in Burgundy of that name, but being rather more a Burgundy lover than a natural wine geek I was none the wiser.<br />Point of all this is that it really is just amiable chaos. What's not to like. More power to you M. Breton!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174461443579168085.post-24646466181949966862013-05-07T15:43:01.474+02:002013-05-07T15:43:01.474+02:00I don't think the high prices Vs low prices st...I don't think the high prices Vs low prices story is such of a paradox. I am friend with some winemakers and of course they need to sell their wine at a higher price (than wine companies do) due to the low number of bottles they produce but here is not the problem. The problem is that most restaurant owners sell the wine 4, 5, 6 or even 10 times the price they bought it. I know rents in paris are very expensive but still. No need for fingerpointing but selling A GLASS of "cuvée des galets" by Les Vignerons d'Estézargues (here it's a "coopérative" and not a winemaker, but it doesn't change my point right?) at 4,5 euros while A BOTTLE costs 3 euros is sort of a shame, don't you think? Have you seen how crazily expensive the wine is at "épure"? And unfortunately, in places where wine is not too expensive, then food is (29 euros for a burrata, seriously?). So, I think the margin (?) is the main problem. Some people just sell natural wine as others sell cars or watches, and I think it's sad (let's be polite). But I do agree with you about the fact that the way wine is sold, the trendy atmosphere created around this product we love also matters a lot. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174461443579168085.post-8501011005186583702013-05-07T14:42:35.013+02:002013-05-07T14:42:35.013+02:00man, we sound like the same person. i think reader...man, we sound like the same person. i think readers are going to think i created an elaborate hoax just to belabor this point. but you're totally right: the idea of natural wine is certainly à la mode, and there are definitely many places in paris who treat it precisely like a luxury product. <br /><br />it's a bit of a catch-22, since high prices are in some cases just what is necessary to support the modest lifestyles of the principled vignerons we're talking about. those same high prices make natural wines luxury items for many people.<br /><br />since we won't make much progress changing the prices of the wines we love to drink, it seems the best thing we can do is affect the way they are sold. the fact of something costing a lot of money isn't inherently offensive; what is offensive is when the idea of expenditure becomes the main draw of a wine or of a visit to a restaurant that serves it. it's part of the reason i'm continually harping on about restaurant design and restaurant ambiance on this blog. a winningly underdesigned - even ugly - placed like La Pointe du Groin is clearly not pitching itself to a luxury market. A tediously overdesigned place like Racines 2 or La Compagne des Vins Surnaturels is. aaron ayscoughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12595822449248202660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174461443579168085.post-26737954294776435132013-05-07T14:19:08.777+02:002013-05-07T14:19:08.777+02:00I don't want to find a point of difference. It...I don't want to find a point of difference. It's just that what natural wine is or became in Paris makes me sometimes angry. It is now a trendy, even a luxury product. The gap between people who make that wine and people who have enough money to drink it in the end is just huge and it pisses me off. I am still dreaming of this perfect bar where wine is good and cheap, where music is nice and where people act normal, not as if they were in the middle of some fashion contest. To my knowledge it does not exist. I often dream that I open it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174461443579168085.post-41892875190298613732013-05-07T12:10:49.503+02:002013-05-07T12:10:49.503+02:00would that there were more folks like us in the wo...would that there were more folks like us in the world, jb. <br /><br />but i'm referring to the risk the restaurant takes, not the risk that the clients take. a client runs an equal risk of getting her or her bag stolen just about anyplace in paris. the restaurant, on the other hand, will likely not rack up the same income if its clientele becomes exclusively hot corn sellers, very few of whom can be expected to choose cult jura over a demi of whatever's on tap. it is indeed unfortunate that breton is breaking new ground by lowering his price point to such a degree - that no one else dares welcoming this theoretical hot corn seller, for fear of putting off the often fussy clientele who spend real money. i'm almost positive you and i are are repetitively saying the same thing, though you seem eager to find a point of difference.aaron ayscoughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12595822449248202660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174461443579168085.post-52599598595796258342013-05-07T11:55:29.926+02:002013-05-07T11:55:29.926+02:00Oh, I know you're aware of the 3-restaurants-i...Oh, I know you're aware of the 3-restaurants-in-the-same-block story, I just wanted to stress the fact that this area is not unsafe. To me, the idea of drinking a glass of Houillon's poulsard next to a "hot corn" seller who came here for the inexpensiveness of a glass of a nice wine or beer is cool, it is not a "risk".<br /><br />jbAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174461443579168085.post-57252758609711539192013-05-06T22:04:26.445+02:002013-05-06T22:04:26.445+02:00i am wholeheartedly in agreement with you, anonymo...i am wholeheartedly in agreement with you, anonymous ! trust me. and i'm aware that breton has two other places on the same block. i mention this in the post. my point is that neither chez michel nor chez casimir is quite so dirt-cheap and informal as la pointe du groin. la pointe du groin is boldly - and laudably ! - daring to offer things inexpensively, at the risk of attracting a clientele who'd go there solely for that reason. aaron ayscoughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12595822449248202660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174461443579168085.post-21535806605439008062013-05-06T20:43:55.798+02:002013-05-06T20:43:55.798+02:00Yeah, I got that you were talking about the neighb...Yeah, I got that you were talking about the neighborhood, not the station. To my point of view it's cool that people open places like that in "sketchy" neighborhoods (although my definition of sketchy is a wee bit different than yours apparently) and not only in hipsterland. By the way that's the 3rd restaurant he opened there so far so I guess it's not as unsafe as you think it is. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174461443579168085.post-32662564109826120022013-05-06T11:57:17.768+02:002013-05-06T11:57:17.768+02:00I have no problem with the train station itself. I...I have no problem with the train station itself. I'm referring to the surrounding neighborhood, which, like many neighborhoods in the immediate vicinity of major train stations, can be a bit sketchy. aaron ayscoughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12595822449248202660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174461443579168085.post-80043069464053460802013-05-06T11:39:07.611+02:002013-05-06T11:39:07.611+02:00What's the problem with Gare du Nord? I'm ...What's the problem with Gare du Nord? I'm not sure I understand what you mean.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com