Racines. Pierre Jancou Pouring a Claude Courtois to CésarPassage des Panoramas, Paris Racines is a natural-wine bar which is located in one of the remaining Napoleonian shopping arcades of Paris. These arcades were some sort of early shopping malls and allowed the Parisians of the Napoleon era to do window shopping and stroll in a clean, well-lit and heated street (in winter) without being bothered by the rain and the horse carts. There are quite a number of these "passages" and "galeries" in Paris and most of them are lo... lire la suite
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Racines. Pierre Jancou Pouring a Claude Courtois to CesarPassage des Panoramas, Paris Racines is a natural-wine bar which is located in one of the remaining Napoleonian shopping arcades of Paris. These arcades were some sort of early shopping malls and allowed the Parisians of the Napoleon era to do window shopping and stroll in a clean, well-lit and heated street (in winter) without being bothered by the rain and the horse carts. There are quite a number of these "passages" and "galeries" in Paris and most of them are located around the Palais Royal and the Grands Boulevards on the right bank. See this map (mouse over for names and click) for their location and details The Passage des Panoramas was built in 1799 and it was probably the very first covered arcade in Paris. Emile Zola writes at length about the passage in his novel Nana, which features an intriguing and energetic young Parisian prostitute. Read the chapter 7 of Nana (in English), where you'll have a taste of the sexual freedom of a high-class prostitute under Napoleon III and glimpses of this lively shopping arcade in an era that historians deem as having known "the most rapid economic and social change in French history". The wine bar looks like it has always been around, it melts perfectly into this bustling neighborhood and in this arcade lined with traditional local stores. The shop facing Racines, at N°57 of the passage, is where the famed "chocolatier Marquis" stood in the 19th century. Zola's Nana loved this "perfume of vanilla emanating from a chocolate dealer's basement". It still has some of its period fixtures and it is also really worth a look, even if you didn't read Nana.
Alain and Stephane - Aux Tonneaux des HallesSome use light therapy to fight the winter blues, but a mix of several mood enhancers works better, like listening to the Michel Petrucciani/Eddy Louiss duo playing "So What" and having an unexpectedly beautiful Cotes-d'Auvergne Gamay by Jean Mauperthuis at the Tonneaux des Halles, one of the best Paris wine bars serving natural wines. I tasted recently the music and the wine on the same day and believe me, it works...The Petrucciani/Louiss interpretation of "So What" (listen to sample), the iconic track composed by Miles Davis, is incredibly vibrant and full of energy, and this simple Gamay was samely so alive, with its acidulous-candy flavor, its morello-cherry notes and its barely-perceptible fizzyness... I feel more and more that music and wines have much in common : There's a magic at work that is both simple and not easily reproductible. I mean, no laboratory or music-industry engineer will ever find a mathematic formula to duplicate this magic. I think that somehow it is the same for wine, and that's why many of these so-called natural wines will never be copied : you cant cage the magic. Our wine bar of the day is located in the very center of Paris, in a narrow street which is not really on the tourist beaten path, the rue Montorgueil. Patrick Fabre, the owner, has made of this place what I consider one of the top wine places in Paris.
Closed for vacations until august 19thKevin Blackwell Pouring Kevin has been part of the Paris wine-bars scene for about 5 years now, even though "Autour d'un Verre" is technically a restaurant, because due to licence reasons (he doesn't have the Licence IV), he can't serve wine without a dish. This young American, who is originally from Mountain View, California, just at the southern tip of San franciso Bay, has been serving very good food along with a nice selection of artisan wines for years in his Paris wine-bar/restaurant in the Grands Boulevards neighborhood. This is an area with many small hotels (there's one just across the street, the Leman), restaurants and stage theaters, the nearst one being the Theatre Trevise 20 meters up the street. Autour d'un Verre is the favourite base for comedians and spectators, before and after the shows. The last time we visited the bar, Jerome Daran was relaxing there before his one-man-show at Trevise. He is the guy in black sitting outside while Kevin brings glasses of white wine [picture below]
Opera district, Paris. Here is the Japanese-most wine bar of Paris. In Tokyo itself, the bars are usually hidden inside ordinary-looking buildings, often btw at an upper story outside of which you may remember seeing Japanese inscriptions near the signs near 3F, 5F or 8F, but of course if you don't read Japanese you'll stay clueless of the nature of these venues, and many of the drinking spots are thus out of reach for the unsuspecting Westerners. Plus many bars in Tokyo are quasi-clubs and you don't walk in like that if you're not introduced by someone beforehand. The Vinos wine bar can samely be easily passed-by without noticing its presence : While roughly located in the Jananese district of Paris, its black curtains are often drawn and the bar doesn't precisely capitilize in the French bistrot- ot terrace culture. But it would be a mistake to make your opinion on these first-glance appearances : the Japanese are very keen when it comes to fine wines, and the wine selection at Vinos is one of the most serious one (even if it comes at a higher price per glass) of the French capital. Take your most humble attitude and be ready for an experience which is a strange mix of full Japanese immersion and of fine-wine tasting. If not the typical french experience that you might expect for your next Paris visit, it is one where you will have at the same time a taste of Japan and sample a selection of solid-value French wines.
