Les Bistronomes

Bistronomie,  a mash up of the words “bistro” and “gastronomie” describes the new wave of small, non-fancy restaurants who have worked in haute cuisine in France (please see previous post here). Let's give thanks to a journalist called Sebastien Demorand for the idea, name and new culinary movement. Demorand, a critic at Zurban, coined the term bistronomie in 2003 at the Semaine de Fooding and not even 10 years later have we seen a swarm of restaurants like Les Bistronomes making this concept a reality. 


Les Bistronomes, headed by Chef Cyril Aveline who worked with great chefs like Michel Rostang and Eric Frechon opened this small restaurant, 5 minutes away from the Louvre and across the street from the Molier fountain. His menus are simple but full of surprises, averaging between 26€ - 35€ for the lunch menu (depending on the number of courses you would like), compared to dinner at around 50€ before wine. 

To start off...with some rillette de porc

Paté en croûte et ses légumes pickles
Paté of duck and foie gras with a gelatine, nice pickled vegetables

Poireaux vinaigrette à la truffe et mimosa

Leek vinaigrette with truffles and mimosa sauce - though I did not taste the truffle

Salade de lentilles tiède, Saucisses de Morteau

Warm lentil salad (could have been a bit more al dente) with Sausage - which could have been cut a bit more thinner

Plats

Parmentier de Pied de Cochon

The best dish of the lunch. Deboned pig's foot (melted in your mouth) on a bed of parsnip puree. A popular dish among food bloggers and critics who have praised the tenderness of the meat and the sweetness of the puree. 

Onglet du boucher échalote, gratin dauphinois

Unusual piece of meat to serve at a restaurant in France. A very hard find at the butcher's - hangar steak; served with onion confit and traditional French gratin dauphinois

Desserts

Petit pot au chocolat

Riz au lait, caramel au beurre salé

Pomme au four et son sorbet, sur sablé breton

A very enjoyable lunch - Thank you to Demorand for inventing the word and concept. I have become almost obsessed with this new wave and a major fan of this new movement. 

Les Bistronomes
34 Rue de Richelieu, 75001
Tel: 01 42 60 59 66
Metro: Pyramides
Closed: Sundays

Les Fines Gueules

In culinary school, we're told that not only does our cooking techniques matter, but for French food to be truly good, it should consists of the freshest available produce so that ingredients shine. I believe that Les Fines Gueules (an equally cozy wine bar and perhaps what might be the best steak tartare in Paris), right off Place des Victoires, embodies this principle. 

It serves the best quality produce in a generous serving but without overdoing it in presentation. The restaurant is not cheap, serving also vins naturels from France but serves some of the country's best oysters, cheese, meat, etc...

The daily menu that changes - apart from the steak tartare and the Rumsteak

I have read mixed reviews about the restaurant and agree that the staff, as nice as they are, were inattentive. I think it was the amount of customers kept tightly in the tiny restaurant or perhaps it was the lack of staff but by the end of the meal, it was very difficult to actually pay the bill and leave. 

Entrées

Assortiment de Charcuteries fines (12 or 24 euros), we opted for the latter as we had hungry bellies. The meat was freshly cut (I believe a vintage hand-worked machine was used)

Carpaccio de veau elevé sous la mère - sans bio - 36 mois, huile d'olive extra-vierge (Carpaccio of veal - raised by its mother for 36 months)

When I read this on the menu, I thought to myself...I have to have it. It's as fresh and clean as you can get. The meat was divine, it did not even taste (or look) like meat as it melted in your mouth. The more pinkish the meat, the better it is.

Ravioles de Boudin Noir de Christian Parra (one of the great Charcutiers of the Basque country) - Ravioli of Blood Sausage...a very familiar yet interesting take on blood sausage. 

Emiette de Tourteau, Crème de Concombre à la Menthe (Crabmeat, cream of cucumber) - it was very refreshing and cleaned your palate, would have loved to see this on the menu during the hot summer months.

Tarte fine de St. Jacques, Coulis d'Espelette -- Scallop tart with Espelette pepper coulis

Plats

Noix de Veau Desnoyer, Pieds de Moutons et Pleurotes, Coulis de Truffes Noires (Veal tenderloin, mutton's feet and pleurotes mushrooms, coulis of black truffles) 

Coeur de Rumsteak, Purée Maison, Sauce of Vin Rouge -- Rumsteak with red wine, potato purée

The pièce de resistance: Fameux Tartare de Limousine au Couteau -- Hand-cut steak tartare (17 euros). The Desnoyer meat (from Limousin) was draped with aged parmigiano reggiano and parsley with more potatoes and a light salad (provided by vegetable King, Joel Thiébault). This was probably the best steak tartare we’d ever eaten.

