The Great Parisian Plate Debate

The sign standing on the sidewalk boasts “Wines!” and a quick glance at the windows proves it true – one can barely see inside the bar due to the bottles beckoning cheerfully to you through the panes. If windows full of wine don’t tempt the passerby, the purple façade of Le Verre Volé certainly grabs the attention. Upon passing through its doors, you must resist the urge to fall to your knees and thank the Gods of Wine for such a temple; Le Verre Volé’s walls are packed with wine resting there happily in a rainbow of green, burgundy, and rose colored bottles.

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We chose Le Bistro les San Culuttes because A) they had wines prominently listed on blackboards outside their café, and B) Paris had granted us pleasant weather, and there were outside seats available. A quick glance at the interior showed what I like to call a “rustic” look – nice wooden floors and tables, comfortable lighting, an inviting bar…dare I say there was even a hint of English pub??

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I discovered La Pinte after my target, L’Urgence Bar, foolishly closed their doors on this particular day. I found myself in dire need to escape the Parisian torrents, as I was brilliantly sans umbrella as usual. L’Urgence Bar’s loss is La Pinte’s gain, and no amount of kitsch – and L’Urgence, which serves cocktails in test tubes and labels their cocktails with such enticing names as The Laxative, has that en masse – makes me regret my serendipitous choice of La Pinte.

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Okawa is likely a bar which caters to the alternative lifestyle crowd. That, or the extremely tall transvestite exiting the bar when we walked up had just been asking the bartender directions to another such establishment.

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We went to Pizza il Naturale for the wine, but let more impressed with the pizzas. They were doing brisk business with the lunch crowd, but we were quickly shuffled over to a table and delivered a loaf of bread which only minutes before had been hanging out in the open ovens at the rear of the restaurant.

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My attention was first drawn to the black and white tiled floor, which looked so perfect that I cannot understand why every bar isn’t doing it. After an appreciative nod I took in the rest of the bar; it looks like a bar should. The interior of the Hotel du Nord could give lessons to other bars who need help sprucing up their interior.

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