La Mere Agitee: Assessment/Reassessment?

[John Talbott]

In January and February, Hugh W and John W commented on La Mere Agitee thusly:

Hugh Jan 19, 2009

And here's another; La Mère Agitée in the 14th, which was mentioned with the following comment on the France slowtrav.com forum:

"Every day there a different a la carte menu with 2 choices. Madame speaks halting English and treats you like a guest in her kitchen. Intimate,very traditional country French cooking and a neighborhood institution."

So, I've googled around and haven't found too much about it except a blog by John Whiting that commented more on the politics of the deceased patron than the food. Any reports?

http://www.lamereagitee.fr/index.html

John Jan 19

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Part way through my review you'll find the following:

[NOTE: When Mary and I revisited in 2004, Père had died and Mère seemed less agitated by ultra-right politics. In fact she was cooking so well that we ate there on three successive days, two lunches and a dinner. Good satisfying fare, without pretense. Lunch was still a modest 18€ and dinner not much more.]

Subsequent reports to me have bourne this out, including a recommendation in the last Pudlo, which prices lunch at only a euro more.

Hugh Feb 22

On Thursday evening we opted for La Mère Agitée over La Regalade. It was a scene from a comedy and kind of a hoot but definitely disapointng regarding the food. La Mère greeted us along with her large dog (a griffon, I think) and offered us a choice of a mushroom or duck pate (no printed menu) as a starter and Bordeux or Rhone wine. The pates were served warmed on a piece of toast over a salad and were quite tasty, The wine was brought to the table in an already open unlabled bottle. For a main course, we shared some kind of a cross between a charcuterie and a cassolet. It was quite unattractive, but flavorful for what it was. Meanwhile La Mère is constantly letting the dog (who was quite friendly) in and out of the restaurant to the street. Eventually, she walked into the dining room from the kitchen with a large bone for the dog. After the dog tired of the bone, she picked it up off the floor and laid it on my wife's dinner plate as she was clearing it. I can't remember the dessert, but whatever it was, it was not memorable. The cost was 65 euro for the two of us. Oh, how I wished we had gone to la Regalade but my wife wanted to try somewhere new -- she was sorry.

Sometime last month, my perceptive and charming cohost suggested we go and then due to mixed info, we chose not to. However, last week in the Boston Globe another perceptive reviewer Joe Ray wrote nicely about it and a Boston/Cambridge friend suggested we two go when he was over next time.

So I'd like to restart the discussion and ask: "Does anyone else have experiences here and what do you think?" Thanks.

[John Whiting]

As a "destination" bistro, La Mere Agitee may easily disappoint; it's up and down, but I prize it for having something of the feel of the sort of place which A.J. Liebling frequented in Paris back in the 30s. "In learning to eat,", he wrote, "as in psychoanalysis, the customer, in order to profit, must be conscious of the cost."