Les Cocottes de Christian Constant

Les Cocottes sits on a prestigious piece of land in a chic quartier of Paris in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower. An area not known for good-value restaurants, Les Cocottes is one of it's kind in the neighborhood fully staffed of cooks running around the kitchen. The restaurant is headed by Christian Constant (who owns sister restaurants on the same street), who worked at the Ritz, and Hotel de Crillon's 2-Michelin star Les Ambassadeurs. In 1998, he left Le Crillon to open his own restaurant, Le Violon D'Ingres and subsequently Cafe Constant and Les Cocottes. 

Les Cocottes refers to the Staub, the cast iron enamel oven-to-table casseroles famous for retaining heat and flavour and quite pricey as well, because they last very long. 

Les Cocottes serves everything from breakfast tartines to after-work tapas, even salads and soups - some critics have compared it to the American-style diner but I wouldn't label it as such, perhaps more like giving a French twist to the idea of a diner. But what Christian Constant wanted was to give people what they want to eat with good fresh produce. Diners dine either on counter-toptables or high tables giving a communal feel to the restaurant.

Terrine de campagne, "Recette de mon apprentissage" - the terrine was my favorite

Jambon des 3 fermes de chez Ospital: a good selection of ham, very strong in flavor. 

Pot-au-feu de Foie Gras: a very interesting take of the pot-au-feu but I felt more should have been given. The soup had a very clean taste to it. 

Pommes de terre caramélisées farcies au pied de porc - Caramelized potatoes with pig's feet. 

I fell in love with the idea of the dish but perhaps had too much expectation of what was going to be presented. I literally thought I would see gelatinous pig's feet. It was more like pig feet meatballs stuffed into the potato. 

Boeuf Bourguignon, champignons et oignons 

The beef was very tender - as it should be with Boeuf Bourguignon, but had to add a lot more salt. Moreover the pasta stuck to the bottom of the cocotte, making it hard to eat. 

Pigeon farci au foie gras cuit sur son crouton - pigeon cooked with foie gras.

I thought the meat was very tender, the foie gras also melted in your mouth. Had the most taste out of the three cocottes. 

I was not blown away by the food at Les Cocottes though it was enjoyable. It was a normal meal perhaps a little bit more pricey for what was given. A cool concept with the idea of cocottes. 

Les Cocottes de Christian Constant

135 Rue St. Dominique, 75007

Tel: none but information available from Le Violin

Metro: Bir-Hakeim (Ligne 6), Ecole Militaire (Ligne 10), or Pont de l'Alma (RER C)

Website: http://www.leviolondingres.com/eng_cocottes.htm

Chez L'Ami Jean

In a side street in the 7th arrondissement, Chef Stéphane Jego heads Chez L'Ami Jean, a rustic Basque restaurant covered with decorative details including wood panels, memorabilia from pelote, graffiti signs, strings of espelette peppers on the ceiling and random cartoon characters. Chef Jego, formerly taught by Christian Constant (Les Cocottes) and Yves Camdeborde (Le Comptoir du Relais) - plays along with similar themes of his 2 former Chefs.

Reservations are a must and I could only make one for 7 pm, considered quite early for Parisians. Entering the restaurant, it appeared a little desolate, but slowly it filled up quickly; by 9 pm, the entire restaurant was filled with dozens standing by the entrance. The restaurant dining room including the bar at the entrance is filled with tables that are elbow-to-elbow, barely allowing you to hold a private conversation and for more than one waiter to pass.

We opted not to order l'assiette de cochonailles (a gigantic and beautiful basket of charcuterie) as we would never have finished the meal. Instead, we chose from the 3-course prix-fixe menu at 42 euros - quite steep compared to other restaurants (I remember hearing it used to be fixed around the late 20s) but decided upon it anyways.


In terms of service, I found it to be a bit lagging in the beginning and the maitre d' wasn't very welcoming at first, ignoring many clients. However as the service picked up, we got to speak to some of the waitresses and they ended up having a very good sense of humor about it all. I quote: "the service is bad but the food is spectacular"...


Basket of crusty pain de campagne and a fish/shrimp spread. 

One each dish, Chef Jego throws around some paper thin bacon - changing the flavor of the dish completely. Loved the detail. 


Entrées


Bulots de céléri rave en service de deux...queue de boeuf mitonée de veau (Shredded and molded Oxtail with sea snails and shrimp with celeriac sauce)

Poulpe en fine gelée de foie gras, chipirons tempura, persil d'hiver...au vert (Octopus and Foie gras jelly with tempura of calamari and parsley sauce)

Plats


Pot-au-feu façon, de porcelet en chaud-froid, légumes de choix (Pot-au-feu: braised meat and vegetables with turnips)

Raie rôtie aux agrumes, huile d'olive vierge (Roasted sting-ray with citrus and olive oil)

Desserts


Pamplemousse d'ange...perles Japonaises...onctueux vanillé (Grapefruit supremes with tapioca in vanilla cream)

L'Ami Jean is also famous for their Riz au lait ‘grand-mère’ - a huge bowl of rice pudding...it just never seemed to end! It comes with a caramel beurre salé (but more like a beurre caramel salé - you could only taste the butter!) and roasted walnuts.

At the end of the meal (not like you had room in your stomach or anything)...they offered flavored mini-meringues: chocolate, caramel and pistacchio. 

Ending the dinner and going home was a real task as I was very stuffed; though I would like to return to this restaurant to see what Chef Jego brews up the next time!

Chez L'Ami Jean
27 Rue Malar, 75007
Tel: 01 47 05 86 89
Metro: La Tour-Maubourg (Ligne 8)

La pâtisserie des mes rêves

As today was a short day in school, I thought it would be worth venturing down the road on 93 Rue du Bac in the chic 7th district (right behind the Bon Marché) to Philippe Conticini's pastry shop called La Pâtisserie des Rêves. 


I have seen the pastry shop on many blogs and on http://thecoolhunter.net, a culture and design website that I frequent daily. 

Philippe Conticini has a talent for creating desserts that are themselves a form of art. The small boutique's design is very modern, fun and colorful that reminds you of a traditional konditorei. The desserts including cakes and pastries and chocolates are displayed in the center of the store on a round table and each of them is presented under a temperature controlled glass dome suspended from the ceiling. The domes make the desserts look like spaceships, or laboratory specimens. The desserts presented are a re-interpretation of traditional pastries including the Mille-Feuille, le Saint-Honoré, le Moka, la Tarte au Citron, and la Tarte Tatin among others. Prices are tagged accordingly and customers choose the dessert they would like to purchase (either whole or by piece) and the staff runs to the kitchen to retrieve the order. The magnificent little desserts are wrapped in a pink box which is then tied with ribbon.


Bread section:

Centerpiece

I ended up buying Le Fruitier below (inside are dates). Yum!

....And an Eclair au chocolat of course!

This struck me as beautiful in its design. Conticini's interpretation of a Black forest cake in the form of a cherry.

La Pâtisserie des Rêves
93 Rue du Bac, 75017
Tel: 01 42 84 00 82
Metro: Rue du Bac (Ligne 12) ou Sèvres-Babylone (Ligne 10 et 12)


Alternatively, you may visit:
111 Rue de Longchamp, 75017
Tel: 01 47 04 00 27
Metro: Rue de La Pompe (Ligne 9)