June-July2006: Entre les Vignes, Le Parc, l'Acajou

[John Talbott]

June-July 2006 New: Entre Les Vignes, Le Parc, L'Acajou

As is my habit, I eat at very few new places in the summer, which explains my lack of reporting, although as usual there were a few exceptions, that this year included:

6.0 N* Entre les Vignes, 27ter Bvd Diderot in the12th, 01.43.43.62.84, closed weekends, has a formula (2 dishes for 19) and menu (3 for 23) - both available lunch and dinner plus there are inexpensive wines (a pot for 12); there’s a no-smoking section; it’s practically across the street from the Gare de Lyon; and the bread, food and coffee are astonishingly good. Colette’s gazpacho (and she’s an expert in the consumption and production of them) was deemed “among the best ever in the world,” and my sausage with pistachios and potatoes was terrific; her dorade and my confit de canard were right up there with the best; and the soup of fraises and chocolate desserts were quite respectable. We had never been before and were tipped by Pudlo’s four symbol rating – new, classic, good & reasonable. Will we go again; you bet if we’re again leaving on the TGV; otherwise probably not.

3.0 Le Parc, 33, rue Vaugirard in the 6th, 01.40.48.40.48, open every day, took over the old and beloved (by me) Sumai’s Café space in March and received decidedly lukewarm reviews. Inevitably I knew I’d return since close friends live nearby. While not blown away, we four were pleasantly surprised, although be warned – there are not a ton of choices. I would not have ordered the eggs Benedict or salad with buffola mozzarella and indeed they were banal but the green asparagus was fine. I had the steak tartare and frites which were great as was the croustillant of scallops but the beef and green beans were again something I wouldn’t have chosen. The desserts were standard: a moelleux of chocolate and a financiere with yogurt ice cream. Our bill for four was 218 Euros.

2.0 L’Acajou, 35bis, rue La Fontaine in the 16th, 01.42.88.04.47, closed Sundays has three menus at 28, 35 and 40 €. The prices given are a bit deceptive and the reviews by Rubin (2 hearts) and Toinard (4/5 blocks) very deceptive. This is an OK place with pretentions of being a high class place in the 16th (natch) that has not bad food but the price-quality ratio does not stand up. It’s in the old La Fontaine d’Auteil space, spruced up, etc., and one can choose from a forced-choice menu of two starters (the day we went a cold salad of veggies vs melon with chorizo mousse), two entrees (magret vs gravelox) and two desserts (ice cream and a financiere) for two dishes at 28 or three at 35. However, we were not enticed by the "menu," so three of us had a single main each of the gambas (dried and unappealing), red tuna (over-cooked despite the request that it be sushi cookedness) and ris de veau and foie gras (OK but not worth 32 E). Our fourth diner had the menu of the melon (good) and mousse (intense) wrapped in a sweet tuile deftly inserted in the melon “doughnut,” and gravelox (so so). The amuse bouche of a fluffed up homard with fluffed up langoustines was probably the highlight. Wines began at 27 for a white Loire and 28 for a rose Loire and 35 for a red (there were at least twenty lesser priced wines unavailable.) Our cost (with coffee) ran 178 for 4. And, as Colette reminds me after writing this – the bread was pitiful and the music, annoying.

Scale Nov 2005Scale (subject to fickleness and change):

10 - Giradet in the old days.

9 - Bocuse, Loiseau at their prime

8 - Ze Kitchen Galerie, Constant x3 now

7- Bistro Cote Mer at its flowering best

6 - Cinq Mars

5 - Terminus Nord

4 - 2 Pieces Cuisine

3 - Le Bouclard

2 - Sale + Pepe

1 - le Nord-Sud

0 - Auguste, The Place

Ø- Iode