Willi's Wine Bar - Again

Willi's is a must stop every time in Paris (along with Maceo), so once again I found myself there one late afternoon because I was in the neighborhood on the way to the kitchen and bath supply house to research tile, toilets and shower faucets for the apartment remodel. I had insisted on a bribe of wine and food because I thought that it would help with my attention span later.

The advantage of being a regular at one of your favorite wine bars(and being naturally pleasant to all servers) is that when you arrive at 2:30pm and the couple in front of you is told that the kitchen is closed, you can sit down quietly at the bar and the server whispers to you that if you want the 'plat du jour', there is no problem. Smiles all around.

As we were in a hurry and the kitchen WAS closed, we shared a simple apple/onion tatin on arugula lightly dressed in olive oil and then lamb tagine over couscous. The wine bar, however, was wide open. The Saint Joseph blanc that was suggested was outstanding and the Red paired well with the lamb. If I could find this Blanc back in Ohio, it would be my personal house white. It is a stunning, bright, complex blend of Marsanne and Roussanne.

So connections do help, but manners will serve you better. So it's not always about dropping big tip bombs. Next time though I will get there earlier so that I can run through the whole menu, and yes she did get more than 4 euros for her efforts.