An interview with A.B.P. (Atelier du Bracelet Parisien)

For many a watch enthusiast, straps are an important part of watch ownership, with strap purchases and changes according to mood/ weather/ purpose/ colour/ material  being a regular part of one's horological existence.  If you're a Paneristi, strapmania can reach epic proportions, with leather strap cases which can hold two dozen straps, vintage straps that go for four figure amounts, and adoration of particular strapmakers and types of straps leathers and styles.

Perhaps the most celebrated maker of custom straps is A.B.P. (Atelier du Bracelet Parisien).

Situated in the heart of Paris, A.B.P. was founded in 1997 by Jean-Claude Perrin who, after 40 years of experience in the industry with Camille Fournet & Créations Perrin, decided to dedicate himself to bespoke strap making for individual clients. Today, it remains a family business, with Jean-Claude and his son Yann at its helm.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Yann via email, giving some insight into the A.B.P. atelier and those of us (yes, myself included) who have their straps. Apart from the dizzying array of combinations which a customer can select, the most unexpected insight for me was the small percentage of Panerai related straps that they sell.

Left : Alligator. Right : Ostrich leg

1. ABP is the most renowned strap maker amongst watch enthusiasts, and your customers are worldwide. How many people are there in your workshop making straps?

We are a team of 14 people at the workshop, but only seven are making straps.

A.B.P. Paris

STRAPAHOLISM

For many a hardcore WIS or watchnerd, straps are an important part of watch ownership, with strap purchases and changes according to mood/ weather/ purpose/ colour/ material matching being a regular part of one's horological existence.  If you're a Paneristi, strapmania can reach epic proportions, with special strap cases holding up to two dozen of them, vintage straps that go for four figure amounts, and adoration of particular strapmakers and type of exotic straps.

Recently, a newcomer to the Sydney Paneristi and Sydney Tarts horological fold arrived one night with three straps to share. Not just any old straps, but from the renowned strapmakers ABP (Atelier du Bracelet Parisien).

Our new friend asked us to guess what these straps were made from. Between the half a dozen of us there at the time, we couldn't manage to guess any of them correctly. I suppose that this could be interpreted in a variety of ways :

1. We really don't know our leather

2. None of us are seriously hardcore strap nuts
3. Something else altogether

What do you think this one with the interesting texture is?

 Cow paunch!

This next one may be red, but the colour is misleading....

....as it is a strap made from frog.

This final one is the strap that I liked the most in terms of its texture and aesthetics. Despite trying hard, I could not identify it, though one person got nearish (right beast, no specifics on the beast's body part)......

....it turned out to be Ostrich leg.

Seeing how much I admired this final strap, my new Paneristi buddy unexpectedly and generously offered to let me borrow it for a few weeks to use on my PAM48!

Clearly, I am not much of a Paneristi or strapaholic, as I don't own a strap changing tool, and had to call upon P to assist me.....

Almost there!

One final twist before he can attack his apple crumble tart.....

Voila!

Seeing my PAM48 on this strap induced unexpected strap lust, as it is a beautiful strap indeed.

Here is a photo of it with its usual strap -

This is the OEM strap which it came with -

A new strap is cheaper than buying a new watch but hey - call me boring if you like, but I'm just going to stick with the black strap with white stitching for the immediate future, and save the funds for a new watch rather than a new strap.....

[AP]

21 Feb 2011 - An interview of A.B.P's Yann Perrin by AP here.

Eating Carnivorously in Paris - Part 2:
La Rôtisserie du Beaujolais

Like other Europeans, dinner dining is a big affair for the Parisians.  La Rôtisserie du Beaujolais is one of those places that locals call their dining room.  Situated on right on the Seine along quai de la Tournelle, it is right opposite a famed temple of cuisine, La Tour d'Argent. La Tour d'Argent is renowned for its pressed duck, a dish best left for readers to research yourselves. However, La Tour d'Argent's pressed duck is made from ducks raised in its own farm with each duck given a serial number.  Diners ordering the duck receive a postcard with the duck's serial number.  Keeping with the Tart's horological theme, just think of it as a limited edition duck.  Personally, I would have preferred that my duck had a name, like Daffy, Donald or maybe Peking, to make it a more intimate dining experience.  

