A lemon lover's dream

Pascal Barbot is in top form, offering us food that is light, laced with herbs and spices, and an avalanche of varied citrus flavors. I left his 12-course lunch with pep in my step and a palate coated with extraordinary taste memories. How to decide best bite of the meal? The demitasse-sized condiment of spinach and pequillo peppers? The baby ravioli filled with a tangy bite of cedrat or citron? The chili pepper sorbet brilliantly paired with lemongrass and ginger? Or the almost too pretty to eat lemon meringue sablé? (photo). Then there is the warm and golden  brioche spread with a fragrant, salty butter of rosemary and lemon. And of course the chestnut honey madeleines. For grand dining, the 110 euro lunch menu is one the city’s best buys. Pascal Barbot and partner Christophe Rohat have always done it their way, discreetly, professionally, with a smile. And if lucky enough to secure a table in this tiny restaurant, we are the lucky recipients of their talents.

L’ASTRANCE , 4, rue Beethoven, Paris 16. Tel: +33 1 40 50 84 40.Métro: Passy. Open Tuesday through Friday. Closed Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Eugene, Eugene

There seems to be no end to “outer borough” bargain-priced dining spots and La Table d’Eugène in the 18th arrondissement is surely one to add to the list. Chef-owner Geoffroy Maillard has his finger on it all: a lovely varied menu that makes you want to try everything; service that is as efficient as it can be even when the tiny dining room is packed -- as it always is; and a knack for beautiful food prepared with top-rate ingredients. Lunch choices might include a stunning millefeuille-like dorade tartare stacked between thin slices of daikon and  topped with an herb garden salad (photo); an ultra-fresh portion of cod topped with thin slices of Pata Negra ham and a vinaigrette of pequillo peppers and chives, teamed up with a brilliantly devised (though sadly overcooked) watercress risotto; and a soothing seven-hour gigot paired with the freshest of brilliant carrots. There’s a nice selection of wines by the glass, including the always reliable Jurançon sec Cuvèe Marie from the southwest.  Desserts are spectacular, including a chocolate “pearl” melted at the table with a drizzle of  hot chocolate seasoned judiciously with Tasmanian peppercorns; and a pineapple “carpaccio” set  on a crunchy chocolate and citron biscuit accompanied by a super-rich yogurt ice cream. Prices can vary from 18 euros for lunch to custom-designed “skies the limit” menus for two to twenty.

LA TABLE D’EUGENE, 18, rue Eugène Sue, Paris 18. Tel: +33 1  42 55 61 64. Metro: Marcadet-Poissoneries and Jules Joffrin. Closed Sunday and Monday. Lunch menus at 18,  25 and 35 €.  30 € and up at dinner.

Yes, rules of the games

Put on your highest heels,  your tightest and shortest black dress, your biggest diamond studs and reserve a table at Règle de Je(u), the newest table of Jean-Francois Piège, ex-Crillon, les Ambassadeurs, Louix XV, and Plaza Athenée. Don’t rush to put on those heels for you may have to wait in line for a table at this tiny, 20-seat dining room.  But the wait is worth it. Pretty much.

Piège, like so many major French chefs before him, starting with Joel Robuchon, decided to ditch the suffocating Michelin Three Star drama and make himself up. He shed some pounds, made up his own space, and recreated what he calls a restaurant. Bravo! I am all for it, though we as diners pay a little price in the experiment. Nothing is perfect. But before I go into detail, I have to say that Piège’s food is some of the prettiest and most ethereal I have tasted in a long time and I can’t wait to dig deeper into his repertoire.  

Days later I still have great memories of the dreamy lunch at his table. The restaurant is called Règle de Je(u) or Rules of the Game, with a play on words that easily translates at Rules of My Game. It’s unique. The place, a Hollywoodesque setting on the second floor with an unsigned speakeasy-like entrance on the Rue Saint-Dominique may not be for everyone. You’re seated at plush banquettes, the waitstaff is as slim and tall (and as accommodating) as they come, and there is no menu, just a list of ingredients of the day. You choose as many as you wish, by price. That day’s list of ingredients included Caviar, Coquilles Saint-Jacques, Langoustines, Bar de Ligne, Boeuf, Ris de Veau. 1 ingredient is 70 euros, 2 ingredients 90 euro, 3 ingredients 115 euro, and 3 ingredients with wine, 165 euro. Not cheap.

