Le Café de l’Usine opened last October and is one of the most attractive new restaurants I have come across in a long time. My report on dinner there is here.
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@onzieme - thank you again for a brilliant review! We are booked to dine here this coming Saturday the 26th, and your review has only heightened our anticipation. Thanks for the great wine suggestion as well, we will follow your lead!!
Thank you, John. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, and let us know what you thought.
My wife and I dined at Le Café de l’Usine last night and are still smiling!
Our dinner was a stunning experience that over-delivered in every way.
The ingredients were flavorful, tasting as if they had been caught or picked that morning (which they probably were). Additionally, the balance of each dish was laser-focused, with no ingredient overpowering the other and coming together brilliantly.
The service was friendly, elegant, and professional, with perfect timing between each course. Finally, the wine suggested by the Somm (Hüpnos, an orange wine from Greece, where the vines are grown among the vegetable patches) paired perfectly with every course. @onzieme, my apologies, I really intended to order the wine you enjoyed, but the Somm was so excited by the bottle that I could not say no.
The value could not be beat (158 Euro for two persons, which included the cheese course), and we have already booked our return visit for next week. Definitely a must-dine when in Paris!
My photos are nowhere as good as @onzieme’s, but I will post a few. Sorry, we have no picture of the main course, which was Monkfish with green onion and garden peas, with a broth to die for, or the dessert course of strawberries in mascarpone. We were so engrossed with both dishes, we forgot to snap a photo.
First course - Ricotta wrapped in kale, the ricotta was silk! (This was a substitute for the Oysters, since my wife is allergic to shell fish)
Second course of haricot verts with guanciale and crème Fresh. The guanciale added an undercurrent of weight to the haricot verts with crème fresh to balance.
Third course of clams in broth, with asparagus and a vegetable pesto, this was magical. My wife had the gnocchi in garlic which was so light and delicate.
Cheese course consisted of saint nectaire with a pear compote and a chevre with roasted red peppers.
Here is the wine we woould have never choosen but were thrilled with
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Your photos look very good and the food looks quite appetizing.
The wine is a very good choice indeed, it’s Hüpnos from Sous le Végétal, a natural wine project with the help of Patrick Bouju, reviving the ancient vines of muscat de Samos in Greece through the making of dry white wines. Exceptional wines.
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@Carmenere - Thank you for the feedback! I personally find food tricky to photograph, so I am glad I pulled it off.
Also, I am very grateful for the additional infromation on the wine, super helpful. This information reaffrims my belief and expereince that the more I learn about wine, the more I realize, I do not much of anything.