Since I have digressed, let me bring this back to topic by noting that both La Tour d'Argent and La Rôtisserie du Beaujolais are owned by Claude Terrail.

La Rôtisserie du Beaujolais is clearly the more casual dining experience but I would wager that a feast of flesh is best done on a casual setting.  

Reservations are important, as when my wife and I arrived at 7.30PM, the place was bustling, noisy and crowded. We were squeezed into a two seater right in the middle of the small dining area and a quick scan of the room confirmed that this was indeed "local" - all conversation was in French. Further confirmation was made through observing scores of women tucked into flesh in ways only French women can.

The menu was extensive but it contained what one would expect from a typical French menu.

Aperitifs and water were brought to the table and our order was taken.

This was quickly followed by bread, butter and little radishes.

The lady kicked off her meal with Poireaux tièdes à la vinaigrette, warm leeks dressed in vinaigrette and garnished with minced red onion and chives. This was a wonderful medley of all things oniony. The vinaigrette rounded off the sharp onion flavours with an acidic bite.

I opted for the entree of the day, which was a terrine of rabbit. It wasn't just filled with rabbit meat but also rabbit liver and served with a big jar of preserved onion and cornichon pickles.

Let us pause to reflect on the wine we had with dinner. My knowledge of French wines is limited to "rouge" and "blanc". We shared a half bottle of what ever is in the picture above. It was good.

Main course for the lady was coq au vin, or chicken cooked in wine. This is, of course, a classic French dish that can be found in almost every French bistro.

But there is good coq au vin and bad coq au vin (you can tell the bad ones from the poorly translated name of this dish on the menu - cock in wine). Good coq au vin is made by marinating chicken in good red wine. Not just a little dash of red wine but generally a whole bottle for at least 24 hours. The chicken is then browned and simmered in the marinade.

La Rôtisserie du Beaujolais' coq au vin was excellent. The sauce was richly reduced and thickened through slow cooking intensifying the flavours but also creating a velvety consistency. It is finished with lardons, not little bit of bacon but real French lardons. I had suspected that they may have thickened the sauce with pig's blood but the lady asked the chef directly who responded with a dismissive shaking of the head and proceeded to flirt with her. It all happened in French but I suspected something suggestive was said.

I opted for something less complicated to cook - Entrecôte Grillée Béarnaise. You don't need to know French to figure out that its grilled steak with bearnaise sauce, a sauce of heart attack proportions. Entrecôte is the rib eye but without the bone. It is a fattier cut of meat but gives a good balance of meaty flavour and texture

I requested that the Entrecôte be cooked to the chef's recommendation but that was before the flirting incident, in which case I would have asked him to cook it blue and then returned the meat by suggesting that his version of blue is not blue enough. In all fairness, the steak was wonderful and the bearnaise sauce had a smooth creamy richness of the right balance of acidity to cut through the fattiness of the meat. The wine went well with it too.

For dessert, we were recommended to try the dessert of the day, a lemon meringue pie. A simple enough dessert that was executed flawlessly. The lady and I shared this. Note that I did protest that we should have gotten one each but she made a more compelling case for one dessert rather than two.

Overall, La Rôtisserie du Beaujolais  was a fantastic experience, flirty chef and all.

The waiting staff were friendly and quick to make suggestions, while the open kitchen is a plus as its always fun to see a frantic kitchen in action. The goatee dude in the motion blur is that flirty chef.

The place was packed with locals with a good flow of dining traffic, which is clearly a good sign. The menu is extensive with French classics done well. The prices are reasonable if not on the high side but you get what you pay for.

Which leads me to question, why eat at those tourist traps when a wonderful establishment like this exists?

