L'Escient -- Restaurant Review

28 Rue Poncelet, 75017 Paris, France
Metro line 2 (Ternes)
Check website for operating times & for reservations
http://restaurantescient.fr/en

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-80); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-90); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (90+)

3.50 - Stars....................................................€€........................................................ 2 - Bell

Finding a restaurant in Paris on a Monday, other than the run of the mill tourist cafés is almost impossible, so we lucked out. Our friend "J" invited us to lunch in the 17eme close to the Champs Elysées (backside), which is open on Mondays.  So, to start off, it's a beautiful area with nice shops etc.

The interior is quite lovely. The restaurant is family owned; unfortunately, I tried to look up who they are, even the waiter didn't know. The father is the Chef, mother works both the back and front of the house and the daughter is a jack of all trades.  It's been open for 7-years and they had just recently remodeled. Very cozy and the tables were nicely spaced.

We perused the menu, and they had a really nice selection. There was no amuse bouche served, so we went ahead and ordered. (Note: My dishes reviewed below are in English)

ENTRÉES

CRISPY PRAWNS -- Three of us ordered this dish. The prawns were covered in a thin wrapping and deep fried. At first I thought it might've been filo, but it wasn't flaky enough. It was more like a "spring roll" wrapper. It was cooked perfectly, the shrimp was not overcooked as it sometimes can be due to frying. The accompanying salad was in a sweet/sour dressing. The chef purposely lightly mixed it so some bites were sweet while others were sour. Very simple and a good composed dish. A good start.

IBERIAN HAM. Jack ordered this dish. That was a lot of ham we got. It looked a lot like prosciutto. At first, I was expecting a very salty flavor, characteristic of this ham, but was pleasantly surprised it wasn't so aged and salty that it was a nice mild ham. We all really liked it.

PLATS 

LAMB PISTOU (pistou sauce with coriander basil & mint). Two of us ordered this dish. I ordered mine medium, and J ordered his on the rare side. Mine came out perfect, whereas, J's came out closer to medium. Although J liked the flavors, it was not the doneness he ordered. The dish came with a purée of peas, whole peas with string beans. The lamb chosen were sliced racks, my favorite part of the lamb. Overall, I thought this dish was delish.

TUNA. The other two ordered this dish. This was a nice thick piece of grilled tuna. The grilled tuna was brushed with a sweet soy based tangy sauce which sat atop some cubed avocados. The menu did say it was gonna be cooked "mi cuit" (half-cooked), but wasn't. It was more on the medium-well. Jack liked this dish because he thought it was tasty, the sauce covering was crusty flavorful but said it wasn't mi-cuit. I prefer tuna to be rare in the center. It's a preference thing for me.

DESSERTS

MANGO.  Jack and J ordered this dessert. It was basically a frappe'd mango and atop sat a dollop of sweetened mascarpone and a dollop of Kiwi ice cream with a sprinkling of toasted black sesame. Simple, good dessert, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Salad of red fruits (rasberries/strawberries). One person ordered this dish. Another simple dish with some toasted almonds for texture, and a dollop of raspberry ice cream. A good dish, but again, nothing out of the ordinary.

WINES 

Les Pillotieres,Vin du Val De Loire,Touraine
Savignon 2017 

"The evocations of Sauvignon can be floral with a touch of gooseberry or blackcurrant bud, mixed with a little musk and spices. A mineral side is often present. The Pineau de la Loire enchants with its aromas of white flowers (acacia), quince, dried fruits, honey or citrus." -- Le Guide Hachette Wine


Cuvée Alice

"Together, Cariñena and Garnacha can produce very structured wines. It is unusual for them to be overpowering, but high alcohol levels can sometimes betray the wine’s natural elegance. Black, berry-fruit flavors are typical flavor descriptors used to describe wines made from this blend." -- Wine Searcher

SUMMARY

Overall, I thought the location, the atmosphere and the service of this restaurant was excellent. The food was also very good. Although good and definitely above average, in all honesty it didn't WOW me. But if asked if I'd come back, DEFINITELY. It was good food at good prices.

As for the dishes, there were some hit and minor misses. The lamb was not cooked to J's preference after he stressed how he wanted it cook. The tuna I thought, was overcooked. The lamb was delicious and I would definitely have it again. And, the desserts were good, but nothing out of the ordinary.

For three 3-course prix-fixe lunches, one 2-course prix-fixe lunch, 2-bottles of wine, 3-coffees and 1-tea, our bill came to 203€ for 4-people, or 51€ per person.