But each menu includes a generous and beautiful selection of starters, and of course dessert. The wine list is as extensive as any palate, expertise, or budget could imagine.  

So what did we eat and what did we love? Best taste of the day was his huge serving of langoustines with a pungent and delicious kaffir lime-based sauce paired with a rectangle of and perfectly seared foie gras. Fabulous and gorgeous. Equally flavorful and beautiful was the carpaccio of beef with a criss-cross of parmesan cream (PHOTO). A delight!   

I was much less enthused by the beautiful but bland sea bass paired with wild mushrooms and the seared beef from Chili that, I am sorry, was nicely cooked but so tough as to be inedible.

But I applaud Piège’s  ability to create a new idea of what a restaurant can be. Piège seems relaxed and at home, working the room with smiles, in blue-jean casual, with a clientele that seems happy and at home. To be continued!

Règle de Je(u), Jean-Francois Piège, 79, rue Saint-Dominique, Paris 7. Telephone: +33 1 47 05 36 96 jeanfracoispiege@thoumieux.com. www.jfpiege.com. www.thoumieux.com.

A new star at L'Étoile

Intense, explosive flavors and imaginative fare await diners at Joel Robuchon’s newest addition to the Paris restaurant scene, L’Atelier Etoile de Joel Robuchon. Situated in the lower level of the Drugstore Publicis at the Etoile, the bright red and black space is already full of glittery Las Vegas-style drama. But the real scene is what’s on the plate and what happens to your palate with each pleasurable bite.

As we were nearly finished with our multi-course tasting lunch yesterday one of my lunch companions said in disbelief “This must be what it feels like to take LSD! The reds are more red, everything is more focused, more extreme.”  I second that.

The menu offers some welcoming Robuchon classics, many dating back to the 1980’s and the early days of Jamin. But with Japanese chef  Yosuke Suga in charge an entirely new line of Asian-inspired aromas and flavors share the limelight. Suga previously served as head chef at the Atelier branches in New York and Taipei, and is a member of the very tightly knit group of Robuchon chefs who travel the world to make sure each of the 10 Ateliers stay on top of the game.

The lunch served as a case study as to how old dishes can become new again. Once a dish is perfected – as only Robuchon can do – it can live on forever. His classic creation of caviar in lobster jelly, topped with cauliflower cream offers an explosion accompanying every bite, the magical grains of caviar almost suspended in the rich jelly, and the cauliflower cream serving to intensify and smooth out flavors at the same time. Served in tiny glass bowls with a clear glass lid the presentation alone would be sufficient drama.

Another specialty not to be ignored is the penetrating bite of smooth and pungent foie gras set in a dense port jelly, topped with a soothing Parmesan cream. Mouthfilling, intense, unforgettable.

Joel’s classic potato and truffle salad has been turned inside-out, and here appears as a beautiful architectural offering, with smooth curls of foie gras, paper- thin shards of toast, slim discs of truffles, thick slices of potatoes,  shavings of Parmesan and just a few whispers of arugula. The textures and flavors walk arm in arm. I would have loved the dish more if the potatoes had been warm.

Chef Suga’s addition of Les Shishitots – tiny, thin-skinned Japanese peppers  that are slightly sweet and barely spicy – gets a big winter welcome when any touch of greenery on the plate demands applause. It’s hard to pick a best taste of the day here, but the little peppers were pierced with wooden skewers and laced between meaty mushrooms cooked to perfection on their flat plate “plancha.” A tiny dollop of brilliant green, extra-mild wasabi mousse topped it all off. I could have easily gone for a second portion. (Photo)

But then what about the salsify ? Who knew salsify could taste so great! The theme of many of the newer dishes here seems to be a lot of rectangles and squares, and in the case of the much maligned and ignored salsify, the rectangles of the winter root vegetable are lined up side-by-side and topped with golden, crispy salsify chips.

L’Atelier Etoile de Joel Robuchon, Publicis Drugstore, 133, avenue des Champs Elysées, Paris 8. Tel : + 33 1 47 23 75 75. www.joel-robuchon.com Open daily. Lunch reservations accepted. Dinner reservations at 6:30 only. Small tastes from 14 to 65 euros. Nine-course tasting menu, 150 euros.

