Eating well, from couscous to oysters

Everyone comes to Paris with high expectations when it comes to eating, yet many leave disappointed.

Maybe it's because the guidebook recommendations are outdated or the "research" amounts to opening the door to see how full the restaurant is and copying down a few items from the menu.

The best ways I've found to enjoy eating out in Paris are to ask an ex-pat who lives here for a recommendation (asking a French contact can be tricky if he or she only eats out occasionally), or wander around on my own to see where the locals go for an everyday meal.

I did a little of both the other day with Adrian Leeds, an ex-pat who moved to Paris with her family from Los Angeles in 1994 to live for a year, and never left.

Leeds is in love with Paris. Like most Americans who live here, she cobbles together a living doing several things. She advises people who want to invest in real estate, authors an online newsletter called Parlerparis.com and writes the "Adrian Leeds Good Value Guide to Paris Restaurants,'' a list of 200 no-star, mostly mom and pop neighborhood finds that updates frequently online

"You don't need to be rich to dine well in Paris,'' says Leeds. "You just need to know where to go.''

In her trademark red glasses, she cuts a slim figure in a short red coat over a black jumper, high black boots and a yellow beret.

We had lunch at Chez Omar, a 1940s-style Algerian restaurant on the Rue de Bretagne in the Marais that Leeds recommends for its eight kinds of couscous.

Leeds ate 362 meals out last year, many at places like this, averaging $25.16 per meal, including tax and tip. She favors the Marais, the gay and Jewish quarter on the Right Bank where she lives, but also points visitors to the 14th district of Montparnasse.

You've probably heard stories about rude Paris waiters.

"Ask permission to sit down,'' she suggests. "It will change everything for you. It shows you respect them. That you're in their establishment. You'll be treated like a queen.''

Smile really big, she also suggests, and "apologize for something -- anything, either in English or French. The minute you humble yourself, you'll be in good hands."

Oyster season

Do you need another reason to think about a trip to Paris this time of year besides lower prices, no crowds, the annual winter sales and the possibility that the weather is often better here than in Seattle?

Oysters are in season, and virtually every cafe and restaurant has a stand outside selling fresh "Huitres de Bretagne,'' oysters from Brittany.

When I mentioned to an English acquaintance who lives here that I'd like to try some, she suggested a little bistro called Fontaine Sully on the Rue Saint Antoine near the St. Paul Metro stop, not far from Place de la Bastille. I'd passed by this place before, and didn't even realize it served food. It's not the kind of place that would make it into a guidebook, although it should.

We sat at a little wooden table and sampled a half-dozen each of two kinds, served with thin slices of wheat bread and lemon slices.

"They absolutely have to be opened on the spot, and they should shiver when you put the lemon on'' she said.

They shivered. I shivered. They were that good.

I didn't take down the address of this bistro, but it doesn't really matter.

"There are so many places like this all over Paris,'' she said.

Just ask someone who lives here.

La Cremerie

This is one I found by wandering around on the Web before I left. It's in the St. Germain des Prés neighborhood on the Left Bank where rents are soaring, so it's not cheap, but it's unique in Paris.

La Cremerie (see www.wineterroirs.com) specializes in all-natural organic French wines, sold by the glass or bottle; French and Italian cheeses and artisan meats from Spain that the owner, Serge Mathieu, shaves on a bright red slicer made in 1936.

The little blue storefront was a dairy shop from 1880 until 1947, and has been a wine bar ever since. Mathieu, an architect who was born in New York and his wife, Helene, bought the shop from the former owners five months ago.

Come here for a glass of wine and a snack, and admire the old marble counters and walls and the painted silk ceiling covered in glass. There's just a few small tables and four seats at the bar, so you might have to wait your turn. It's at 9 rue des Quatre Vents near a little 15-room hotel called the Globe, also worth checking out if you're looking for a place to stay the next time you're in Paris.