The Talbott Trail

[Laidback]

Ms. L. and I are back for our Fall visit and in trying to keep up with the restaurant scene we play the sparrows to Dr. Talbott's Hansel and Gretel. So far his crumb trail has led us to one of the true value finds in the 18th and to another inexpensive, but mediocre spot.

The Table d'Eugene, pictured here with the young chef, is a very affordable, delicious find. We tried it for our arrival dinner and were so pleased that we booked it again for a follow up lunch.The attentive cooking is traditional, no pretentious attemps at squiggly plate art or wheel reinvention. We started with grilled chipirons which were simply splendid

and gambas served over a confit of vegetables a little reminiscent of ratatouille

mains were a generous, delicious veal chop served with roasted potato halves covered with sabrosada, a mildly spicy sausage

and lamb with an apricot confit and orange infused boulgour

I had a nice, runny St. Marcellin cheese and Ms. L. had a good rendition of pineapple carpaccio, shaved thin, rolled and enhanced with a honey pesto sauce and a scoop of grapefruit sorbet.

The followup lunch was the same well prepared menu as before, but with a different waiter who does the day shift here and works nights at the Moulin de la Galette. Both were quietly efficient and pleasant and were aided by the chef.

I started with a risotto called crousti-moelleux, which is a good description as it was presented in a rectangular form, crusty on the outside and moelleux on the inside. I forgave the chef his little venture into foam here because it had the definite taste of fresh mushrooms

Pat had one of her top 3 or 4 ravioli preparations of all time; they were filled with foie gras and covered with a truffle emulsion.

Our mains were a large, grilled pork chop accompanied by a bowl of tiny pasta called coquillettes with a cep and truffle sauce.

and a mijoté of veal, which had been long time simmered in red wine with sage infused gnocchi

dessert was strawberries with a citronelle flavored thick cream and the chef's version of Café Gourmand pictured here.

Look carefully at the next 2 pictures to see the value; at lunch nearly everyone was having the formule, which was beyond generous

After lunch we picked up a few things at the Poteau market and went inside the 18th's mairie to see the ornate double staircase and salle des fetes with local bad boy, Utrillo's paintings

The second restaurant is the type that I normally look for and love; pretty little Mom/Pop place which the Oxalis indeed is, with pleasant, reserved service by Mme while Monsieur is at the stove. However our meal didn't inspire us to return as I had a steak that was cooked beautifully but totally flavorless and Ms. L. had mignons de veau which were overcooked to the point of dryness which couldn't be salvaged by the copious sauce. The desserts almost overcame our disappointment in the mediocrity of the meal.

We probably hit it on a bad day, but there are way too many other spots to hit in our 2 months to return.

[John Talbott]

Thanks for the update(s) Laidback; interesting, since I went to l'Oxilis in Nov 07 I've had two blah reports. Also interesting that you and I found La Table d'Eugene good but Rubin today only gave it two hearts (but then nowadays he seems to give almost everything two hearts.)

[cigalechanta]

Thanks laidback, your photos, as usual are very good.