Memories are made of this

Anticipation is one of life's great pleasures. I love looking forward to returning to a favorite restaurant, hoping all along that my memory has not embellished the experience. So what a thrill it was to return to Le Pré du Moulin the other night, only to find it even better than we remembered. In the small Provençal village of Serignan-du-Comtat, Pascal Alonso seems to wave a magic whisk, turning out fare that is engaging, original as well a delicious. Much of the pleasure of food is its familiarity, and today all too often chefs forget that, offering us dish after dish or strange combinations we don't recognize and don't care to remember.  Alonso seems to understand this, though his unexpected food pairings force us to sit up, take notice, and enjoy.

I would never have thought to slice baby squid into spaghetti-like strands, matching them with wintry wild mushrooms, but the combination is a warming, satisfying hit,with soft textures and a bit of froth. (Photo above.). Likewise his matching of giant shrimp roasted with unctuous and crunchy pig's feet, an unlikely pairing but one that works on the plate and the palate. His more traditional dishes, such as seabass with artichokes, rouget with olives, scallops with sunchokes, and filet mignon of veal with chanterellemushrooms are no less appealing.

The Michelin-starred restaurant has been transformed from an elegant village schoolhouse, and the addition of an alluring new bistro,  Les Tables de Campagne, gives us even more choice. On the menu there you'll find guinea fowl with local white beans, or cocos blancs; warm foie gras with fresh white onions, or cebettes; and filet of beef with mustard. The wine list at both offers the best the region can offer, with a wide choice from both the northern and southern Rhone.

The black truffle season has begun, so I'll be back for his unforgetable ravioli with fresh black truffles and artichokes. Just hope it's better than I remembered.

Le Pré du Moulin and Les Tables de Campagne, 84830 Serignan-du-Comtat, France. Telephone 04 90 70 14 55. www.predumoulin.com. Closed Sunday evening, all day Monday, and Tuesday lunch. Menus from 50 euros at Le Pré du Moulin, about 30 euros at Les Tables de Campagne.

Yum yum Yam'Tcha

Is it worth the wait? Three months or more for dinner, a tiny bit less for lunch. That’s for you to decide, but a recent lunch at Yam’Tcha, a 1 1/2-year old postage stamp of a restaurant was not only memorable for the food, but throughout was even-handed, carefully paced, not the least bit precious, and just a perfectly nice place to be on a rainy November day in Paris.

Chef Adeline Grattard (pedigrees include time spent with chefs Yannick Alléno now of the Michelin  three-star in the hotel Meurice and Pascal Barbot, of the Michelin three-star L’Astrance) and her Chinese tea sommelier husband Chiwah Chan make a rare pare, she working elegantly in her tiny box of an open kitchen at the entrance, he with great ceremony (but not ceremoniously) delivering tiny cup after cup of soothing and remarkably matched teas that pair lusciously with her carefully constructed French-Asian cuisine.

The meal included a myriad of ingredients and flavors, tender Brittany mussels merged with fermented beans and pumpkin noodles, anointed with just the right touch of brown rice vinegar; a duet of giant wontons (pictured)  stuffed with plump and full-flavored shrimp and deliciously crunchy water chestnuts;  a pad of steamed foie gras shook hands with a delightful blend of wakame seaweed and julienne of turnips, with a foam of dried scallops that emerged much like a sprig of parsley, not essential to the dish, but a pleasant nod.

There’s no menu choice at this small, 20-seat restaurant, but I won’t complain. The food is remarkably light, not a bit show-off, and just different enough for all of our everyday fare to make one sit up and take notice. I love the décor, simple and elegant with lovely little chopsticks and must-have Italian porcelain in pale earth tones. The brief wine list is remarkable. We enjoyed two delicious and well-paired Burgundies. The white Nuits St Georges Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Clos del a Marechale was chardonnay to perfection, almost as though the winemaker was thinking of Grattard’s fare as he vinified. Equally well-paired was the red pinot noir Nuits St Georges Les Boudots from Michel Noellat, a wine with a gentle touch of spice and smoke, elegant and right at home in this little jewel box of a restaurant. The name, by the way, is Mandarin for “drink tea,” and you will!

Yam’Tcha, 4, rue de Sauval, Paris 1. Telephone 01.40.26.08.07. From 50 to 65 € per person, without wine. Closed Sunday evening,  Monday, and Tuesday.  Metro: Louvre-Rivoli.