Le Grand Bain -- Restaurant Review

14 Rue Dénoyez, 75020 Paris
Metro: 2 (Belleville)
For reservations and operating schedule, check their website
http://www.legrandbainparis.com/en/home/

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-80); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-90); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (90+)

3 - Stars....................................................€........................................................ 5 (bomb) - Bell

       (4-Stars for FOOD subtract 2-stars for atmosphere and add 1 star for service) 

NOTE: I struggled with the overall review of this restaurant because I truly loved the food. So, I will rate the food and atmosphere separately, and you can judge for yourself.


Our close friends invited us to dinner to the Belleville area of Paris. Belleville is the unofficial third Chinatown of Paris and is also where the young congregate because rents are cheap. It's also where many artists live because again rents are very inexpensive. It's a gritty, graffiti laden, vibrant area of Paris.

With that said, the minute I walked in it was buzzing with activity. In fact, so buzzing I couldn't hear a word anyone said. It's a small tight restaurants but they do have a bar counter you could sit at. I sat along the walk through, so I was none to happy because I kept getting bumped into. Not a good start.

This restaurant is really for about sharing, ala "tapas style".  Unfortunately, they didn't have any paper menus. They had a large menu as you see in this photo where we had to go stand next to it to see it. They did have a smaller board, but it appeared that it was being shared and it was nowhere to be found. But I will say it was a very exciting menu, very innovative.

I WILL LIST OUR SHARED DISHES

1.  Gougères. There are usually two types of gougères, stuffed or a sort of bready type. This was the latter and it was moist with bacon and bacon fat. So, as its description, the pork flavor came out. The group loved it.

2.  Peas. The peas were a nice refreshing addition. Whole peas cooked perfectly atop pureed peas. It was flavored with roasted dill and had a few fava beans as well. Also a good dish.

3. Baby Shrimps. I loved this dish, little baby shrimps deep fried with a good helping of salt. You eat the whole shrimp, head and all. A simple dish, but delish.

4. Ris de veau (sweetbreads). This dish was delicious. Quite tender and succulent. What made this dish interesting is the sauce of pureed anchovies emulsified with an oil. Then to add sourness it was sprinkled with capers and topped with some dressed arugula.

5. Seiche (cuttlefish). The cuttlefish was cooked perfectly, and was served with just the yoke of and egg and what I believe to be pork fiber. Reason why I say I believe, I just bought a bunch when I was Taiwan a few weeks ago and it has the exact same flavor profile. It was a good interesting dish with a lot of different flavors and textures.

6. Asparagus.  The asparagus was perfectly cooked. It sat atop a cream cheesy sort of puree with large sliced raw mushrooms. I thought this was a good dish. But I don't think I've ever had sliced raw mushrooms in a warm dish like this, usually they're a little pan fried or grilled. None-the-less a good dish.

7. Panna cotta. Now this was an interesting dessert. One complaint about the dish, it tasted very glutinous. I think the chef could've cut back a little on the thickening agent. It was accompanied with rehydrated prunes in a liquor, and covered with crumbled cooked crackling of meringue.

8. Chocolate with strawberries. I'm not a fan of milk chocolate, so right away I didn't think it was that great. But our friends loved it. It was a tart with milk chocolate, strawberries and vanilla ice cream.












NOTE: I was getting so annoyed with the noise I totally forgot to take photos of the wine. Plus I ordered their house white.  Jack had perused the wine list and didn't see anything that caught his eye. The waiter asked what we would like and made a good suggestion.  When he brought the wine Jack tasted it and said it would be fine in about 10 minutes, so the waiter decided to pour the wine into a decanter and swished it for us.  That has never happened to us before (outside of Michelin starred places) and it worked like a charm.

SUMMARY 

This is a young happening place. We were the oldest ones there. It was so loud, I truly could not wait to get out of there, because it was actually painful. They serve til quite late and they do turn tables. People came in after 10 pm for dinner and it was still quite lively. The one annoying thing I found was that the walkway from one end to the kitchen to where I was sitting made it impossible for people not to bang against me. So, if you go, sit along the wall, or be ready for "bumper car" action.

Now onto the food. I thought the food was excellent. Very inventive and creative menu. And, the execution was spot on. As for the service, despite the hecticness, the servers were able to manage, which is a feat in themselves. So, chapeau to them.

