L’Ange 20 - We were joining a niece, nephew and their three teenagers (14, 16 and 18) for dinner midweek, so we suggested L’Ange 20 near the Place de Vosges for its pleasant ambiance and menu selection that runs the gamut from escargots and foie gras to cheeseburgers and tangerine sorbet. We thought it would fit the bill and, with the help of one of the owners, it seemed like everyone got something they wanted, with the 18 year-old having his first escargots ever. And the food was reasonably good and quite affordable. The dining room has an immediate warm and cozy feel about it, with magazine articles covering the ceiling and some of the walls. It was perfect for the occasion and I would not hesitate to recommend it for a similar group.
L’Archestrate - As I’ve mentioned here L’Archestrate no longer offers a choice of plates for its lunch menu. The chef picks out an entrée, plat and dessert in advance. If you want something different you must order off the carte. While the meal was quite good, without a choice the 44€ three-course lunch is a less attractive deal. And, as R pointed out, there are no amuses and no mignardises. The service was, however, delightful and super-friendly, by both the chef who served the dishes and the FOH who seated us and took our wine order. It would be helpful if you could know in advance exactly what the lunch menu was going to be. In any case R was pleased with the parsnip velouté as an entrée and wild mushrooms-gorgonzola cream-bacon as a main. I was less happy with a scallop carpaccio, which I generally love. My main was a generous portion of sliced pork chop and delicious polenta. We shared the fondant of chocolate with vanilla ice cream which was fabulous.
Le Hémicycle - R was game to try lunch solo at Hémicycle last week as I was not feeling great that day. This is one of Stéphane Manigold’s new restaurants, where he has put chef Flavio Lucarini (formerly chef at Bistrot Flaubert) in charge. Warmly greeted, R was shown to nice banquette table, situated between the open kitchen and the rest of the dining room, with a good view in all directions. The restaurant is done in a very modern style but not edgy, creating a warm feeling with tables well-spaced for conversation. He ordered the three-course lunch menu at €44, a standard approach for a midday meal at a new restaurant. There were three amuse-bouches: spinach tempura, small gnocchi in a citrus broth, and shredded mushrooms and small croutons in a cream sauce. The entrée was a carpaccio of tuna hidden under a lettuce leaf with a covering of mustard seeds and a foundation sauce made from tomatillos with some fish roe. The main plat was a roasted saddle of lamb alongside broccolini and two sauces, one broccolini, pistachio, and cardamon, and the other a lamb juice reduction. Dessert was a layer of meringue topped with yogurt cream and finished on top with a citrus foam and bits of citrus. Over a café allongé they brought out a bowl filled with pine sprigs and red berries and in the center was a small, light panettone, which they ceremoniously cut in half and served with a nice, small bowl of whipped cream on the side. R said the meal was very enjoyable: the buzz was good (but not noisy), the waitstaff were casually professional and helpful, the setting was warmly modern, the food was interesting with a great balancing of flavors in all dishes that was subtly noticeable and the quality/price ratio seemed reasonable given the quality and creativity of the dishes. Given all that, Hémicycle seems certainly worth returning to.
Juveniles - It was freezing cold in Paris when we entered the warm confines of the small bistrot-wine bar Juveniles on rue Richelieu. They were opened in 1987 by Tim Johnston and are now managed by his daughter and son-in-law, Margaux and Romain Roudeau. We hadn’t been there in about 20, maybe 30, years! Roudeau has lightened up the cuisine and we were very happy with our plates. The food here, of course, in not on the level of Granite or Alliance or even Géosmine, but it is well-prepared bistrot food. I loved my celery soup with mussels - a perfect starter for a cold night - followed by sea bream on black rice with beurre blanc. R started with sautéed girolles mushrooms with parmesan gnocchi in a light chicken broth. For a main he chose the braised veal au vin blanc with a parsnip purée. We shared rice pudding with a caramel sauce. What we both enjoyed about Juveniles was that the noise level was very moderate. You could easily have a conversation! While it has a reputation for being frequented by lots of Americans, I would say that somewhat less than half were Yanks, the rest French. But nobody was overly loud - there was just a nice joyous hum.
