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Moveable Feast, Cross Channel
Auvergne Specialties in Paris, A Taste of Lebanon
in London
PARIS – One huge, polished wood table for 12,
a cozy round table that will just seat five and a few
tables tumbling out onto the sidewalk. That is all you
get at L'Auvergne Gourmande, one of the newest and finest
little places to open in Paris in a while. But the little
turns out to be a lot.
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No surprise here, for this is the annex of the generally
reliable Left Bank restaurant La Fontaine de Mars. In
their newest, pocket-size endeavor the Boudon family
has invested all its knowledge of the gastronomically
abundant Auvergne region of France, its rich culinary
history, its impeccable farm products and some pretty
decent wines and cheeses.
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Best of all, they have brought back the daily plat du
jour, almost a dinosaur in today's Parisian cuisine.
So Monday it is duck à l'orange, Tuesday lamb
chops, Wednesday beef tongue, Thursday stuffed chicken,
Friday salt cod with the garlic mayonnaise known as
aioli and Saturday suckling pig. How's that for hearty?
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But this little table d'hôte - where everyone
sits together on bistro-style stools - has a modern
take as well. The grande salade de legumes is a mound
of greens with seemingly every kind of fresh vegetable
imaginable, nicely cooked and dressed and topped with
a crunchy tuile, or cookie, made of Cantal, a sturdy
Auvergnat cheese of cow's milk. Other starters might
range from homemade foie gras and a green salad to a
fresh pea soup with little chips of smoky bacon.
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This is the sort of place where you can eat depending
upon your appetite. Have a simple Auvergnat cheese platter
and a sip of fruity Saint-Pourcain from the gamay grape,
or go for the whole shebang with a thick and meaty cote
de boeuf, teamed up with a rich potato purée.
I feasted on a wonderful breast of guinea hen, pintade,
with a deliciously puckery vinegar sauce served with
sweet sautéed apples.
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The wine selection, by the glass or the bottle, is vast,
inspiring and educational. You can find some little-known
wines from the Auvergne, small appellations from the
Cotes Roannaise, Gaillac, vin de pays de l'Ardeche and
a Coteaux du Tricastin. Paris needs more places like
this: energetic, inventive and fun, with some good food
to boot.
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L'Auvergne Gourmande, 127 Rue Saint-Dominique, Paris
7; tel: 01-47-05-60-79. No credit cards. Closed Sunday.
About 110 francs ($15) a person, including service but
not wine.
ON to London. Wonderful ethnic food at low prices has
long been a draw here. A quick tour turned up some of
the finest Lebanese food I have ever tasted - at Le Mignon,
a tiny, seven-table restaurant in the Camden Town area
of northwest London.
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The owner, Hussien Dekmak, does all the cooking and serving
and offers a fine, fresh-flavored lineup of specialties
from his native Lebanon. The pure, clean flavors make
for a happy food revelation of a cuisine that makes so
much sense. With a diet based on dried beans, fresh vegetables,
olive oil, yogurt and a touch of lamb and chicken, what
could be bad?
.
Don't miss the hommos beiruty, a smooth, tingling chick
pea purée flavored with sesame paste and lemon
juice with judicious touches of garlic and parsley, topped
with tiny cooked fava beans. Likewise, the moutabal (also
called baba ghannoug), a smoky purée of grilled
eggplant seasoned with sesame paste, lemon juice and olive
oil had that essential, mood-elevating sense of purity.
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I had never before tasted batrakh, thin slices of dried
smoked roe served with fresh garlic and olive oil, and
would surely go back for more.
.
I love lamb sausages from any cuisine and Le Mignon's
fried spicy lamb sausage, or sujuk, served with nothing
more than a touch of freshly squeezed lemon juice, made
my palate very happy indeed. Le Mignon, 9a Delancey St.,
Camden, London NW1 7NL; tel: 020-7387-0600. All major
credit cards. Closed Monday. About £15 ($21.50)
a person, including service but not wine.
A great place in London for a drink before or after dinner
is the Sanderson Hotel, one of Ian Schrager's latest hits.
The long, narrow bar is graced with elegantly hung sheer
white draperies, with lighting and artwork cleverly veiled
by a second layer of sheers. The walls of the shiny stainless-steel-top
bar are lighted to reflect a cool lime-green glow, while
the stainless bar stools perfectly lined up along the
room make want you want to hop on and sip champagne. Hip,
chic, magical you might say.
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Sanderson Hotel, 50 Berners St., Soho, London W1T 3NG;
tel: 020-7300-1400; fax: 020-7300-1401.
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