Roger la Grenouille, Paris

Posted on June 8, 2012 by The Jab

My first trip to Paris and I had to try frogs legs, so I headed to the most famous restaurant in Paris for frogs legs, Roger la Grenouille (Roger The Frog), in the charming Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood (in the 6th arrondissement). Scant information on its history is available online, but I found out that it originally opened in 1930 by Roger Spinhirny in a cobbler’s shop. Over the years it became very famous and popular, hosting the Queen of England, popes, prime ministers of France, and famous entertainers.

The decor was homey and classic with lots of good clutter: hanging pots and bottles, plenty of photos, art, and clippings on the wall to look at.

I went for lunch to save a lot of money. There is usually a reasonable two or three course prix fixe meal at Parisian restaurants during lunch. Here a two course meal was 19 € (for an appetizer and main or a main with dessert) and a three course meal was 25 €. There was an amouse bouche of salmon mousse that was very good.

salmon mousse

My starter was a delicious savory foie gras crème brulée.

foie gras crème brulée

My main course was battered and fried frogs legs with fried plantains and manioc root. The frogs legs tasted like chicken. No, really, they did! The small bones are a little difficult to manage, but I enjoyed them. They also serve frogs legs prepared in other ways (not fried) for dinner, but it’s quite expensive so it would be a waste if you didn’t like them.

fried frogs legs with fried plantains and manioc root

Roger la Grenouille
26-28 rue des Grands Augustins, 75006 Paris – France
Tel : 00 33 (0)1 45 72 07 14
Open for lunch Tues-Sat 12:00pm-2:00pm; dinner Mon-Sat 7:00pm-11:00pm; closed Sunday

Turquoise Room, La Posada Hotel, Winslow, Arizona

Posted on May 30, 2012 by The Jab

In the 19th century an Englishman named Fred Harvey, while working as a freight agent for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad, negotiated a contract with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad to open a chain of restaurants at railroad meal stops along their line (before dining cars were common). The “Harvey Houses”, often including a hotel, grew into a chain of 84 at their peak, and had a reputation of good food and excellent service. A few survive as hotels today, including El Tovar at the Grand Canyon, The Fray Marcos in Williams, Arizona, La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and La Posada on Route 66 in Winslow, Arizona.

The hotel was designed by Mary Colter in 1929, who later proclaimed it her masterpiece (she also designed several buildings at the Grand Canyon, including Bright Angel Lodge, and the beautiful Harvey House dining room and cocktail lounge in Union Station in Los Angeles, which is only open for private functions and tours). Santa Fe closed the hotel in 1957 and it was later vastly remodeled into an office building, with most of its interior beauty hidden behind plain walls and dropped ceilings. Incredibly, a man named Allan Affeldt purchased it in 1997 to save it from demolition, and with some partners restored it to its original grandeur. The hotel is beautiful – wonderfully restored and decorated with gorgeous artifacts with great attention to detail. A must stay if you are going along Route 66, or traveling by train on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief (the old Super Chief route), which stops directly behind the hotel (I have ridden the entire Chicago-Los Angeles route two or three times and loved every minute of it).

The ballroom at La Posada – open to guests for lounging or reading

The original Harvey House at La Posada, the Turquoise Room, has been restored as well, and is open every day for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in-between meals. I was not able to stay in the hotel on my last Arizona road trip in Fall of 2008, but I stopped for lunch. I had a traditional Harvey House type meal of delicious fall-off-the-bone ribs, with house made beans, cole slaw, and cornbread. The dinner menu is fancier with classic and modern Southwest cuisine by chef John Sharpe, who was nominated among the best chefs in the U.S. by the James Beard Foundation in 2011. Many of the ingredients are traditional to the area and/or locally produced.

The Turqoise Room

The Turquoise Room
303 E. 2nd Street (Route 66), Winslow, AZ 86047
Phone 928.289.4366
Open 7am-9pm daily

Chez Chartier, Paris, France

Posted on May 23, 2012 by The Jab

One my recent visit to Paris, I met up with some friends from the bay area for drinks at Le Déli-Cieux on the roof of Printemps department store (a wonderful, inexpensive, “under-the-radar” spot for a champagne and a light meal with an incredible view of Paris – take the elevator to the 9th floor). Afterwards we had drinks at Harry’s, and then headed for a restaurant we heard good things about, only to find it closed on Mondays. We were in the 9th district (Faubourg-Montmartre) so I suggested we check out one of the oldest restaurants in Paris (which I had on my list).

There was a line at Chez Chartier when we arrived very hungry, but the line moved pretty fast as the restaurant is a big place. Originally opened in 1896 by the Chartier brothers, Frédéric and Camille, by the name Le Bouillon Chartier as a brasserie for the working classes to dine on a meat and vegetable stew (bouillon).

The dining room hasn’t changed much since it was designed in the Belle Époque era. The ceiling is very high and there is a mezzanine with additional seating. There is a skylight, dark wood and mirrors on the walls, and hat racks all the way down the center of the space. It was very crowded and bustling with waiters wearing the traditional rondin, a black waistcoat with many pockets, and long white aprons.

My advice is to go with a friend who speaks some French because the waiters are very busy and don’t have time to translate every item on the extensive menu of basic traditional French food at reasonable prices. They aren’t brusque, but they are fast and efficient (like at Tadich Grill in San Francisco). Despite the beautiful décor and fancy dressed waiters, it’s a fairly casual restaurant. The waiter writes down your order on the tablecloth so there’s no question about what you ordered later on. Good luck reading it though!

