Frédéric Simonin

I have been wanting to go to Frédéric Simonin since I heard about its opening in April of last year. Gathering good marks from food critics and bloggers alike and recently winning its 1st Michelin star 3 weeks ago, I am not surprised that the menu prices have almost doubled. Damn!

The restaurant, Frédéric Simonin, is titled after the Chef himself. A former Chef at big-name restaurants like Taillevent, Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V Hotel and notably Joel Robuchon's right-hand man who helped him win Michelin stars in London and Paris; Simonin decided to open his own restaurant. 



Despite the 1st star prices, the restaurant kept the original 38 euros lunch menu among the choices - including the 130 euros (or 180 euros with wine) tasting menu which doubled in price since its Michelin award. From the front, there is not indication of what to expect indoors. As you walk in though, it might seem a little impersonal - decor is restricted to black and white with a sitting area at the front and a long dining room separated by glass windows. 

The menu of the day...


Amuse-Bouche: Pot of mousse of foie gras, reduction of porto wine and emulsion of parmesan
2 words: Too good!

Entrées:


Mulet carpaccio with red peppers, citrus vinaigrette
It was very fresh and clean in taste and beautiful in color.

With warm toasted open-faced baguette

Rabbit with mustard greens, on a bed of lentils, nuts and a reduction of jus
A little bit heavier than the mullet. I liked the lentils better than the rabbit (perhaps because it's more of a white meat kind of poultry) - maybe because it did not taste like lentils as much?

Plats


Pollock with spinach leaves, garlic chips and watercress

Braised veal in its jus with roasted potato and beet leaves.
I thought the meat was a bit too stringy for the cut of the meat - the jarret; the "knuckle".

On the side, we HAD to order Joel Robuchon's famous potato purée or should I say butter purée. Its a very well-known and HEAVY dish of equal amounts of potato and butter....yes...equal amounts..but boy does it taste good! (Perhaps not afterwards when you get up from your seat)

"Oooh poor commis" repeated my good friend Maniko; who joined for lunch. And she was right. "Look the commis had to cut all these little brunoise, and weed out the bad mustard leaves"...How interesting it is that now our appreciation for food and the process of making has changed so much in the last 6 months!


Desserts


Le Café Frivole with pear confite and Arabica ice-cream
Exceptionally, they let me have this instead of the dessert for the Lunch menu. The photo does not do the dessert any justice. It literally came as a ball of chocolate but before I had time to react and take a picture the waitress poured hot melted chocolate and the ball started to disappear before my eyes. A big 'oooh' and 'aaaah' moment.

Panna cotta, pistacchio sauce and pistacchio foam with oreo cookies. 

A very interesting mix and beautiful flavor and color. 

Caramelized Apple with Apple sorbet, and Lemon Mousse.

Very light and clean in presentation and taste. 

Loved the caramel candy at the end.

It might seem a little expensive, but the Chef is very precise and imaginative in his dishes which are presented with lots of color (something that contrasts with the decor of the restaurant). A restaurant to look out for in the near future. Try the Lunch menu at 38 euros. 




Frédéric Simonin
25 Rue Bayen, 75017
Tel: 01 45 74 74 74
Metro: Charles de Gaulle Etoile (Ligne 1, 2 et 6), Ternes (Ligne 2)
Closed: Sundays and Mondays

La Gazzetta

Just a few blocks east of the Place de la Bastille and down a small side street from Rue du Faubourg Saint Antoine, sits La Gazzetta - a low-lit and wood panelled neobistro (su rprisingly reminded me of Balthazar or Pastis in New York in terms of decor). 

The entrance outside...

Walking in, on your right you see the main bar

La Gazzetta under Swedish Chef Peter Nilsson, is one of the new affordable, price-fixe wonders of the contemporary Parisian restaurant scene and penned in an April 2010 New York Times piece by Christine Muhlke (click here to read the article). Other restaurants mentioned include Frenchie (which I have yet to visit), Yam t'cha, L'Agrume, Le Chateaubriand and Jadis. Do you see similarities between these restaurants?

The reservation was early, 20h00 and many people hung out at the bar but the restaurant quickly filled up by 22h00. Tucked in a cozy table in the second dining room, we were presented with a prix-fixe menu, either of 5 courses for 38 euros or 7 for 52 euros (with 2 more dishes). We were lucky enough to see a fellow Ferrandi colleague, Rosella (who is interning there) before her shift started. She informed us the menu changed every week based on what's available in the market so I knew we were in for a real treat - after I read about the diverse dishes that were offered in the menu of March 12 (also available on their website).

Oeuf poché et navets, beurre noisette et bergamote

Poached egg with turnips, beurre noisette foam and leaf of bergamot. I love egg, especially in dishes where the egg yolks spreads on the dish so found it very refreshing to have it for dinner - something I haven't had for a while. The texture with the crunchyness of the raw turnip played on a good contrast. 

