Winter Superbon

The best dishes, drinks, and treats of this winter in Paris, New England, and Florida

Superbon is a monthly series for paid subscribers only of the things that are, well, superbon. The creme de la creme. Without further ado, my favorite flavors and finds of this season.

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A gorgeous tasting menu at Cypsele

Space is always a luxury in Paris, and there was plenty of it between the tables at Cypsèle, the elegant new restaurant from chef Marcin Krol and sommelier Quentin Loisel. Fans of Maison in the 11th will recognize a similar warmth here, centered around a wood-fired oven; they even bake their own bread using red rice from the Camargue. Not every dish landed perfectly, but overall it’s a memorable spot for a seasonal tasting menu experience. We visited in that fleeting window between late winter and early spring, catching the last of the season’s scallops drenched in brown butter and olives alongside the first asparagus, paired with rhubarb, cherry blossoms, and tarragon. An impressive strawberry and geranium Saint-Honoré heralded the arrival of Spring. Between L’Escale, the wonderfully scruffy café I mentioned in my last Superbon newsletter, and Cypsèle, for fine dining, Île Saint-Louis is quickly becoming one of the city’s culinary hot spots.

Know your local shrimper!! I was in Florida for all of 48 hours this winter and my first stop directly off my flight to Florida (as in straight from the plane) was to Erickson and Jensen Seafood in Fort Myers Beach. The fourth generation shrimp boaters have been in the “pink gold” business for over 70 years and remain one of the last local independents. I loved this profile of their business by Gulfshore Life magazine and my dad bought a giant 5lb sack of shrimp that he is still making his way through.

Chez Georges in Paris was a Julia Child favorite and it’s still one of the best spots for classic French with some pretty excellent people watching, both for the fashion crowd and the neighborhood locals. I love the cracked red leather booths, a white tablecloth pressed deep into my ribs, and the staff who have been there forever who all cheered and high fived me when I left my sunglasses and came back the next night to recover them. We started with the white asparagus with sauce maltaise which was excellent, then moved onto even better sweetbreads and their famous sole meuniere, which frankly was a bit disappointing and entirely lacking in acid. Truly perfect profiteroles however. They have good wines on the list but it’s quite expensive. It’s always important to point out that it’s Chez Georges in the 2nd arr. and not the one in the 17th, which is a different beast entirely.

More people should be talking about Calice where I shared a beautiful lunch with my friend Susan. The Franco-Japanese spot near the Jardin des Plantes in the 5th was mercifully open on Sunday (always a tricky day to book in Paris) and I loved our meal from start to finish with gorgeous guinea fowl stuffed morels with fresh peas and asparagus to a rabbit paté en croute crusted with lavender and fennel seeds. The service was excellent and they have a large terrasse in good weather.

Oobatz made me deeply enjoy, if not crave, tripe ragu pizza, a feat which I did not think was possible. I am generally not a tripe person! The white clam pizza also excellent. We ordered every pizza on the menu and then a few surprise ones for good measure. You should do the same. I know most people do not come to Paris to eat pizza, but you should really eat this pizza. And it’s just so much fun.

The best nems in Paris are made at the below restaurant. You can quote me on that. The pho isn’t too shabby either. There’s only two options. They’re both beef. They’re both enormous. They’re both great.