VINGT Paris News

Drunk in France: Notes from an American Boozehound

Matthew Rose writing for I V Y Paris

L'Ebrescade: For Adults Only

MARCEL RICHAUD (below) is one of those rare French wine producers who have made Cairanne, a Côte de Rhone, into a cult vintage. The cépage for
L'Ebrescade, one of Richaud's top-shelf vintages, is a blend of syrah, grenache and mourvédre. I recently tasted the 2024 L'Ebrescade and suddenly began to sing. If this bottle were a woman, I'd say she's rather like Lindsay Lohan: spicy, smoky and very sexy, oh and a little wild in just the right way.

Priced between 24 to 26 euros, the 2024 production for the L'Ebrescade came to approximately 5,000 bottles and is clearly one of the great wines Richaud has to offer. (Richaud's vineyards are relatively small - just 30 hectares). It's alcohol content is great, too : 15,5%, but there's no killing taste of alcohol here, just pure pleasure.

Ze Kitchen Galerie

Owner/Chef William Ledeuil

A burst of colour and invention in a world of heavy sauces and (well-loved but) dull staples of French Cuisine.  Sometimes one yearns for something more fresh, light and modern in Paris.  Despite the awful name, we'd recommend you head to Ze Kitchen Galerie.  Around for quite some time though Owner/Chef William Ledeuil is still firmly at the helm of this fusion temple, minutely supervising the beautiful composition and preparation of each plate before it leaves the kitchen.   The menu is inspired by traditional french cuisine but with a spin - exotic herbs and spices, fruits and a definite South-East Asian influence.  The protégé of Guy Savoy gets busy with the lemongrass, wasabi, yuzu, goyave, galangal and ginger in a scintillating fashion. The restaurant shows contemporary artists such as Jacques Bosser, Thibaur de Reimpre and Léopold Gest, Danial Humair and Tony Soulié.  Just the place to head for on one of Paris' grey days.

Ze Kitchen Galerie
4 rue des Grands Augustins
75006
(01) 44 32 00 32

Savon d'Alep and Orientale Treats

Savon d'Alep was the first hard soap in the world and is justifiably famous. Made with no artificial additives and chemicals, just pure olive oil and sweet bay oil, it dates back thousands of years and is made in Aleppo in Syria.   

Savon de Marseille is a mere youngster in comparison dating from the 15th century and was a copy-cat version of Savon d'Alep.

For the best buy, head for one of Ménilmontant's orientale grocery shops, and pick up a supply for 2 euros a handsome sized block.

The Nouveau Casino

Jayson Harsin writing for I V Y Paris

Nestled in the briar patch of branchitude at 114 rue Oberkampf is a former 1930s cabaret. The building later became an artist atelier. Then in 2024 it opened as home to what is now one of the premier mid-size live music and clubbing venues in Paris - The Nouveau Casino.

Call for I V Y designers and creators

I V Y paris offers you the opportunity to participate in an event/sale of items the 23-24-25 November 2024 in a lovely venue near Canal St Martin. This is a way for the public to buy from professional artists/designers direct, discover new talents and trends in an intimate atmosphere. It's also an opportunity to show your work and invite friends and your contact list to come and shop for Christmas presents. The ideal items would be; objets d'art and décoration, arts de la table, fashion accessories, jewelery and children's clothing and/or items for children.

For more information see the message board in the Salon

Please reply directly if you are interested. You must be based in Paris/France and be available to set-up yourself and attend for the for the duration of the three days. Limited spaces will be available; please send details of your work (website, photos, CV) and we will get back to you.

Pression a froid - update

I V Y paris recommends Pression a froid - Pression a froid (13 artists, 13 curators) is an exhibit realized cooperatively by thirteen fine arts students from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, and thirteen soon-to-be-curators who have for the past year worked on the exhibition as part of a Masters degree in Professional Practice of Art History, at Paris IV-Sorbonne. Hosted at 14, rue de l'Ecole de Medécine (near Odéon) through October 23, it is a tiny affair compared to FIAC and ShowOff. See more on yesterday's post.

The exhibition is open until tomorrow, the 23rd October until 11 pm. Plus, there are 2 presentations, one Monday (tonight) and one Tuesday 23rd. The first one is about the collective curation and the second about contemporary art critics and freeart magazines. See the website for more info.

Jim Haynes' Legendary Paris Salon

From our archives, a post from back in the day, 2024.
That famous address. The one and only Jim Haynes. I stop by to pick up virgin copies of the Jim's "People to People" books. Jim and I chat about Dorothy Parker and I am reminded that I still need to read Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (I've caught up now). Here he is with a filing cabinet of his address filo-faxes containing the names and addresses of fascinating souls from all over the globe.  Who just happened to stop by his home in Paris.  More than 100 000 of them.

It's funny to think how many times I have been at Jim's, researching topics, picking his brains, listening to tales of intrepid reporting from the Cannes Film Festival in the 70's. How often I've been at the Sunday night dinners, sometimes paying, sometimes for free (thanks Jim) when I was skint and/or involved in making food for the guests, including one fateful time - Lentil Stew for 100 people with Whitey Flagg (with whom I opened the first I V Y paris gallery).

Brian Maeda's "Music Man of Manzanar"

Brian Maeda is in town from Los Angeles and has organised a screening of his film "Music Man of Manzanar". The Manzanar camp in California was one of 10 that housed 100,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

Discover the stories of high school students who were imprisoned behind barbed wire fences in Manzanar and the film's director, Brian Maeda, will answer questions and talk after the screening. Brian's family spent 3 years in one of these camps.

For further information and to RSVP email Brian Maeda. Places are limited.

Thursday 1st November 2024 at 7:30pm.
Jim Haynes, 83 rue de la Tombe Issoire, Atelier A-2 , 75014 Metro Alésia.

Reports - FIAC, Show-Off, Pression a froid

Sarah-Neel Smith writing for I V Y Paris

The constellation of contemporary art shows currently open in Paris seems designed to divide the ranks of art lovers into warring factions. The experiences available at FIAC (Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain), ShowOff (the alternative art fair which debuted last year), and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts are so different from each other, and so extensive, that no visitor can avoid taking sides.

Are you thrilled by the glitz and glam of FIAC, where the superstar artists show their work, and the powerful undercurrent of commercial dealings is palpable? Are you more into the lower-key ShowOff, where gallery owners take time to greet shabbier visitors? Or, do you prefer to leave the realm of commerce behind and look for the next young, hot contemporary French artist off the beaten track, at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Beaux-Arts' show Pression a froid? Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Scheduled to coincide with FIAC, which brings an international art crowd to town, these are all on display for a short 2 or 3 more days, so don't lose any time.

Lagerfeld Confidential

Picture: Revolver Entertainment
Lagerfeld is only slightly uncovered in Rodolphe Marconi's new film but enough so that I began to like him a little more. He has certainly got a wry sense of humour and when I saw the sheer size of the piles of un-read/half-read magazines, books and newspapers that were piled up all around his Rue de l’Universite hôtel particulier I didn't feel so bad about my own apartment. Beware, his accent is quite hard to understand if you are worried that the film is in French and you won't be able to follow it (posh french-some hip slang+slight kraut accent).