Eunoé - Onzième and Parn had it right - Eunoé is a delightful blend of good cheer, better-than-friendly service and great food. Our first evening in Paris we met onz, L and her friend there, so had the added benefit of onz selecting a delicious Mercurey wine for us. Since I generally drink wine by the glass, this was a considerable treat. I started with the truite marinée, impeccably fresh and gently seasoned, followed by canette (female duck) with which the wine matched beautifully. R started with the beet and chèvre salad, which he loved, then followed with a beautifully grilled (“au charbon”?) lotte which he shared with another at the table. I recall that L started with a splendid looking melange of grilled potimarron, onion and quince. We will for sure return for lunch to enjoy some of the dishes served, as well as the lovely park across the street, the Square Gardette.
Les Enfants du Marché - We strolled around rue Bretagne searching for provisions on our first full day in Paris. Before long we developed an appetite and headed to Les Enfants du Marché for a light lunch. One of the most appealing aspects of Les Enfants is the incongruity of sitting on high stools amidst a busy (covered) market and enjoying some of the finest dishes in Paris. We shared a couple of good sized croquettes of cabillaud in a piquant rouille sauce, as well as some steamed mussels lathered in a sauce vin blanc laced judiciously with Gorgonzola.
Le Cornichon - Walking into Le Cornichon we were greeted not only by the new owner (who has been hanging in there since he purchased the restaurant right before Covid hit), but our dear friends Jake (@Deuxchaux) and his lovely wife. We had previously decided amongst ourselves that game was the order of the day and Le Cornichon is known for its grouse, pheasant, lièvre, etc., as well as more regular fare. This particular night lièvre Royal was on the menu, so Jake went with that, while I had their delicious ris de veau (yes, it rivaled Coretta’s). For R it was the veal roasted in a sautoir and for M the daurade. We were all very happy with our choices. The entire restaurant was filled to the brim with a lively crowd of mixed ages. A last note: this venue is near rue Daguerre, a busy pedestrian market street in the 14th not to be missed. Better than rue Cler. Metro Denfert-Rochereau.
Géosmine - Wow! This is the type of meal we come to Paris for. Simple ingredients, perfectly sourced and given originality and flair by the chef’s creativity and skill. The amuses bouches were a delicious tartelette of smoked eel with citron and pistachio, and pâte feuilletée bread sticks with sesame and a dipping sauce of black garlic aioli. R devoured his entrée: marinated mussels served in a light sauce vin blanc with black olives and cosmos daisy petals. I ordered a light appetizer as a starter: confit of pigeon legs that were barbecued and topped with a dollop of aioli and coregone roe (a fresh water fish). Spectacular. Our mains were also fabulous: a medley of chanterelles and trompettes de la mort with a parsley sabayon sauce for R and a sliced rare faux-fillet of beef with a syrupy rich jus corsé for me. Then, after these delicious plates a chocolate dessert that henceforth may well be our gold standard for all chocolate desserts: a dark chocolate mousse with bits of crumble and praline scattered throughout on a creamy base with a hint of vanilla, all sprinkled with Maldon salt. The chef, Maxime Bouttier, had a similar dessert at Mensae I believe. Our lunch was ordered “à la carte”, but they also serve a 5 and 8-course tasting menu at lunch. At dinner you choose between an 8 and 11-course menu.
Sourire - Another home run for Saturday lunch at Sourire in the 13th, our seventh visit since it opened in 2017. Today there were about 20 for lunch, all locals it seemed, except for us. And once again chef Justin Brohm presented us with a collection of four or five small plates, each one disarmingly creative. Similar in concept to Géosmine, with perhaps less in-your-face pizzazz, but still exciting and mysterious (as in, how did he do it?) and incredibly well mastered or “maitrisé” as the French like to say. The oysters with sorbet, lobster croquettes, scallops with sorrel, daurade royale with cream of rice and caramelized treviso, chicken breast with pistachio and, finally, the hazelnut mousse with chocolate ganache were all superb, and the entire meal did not leave us feeling over-full.
Dilia - What can I say about Dilia that I haven’t already said. Our Sunday lunch was set among a young-ish festive crowd of mostly locals with a couple of Italians thrown in, who told us that in their opinion Dilia was the best restaurant in the city! Hyperbole aside, we had no complaints except maybe that a couple of the courses were the same as last year’s autumn fare. But the array of amuses bouches, ravioli in brodo, lemon sole topped with sautéed and fresh mushrooms, vanilla custard and brioche with brioche ice cream were all perfect. And, happy to report, the effervescent Fréderico is still there.
Restaurant 975 - You really don’t want to come here, it’s too far out there on the north side of Montmartre (actually not too far from a.léa that onzième recently reviewed). But if you want an unbelievable lunch for 23€ at “an elevated bistro offering smart twists on French cuisine in a quiet part of Montmartre”, this is your spot. (Quote from NYTimes “36 hours in Paris”). The lunch menu started with a parsley root velouté, followed by a choice of either parmesan risotto with sautéed mushrooms and cèpes emulsion or loin of pork and pork spareribs along with puréed salsify and beautifully cooked carrots and turnips in butter. Then, a choice of cheese or a chocolate mousse dessert. This was in fact our first time here for lunch, having previously visited for dinner half a dozen times since 2018. On this Monday lunch the room was packed with about 35 locals. The dynamic duo of chef Taiki Tamao and Mathieu Orazi (who speaks English) have been together since 2015, when John Talbott called it a “gem”.
Jeanne-Aimée - We were prepared for a 5-course tasting menu, based on the discussions on HO; and except perhaps for one entrée, everything was surprisingly original and delicious, as we expected from Jeanne-Aimée. What dampened our enthusiasm, however, was the fact that the evening’s 17 customers were spread out and rather separated in a large space, so that it felt more like eating in a large cafeteria than amidst a lively dining community. I would bet that if we had all been seated at tables in a smaller space it would have felt quite different. Still, the meal was excellent.
Oktobre - It had been years since we had been to Kitchen Galerie bis (KGB), or indeed Ze Kitchen Galerie (its starred sister). So when William Ledeuil sold the former to the KGB chef, who renamed it Oktobre, it was still somewhat new territory for us. (See onzième’s review here). And what a deal for what turned out to be a superb lunch. 39€ for e/p/d, and 32€ for e/p or p/d. For each course there was a choice of two or three items. I started with the chef’s signature three hors-d’oeuvres entrée, while R went with the dentelle pasta and seiche in a crustacean bisque. Both were spectacular. For mains I selected the tender quail (served in a generous portion) and R chose the sautéed veal. We planned on skipping dessert due to a dinner that night, but we went with a chocolate ganache/butternut ice cream/pear/quince medley for me and a lemon custard/cream/pear combo for R. We loved everything about the place: our meal, the ambiance, décor, service. Definitely a place to return to.
Origines - We’ve been to Origines several times for lunch and generally loved it, except for last year’s set lunch menu which was a bit boring. So this year we decided to try dinner. Since neither of us was hungry enough for the 4-course tasting menu, we chose from the carte and and it worked out perfectly. R started with an entrée of wild crevettes from the Charentes region cooked in butter tandoori style, while I had the tartelette of wild mushrooms with large pieces of ris de veau in a luscious jus de veau. For mains R had the veal while I went with my favorite rouget barbet, and for dessert we split a chocolate daquoise. The clientele at dinner is very different from the lunch crowd which includes a lot of tourists. At dinner every table was filled with a much quieter and slightly older local crowd (sauf nous).