Will I go back. NO. As you know I'm big about "dining should be about the whole experience." Food was excellent, but the atmosphere is not for me. I had a headache when I got home.

There was 4 of us. We had 8 shareable dishes, 2 bottles of wine, 1 glass of wine for 146.50€ or 36.61€ per person. VERY REASONABLE.

Bouillon 47 -- Restaurant Review

47 rue de Rochechouart 75009 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)9 51 18 66 59
Metro: Line 12 (Notre Dame de Lorette)
Check website for operating hours & online reservations
http://www.bouillonparis.fr/

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-80); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-90); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (90+)

4.80 - Star....................................................€€........................................................ 1 - Bell

At the recommendation of our dear friend "J" we decided to go to this restaurant in the 9eme, which is not far from "Pigalle" and "Montmartre", but it is a little bit off the beaten path for most tourists. My apologies, I didn't have my camera so had to borrow a camera; hence, the photo quality, so some of the photos may be a little blurred.

The interior was nothing special. It's a small neighborhood restaurant, but it has a warm cozy feel to it.

As we arrived our two friends visiting from US were already there. Since they don't speak french we were all automatically given English menus. As I mentioned before most of the times the English translations are wrong. This was no exception, It had on the English menu that they were offering "KNIFES" of fish. So I asked for a French menu and it was actually "razor clams".  The chef came out and I told him what it was and he seemed appreciative that I gave him the correct name.

For an amuse bouche we had a simple savory en croûte and an accompanying sauce. I thought the sauce was made of St. Moret cheese, which is a sort of french version of. When the waiter came back I asked him, and he said it was made with Philadelphia cream cheese, we all laughed.  None-the-less it was good, flaky and tasty.

ENTRÉE

RAZOR CLAMS.  Not on the regular menu they offered razor clams. This had to be one of the best razor clams I have ever tasted. Normally, there's grit in these clams since they're so hard to clean. But I have to say there was no grit to be found, and the sauce was to die for. It was buttery with herbs and the clams were cooked perfectly, not at all rubbery. We later asked for a spoon so we could drink the sauce. This was a big HIT.

OCTOPUS SALAD. They must've beaten the hell out of this octopus because it was so tender and succulent. The octopus sat a top cucumbers and tomatoes marinated in vinegar and citrus sauce,  which gave the entrée a nice freshness to it. Another hit.  Jack thought the octopus salad was one of the best he has ever had.

PLATS

COD FISH.  I had the Cod. I ordered it primarily because I love spinach. But what a nice surprise, the fish was so moist and the skin was nice and crispy. The accompany coleslaw of cabbage gave it a much needed texture & sour component. And, for even more citrus you could simply add the dollops of citrus on the plate. The spinach was absolutely delicious and creamy. It was a very well balanced dish.

SWEETBREADS. Our friend had the sweetbreads and he insisted I taste it. He said it was one of the best he ever did. So, I tasted it, and he was right. The sweetbreads kept its shape, had a nice firm exterior with a nice soft interior, but not mushy. The flavors were spot on with the "jus" and the accompanying mashed potatoes with the accompanying citrusy salad was a great combination. Another great hit.

DESSERTS. I had a cheese platter with Jack, although I didn't taste it one of our friends had the fruit with lemon and basil. He said it was the best dessert he's ever had. And, I trust his judgement since he use to work at some pretty high end restaurants in Colorado.

WINES: As many of you know, I'm not a wine connoisseur, however our friend is. These 2 bottles were some of the best wines I've had.

Domain Charles Pain. "versatile white-wine grape variety that has been cultivated in France for nearly 1300 years. It is most commonly associated with France's Loire Valley, and its high acidity levels mean it can be vinified in a number of different styles: as lusciously sweet, botrytis-affected dessert wines, light, honeyed sparkling wines and as full-bodied, still white wines." - wine searcher 

Domaine Robert Denognet white Chardonnay from Burgundy.  "The variety itself (although often said to be relatively flavor-neutral) is responsible for most of the fruity flavors found in Chardonnay wines. These range from the tropical (banana, melon, pineapple and guava) to stonefruits (peach, nectarine and apricot), citrus and apples." - wine searcher.

Jack, as a non-white wine drinker, ordered a glass of the Chinon on the wine list which the server said they didn't have and he suggested a Saumur Champigny which was spot on and what Jack would have ordered anyway.

