Pique-Nique is the new brainchild of Casse-Croûte’s Hervé Durochat. Whilst its bistro menu contained some real gems, I was there for their Menu Autour du Poulet de Bresse, an amazingly affordable option considering that Bresse chicken was the main ingredient.
Pique-Nique is a lovely little place - trapezoidal-shaped dining room with glass windows on two sides. There’s one communal table in the centre - a concept Londoners are used to by now - I used to remember the gasps of astonishment when first-timers encountered such arrangements at Wagamama back in 1992.
Address
Pique-Nique
Tanner Street
London SE1 3LD
Tel: 020 7403 9549
Opening hours: 9am-10pm Mon-Sat, 9am-6pm Sunday.
(the Menu Autour du Poulet de Bresse is available from 12 noon)
I think it’s probably much easier to get a weekday lunch spot. I called ahead to reserve a spot on the same morning - about 9-ish when they first opened. Lunch menu is from 12 noon.
I thought Bresse chicken is more expensive than £38, considering not an insignificant amount of bresse went into the dishes. So that is indeed a great deal with that many courses of bresse.
Funnily I thought thew amount of chicken was quite small. Looking at the meat on the main dishes I would assume probably 8 serves per bird - legs and breasts halved. The other dishes would be made with meat from the left over carcass and the offal.
I think in France Bresse runs to about €20 kg in France so £17.5. I would expect a chicken to be about 2kg so £34 retail for the bird so about £4.30 for the meat. Say £12 of the menu price - but probably less as they will pay wholesale prices.
Fab report. Casse-Croute is my favorite French place in London, and I was so excited when I heard about their spin-off. Nice to see it looks like a must-visit, at least for me.