Recommendations

[Gareth]

The first anniversary deserves something special (presuming, of course, that I pass my annual appraisal...). So it's a surprise jaunt to Paris for Saturday lunch.

Looking for that perfect combination of elegant surroundings, refined service and - of course - superlative food.

I have tried two of the top restaurants before: Pierre Gagnierre and Guy Savoy. Of these (and being mega-picky, but hell its my money and my anniversary, so why not...?)

P-G I found technically astounding; astonishing ideas, creation and execution but a difficult meal to relax into. Too much like sitting an exam or embarking on literary criticism - plenty of intellectual awe but not a direct and instinctive emotional enjoyment.

G-S was sensational food and well pitched relaxed service and I would hurry back but the room has not quite the romance I am looking for on this occasion (told you I was being picky...)

So, can any kind souls make a recommendation or point me in the direction of a useful thread ?

Many thanks,

Gareth

[OAKGLEN]

The two star Lasserre, 17 ave. F.D. Roosevelt, is usually open for Sat. lunch. It is my wife's favorite restaurant, as it has all the qualities you are seeking. The prix-fixe offering at 55e is a great value as well. JP

[lizziee]

L'Ambrosie is one of the most elegant restaurants in Paris. The feel is like dining in a very elegant home. The service is formal, knowledgeable and precise. Pacaud's cuisine is not cutting edge -- it is all about the best ingredients handled with perfection. The prices are high and there is no tasting menu, only a la carte.

One of my posts:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...203&hl=ambrosie

I must add that some eGullet members do not have the same glowing reports, but I have never had anything but a perfect experience.

I would go just to have his oeufs de poule mollets, sabayon a l'oscietre - soft-boiled eggs(egg mollet), perfectly peeled to resemble a hard boiled egg enrobed with sabayon sauce and on the side a "quenelle" of caviar and tiny asparagus spears.

[pirate]

to Lizziee:

Oeufs Mollet are not what we usually term as soft-boiled. They are boiled 5 to 6 minutes yielding a firmer yolk with a thicker although somewhat runny center. They make them exceptionally well at breakfast at the Les Muses in the Hotel Scribe Paris. Very easy to find in Germany; ask for Eier im Glas. However Lizziee I cannot concieve of what you term a "sabayon sauce" Is iit some form of Hollandaise?

[lizziee]

pirate,

You are absolutely correct re eggs mollet. I was using soft boiled to indicate that the yolk was still runny and the white firm, much like in a hard boiled egg. Normally sabayon is the French word for Zabaglione in Italian. However, in Pacaud's hands it resembles a hollandaise more than a custard.

[pirate]

Lizziee, your reply sent me scurrying to Madame Saint-Ange. She says (rough translation):

" By texture, the interior at least approaches a soft- boiled rather than hard-boiled: its yellow being still in a liquid state under the white envelope which is solidified only to the point where the egg can resist shelling and the manipulations which follow. Roughly one can say that an oeuf mollet is a soft-boiled egg 'trop cuit'".

As far as Pacaud, I'm surprised by his adoption of the "abus de langage" so in vogue by cooks. I dislike that usage intensely.

[lizziee]

pirate,

Actually Pacaud's use of the word Sabayon is not a misnomer or an abuse of the language. Sabayon is most often referenced for a dessert sauce, but it is also used for savory dishes. Any mistake in my referencing hollandaise is mine not Pacaud's.

For example in Michel Guerard's Cuisine Gourmande (1979) he gives a recipe for John Dory with a Sabayon Pepper Sauce. It is made by straining the cooking liquid from the fish, reducing it and then, after whisking the egg yolks with water until foamy, it is added to the simmering liquid which produces a light and foamy sauce.

From the notes to the recipe:

"The resulting sauce, a sabayon, is very different from sauces thickened with egg yolk in the ordinary way. Rather than becoming rich and creamy, it becomes light and foamy, as described."

What is remarkable about this dish is that Pacaud is able to peel this fragile egg without a "scratch." I have tried this at home and I was able to achieve 1 perfect peel in 24 tries.

[Bux]

I have seen "sabayon" used by many chefs and on menus to note a sauce that's basically egg yolk with a liquid beaten into it rather than a sweet wine. The liquid, can be a dry wine, champagne or any savory liquid. I remember reading about a sabayon served with fish and seaweed noodles served at le Divellec some fifteen or more years ago. I'm not sure if that's the first time I ran across the use of the word in a savory context.

I suspect that the ability to peel a soft boiled egg or oeuf mollet is just a knack that most can learn in time. It's my wife's favorite way to prepare an egg. She can peel them with a flawless exterior far more rapidly and with fewer imperfections than I can. More often than not, there's more likely to be some undone white inside than there is yolk that's partially set.

[Gareth]

Well we're off to L'Ambrosie. If my wife likes it, she can thank Lizzie and if she hates it, she can blame me !

