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

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

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)

Dans Les Landes

Since Yves Camdeborde's success with Le Comptoir, s'wine bars (everything pork, cochon, ham, pig, hog, boar, jambon, & wine) have become more trendy.
Upcoming openings include Gregory Marchand from Frenchie and Guillaume Delage from Jadis. 


Why this trend? It's more convivial, you get to mingle with the locals by sitting in communal tables, it's affordable and you can nibble on a large variety of dishes while sipping your wine.

Julien Duboue from Afaria, recently opened Dans Les Landes in the 5th district. Immediately when you walk in, you can tell you're in Basque region. In the background, an iPod is playing typical regional music, from the terracotta roof tiles on the ceiling you see hanging piment d'espelette and dried hams. 


It's a small restaurant, with a capacity of about 25 people and for such a small venture, the menu selection is surprisingly varied. 

Unlike L’Avant Comptoir, there are seats - most of them are high tables made of wood, just like the interior decor.  Dishes here are served tapas style and reflects the Chef's combination of different ingredients - all high quality creating the longest chalkboard menu I have seen with prices ranging from 4 euros - 21 euros. 

Expect a lot of pork, duck, foie gras and grilled meats. I would definitely go back with a large group of friends to eat and drink and sample different dishes. I was very impressed with the creative presentation - a very rustic feel including wooden cheese boxes, staubs, terra cotta tiles and a slab of pork belly..yes that was the 'plate'. 

Sabot de Jambon Ibaïona 

Pot de boudin tiède aux pommes (warm pot of boudin noir) - my favorite, very sweet and you can taste the sweetness of the apples

Poitrine de porc croustillante aux épices (pork belly croquettes in 5 spice) - very Asian I thought

Mini-croissant au Jambon truffé - (melt-in-your-mouth) Croissant with flaky buttery layers of béchamel sauce, jambon and black truffles

Travers de porc Ibaïona, Sauce Barbecue (Pork ribs)

Pied de cochon en escabèche - croquettes of pig's foot

Bocal de foie gras - house made foie gras

Guindillas sur ventrèche - sweet green peppers wrapped in crispy bacon and served on a slab of pork belly

Chipirons frits au piment doux - fried baby calamari

Gambas aux crémeux thai épicés - Fried shrimp in coconut milk

The wine list is also varied, it offers interesting AOC choices organized by region and start at 5 euros per glass and 20-40 euros per bottle. 

No reservations needed (for the time being) - come before this place gets too trendy - which I know will happen very soon!

Dans Les Landes

119 bis Rue Monge, 75005

Metro: Censier-Daubenton (Ligne 7)

Telephone: 01 45 87 06 00