SUMMARY

Since I've only been back not even a month and testing out new restaurants, I have to say this is a HIT. It's off the beaten path for most tourists, but well worth the trip. This is a neighborhood restaurant. The chef's attention to details to flavors and combining the dishes to make it well balanced in flavors and textures was very skillful. For me it was near perfect. I have no criticism about the dishes I tasted, they were all well executed. If I had any complaint at all, and it's very minor. The English translation was a bit off.

Chapeau to chef Rémi Lazurowicz, who is quite young, but very skilled. He apprenticed with such luminaries as Bruno Doucet the chef de cuisine of one of my favorite restaurants Le Regalade. 

Would we go back, in a heartbeat.

For 3-prix-fixed (42€ each), one 2-course, 2-bottles of wine, and 1 glass of wine our bill came to 256€ for 4-people or 64€ per person.

La Verrière Paris -- Restaurant Review

4 rue Nièpce Paris, 75014
Metro: Line 13 Pernety
 +33 (0) 183 756 921
Check website for opening times
Note: Reservations can be made online
Website: https://www.niepceparis.com/en/la-verriere-paris-restaurant/

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-80); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-90); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (90+)

4 - Star....................................................€€........................................................ 1 - Bell

Wanted to catch up with a friend of ours so I selected this restaurant because it's not far from us and I heard about it. First let me start off by saying, this is an absolutely beautiful restaurant. As you entered, it looks very deceiving, then you walk down this Marilyn Monroe staircase where everyone in the restaurant can see you saunter in, if you like to see and be seen. 😉

Note: it's located next to Hotel Nièpce and I believe it's part of the hotel.

You get a wow moment as you enter the restaurant. There's a large ceiling of glass and it almost feels as if you're outdoors; however, the restaurant is temperature controlled, so yes, it is air conditioned, so you're not gonna feel like you're in a sauna.  And, there's a full bar; unfortunately, they weren't very well versed on how to make some martinis eg, "dirty martini" but that's ok, cause their wine selection was enormous.

OK, now onto the food. We were served an amuse bouche of cheese gougères and some almonds. Very light and nice start to our meal.

ENTRÉES

L’ASPERGE / THE ASPARAGUS
Vertes et blanches, accompagnées d’un oeuf parfait, Furikake

Green and white asparagus, poached egg, Furikake

Two of us had this dish. I love asparagus especially with a poached egg. It's just a good simple classic french entrée. The different twist for this was it had a heavy sprinkling of "furikake" (A mixture of dried fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, & salt). This added texture and brought it to another level. The asparagus was perfectly cooked. Only minor complaint that I have is the poached egg continued cooking in the residual heat, so was not as creamy as I would've wanted, but still delicious.

LE VEAU COMME UN CARPACCIO MI-CUIT BASSE TEMPÉRATURE
LOW TEMPERATURE HALF-COOKED VEAL
Sauce Tonnato wasabi / Tonnato wasabi sauce

Jack had this dish. I personally thought it was more cold than at room temperature, but that was OK for me since I like refrigerator cold food, especially on a warm day. It was a very good dish. The wasabi was not at all overpowering and it was accompanied with pickle radish. It reminded me of a cold roulade.

PLATS

LE COCHON IBÉRIQUE BIO
Choux pack Choi, takénoko, miso / pak choi, tekenoko, miso

Two of us got this dish. This to me definitely had flavors of Asia. It had a sweet, salty, and sour component, balancing out the flavors in one's tongue. It was accompanied by a tiny mound of eggplant. I particularly liked the "tekenoko" (Simmered bamboo shoots, cooked  in dashi (stock) and seasonings such as soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar. When dried bonito flakes, or katsuobushi, is added, this dish may also be referred to as takenoko no tosani)

The pork came out very tender and very evenly cooked, so well executed that I'd be willing to bet they "sous-vide" cooked it. I just had one minor complain, it was tad bit salty for me.

LE CHIRASHI “NIÈPCE"
Riz Minori, saumon, Thon rouge, radis bleu
Minori rice, salmon, tuna, thinly sliced blue meat radish

Jack ordered this dish. Chirashi is basically a "bowled" dish. For me it looked a lot like a "de-constructed" nori-maki sushi. Jack loved the dish for the freshness of the dish and the radishes. A hit for him.







Note: Although they had a nice collections of desserts we opted not to have any since we were more than full. 

