Paris Journal 2014 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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Tom asked me, as he often does, to find an example of something in particular that he could use in his textbook. I was particularly pleased with what I eventually found, and so was he. Best yet, the editor in New York liked it. I think this contributed to a celebratory feeling that crept over me as we walked through the Champ de Mars yesterday evening. So even though we’d had an extra special dinner the night before (at Axuria), and had planned to simply go to the neighborhood pub for a light dinner, we changed our minds on the way back down the rue du Commerce. “Let’s do it,” I said. “Let’s try Le Pario! Even if they can’t take us because we don’t have a reservation, we could make one for the next night and then go on to the café instead. But maybe we can get in!” Tom is always game for a great dinner, so we veered to the right, down the avenue Emile Zola. When we were near the end of it, we crossed the street and entered Le Pario. This space is very familiar to us; it was the home of Oh! Duo, a small restaurant where we’ve enjoyed many traditional French dinners over the past 16 summers. Then at last the duo, Joel and Françoise Valero, retired to Epernay. Oh! Duo is no longer. That happened last July, and in August we were excited to learn that the brilliant young chef, Eduardo Jacinto Alvelar, of Café Constant fame, would be opening his own restaurant there. This is how we learned about it (my Paris Journal entry for August 9, 2013). Chef Eduardo opened Le Pario in September, while we were still in Paris but by then we’d moved into our September digs in the 6th arrondissement, and we were all wrapped up in things happening over there. We’ve been curious about the name of the restaurant. What does “Le Pario” mean, we wondered? A Michelin review explains it: this is the restaurant that is mid-way between Paris and Rio. You see, the chef is originally from Brazil. When we entered, we were warmly greeted by a number of young people working there. We knew that Chef Eduardo had renovated the space, because we saw him working on it himself last August. However, we were surprised at the extent of the changes. The duo of Joel and Françoise always wanted to keep their restaurant small; hence the name, Oh! Duo. Joel would only have one person helping him in the kitchen, and Françoise would only have one person (if that) helping her in the dining room. They only used the upstairs for special events, for larger groups, or once in a long while they’d allow themselves to be busy enough to seat some customers up there when the main dining room was full. Le Pario is a much more ambitious undertaking. The staff is substantial. I’d guess there were at least ten, maybe a dozen, people working there last night. The counter has been removed in the downstairs dining room to make way for a couple more tables, yet the little table under the stairs, where we often sat, is gone – replaced by a useful cabinet. We were shown to the upstairs. It is elegant; and it is substantially air-conditioned, in a very non-French way. I’d say this air conditioning approaches Florida style – must be the Brazilian in him, I thought. Fortunately, we’d arrived a little before 8PM. By the time we left, the upstairs was nearly full, and the downstairs was definitely full. We absolutely must reserve in the future. The cuisine is hard to describe. It is modern, and unique. The Brazilian influence is apparent, and so is the French. There is nothing “country” about this food; you know you’re in a real city when you dine at Le Pario. The only “country” item I noticed was that half of the bread in the basket was Poilane-style. The starter course that we shared was a gelée de Homard, éffiloché de chair de crabe, queues de langoustines, cuites vapeur, velouté de céleri rave. That translates to something like lobster jelly with bits of steamed crabmeat and langoustine tails, topped with a cream of celery root. Some say langoustines are prawns; but I think, as I explained days ago, that they are really small, skinny lobsters. Anyway, this concoction was attractively arranged and served in a martini glass. It was delightful. My main course was a rable de lapin – a “saddle” of rabbit, stuffed with dried fruits and nuts. It came with a sweet potato sauce not unlike the sauce I had with the Guinea hen at the Bermuda Onion – but better. Tom’s main course was small medallions (noisettes) of veal. It was gorgeous, and tasty. The servings were pleasantly small, so we both indulged in dessert. Mine was the profiteroles with dark chocolate sauce, and Tom’s was a “tuile” that consisted of layers of coconut-infused pralines with scoops of chocolate pudding (sweet milk chocolate and crème fraiche) in between (photo below).
The interesting thing about the menu is its schizoid nature. One side offers a variety of reasonably priced dishes in which all appetizers are 11 euros, all main courses are 17 euros, and all desserts are 7 euros. With the exception of Tom’s dessert, we stayed on this side of the menu last night. The other side is more gourmande, and more expensive. Each dish is priced individually. A really good variety of wines were offered by the glass, starting at 5 euros. The 5-euro chardonnay that I had was exceptionally good. The sparkling water offered there is Chateaudun, which we really like. Even with the extra dessert and an extra glass of wine, our total dinner was just 77 euros. For a special, really wonderful dinner in Paris, this is a good value. The experience makes me want to try the other side of the menu, the more expensive one, the next time we go to Le Pario. The service was professional and friendly. It will never be the intimate little resto that Oh! Duo was, but Le Pario is an exciting place, a happening place in the evolving world of French cuisine as found in Paris.
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Wednesday, July 23, 2014
I
used a trial version of some collage software to make this image of our
appetizer course, the gelée de homard. What do you think? Should I buy this software for $30?
Professional
service in action in the comfortable, renovated dining rooms upstairs at Le Pario, 54 avenue Emile Zola.
The
rable de lapin (“saddle” of rabbit), with
its side of finely puréed sweet potatoes, that was actually like a veloute or sauce (below).
Veal
medallions in a rich reduction sauce.
These came with an interesting side dish of potatoes cut into small
spheres, cooked with ham bits (lardons) in a nice sauce (spoonful of this side is shown
below).
The
profiteroles at Le Pario. |
