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Asparagus Addict Attains Nirvana
PARIS - I'll be honest from the start. I am an asparagus
addict. From the first sighting of those slender spears
during the doldrums of February until their traditional
disappearance from the French market on the feast of
St. Jean in mid-June, I could savor their dense, mineral-rich
flavor morning, noon and night.
So when I discovered that the Michelin two-star chef
Michel Rostang was offering an all-asparagus menu, I
beat a path to the door of his elegant restaurant in
the 17th arrondissement. I admit to falling out of love
with Rostang some years back after a few meals that
seemed to reflect a man stuck in gastronomic mud and
on a road to nowhere.
He has awakened, big time, now a passionate chef whose
table reflects a curious mind and an intensely intellectual
approach to food. The asparagus meal was full of surprises,
void of clichés, a love poem to that admirable
vegetable.
I was mildly disappointed that nowhere in the meal
did asparagus play the star, but by the end of the meal
realized the wisdom of assigning it a supporting role
in a number of dishes.
The first course, soupe claire d'asperges vertes de
Provence was an eye opener: With Asian overtones, this
complex blend of asparagus, coriander, faintly puckery
epine-vinette, or highbush cranberries, and cubes of
fresh tuna bathed in a clear broth was a perfect tonic.
No surprise to know that asparagus were once revered
for their health giving properties and used as medicine.
The star of the evening was a simple soft-cooked egg
nested in a tulip of crisp phyllo, topped with a generous
spoonful of Sevruga caviar. Flanked by pan-seared violet-tipped
asparagus from the farms of Jean-Charles Orso in the
hills of Cannes, the soothing dish was offset by a rich,
heavily reduced, almost caramelized sauce of sweet sherry.
Off the special menu, diners can also regale their
palates with roasted green asparagus with spiced crabmeat
in a reduced crustacean sauce; rich nuggets of lobster
meat paired with asparagus and baby violet artichokes
in a delicate anchovy sauce, and farm-fresh guinea hen
with an Italian Arborio rice risotto with asparagus
butter.
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THE wine list offered a fine discovery, a finely flinty
white 1995 Coteaux d'Aix en Provence, from Domaine Hauvette,
where Dominique Hauvette crafts a well-made organic
wine on the plains of St. Remy de Provence.
Michel Rostang, 20 Rue Rennequin, Paris 17; tel: 01-47-63-40-77;
fax: 01-47-63-82-75. Closed Saturday lunch, Sunday and
three weeks in August. All major credit cards. 325-franc
lunch menu; 745-franc asparagus menu. A la carte, 600
to 800 francs, including service but not wine.
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