WINE: BOURGOGNE
Macon Villages - 2017 - Château Fuissé 

"The typical Mâcon-Villages wine is lightly floral and fruity, with a warm hint of citrus fruit. The best examples have a gently nutty character, reminiscent of almonds or hazelnuts."--(wine searcher).

Jack was thrilled to see they had a Margaux by the glass.

SUMMARY

As Jack and I say, we can thank foreigners, especially Asian Chefs for the future of French cuisine by injecting new life, new flavors and an exciting twist on food, but using French techniques. In this case, the Chef is Japanese Chef Kayori Hirano.

"Well, I have been specializing in Franco-Japanese Teppanyaki since 2007. I’ve had the opportunity of discovering, creating and developing my cuisine at the Tour d’Argent, the Hotel de Crillon and the Peninsula. Working with Chef Christopher Hache and Chef Sidney Radel was a wonderful experience for me. My approach to cooking comes in large part from these two great Chefs. Today, my cuisine is really French cuisine fused with my Japanese roots."

I thought the food was very good. We had a 1:30 pm lunch reservations and the last seating was at 2 pm. The restaurant is absolutely beautiful. It was rather empty, but then again it's a holiday week-end (Easter), so many left town. Our friend Sarah was delayed because of the demonstrations that blocked the road. So we didn't start ordering til about 2 pm. Although, we didn't feel rushed, I could tell they were anxious to get us going, only because I know the "scene". But Americans would've thought it normal. But the service was EXCELLENT.

I liked everything that was served to us. Just had minor, minor complaints about the egg and the pork sauce was a tad salty for me. However, we all commented what a nice restaurant to dine in. Although the bartender didn't have a large repertoire of American cocktails, you can give him instructions on how to make it, and he'll make it for you.

Will we go back. ABSOLUTELY. It's in our hood and we walked there from our apartment

Monday-Friday, they have a prix-fixe menu. But because we went on Saturday we paid a la cart. So with 2-entrées, 2-plats, 1-bottle of water, 1-glass of red wine 1-bottle of white wine and 2-teas our bill came to $198 for 3 people or 66€ per person.

MARCORE -- Restaurant Review

1 rue de Panoramas - 75002
 01 45 08 00 08
website: www.marcore-paris.com 

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-80); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-90); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (90+)

4.25 - Star....................................................€€........................................................ 2 - Bell

OK folks, I'm back. In fact I just arrived last week from a 4-month traveling hiatus. So when a friend asked us to join him and his wife for lunch, we didn't hesitate for one minute.

This restaurant is very new, not even open a month, in fact it's not completely open. And, they're also building a traiteur with the same namesake across the street. Now we weren't sure if they were fully open to the public, but we were able to have lunch at their "soft-opening". Actually, the area we ate is the bar bistronomique on the main floor and the restaurant located on the 2nd story and the traiteur still under construction will officially be open in May.

While we were waiting Mr. "J's" wife they gave us some amuse bouche, a crostini topped with potatoes a hint of anchovies, beef carpaccio and pickled chilis.

I get the impression that an amuse bouche, for now is not going to be the norm, cause our wait person said it was special to us from the chef.

It was delicious and a nice start. I hope they do incorporate this as a regular on their menu.

We perused the menu. The lunch prix-fixe prices were excellent by western standards. Having just returned from the US and other places, I can say that I find restaurant eating, unless you go to a very high end restaurant, very affordable in Paris.


Two of us decided to get the 3-course fixed, I got the 2-course fixed and Mr. "J" got 2-entrées a-la-cart.

ENTRÉES

Mâche coquille de Monsieur pi/betteraves/maquereau fumé. (Mr pi / beets mackerel / smoked mackerel).  Three of us got this starter. I really like this a lot, it was a very well composed dish. Beets are normally sweet to begin with, but these were particularly sweet, I assumed they were sweetened a tad more so that it could balance the citrusy of the salad. There were thin sliced turnips to add another level of texture, and the mackerel was "cru/crudo". I would definitely order this dish again.

Terrine foie gras de canard/figues sèches/agrumes. (Terrine duck foie gras / dried figs / citrus.) Mr. "J" got this dish. I had a bite and although it was good, I found the figs in the terrine too sweet. But it's a personal preference, I don't like sweet "things" in savory dishes. But Mr. "J" liked it so that's all that matters.

PLATS

Merlu de ligne de Saint Jean de Luz/Carottes/Moutarde-raifort. (line caught Hake Saint Jean de Luz / Carrots / Mustard-horseradish.) Two of us got this dish. Personally, aesthetically, I think the dish could've used a little more green. Those that had this fish said that although it was good, the fish was a bit bland. The carrots were a combination of sweet mash topped with whole sliced carrots. Good dish, but has room or improvement.

