Gibiers - Merged topics - Game in Restaurants

[John Talbott]

My wife and I will be in Paris next Monday evening, and would like a reasonably priced game meal - perhaps sanglier, but winged game is also a possibility. I know there is - but cannot find it - a thread on this topic. Can someone point me to the thread and/or suggest places that are open on Monday?

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merged topics

Edited December 12, 2005 by John Talbott (log)

[Brad K.]

I ate at La Cerisae last Friday night. The menu was largely game. I had the gibier pate to start. Served en croute. It was only OK - maybe should have been hot (it was cold). Thus the crust was limp and the pate could have had more taste. The cherries served with it were quite good. As a main I had the wild duck - very nice - 2 legs served over an excellent stuffed cabbage. Best part of meal was their incredible chocolate fondant and the glass of prunes soaked in armangnac (listed as a digestif). About 200E per 2 people with wine, drinks, etc.

[ulterior epicure]

As of early last week, both partridge and pigeon were on the menu at L'Os a Moelle (not the Cave). I think it's likely to be the same, as the menu seems nearly identical to its repertoire exactly one year ago (down to the starters, and accompaniments - uncanny).

U.E.

[John Talbott]

I ate at La Cerisae last Friday night.  The menu was largely game.  I had the gibier pate to start.  Served en croute.  It was only OK - maybe should have been hot  (it was cold). 

Wow too bad, as I noted on October 13th

today at La Cerisaie, where they had a wonderful warm pate of game in a crust (really a tartelette) with sour cherries as a first

Recall also that Chez les Anges

had wonderful game - perdreau, biche and canard colvert

at least in October.

[jml3]

Le P'tit Bougnat seems like it fits the bill - and is open on Monday. Has any eGulletteer actually eaten there?

[John Talbott]

Le P'tit Bougnat seems like it fits the bill - and is open on Monday. Has any eGulletteer actually eaten there?

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I have and it has everything. As is the story of my culinary life, I found it inconsistent.

[John Talbott]

Le Petit Bougnat, where I’ve not been

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Update - I subsequently went twice and my comments are here.

[grace3]

My wife and I will be in Paris next Monday evening, and would like a reasonably priced game meal - perhaps sanglier, but winged game is also a possibility. I know there is - but cannot find it - a thread on this topic. Can someone point me to the thread and/or suggest places that are open on Monday?

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Petit Marquery is often mentioned as a good "game" restaurant. Perhaps a local Parisian will add to this re open Mondays and IF they are now serving game.

Enjoy, Joan

[John Talbott]

In the December Where Paris, Alexander Lobrano listed the game restaurants currently serving such: l’Ambrosie, A La Biche au Bois, Gerard Besson, Le Petit Colombier, Au Petit Marguery, Le Repare de Cartouche, La Soupiere + La Traversiere.

PS I've found that the last month most every place in Paris has had one such dish.

[VivreManger]

In about 2002, I believe, Au Petit Marguery was sold. I dined there in November shortly after the sale, but while the former owners, the Cousin brothers, were still running the show. The meal was excellent. However I have not been back since. I have been hoping to learn whether or not the sale and the eventual withdrawal of the Cousins introduced any changes. From the continuous appearance of the restaurant in the game, it seems not, at least none for the worst. I wonder if anyone who knows the place well has done a before and after review. Or is this one of the rare instances in the Paris restaurant business where despite a change of ownership the restaurant sails on. Who, by the way, bought it? It certainly seems not to have been the Flo Group.

[John Talbott]

In about 2002, I believe, Au Petit Marguery was sold.  I dined there in November shortly after the sale, but while the former owners, the Cousin brothers, were still running the show.  The meal was excellent.  However I have not been back since.  I have been hoping to learn whether or not the sale and the eventual withdrawal of the Cousins introduced any changes.  From the continuous appearance of the restaurant in the game, it seems not, at least none for the worst.  I wonder if anyone who knows the place well has done a before and after review.  Or is this one of the rare instances in the Paris restaurant business where despite a change of ownership the restaurant sails on.  Who, by the way, bought it?  It certainly seems not to have been the Flo Group.

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I have not been since the sale but Francois Sullam (prop) and Christian Bisch (chef) bought it and presumably (according to Pudlo) have "conserved" the seasonal flavors, esp the game in fall-winter.

[John Talbott]

Jean Claude Ribaut in Wednesday-Thursday’s Le Monde talks of game prepared any which way and suggests the following established places in which to eat such:

Yugaraj. 14, rue Dauphine 6th, 01-43-26-44-91.

Le Jardin. Hôtel Royal Monceau, 37, avenue Hoche 8th, 01-42-99-88-77.

Auguste. 54, rue de Bourgogne 7th, 01-45-51-61-09.

Le Passiflore. 33, rue de Longchamp 16th, 01-47-04-96-81.

Le Jardin des sens. 11, av. Saint-Lazare in Montpellier, 04-99-58-38-38.

Citrus Etoile. 6, rue Arsène-Houssaye 8th, 01-42-89-15-51.

La Table Lauriston. 129, rue Lauriston 16th, 01-47-27-00-07.

