[Paris 7e] A summer dinner at Tomy & Co.

A relatively sad farewell meal, as our close friend decides to quit Paris with her young children for another French city. With our post-flu fatigue, we were not particularly enthusiastic even the idea thinking of eating, we didn’t really eat properly (just heating up pizza, soup and some salad for 1 week) due to our lack of appetite. This meal have been decided and reserved some 1 week ago online, and luckily it has brightened our day relatively.

We have known Tomy Gousset in his Pirouette days, we had liked his cuisine, his cooking was more simple back in those days. So when friends talked about one last meal before packing lugguages, I suggested Tomy & Co. without hesitation. Tomy & Co. is Gousset’s new venture, opened last year. I have heard mainly positives reviews. From the T&Co’s site, we knew that Ducasse has his team had recently dined there, as well as the team of L’Ami Jean, shown in their Instagram account. Being chefs’ favourite table is clearly a good sign!

The restaurant was just a few streets from Invalides in the 7e district. We arrived 10 minutes before our 19:30 appointment. Friend came some 15 minutes later. The restaurant was empty when we arrived.

Amuse gueule was deep fried panais (white radish) stuffed with anchovy paste.

Bream tartare with summer truffe, on a bed of cucumber, dill and sparkled with hazelnuts. I got a bite, quite good. (+ 3€)

Head of veal with “Vitello tonnato”, with capers flowers, croutons, ossau (the cheese?) and onions. I also had a bite, it was sublime, the best among all the entries.

Poached egg, with corn, chorizo, Comté and crunchy oriental Brick.

The egg was cooked with low temperature, yolk melting in the centre. Perfectly cooked, contrasted with the crunchy brick and chorizo and Comté, it was a delight.

Main dishes:
Grilled sweetbread with a barbecue sauce on a bed of piperade, topped with fregula soufflé - the sweetbread was well cooked, maybe personally I find the dish a bit too sweet, while it has an interesting contrast of sweet, spiciness and sourness.

The duck dish was 2 dishes, duck confit on polenta, with some liver terrain (+ 6€)

Polenta fries with cherry pickles, red stem chard, with filets of Dombes duck cooked with honey. I like this plate more that the duck confit as it was quite heavy and more appropriate for winter, even it was good. I particularly like the cherry pickles, it was a good surprise.

Pork mignon with basil gnocchis, tomatoes, kalamata olives and lemon confit

Desserts:
Tapioca cooked in the style of riz au lait (rice pudding), with strawberry ice-cream, red oxalis and sugar palm - the strawberries and the ice cream was lovely. I would have preferred the real rice pudding than the relatively bland tapioca.

Almond espuma with melon ice-cream, opaline and financier cake - pretty impressive visually - I tasted a bit, the crunchy top (milk glass?) was a nice contrast with the almond taste.

Red fruits with thyme ice-cream, raspberries and meringue (+ 3€)

Ossau iraty (cheese) with black cherry jam and smoked Espelette pepper

We were not in the mood for a bottle, so each of us girls got ourselves a glass of red matched according to our main by the sommelier.

The menu was 45 euro, classical entry, main dish and dessert with an additional cost indicated in certain dishes. Our bill was 236 euros with 3 glasses of wine and 2 bottles of mineral water.

We enjoyed our meal with the relax atmosphere. The all males waiters were attentive, professional and efficient. I noticed that a couple was admitted without reservation at a bar table, but the room was starting to fill with diners starting from 8pm (Friday evening). Reservation is strongly recommended. It is good value for money. My friends were very impressed with the plating, they were happy with the food and the atmosphere. Personally, I think perhaps certain dishes were overly complex with the amount of work involved that I wondered if the labour cost was justified. Clearly we can see the ambition here.

Rush if you haven’t visit the place yet.

Tomy & Co.
22 Rue Surcouf
75007 Paris
Tel: +33 1 45 51 46 93

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excellent review. we visited tomy and co for dinner in march and it was our favorite meal this time in paris. it was upscale but approachable. we enjoyed it very much.

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stunning meal! when you say “brick” are you referring to the Tunisian pastry - brique? I had it in Marseille and loved it so much! your pics are wonderful…

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Exactly, Maria. I have a search online and find that the name should be “Brik”. Well, in French they said Brick. They can be used for both savoury or sweet dishes.

image credit: Tourism Tunisia
http://www.tourismtunisia.com/tunisian-brik-recipe/

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This place looks really great, but there are so many places I want to eat in when we next visit Paris. Sex change operations are all the rage now, but what about species changes? Maybe they’ll invent an operation with which a normal human can have a 4-part cow stomach implanted? On the other hand, maybe it’s not such a good idea. With all the immunosuppressants one would have to take, wine and beer would most likely be off the menu.

I read an article a while ago on chef Tomy Gousset’s thought of his market position of his restaurant. He would like his place to be a “bistronomie” restaurant in the model of Yves Camdeborde’s La Régalade in the 1990’s. The word comes from “bistro” and “gastronomie” with the spirit of bistro and food cooked in excellence with an affordable price tag. It is synonymous of a modern and inventive kitchen at small prices.

The basic price of the dinner is 45 euro but the price can easily be doubled for another chef with such quality. I’m glad that Gousset tries to stay at this price range instead of chasing after the star system and raising prices with fame. Let’s see in the future things how things will work out for him.

yes, the one i had had an egg inside, and cheese i believe, so good!!

Yes, it is so simple, but yet so good. Another of my favourite is egg, parsley, tuna (can) and some cheese inside the crispy brik, sided with a green salad. It’s the meal I make when there is nothing in the fridge.

For the fans of Tomy & Co, Tomy Gousset is going to open a second restaurant in Saint Germain in February 2018. His new place will be called Hugo & Co. Hugo is the name of his son and the place he took was called Casa Hugo before. It will be in the same spirit with à la carte of Tomy & Co with 35 seats.

Hugo & Co
48 rue Monge
Paris 75005

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