L'Astrance

Tonight we enjoyed a meal at Pascal Barbot's 3-Michelin star restaurant, L’Astrance, a small and 25-seat venue in the 16th arrondissement. Formerly from L'Arpège, Barbot's kitchen brigade contains many Asian influences, particularly Japanese, Thai and Chinese, which comes out in each and everyone of his dishes. Moreover, there is no menu, Barbot decides what they are but each dish is thought out carefully, creatively and is prepared and presented in the utmost precision. 

Simple and elegant table decor

First Amuse-Bouche: Toasted pain de siègle soup

Second Amuse-Bouche: Almond brioche with white disc of Green apple and Praline accompanied by White truffle chantilly with pistacchio and cracker

Entrée

Galette of Foie gras, Apple and Champignons de Paris with lemon confit and hazelnut oil

Poissons:

Sea scallops, shrimp and oyster with milk foam, dried and bitter congu with oyster leaf

Lobster and satay sauce with komlava accompanied by roll of chili, basil on a bed of raw peanuts

Caramelized codfish, condiment of pear and ginger with fish eggs

Wheat polenta, french toast in tempura form and truffle

Viande: Saddle of lamb with black curry, aubergine and chili from Brazil

Mystery hot-and-cold creation: Before the arrival of our desserts, we were given a mysterycreation and asked to guess its ingredients. We thought it was a sesame ice-cream and the faint acidity a kind of yoghurt concoction. 

It ended up being Vanilla ice-cream, mash potato and fromage blanc sorbet

To clean our palate: (hands-down the most interesting thing I've tasted) a Chili, Lemongrass and Ginger Sorbet. The chilli gently warmed the back of the throat and the sorbet was of snow-like quality.

Desserts

Vanilla and miso ice-cream, almond biscuit and genmai

Caramel in coffee cream (a play on tiramisu) and almond foam

Chestnut cake and orange chocolate

Fruit platter

Jasmine eggnog

Chestnut madeleine

What a 3-star experience! Barbot is a true culinary force. The staff were very attentive and not stuffy at all. It was a very adventurous and enjoyable meal, with lots of texture and flavor that jumped out of the dish and prepared with the utmost finesse.

Ps. right after I walked into the restaurant, who comes for dinner? None other than Adeline Grattard (former Ferrandi student, former cuisinière of L'Astrance and now 1-star Michelin chef of Yam t'cha (also on blog). She even recognized me from my visit and said hello!)

L’Astrance
4 Rue Beethoven, 75016

Tel: 01 40 50 84 40

Metro: Passy

Pho 14

You can't miss Phở 14. The neon-lights and the never-ending long queue at the door from opening to closing should catch your eye; but not to worry, the line moves quickly. 

Inside, decor is minimal, tables are covered in disposable paper and the steamy air, cramped tables and seats and fluorescent lighting reminds me of Vietnam. The menu is short and sweet. A variety of authentic Vietnamese appetizers and of course AWESOME Phở (rice noodle soup), surely someone will find what they love: chicken, sliced beef, beef tripe, beef balls, how about all of the above, the special as they call it? Orders arrive very fast and once you taste the golden slivers of deep-fried garlic, the pickled onion and the oyster sauce, you just want to be in there forever.

After your order, a variety of condiments come to the table, including sliced pickled onions (addictive), bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, mint and freshly chopped red chili. Question: does anyone know the name of the long-leafed herb that tastes like cilantro?

My 2 faves to start:

Bánh cuốn (Steamed rolled rice noodles with minced pork and black mushrooms) 

Chả giò (Deep fried spring rolls with pork)

Phở Boeuf Special (with slices of well-done and rare flank steak, beef tripe, beef ball and rice noodle). A big one costs 7€90 and the small 7€ (you might as well get the big one!)

Add some fresh bean sprouts and chili and you're good to go...As Anthony Bourdain would say, "there's nothing better than a good Phở"

This place could be compared to a dive bar, but the food is good and cheap and keeps you warm in the winter. So join the crowds and check it out when you're next in Chinatown!

Pho 14
29, avenue de Choisy, 
Tel: 01 45 83 61 15
Metro: Tolbiac

La Cagouille

In the past 10 years I've come and gone to Paris (wow I sound like an old lady), well anyways, this was the restaurant that my parents would bring me to. Don't expect to find any meat, this is a temple of seafood, featuring the culinary arts of Southern Bordeaux. None of the fishes have fancy sauces or elaborate techniques, the fish and seafood are prepared and presented as naturally as possible. 

The menu is presented on a white-board and changes daily, according to what's fresh at the fish market and serves to a variety of palettes.

To start, we had an amuse-bouche of coques (cockel clams) in a warm buttery broth. 