The food was simple and pretty good, yet nothing truly memorable. Your best bet is to stick with the classics, which is pretty much all they serve. I ordered the frisee salad with bacon and steak frites. I recommend skipping dessert, as we tried three of them, and they ranged from so-so to awful (including their famous Chantilly cream).

mustard jar at Chartier

Eating here is mostly about the setting, not about the food. And brush up on your French, or bring a French-speaking friend because when the waiter stares at you while you mangle his language it can be a little unnerving.

Old wooden boxes that used to store regular customers’ private napkins.

Chez Chartier
7 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, 75009
+33 1 47 70 86 29
Open daily 11:30am-10pm

The Hayward Ranch, Hayward, California – CLOSED

Posted on May 16, 2012 by The Jab

Roundup of Bay Area old west style roadhouses – part two of three.

A couple of months ago Le Continental visited Rancho Nicasio as part one of my roundup of old western steakhouses in the Bay Area. Today we’re hitchin’ up the horse and riding to the Hayward Ranch in Hayward in the East Bay. Built in 1948 using wood from an old railroad trestle near Sacramento, and thankfully it hasn’t changed much. At one time the original owners, Leonard and Adele Perillo, had 27 Ranch steakhouses in their East Bay / Tri-Valley (Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore) chain. Now this is the only one left. In 1999 it was purchased by the current owner, Chris Sarantakis, who vowed “I’m not going to change it, I’m going to make it better”.

The big sign is visible from a long way down the road

The restaurant is in a long, low, ranch style building with a rustic interior of walls made from the trestle wood covered with western bric-à-brac, framed pictures, and other clutter (but no cheap beer advertisements or strings of mini white lights – hooray!), and simple old wooden tables and booths.

The menu is typical of old western steakhouse fare and the prices are very reasonable. At dinner you can get a steak dinner with soup or salad, potato or pasta, and vegetable for around $20 or less. They have a bargain early bird menu from 4:00-6:00pm, and they serve breakfast and lunch, too.

I’ve had a steak there many times and have been quite pleased with them, but this time I took the waiter’s recommendation and tried the fried chicken. It was very good: tender and not dried out, with a crispy skin. Not the best fried chicken I’ve had in the Bay Area (and definitely not comparable to the fried chicken I’ve had in the Southern U.S.), but it was a good choice.

fried chicken dinner

A couple of dining companions had steaks: one had the filet mignon and another had a rib-eye. They both said they were tasty and tender.

filet mignon with Bearnaise sauce and sautéed mushrooms

We had some Manhattans with Bulleit rye and they were made perfectly as requested (stirred, not shaken). The service was excellent. Our young waiter was on top of everything and very friendly and affable. For dessert I had the homemade cherry cobbler and it was sooooo good! Perfect amount of fruit, not too thick and gummy, and a crunchy crust. YUM! Don’t skip dessert here!

cherry cobbler

Gorgeous neon sign with cocktail on one side and royal cow on the other.

The Hayward Ranch
22877 Mission Blvd., Hayward, Ca 94541
(510) 537-5522
open 7am – 10pm Monday – Saturday, closed Sundays, bar open until 11pm

Dan Tana’s, West Hollywood, California

Posted on May 11, 2012 by The Jab

I finally made it to this historic Italian restaurant that has been on my “to visit” list for a long time. It’s been open since 1964, and remains popular to this day, so I wasn’t too worried about it closing soon. I went with a friend who lives in Los Angeles and we were somewhat surprised that a lot of families were dining there on a Saturday night. Many of the dishes on their extensive menu are named after famous people so they must frequent the place. The proprietor, Dan Tana, has lived a fascinating life as a soccer (football) player in Yugoslavia, an actor (he played a maître d’hôtel in the Peter Gunn episode “The Dummy” in 1960, and was in a 2011 movie called “Coriolanus”), a nightclub owner (he ran the Peppermint West in the early 60s), a restaurateur, and as chairman of both English and Yugoslav football clubs!

The restaurant is decorated in classic Italian-American style, with red checked tablecloths and hanging Chianti bottles, and the walls are covered with art, photos of famous people with Dan Tana, sports stuff, and movie posters. A pretty casual atmosphere (get dressed up or don’t), but the waiters sport bow ties and red or black jackets for that touch of class that I always appreciate.

The menu is overwhelming! Veal and chicken is prepared in 10 different ways! I had the chicken Vesuvius, Brian Kennedy: very tender chicken pieces cooked in white wine, garlic, and lemon, and it was delicious! I had it with spaghetti on the side.

Chicken Vesuvius, Brain Kennedy

My friend had the chicken Florentine, Bob O’Lena (?).

Chicken Florentine, Bob O’Lena

The restaurant is very expensive, as you can see from the menu. But whether you want to splurge in a historic place or just get some spaghetti and meatballs, and maybe see a celebrity, Dan Tana’s is worth a visit! And they are open with a full menu until 1:30am every night!

Dan Tana’s
9071 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310-275-9444
Open 5pm-1:30am daily

Le Continental

dining and drinking with The Jab

Category Archives: Restaurants

Roger la Grenouille, Paris

Turquoise Room, La Posada Hotel, Winslow, Arizona

Chez Chartier, Paris, France

The Hayward Ranch, Hayward, California – CLOSED

Dan Tana’s, West Hollywood, California

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