Macquereau brûlé-fumé et poireaux, rhubarbe et foin

Charred-smoked Mackerel fish with leek rhubarb and choke. When I first read 'foin', I told myself, wait they are serving hay (like the type that horses eat?) but I quickly was mistaken with this very clean presentation of a very smoky fish served with a light and not overpowering but supportive bouillon. I am not naturally a fan of rhubarb either but eating little bits and pieces of this dish together went very surprisingly well.

Céléri cuit au sel et aux algues, lieu jaune basse température et ail des ours

Celery cooked in salt and seaweed, yellow pollock fish cooked at low temperature with wild garlic. I really enjoyed this dish. I thought the piece on the right was a puff pastry but it was in fact thinly sliced celery (and the kind with only a subtle celery taste) interlaced with seaweed; something that went very well with the fish - which was cooked perfectly, not dry at all; in fact very moist and soft to touch. 

Tourteau et pousse-pied, carottes

Crab and Barnacle, carrots. I was very excited about this dish because I have seen pousse-pied in the seafood markets or fish stations and they remind me of small dinosaur legs. They are crustaceans that stick to rocks and are found in Europe and the coast of North Africa. 

Veau basque et moelle, salsifis et Carmine

Basque veal with bone-marrow, salsify. I was very impressed with the portion of this dish. Usually the meat in a prix-fixe menu appears small, but not here where my palate got to taste 2 pieces of bone-marrow and a well-portione pinkish Veal in its smoky and sweet jus. 

Soupe de cynorrhodon et lait de chèvre, muesli et noix

When I read this on the menu, I asked myself what is 'cynorrhodon' until I had to ask the waiter embarassingly; "it's the fruit from the rose-bush"..."ooh" I said. This dish reminded me of something I could eat for breakfast since I am a big fan of muesli and nuts. It was crunchy on the outside and the goat's milk was very soft. 

Baba à l'orange sanguine et sorbet amandes - yaourt de brebis

Finally the last dish! A traditional baba with blood orange, ewe's milk yoghurt and almond sorbet with mint tea foam. I am not a big fan of desserts but thought the baba was good, Ioved the blood oranges - something I haven't had since living in Italy and I was very impressed with the lightness yet strong taste of the mint tea foam which I welcomed whole-heartedly. 

Millefeuille chiboust avocat - agumes 

Mille-feuille of avocado and kumquat. Apologies for the picture, I started eating it only to realize I forgot to take a picture so i tried to put it together the best I could...I like kumquat and always welcome avocado of any type in dishes though the pastry was a bit too hard for me. 

Before we left, we got some little Cannelés - a cute parting gift!

In short, two thumbs up for the inventiveness and freshness of ingredients at La Gazzetta. Very proud of Rosella to be part of this wonderful team of Chefs whom we got to meet briefly at the end of our meal!

La Gazzetta
29 Rue de Cotte, 75012
Tel: 01 43 47 47 05
Metro: Ledru-Rollin (Ligne 8)
Website: www.lagazzetta.fr

L'Agrume

If you're willing to trek east between the 13th and 5th arrondissement, you might as well try L'Agrume. Headed by Franck Marchesi-Grandi who worked at the Plaza Athénée in Paris and Le Bernardin in New York, I expected this place to be a treat. 

This small neo-bistro, with a capacity of 20 customers has had rave reviews, and with good reason. The decor is simple, modern with a lot of glass artwork. To find an under-40 euros prix fixe menu is not a hard find, but to have an impressive meal along with it, now there's a challenge. 

Alone in a small open kitchen, Marchesi-Grandi can't be bothered with elaborate plating and I believe he sends food that looks like what he'd made at home for his close friends. You can sit at the 'kitchen bar' just like in L'Atelier where you can see the Chef at work. No time for public meltdowns here. The restaurant has 2 seatings: 19.30 and 21.30. We opted for the second seating as we were still full from lunch. The service was attentive and unintrusive: one woman who acted as hostess and waitress and another waiter helping to serve the plates. 
I thought I would be ordering a la carte, but the 5-course tasting menu for 37 euros seemed like a good bargain for me so away we went.

Entrées: Thon Rouge et Pamplemousse, Radis et Mousse d' Avocat

Raw tuna with seaweed vinaigrette, radish and avocado mousse

Pommes Charlottes, Céléri et Crème de Truffe

Poisson: Filet de Sole, Emincée de Poireaux et Citron Confit 

Filet of sole, quenelle of leek and lemon zest

Viande: Joue de Boeuf Braisée, purée de carottes et pignons

Braised beef cheeks with carrot puree and pine nuts

I thought the plats were less alluring than entrées - I found the sole to be a bit bland and the cheek of beef to have been oversalted but both were perfectly cooked and had nice combinations. 

Dessert: Panna Cotta Vanille et Boule de Chocolat en neige

Silky vanilla panna cotta with a raspberry coulis and a chocolate mousse “boule” 

classic milk chocolate ganache rolled in cocoa powder and floated in mint broth with a basic vanilla panna cotta with raspberry coulis 

You can get fancier meals in Paris, but for a bargain price of 37 euros, this place tries to pull out all the stops to impress you.

L'Agrume
15 Rue des Fossés Saint-Marcel, 75005
Tel: 01 43 31 86 48
Metro: Saint-Marcel (Ligne 5)