La Rôtisserie du Beaujolais

19, Quai de la Tournelle
75005 Paris
Ph : 01-43-54-17-47


Part One of "Eating Carnivorously in Paris" can be found here and Part Three here.


[G.]

Eating Carnivorously in Paris - Part 1: Régis le Caviste

My wife commented to me upon our return from Paris that her memories of Paris seemed to be exaggerated 10 fold as to how great the city was.  That struck me as a curious comment as for all its romanticism, Paris isn't that great a city.  It is one of the dirtiest cities in the world, the people (a huge generalisation but allow me) can be rude and moody and a lot can be said for its confusing public transportation system. 

One thing you cannot fault though, is the French respect for boeuf, or beef.  There is certainly no heuristic exaggeration in the way beef is treated with respect and loved.  From raw to medium is about as well done as the French would eat it, and for good reason - when one orders a well done steak, you are getting meat that has been sitting idled in the freezer for a while.  Why waste all the flavour on someone who isn't going to enjoy anything other than a charred hockey puck. 

This series is dedicated to several "local" establishments that my wife and I found during our recent visit. "Local" is generally defined as 95% of observed clientele are Parisians.  To kick us off, our first stop is Régis Le Caviste.  Located in the 8th Arrondissement, it can be found on rue Washington, which is not too far from Place Charles De Gaulle.

It was a distant away from the overpriced tourist traps of Avenue des Champs-Élysées but convenient enough to get too.  We found this place after taking a stroll around the area.  In search for a "local" place, we walked off the beaten path, pass all the tourist trade until we found this charming little shop front.

The sign is nothing but subtle.  You know what is going to be on the menu.  

We kicked of with a cool drink of French "artisanal" lemonade. With typical local bistros, the menu was simple.  Entrees consists of terrines, salads and tarts.  Plats was all about beef, however there was two specials that were fish.  Unfortunately, they were all sold out of the specials when we arrived.

My wife wasn't too hungry (or at least watching her waistline) and she settled for a simple salad of confit tomatoes (or semi dried tomatoes), baby spinach and Parmesan shavings with an aged balsamic dressing, olive oil and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I on the other hand was going to feast of boeuf! They had several cuts on offer from entrecôte (or rib eye without the bone) to rumsteck (or rump steak).  This cut was onglet, or hanger steak.  It is a very popular cut in France and 99% of the time, this is the cut you will get if you ordered steak frites from any old bistro.  It has a "ropy" texture with a slight gamey flavour.  It isn't as soft as entrecôte but tasted meatier.  The meat was well seasoned and served with a side of french beans, baby spinach salad and roasted potatoes.  Sea salt and chives were the finishing touch.  

I requested it that the chef cook it to his preference of doneness, which in this case was medium rare.  This onglet was washed down with a glass of house Bordeaux.  I didn't bother to find out exactly what it was but suffice to say it was a good drop.

We finished the meal with a wonderful orange cake that was soaked in syrup.  It came recommended by our waiter (and it helps that my wife speaks French).  This was a fantastic dessert and probably the most memorable dessert we had of the entire trip.

And of course, no French meal would be complete without a coffee afterwards.

Regis Le Caviste was packed with the local lunch time crowd when we arrived.  We were given the table closest to the entrance and it is by all means not a large restaurant.  If I recall, it sits about 30 to 35 guests.  We finished our meal leisurely and we were not rushed by the staff, who by the time this photo of the interior was taken, had had their own meal and were packing up.  Bistros like these open for lunch, shut at about 3PM and then reopen for dinner at about 7PM. 

Prices for entrees were about 10 Euros, Plats were 20 to 25 Euros and desserts were about 13 Euros.  The house wines will set you back 8 Euros a glass.

If this is how locals eat, then they eat well every day.  Régis Le Caviste is a fantastic restaurant and worth the visit.

Régis le Caviste
37 rue Washington
75008 Paris

tel : 01 42 89 10 97
Métro(s) : Georges V


Part 2 of "Eating Carnivorously in Paris" can be found here and Part Three here.

[G.]