extraordinary!
I recall 6-7 years ago, on another NG
someone commented on a restaurant in Paris
that had something to do with stamp collecting
edit:
The database came up trumps
but the name "The Stamp:
just reflected the tiny space, not the menu.
The Restaurant "Le timbre" (The Stamp)
At N°3 of the street Sainte Beuve there has been found (for 18 months)
a very small restaurant, not larger than a postage stamp. Have you
noticed it? An old pancake shop (creperie) reopened by Chris Wright,
the place is unrecognizable. Space is arranged there in order to be
able to serve 24 people, not one more, in a refined, relaxing decor.
The kitchen, at the end of the restaurant, is open. All the guests can
follow the preparation and the cooking of the dishes. The menu changes
every week. Presented on a small blackboard it offers the choice of
four entries, four main dishes and 3 desserts. Chris Wright agreed one
evening to answer our questions, just what entice the readers of
Arts-Culinaires who, when in Paris, will perhaps want to go to see and
taste (on the spot) the charm of this small restaurant.
Arts-Culinaires.com -> can you speak to us about Le Timbre and about
what gave you desire for creating this place?
Chris Wright -> By taking possession of the places 18 months ago, I
sought to create a place which corresponds so that I like to find
myself when I go out: a convivial place, where people know me and
recognize me, with a very sizeable kitchen, a menu which often changes
and of products of quality. I wanted to join them all together in one
place to make what I fell under, the charm of France. I came there on
holiday as a child, I followed my studies there at the Art schools and
finally, I have lived there and works there for 9 years during the
restoration. What I wanted before all was to create an intimate
atmosphere which invites relaxation, by looking after the quality of
the reception of and the relationships to the customers: a true place
of well being. And now that this atmosphere has taken life, I start to
amuse myself in the kitchen!
AC -> Precisely, what guides you in the choice of the dishes to
evolve/change your menu each week?
CW - These are my own tastes which guided me, at the beginning, to
assemble the menu and to make it evolve. But if I had remained there,
with only my preferences as a guide, the menu would have probably
ended up reproducing (itself each week). In fact, each Saturday, I
invite a young Chef to come to flavour my kitchen with his creativity.
I was lucky to meet one at the opening of the Charles restaurant, who
was at the time "Head of the Kitchen" at Lucas Carton. Impassioned and
daring, he enormously contributed to give personality to the menu of
Le Timbre. He admirably knew how to associate products of the soil and
refined cuisine. The customers appreciated it. And for me, I learn
from him still a little more every day. Since the beginning, he is a
young, completely talented Chef who brings forth his key talents for
the pleasure of all the gourmands!
AC - You pay much attention to top quality products, how do you get
them?
CW - I am indeed very vigilant and demanding concerning the quality of
the products. I chose my suppliers with this idea in mind and am
faithful for them. I get my fish, for example, at La Poissonnerie de
Dôme which is famous and one of best in Paris and sells to me only
fresh French fish. I also work with the Corrézien Counter which also
provides several multi-star restaurants in Paris. I receive a daily
delivery to ensure an impeccable freshness of the products. With Le
Timbre, it is neither freezer foods nor microwave! For the cellar, I
buy directly from certain growers or I consult with the owner of "Le
Juvénile" Wine Bar, Tim Johnson, a Scot. His suggestions are always
the welcomes!
AC - Which answer you bring to our traditional Arts-Culinaires.com
question: which is your ideal meal?
CW - As I said it to you, these are the tastes which dictate the way
in which I compose my menu, you will thus not be surprised to find in
my ideal meal, the dishes or the products which appear in the menu
this week.
I regale myself with a poêlée of boletus with a sauce of foie gras and
Oporto. I adore pigeon with a sauce with red cabbage. Lastly, I would
finish my ideal meal with a "True Cheese" exactly such as I invariably
propose it with the menu of Le Timbre. It is a delicious, 2 year old
Cheddar which I get directly from the United Kingdom and which I taste
with a glass of Oporto LBV 1995 C Vale.
Closed Saturdays for lunch, and on Sundays.
Address: 3 rue Sainte Beuve
Phone: 01-45-49-10-40
Posted 01/06/2012 05:28 am
Imagine the size of the envelope! 
