As many of you know, Pianovins closed last April. What I didn’t know until a few days ago is that shortly thereafter, it was taken over by the people at Chefs à Table down the street and re-opened – with great success. My report is here.
5 Likes
Great review, @onzieme!. And good to hear you liked it Last year when trying to find out where Michel Roncière (the chef at the old Pianovins) might have gone, I read that the restaurant down the street had taken over the space and the name. But I had heard only very middling things about the food. It sounds like it has gotten better.
R and I had been fortunate in that we had never had anything but a superb meal at the former Pianovins, but we also scoured the weekly menu before booking a table. And of course the wine list meant very little to us since Eric knew what I liked and always chose a glass of something perfect.
But based on your review we will certainly try this new place in September if we can fit it in.
Looks like you were sitting at the same table Eric always seated us at, or the one directly across! It was also where we sat when it was Les Déserteurs.
1 Like
We went to Pianovins today for lunch.
We really enjoyed our 35E Menu Dejeuner.
My tempura-ed cauliflower with a gremolota sauce was nice. If the sauce were even more assertive (a little garlic?) it would have been even better.
My wife’s charred broccolini starter was even more interesting.
Her John Dory in a light cumin sauce was very nice.
My lamb with scallions, green peppercorns and several sauces, including a wonderfully light mustard sauce, was incredibly tender and most excellent. This dish alone makes Pianovins a must return (whether we ever see it on the menu again or not).
The Brie de Meaux, one of 3 cheeses on my cheese course (unpictured, 10E supplement) along with a Salers and an aged goat cheese, was particularly nice. Unfortuately, there was no fruit or sweet/acidic accompaniment with the cheese.
Each of my wine pairings (a white and a red Givry) were very good and paired well, especially the red with the lamb. Each was served a little too warm. And the wines by the glass the only thing not a great value here (14E and 15E), with the white served in an appropriate glass, and the red served in the same size glass (not hipster, but not ideal).
The strawberries, sorbet and marscapone dessert gets no points for creativity this spring (I think this was the 3rd variation on this dessert we’ve had), but it was very tasty.
I believe we were seated in the same place that @onzieme and @sfcarole had been.
The only “bad” thing to note about our experience is that there was only one other couple (French, I believe) dining with us. Now Saturday afternoon is likely the least popular time to dine out at nicer restaurants, and partly I chose Pianovins today precisely because not that many nicer places are open on a Saturday, but I did feel this was worth pointing out.
I strongly urge folks to try this place. Excellent value. As my wife noted, this goes high on our list of places to return to next year.
Excellent report, as always, Andy. Re the small number of diners, I think given the heat yesterday (and the forecast, which was for even higher temperature), most people would not have been thinking of going to a place like Pianovins, especially since it has no terrasse.
1 Like