La Grande Brasserie - Sunday night we joined onz for dinner at La Grande Brasserie. When we arrived at 7:30pm the restaurant was quite empty, but it filled up quickly. We all decided that we were in the mood for their roast shoulder of lamb for two (to be shared by three) served with pommes dauphinois and green salad. To balance that, onz started with the beet and feta salad, R with some escargots and I had the house-cured smoked salmon, which was light and delicious. The lamb was tender and served piping hot with crunchy skin. Very good! The potato gratin was also excellent. Only R had dessert because he wanted to try their profiteroles. Unfortunately, he was disappointed with their rendition. He said the pâte à choux had a strange taste. I think La Grande Brasserie would fit the bill for a group that wasn’t overly focused on the food, wanted a decent meal with a lot of choices and didn’t want to travel too far off the beaten track (it’s right next to Bastille).
Alliance - On our last Monday we had another sensational lunch at Alliance. We chose the three-course lunch but we surely had six or seven courses. And every dish was fresh and original with superb purity of flavors from the excellent products the chef is clearly sourcing. One of very minor complaints about Alliance that I’ve had in the past is that some dishes repeat from year to year. That was not the case with our lunch. One of our favorite amuses were the rouleaux de printemps (spring rolls) one with quinoa, lemon and herbs, and one with beetroot and garlic. Another of our “non-courses” was sea urchin mixed with a mousse of grapefruit and compari and served in the sea urchin shell. Then there was the potage of pumpkin the consistency of light cream with bits of caramelized pumpkin and covered with a coffee foam to offset the sweetness. Our entrée was a beautiful pâté en croûte made of pheasant, partridge and colvert (mallard duck) served with a tomato chutney and a homemade dark bread. The main plat was chicken breast (sous vide? poached?) with a perfectly mastered vin jaune sauce. The dish was garnished with small chestnuts and a square of roasted thigh meat. Before dessert we enjoyed a lovely light celery mousse infused with fruit juice to add a little sweetness, and covering a small dice of some translucent fruit underneath. Dessert was also light: fine apple slices arranged like rings of a tree served with a lemon cream sorbet and tuiles shaped around the apple, and assorted other bits. Final thoughts? Probably the best meal of the trip.
Café du Coin - Two days before we left Paris we returned to Café du Coin to meet Paul and Christian, the owners of the Peloton, where we always stop for lattes after our early morning walks. We had planned to go to Café des Deux Gares, a new restaurant (for us) that onzième had reviewed, but didn’t want to pass up a chance to go to lunch with some “locals”, even though neither Paul nor Christian is French. At Café du Coin you have a choice between two items for each course, which at 24€ for three courses always seems like a steal. I started with creamy roasted chervil roots (which tasted like a wonderful roast potato) on top of Italian straciatella cheese (made from buffalo milk) and garnished with watercress and parsley oil. R went with one of their pizzettes which they serve in the evening for dinner. My main was perfectly cooked silky lieu jaune along with squash purée, chard and roasted parsnips; while R’s was the noix de veau, with roasted black salsify (scorsonère), coco beans and buttery sautéed fennel on top. The servings are small, perfect for lunch, or if you’re planning on trying to do two meals a day. For dessert R had the excellent chocolate ganache with fromage blanc ice cream. Everything was delicious - I don’t know how they do it!
Le Sergent Recruteur - We wanted to visit Le Sergent Recruteur on Île Saint-Louis in part for it’s proximity to our apartment and in part because it’s mentioned fondly by some on HO. We were hesitant since we’ve always avoided the tourist hordes on the Île St.-Louis. However, LSR offers a good 52/42€ lunch menu and that’s what we came for. The outdated stodgy restaurant previously located on the site was taken over in 2019 by Alain Pégouret who had worked under Christian Constant and Joel Robuchon. In 2020 it earned a Michelin star. Despite these accolades we expected the restaurant to be mostly empty at lunchtime since it was midweek and Christmas visitors were only starting to arrive. We were warmly greeted and welcomed by all of the staff in a way that seemed quite sincere in a countrified way. Halfway through lunch we noticed the restaurant was absolutely full, both on the main floor and the sous-sol — and everyone else was French. Despite our “lunch menu” intentions, once we perused the carte, the 5-course menu (118€) looked very tempting and since it was the last meal of our stay in Paris, we thought, well, what the heck. The whole experience was probably the biggest surprise of the trip. Every course was delicious (with the exception of the dessert which was simply good) and included multiple extra dishes. One of the highlights was the soft caramelized onions in a creamy potato mousseline the consistency of a fonduta, with a soft-cooked egg yolk and white truffles. I was immediately transported to Alba. Another was the low temperature chicken breast in matcha sauce with artichoke purée. We will definitely return next year, checking the menu online in advance just to be sure.