Morilles à la crème/savagnin/œuf de poule/ail des ours. (Morels with cream / savagnin (type of grapes) / chicken egg / wild garlic). Although this dish was an entrée, Mr. "J" ordered it as a plat.  I normally like having a piece of protein (meat, fish, poultry) in my plat, but I have to say after tasting this "lacto-ovo-vegetarians" dish I could definitely just have this and I would be very happy. It was in a heavy cream and I tasted a hint of mustard, and under the cracker was a poached egg. The morels were so naturally delicious. This was a hit dish for me. I'm not sure what the wafer was since I didn't taste it, but I have a suspicion it was a cheese wafer. If someone goes back, let me know so I can add this to this review.

Poitrine de veau/légumes primeur de saison/jus de viande. (Veal breasts / seasonal vegetables / gravy.) I had this dish. I actually liked this dish. The veal had the right amount of fat that added natural flavor to the veal. The vegetables were a nice variety of spinach, carrots, baby purple potatoes. And, the natural jus from the beef was a great combination. Although this dish wasn't large, it actually filled me up. Overall a good dish with a nice balance of veggies and starches.  Interestingly, the jus which was poured after the dish was placed was then also poured over the 2 fish dishes.

DESSERTS

Ile Flottante (Floating Island). Only 2 of us got dessert. Now I have to say, this used to be one of my favorite french desserts when I ate sugar many years ago, but typically the meringue representing the island is huge. This was very small, but I guess size isn't everything and the flavors will be the deciding factor. Both liked the dessert and said it was very good. It had sprinkling of nuts topped with a sweet nutty cracker.

WINES

Grains d’estuaire (P’tite Folie) Chardonnay 2015 (white).  "P’tite Folie (‘a little extravagance’) : A wine perfect in balance, finesse and power. Its 6 month aging in oak barrels gives this elegant wine a beautiful expression. Decanting P’tite Folie will hit you with an explosion of fruit flavours. Combine with fish, seafood and cheese." ~~ (description obtained from their website)

Turbigo (Cinsault) (red). "Here's a crunchy, juicy red that's an absolute delight. The nose is perfumed with notes of blood orange peel and violets, alongside morello cherries and wild strawberries. The palate, meanwhile, is chalky and fresh, with wonderful saline drive on the finish. For the price, this is brilliant: a red you'll want on your table".  (description obtained from their website). As an aside, this wine is bottled in Paris.  Although this was a hit with the others, Jack did not particularly like it.

SUMMARY

It's nice to be back in Paris and reviewing restaurants. And, it's so much fun reviewing restaurants with friends and fellow bloggers who truly enjoy good food and good wine. This restaurant is manned by Chef Marc Favier and Aurélie Alary.  The chef has quite the pedigree, he helped create Bouillon Rochechouart 47, a very popular well known Parisian restaurant.

I thought the interior of the restaurant was beautiful. The tables were nicely spaced. What I did find odd was that it was carpeted. Boy, they're gonna have a hard time with stains et.al. But this space is intended to be the "BAR BISTRONOMIQUE" and the main restaurant will be upstairs, which is still under construction. They are also building a traiteur (catering/takeout) across the street. So, considering they're not completely open and serving in the bar area, kudos to them for giving us an excellent meal.

Now onto the food. I absolutely adored the beet entrée; whereas, although good, the foie gras was a tad sweet for me. It's already rich enough on its own. Personally, I prefer it with cornichons. As for the plats, I thought the morels were delicious, fabulously packed with some rich deep creamy flavors. The next dish I liked was the veal, tender and just the right amount of fat. And, lastly the hake although good, could use a little work with the presentation and adding a little more flavor in the fish although when eaten together with the carrot accompaniment it was fine . But considering they're not officially open, everything was very good. I understand there will be several restaurant critics reviewing the restaurant next week. I'm sure they'll tweak their menu based on their feedback. 

Would we go back ABSOLUTELY! Can't wait til the traiteur and especially the restaurant open, which are both scheduled to open in May. 

With 2-pre-fixe meals with 3-courses, 1-pre-fixed with 2-courses, and 2 entrées a-la-carte, 2-bottles of wine, 3-coffees, our total bill came to 222€ or 55.50€ per person.