However, I still had plenty of time to get to my lunch reservation at Les Petites Mains, the seasonal terrace restaurant at the Palais Galliera open Tuesday through Sunday from noon until 8 pm. So even though I did not get to see the exhibits, I could see the building itself which reopened in 2020 after extensive renovations and the first wave of COVID had subsided.
Les Petites Mains changes chefs each opening season (generally opens in April and closes the end of October), and this year, the chef de cuisine is Justine Piluso, and the pastry chef is Jeffry Cagnes. The menu is small, but interesting. On this day, the starters available were an octopus chiffonnade, a strawberry crisp, and a memento of artichokes. The mains available were a potato pancake with burrata, a sea bass a la plancha, and a minute lasagna. For dessert, they had a much larger menu of seven items, including the strawberries tree for two. I decided to start with a cocktail, so I went with the Scarlet. This is vodka infused with beets with maraschino liqueur, homemade hibiscus juice, lemon juice, and ginger syrup. It was not overly sweet and was really refreshing. This drink was a particularly excellent choice given the heat of the afternoon.
For my starter I went with the strawberry crisp. This is a tuile cylinder fille with a light strawberry and shallot mousse, with a salad of balsamic fennel. This was so good and light, and you got a good hint of strawberry without it being overly sweet.
For my main I went with the minute lasagna. This was comprised of shredded French pork belly with smoked eggplant caviar and a cucumber cream with a hint of mint. I would call this a simple dish, but the cucumber cream with a hint of mint elevated this dish.
I decided to skip dessert. I was very, very full, and the strawberry tree (a nearby table ordered it) was absolutely massive (though looked amazing). After lunch, I walked around the Park that backs up to the Palais Galliera and then headed to the Museum of Modern Art, which was right across Avenue du Président Wilson from the park entrance.