I promise to report back. Indeed, this is our lucky month since we're at Gordon Ramsay's next week (normally, its a humble diet of gruel and Mickey-D's, I promise....). So we can compare and contrast.

B.T.W. I'm sure we've all seen worse liberties taken with the language of description than anything this particular 'sabayon' would suggest. The one that sticks in my mind was a starter of "Oriental Tapas". The waiter was non-plussed when I asked whether this was anything like Spanish Dim Sum...

[lizziee]

Gareth,

Have a wonderful time and if the eggs mollet is on the menu, be sure to have it. I think they will do a split - one for two. There is no prix fix so it is all a la carte.

[Bux]

It's been quite a while but I have some notes. My wife had what she calls comfort food -- oeufs de poule mollet, panes, mouillettes truffee or something like that. They're my wife's notes and they say "a soft boiled egg (the yolk was almost red in color) which had been breaded on the outside and deep fried. It was served standing on a pool of chopped truffles accomanied by finger sandwiches of white toast with truffles." Well caviar or truffle, whichever egg dish is on the menu is not a bad way to go. I had the feuillantine de langoustine aux graine de sesame, sauce au curry which, at the time I thought was sublime. It was lovely food of the sort that makes no attempt to be cutting edge. I though the staff, although perfectly professional, were a little dour. I hear that's changed for the better and Lizziee has convincingly reported elsewhere on this site that service is at least as professional as ever.

I'm a bit jealous although I have no right to be after two weeks in Spain where we had meals that were very creative or very hearty food and sometimes both at the same time, but we didn't have this sort of meal. Oh well can't have everything all the time.

[Bux]

Re: savory sabayon

Préparer le sabayon : émulsionner au bain-marie les jaunes avec le champagne dans un cul de poule en inox.

Le sabayon est prêt lorsque vous obtenez une masse onctueuse et homogène.

Full recipe for Pierre Gagnaire's Corolle de saint Jacques et saumon d'Ecosse, suc de clémentine, sabayon au champagne here.

[Endy']

I will be visiting Paris with my sister for about a week at the end of June. Looking for recommendations on food I should check out while I'm there, especially things I can't easily find in Toronto/Canada.

suggestions from the full spectrum are good, from high end to bistros/cafes/boulangeries/patisseries. Thanks very much

[John Talbott]

I will be visiting Paris with my sister for about a week at the end of June.  Looking for recommendations on food I should check out while I'm there, especially things I can't easily find in Toronto/Canada.

suggestions from the full spectrum are good, from high end to bistros/cafes/boulangeries/patisseries.  Thanks very much

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That's quite a broad question.

Having just returned from Toronto I can assure you that you won't be seeing many peameal bacon sandwiches, fiddleheads or butter tarts on French menus but you will see lots of raw milk cheese(s) and for a few days longer - Noirmoutier potatoes (the best in the world by me).

The hot new trend, if there is one, in Paris is abats = innard restos with two places opened in the past few weeks: the dazzling, inexpensive Ribouldingue + Aux Zingots (for all coordinates check out the Digest or search recent threads.) The latest guidebook out (March) is Pudlo 2006 and for places not in it, consider le Bistral, Carte Blanche, Drouant + l'Escarbille. Zurban 2006 is about to come out and should include these.

My old favorites include Les Magnolias, Les Papilles, Ze Kitchen Galerie, Maison du Jardin, Les Anges, Le Repaire de Cartouche, La Cerisaie, and Thierry Burlot altho' the latter is up to his old tricks of being out of the cheapo wines and dishes and bumping up the prices.

But I urge you to check out recent threads and the Digest for additional "voices."

Have a ball. John

[Endy']

thank you John.

your reply is perfect, I'm just looking for a big list of things to check out which I can then look up. It's hard for me to be specific about what I'm looking for, because I don't *know* what I'm looking for...save that I'll know it when I see it, I suppose.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

.... the dazzling, inexpensive Ribouldingue + Aux Zingots

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John, do you have any feeling for whether either of these kitchens offer a few interesting non-offals at any given time, as in something for my husband? I hate to eat alone!

[John Talbott]

.... the dazzling, inexpensive Ribouldingue + Aux Zingots

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John, do you have any feeling for whether either of these kitchens offer a few interesting non-offals at any given time, as in something for my husband? I hate to eat alone!

←

Absolutely. The day I was at Ribouldingue there were at least two fish courses, salads and regular meat courses, but if you read Francois Simon's Hache Menu this week it sounds like it's all abats and when I ate at Aux Zingots they were actually out of the two big abats' dishes we wanted and I had to settle for regular stuff (well, haricots verts salad and liver). However, I don't really want to plug Aux Zingots - its food was meek and dull compared to the dazzle at Ribouldingue. But have your husband scope the menu at Ribouldingue before you go and see for himself. I think Felice may even have a copy of it.