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I'm a flight attendant and go to Paris weekly. My absolute favorite bistrot is called Baribal, is not charming, and has the most magnificent food with incredibly low prices. They have gargantuan portions; some favorites are veal with roquefort sauce, lamb kidneys with mustard sauce, duck magret,lardon salad. Pasteur metro stop. Good markets are Poncelet Market (Terne metro stop)and it's not open Mondays; Roosevelt Market, also not open Mondays. L'ami Jean in the 15th on Malar is fantastic; just down a few doors is L'affriole, fantastic menu that changes almost as often as L'ami Jean. If you go to L'ami Jean make sure someone gets their signature rice pudding; you won't be disappointed. Another good restaurant is called Le Relais de Venise close to Congress. It's just off the Champs Elysees and has no menu. Patrons start to queue around 6:45pm for the first seating, and the only thing they serve is entrecote of beef with a mysterious tarragon sauce, hand-cut fries, and a simple salad. Seconds are automatically doled out without question, and you will want seconds. All that's required it how rare you enjoy your steak and what you'd like to sip. Have fun...

I'm glad my friends and I aren't the only ones who partially judge a restaurant by it's freebies. One of my favorite restaurants called "L'Ami Jean" always starts with an amuse bouche, and always ends with a complimentary basket of madeleines. Two freebies; very high rating on our list...

I am in Europe all the time (flight attendant, don't judge me). Haven't tried the food, but the coffee at McD's is really drinkable; they use espresso. I've had the In'Out burgers and fries in Calif. and I loved them. Not frozen, hand-cut, what's not to love? My favorite fast food thing was in Seoul at a Wendy's. Went in for the bathroom, came out with kimchi. Nice surprise.

For those concerned about the ethics of using veal, I would suggest finding a trustworthy butcher. Many animals are bred humanely now, in serene environments. The meat is much pinker than historically, because calves are outside and moving; it's also flavorful, unlike meat of yore. I use veal , if I know from where it comes. In response to the meatball recipe, I agree with soaking bread in milk; this recipe looks very typical to me, nothing special, though I'm sure it's tasty.

I have been making meatballs (a recipe from Giada's show) for awhile now using breadcrumbs soaked in whole milk and ground turkey.
They are moist, tender and delicious. Even better the next day!
I would not use this recipe because of the veal.
I adore Ina and use alot of her recipes but will stick with my other meatball recipe for now.

I love escargots whether they are served Chinese, French or Italian. Has there been a movement to remove them from menus?

This may be somewhat sacrilegious...but Mela Urban Bistro in Springfield, Ohio (sorry, no major city here) is in the Courtyard by Marriott and although their free starter is a bread basket with olive oil for dipping, it also comes with an olive tapenade that is good enough that (1) my very picky husband will eat it, and (2) as the olive lover in the family, I have considered skipping the bread altogether (and the bread's good) and eating the tapenade with a spoon. www.melaurbanbistro.com, I think. Enjoy =)

I just had some at lunch, but they were not in the shell. I never see them that way anymore. You either get them in the little ceramic cups or served on the metal thing with little holes. Actually, if I was really dieing for them i could fix them at home. It's not difficult and you can buy the canned ones with shells. I have the little forks.
Even though they were not in the shell, they were delicious. What's not to like about major garlic butter?

um when did escargot go away? i see them on menus all the time but less so when its warmer