Entrées


Anchois frais et persil en friture (Fried anchovies and parsley)

Crevettes roses vivantes poelées minute (Live pink shrimp, pan-fried)

Palourdes de claires crues (Fresh raw clams served on a bed of small stones)

Salade mélangée et haddock (Mixed salad with haddock fish)

Plats

Dos de St. Pierre grillé, beurré et Cerfeuil (Grilled and buttered John Dory)

Blanc de Mulet "au vert" (Mulet fish with Spinach)

Sauté de joue de Lotte, Sauce anchois (Cheek of Monkfish, Anchovy sauce)

                                 

Dos de Dorade, Farci Tapenade (Grilled seabream and olive paste)

The service is very good, efficient and friendly. The food was very flavorful and the price-value is very fair. A very homy feeling to the restaurant is also felt and the crowd remains local after so many years.


Definitely a  lovely & delicious dinner at La Cagouille.


La Cagouille
10 Place Constantin Brancusi
75014 Paris, France
01 43 22 09 01
Metro: Gaîté

Le Garde Robe

Le Garde Robe, literally "closet", is a small wine bar tucked in rue de l'Arbre Sec, across the street from Spring's shop, Spring Boutique. Many wine bottles line the brick walls of the narrow wine bar like a library of books. The wines in this bar are 'nature' from independent labels, but you can find an array of international wines too. You can pick wines by the glass (4 euros) or by the bottle (to which you must add 7 euros for corkage fee if you drink it in the restaurants) or which you could leave with right away.

While you wait for your wine to air out, the staff kindly serves you a platter of different meats, cheeses or both and country bread. 

Below the daily menu:


                             


It's a comfy place to come to after work or late on weekends.


Le Garde-Robe
41 Rue de l'Arbre Sec
75001 Paris, France
Tel: 01 49 26 90 60
Metro: Louvre-Rivoli (Ligne 1)

A Perfect Spring in Autumn

Spring, by Chicago-born Chef Daniel Rose, finally confirmed a reservation for lunch today, a very rare occasion at that - as it is almost impossible to get a reservation for the next 3 months! After class, a few of us took the metro up to the tiny but modern restaurant holding no more than 30 customers, tucked in a side street of the premier arrondissement behind the shadow of the Louvre. The Chef's cuisine du marché menu at 38 euros, changes daily and are different at lunch and dinner but is in the hands of Chef Rose himself. Every meal is properly thought out during the Chef's 1 hour 'break', when he isn't preparing his next meal or being sociable to customers. 
After our lunch, Rose was nice enough to stop by for a quick chit-chat with us about his life, career and we were full of questions for him (of course!). 
Surprisingly during the lunch service, as hectic as the kitchen may be, it was relatively calm, even silent (it would be theatrically entertaining to see Chefs screaming at each other) but all the staff were calm, composed and presented beautifully crafted dishes with utmost detail...the 'brunoise' radish was very brunoise to the point where all of them were the exact exact shape!!


Making a reservation for dinner (harder than lunch) is almost a daily committing activity but it is all worth it in the end. For a restaurant that was suppose to be open only for 1 year and has stayed opened since then while attracting the best food critics and the secret Michelin inspectors deserves respect and commendation.


Diners enjoy the up close and personal view of the open kitchen, stainless steel, equipped with machines and glass walls.

Amuse Bouche: Bouillon au Cèpes, Menthe (Cèpes mushroom soup, mint)

Entrée: Truite crue accompagnée de radis, girolles (Raw trout accompanied by radish, girolles mushrooms)

Amuse Bouche: L'os à moelle (Marrow bone)

Plat: Palombe, purée de céléri (Wild pigeon, puree of celery)

Dessert: Mousse de chataigne, crème fraiche, glace au chocolat et sauce caramel (Chestnut mousse, crème fraiche, chocolate ice-cream and caramel sauce)

Amuse Bouche 3: Ganache a l'huile d'olive, vanille et chocolat blanc (Olive oil ganache with vanilla bean and white chocolate)

This last dish was the weirdest thing I have tasted but it played so well on flavors and texture. It was unbelievable. It felt as if I was drinking olive oil but then it hits you with the vanilla and white chocolate flavors. 


I just wished I stayed on for dinner...


Spring
6 rue Bailleul, 75001
Tel: 01-58-62-44-30
Metro: Louvre-Rivoli (Ligne 1)


In school, we did quick recipes of fish, this time fried (one in a pan and the other in the deep fryer). My fillets were quite awful on the first one as the fish broke up when I fried and presented it, but I enjoyed the second one accompanied by a Mayonnaise tartar sauce.


1. Merlan Colbert (Fish that are open on both sides, breaded and fried in oil)

2. Goujonnettes de Merlan, sauce tartare (Fish strips breaded and deep fried, accompanied by a Mayonnaise tartare with capers, french cornichons pickles, parsley, tarragon and dill)

Before closing this blog entry today, wishing Chef Gabrielly a very Happy Birthday on Sunday! Hope he has a great day with family and friends!

A shoutout to Maniko for getting him a lovely cake!