[John Talbott]

In the weekend FT there is a fascinating article by Rowley Leigh about the differences between the grey English partridge (low in fat, high in flavor, rich, gamy, endangered) and the red-leg French one (1/2-1/3 cheaper, bigger, plumper, tender flesh, if hung properly can be gamy).

[Abra]

Forgive me if this question is a bit left-fieldish, but when you see the word gibier with no further information, what do you think it is? In this case, alas, I'm talking about cat food, which claims to be gibier but doesn'tsay more than that. What sort of game scraps might go into cat food?

[Ptipois]

Forgive me if this question is a bit left-fieldish, but when you see the word gibier with no further information, what do you think it is?  In this case, alas, I'm talking about cat food, which claims to be gibier but doesn'tsay more than that.  What sort of game scraps might go into cat food?

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"Gibier" is generic for game. "Gibier à plume" (note the singular) will be game birds while "gibier à poil" (singular again) is four-legged game like venison, wild boar, hare, etc.

"Gibier" on the can most probably means scraps of venison from Eastern Europe for I don't see the cat food companies putting partridge or pheasant in their concoctions.

[John Talbott]

Wednesday-Thursday Jean Claude Ribaut in Le Monde wrote the first full article on game I’ve seen this fall that mentions the introduction of gibiers into the restaurants: Scots grouse in August, followed by wild birds and then hopping things, and finally hoofy animals. More in this week’s Digest about new preparations available at Jacques Cagna, Auguste, Jean-Marie Amat, Grande Cascade, Lasserre, Plaza Athénée, Citrus Etoile, La Marlotte + Les Glaneurs.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Le relais Bernard Loiseau serves not the lievre à la royale but the lievreS a la royale, since Patrick Bertron decided to offer the Senateur Couteaux (=the stew) recipe as an amuse and the Ali-Bab recipe (the reconstituted hare stuffed with foie gras -- like the one at le Bristol) as a main. Some pictures on their blog.

[Felice]

Hunters and game lovers take note, the Paris Country Show or the Salon de la Chasse runs concurrently with the Salon d'Agriculture this year at the Porte de Versailles beginning the 28 of February. The Salon d'Agriculture runs from the 23 February until 3 March.

www.countryshow.com

[John Talbott]

While I'll be posting my November new restaurant reports in a while, I can't pass up the opportunity to tout the lievre royal at l'Epigramme (which was written up so far this week in Le Fooding, Figaroscope + Les Echos) - epigram, of course, being defined as a short witty poem such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge's

“Sir, I admit your general rule,

That every poet is a fool,

But you yourself may serve to show it,

That every fool is not a poet.”

In any case, it had the blackest, thickest and yet not mind-fat-globulating sauce imaginable and was miles ahead of the bourgignon of biche I had at Pierre au Palais Royale.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Speaking of Lievre a La Royale, as announced, I tasted the double version offered by Patrick Betron at the Relais Bernard Loiseau in Saulieu. It is standard-setting, perfectly cooked, incredibly intense, with that strong taste of... well, death is what it is. The Ali-Bab version, to my surprise, is less intense than the Senateux Couteaux. But both are incredible: the texture, the clarity of taste, the simple complexity. This is textbook in the best sense.

As I argue in my review on my blog (which I have only written in French now, but I promise to give an English version soon), it is also very representative of Bertron's style and how it differentiates from the original Loiseau by being much more knowledgeabe and technical, while sharing the same basics of mind-blowing ingredients and simplified but labour-intensive preparations.

On the side also is a puree which is the alternative to the butter sauce which Robuchon calls that. You can't feel its taste when you eat the Lievre, but by itself, it is a delicious dish, much lighter than the Robuchon thing, but no less intense and standard-setting, no less moving, and with something more frank and less sophisticated about it.

[John Talbott]

For those interested in buying game to cook yourself, check out this topic. Thanks.

[John Talbott]

As Julot mentioned on the lievre topic, Wednesday-Thursday, in Le Monde, Jean Claude Ribaut wrote about where to get game in and around Paris that included:

La Marlotte

Drouant

Les Chevaux de Marly

Taillevent

Gérard Besson

La Grande Cascade

Paul Chêne

Michel Rostang.

Please go to the article for addresses, etc.

[John Talbott]

In about 2002, I believe, Au Petit Marguery was sold.  I dined there in November shortly after the sale, but while the former owners, the Cousin brothers, were still running the show.  The meal was excellent.  However I have not been back since.  I have been hoping to learn whether or not the sale and the eventual withdrawal of the Cousins introduced any changes.  From the continuous appearance of the restaurant in the game, it seems not, at least none for the worst.  I wonder if anyone who knows the place well has done a before and after review.  Or is this one of the rare instances in the Paris restaurant business where despite a change of ownership the restaurant sails on.  Who, by the way, bought it?  It certainly seems not to have been the Flo Group.

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I have not been since the sale but Francois Sullam (prop) and Christian Bisch (chef) bought it and presumably (according to Pudlo) have "conserved" the seasonal flavors, esp the game in fall-winter.

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I did go and didn't reflect that here, which I'm remedying now.