The Vierge-de-la-Reunion wine barParis, 20th arrondissement The sign on the bar says it all : Bistro - Cave : here is a place to drink a glass and buy a bottle to go when you liked it. "A la Vierge de la Reunion" is a nice wine bar, restaurant AND caviste located in the up-and-coming blue-collar and immigrant district of the lower-eastern 20th arrondissement of Paris. The bar is located at rue de la Reunion and rue des Vignolles a short distance from the leafy Pere-Lachaise cemetery, where anonymous or enlightened individuals like Moliere or Jim Morisson (and a few others) lay to rest. Mourad Hallouche discovered wine in his teenage years in Algeria. Being a native of the wine region of Tlemcen there, wine was a beverage of choice for young Algerians (things may have changed since...). When he came to France, he kept learning and tasting different wines. The turning point in his wine culture was his frienship with Francois Morel , a wine writer and discoverer. Mourad discovered that wine could be beautiful and alive. We all at some point had our turning point in our own wine culture, and for many people it has been indeed the natural/artisan wine thing that turned much of our routine perceptions on wines upside down. He didn't wait this discovery to explore the different wine styles, but it gave a new dimension and passion to his wine culture.
Le Petit VendomeLa Madeleine, Paris. Welcome in Paris' financial district. Well, it doesn't look like being there but it sure does. Paris financial district certainly dwarfs compared to the City, Wall Street or Frankfurt, but still, there must be financiers doing some kind of big-money business here or it wouldn't be called a financial district. Isn't it a better time to write a story about a wine bar stucked in the middle of the quartier financier than when a full-blown financial crisis is under way ? We live in thrilling times full of inspirations for an observer and I still wonder how someone could say that the End of History had come. From the moment he published his theory, historical events have been cascading at an accelerating speed... All these events and unsettling chain reactions ask for a compensatory relaxed-moment with a glass on wine, and it seems that the financiers have not balked at doing that. Lots of people are excited these days in the face of this turmoil, with some coming back from the grave thinking their arch-enemy, the finance capitalism is about to be defeated, an exotic religion seeing a chance for its segregated banking system, and statists seeing an opportunity for more state control and intrusion. For example, We've had a stepping up of attacks on this side of the Atlantic against Switzerland and Luxembourg (which have nothing to do with this crisis), which France and Germany view as the last barrier that prevents them to raising even more taxes on their citizens. On the street level, if this crisis may result on orders for luxury cars being put on hold among the high-flying financiers, this may be business as usual for the neighborhood wine bar "le Petit Vendome" (map), an Island gem of a bar which departs so much from the stylish venues of la Madeleine. Despite the financial crisis and roller coaster stock market, local professionals find room for real-world earthy pleasures like Auvergne cuisine, saucisson on good bread and a glass of wine.
Xai Xai - South African Wine Bar in NYC
· Republican-leaning movie star Bruce Willis opened a yuppie-friendly wine bar in the East Village, which prompted protests from neighborhood lefties and counterprotests from the Young Republicans. Turns out? He's not a partner in the bar, he just lent his name as a favor. Because, you know, wine, action movie star Bruce Willis — the connection is obvious. Plus he totally made those wine cooler commercials in the 80s. [Observer] · Matthew McConaughey's wife is pregnant, so he went "surfing" in Nicaragua alone, which of course means mostly carousing in bars. He denies hitting on various women, but admits to losing his left flip-flop, and even offers a reward, which is JUST bizarre enough to make you forget about the cheating. Smarter than he looks. [R&M]
Pour eviter tout choc thermique, un sas a 0° permet (...) - Bars / A_la_une, Cartographie, 75018 Paris, passage Ruelle, 1-5