Desserts

Mi-Cuit au Chocolat Valrhona (Half-baked Valrhona chocolate cake)

Nage de Clémentines et de Raisins à la Menthe, Billes de Chocolat (Refreshing clementines and raisins with mint and mini Chocolate marbles)


To be honest, I could have done without this dessert. There wasn't anything unique about this dish - it was clementines, its juice with some raisins and chocolate bits. I could do this at home. A bit of a disappointment after a nice meal. 

Les Fines Gueules roughly translated as “The Fine Mouths” serves simple dishes to demonstrate the quality of the produce. It's refreshing to find someone who understands the balance between serving good quality ingredients and not pushing the extremes of your taste buds. 

Les Fines Gueules
43 Rue Croix des Petits Champs, 75001
Tel: 01 42 61 35 41
Metro: Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre (Ligne 1)

Les Anges

Les Anges is tucked on rue Montmartre, off Etienne Marcel train station. The cuisine is light and delicious. You open the menu and are proposed 8 different types of tea; there is obviously coffee as well. The restaurant is famous for its cakes and its 'special' dishes such as the "assiette des anges" - an assortment of salted tarts, and cooked vegetables. You can find pretty much everything here on the menu, from salads, to meat and fish. The choice is quite diverse. But the dessert is what counts. In the middle of the restaurant lies a counter with their 'patisseries "faites maison" such as the banana caramel cake, apricot caramel cake, brownies, etc... - around 10 possible desserts for those with sweetooths. Apricot caramel cake Chocolate marquise A definite good resting spot for those shopping around the area. Very relaxed and calm atmosphere.

Les Anges 46 Rue Montmartre, 75002 Metro: Etienne Marcel (Ligne 4) ou Sentier (Ligne 3)

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)

Yamt'cha

 As much as I wished to have yamt'cha (literally 'to drink tea', equivalent to what is known as dim sum) in Hong Kong right now, I have yet to find a restaurant that reminds me of home, until I came to 1-star Michelin restaurant Yamt'cha by Adeline Grattard. I wouldn't go as far as to say it is fusion, but it is the first time a restaurant in Paris that I have been to, has A) relied so much on products from China and B) has not mixed and matched European flavors with Asian ones in the means of overpowering one from the other. It is Chinese cuisine, perhaps creative in Paris but in Hong Kong, it would be a glimpse into the daily dinners of locals. Not far from the Louvre, Chef Grattard and her Chinese husband, Chi Wa (who pairs tea with the meal), opened this small dining room of 10 tables with an open kitchen. Adeline Grattard has trained with the best; first with Yannick Alleno when he was in Hotel Scribe, second with Pascal Barbot in L'Astrance before moving to Hong Kong for 3 years and working at Bo's Innovation. 

With the open kitchen in full view, I could smell the flavors that I would smell in one of the dinners at traditional Chinese restaurants I went to back in Hong Kong: the soya sauces, the scallions and ginger even the frying oil. The chef stays close to the Asian factor to the extent that the cooks use giant woks, typical soya sauces you would find in a traditional Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong and chopsticks in the final dressage of the plate. The only French accent that came through was the wine, the cheese and one course of foie gras. The tasting menu was in the hands of the Chef and comprised of an amuse-bouche, 2 entrées, 2 main dishes, cheese and dessert. 


A welcome cup of oolong tea was brought to the table to cleanse the palate and I was immediately brought back to a local dim sum restaurant I would go to with my grandmother. I chose to have wine and tea with the meal and they were very light for the meal we had. We were also given chopsticks but they were much too short for my liking and if I didn't know how to use them, trying to eat with very short ones would be a challenge.

Amuse-Bouche: Sauteed mussels in black bean and chili on a bed of glass noodles au "goût du wok"

Entrée: Marinated scallops with XO sauce (minced abalone sauce - native to Guangdong) and thinly sliced Iberico ham.

Accompanied with steamed bun

Entrée: Steamed foie gras with trompette de la mort mushrooms on black sesame sauce

Poisson: Steamed turbot in soya sauce with sliced squid au "goût du wok"

Viande:  Crispy pork on a bed of aubergines (When we spoke with Adeline Grattard at the end of our meal, she said that when she sees Asians enter her restaurant, she serves them the pork crackling rather than lamb or veal because she believes we would enjoy it more and it would run it more authentic - genius idea; we do love our pork)

Cheese: 

                              

Dessert: Fromage blanc ice-cream, with Compote, Quince and Cranberry covered by a Chocolate crisp

I thoroughly enjoyed the meal as it was simple and reminded me of home. We were lucky enough to chat briefly with the Chef herself, who is very friendly and sociable. It is a very striking restaurant, one that I have not seen in Paris or in Europe. 

Yamt'cha
4 Rue Sauval
75001 Paris, France
Tel: 01 40 26 08 07
Métro: 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!