| |
 |
|
In Paris: A Star is Born
PARIS - It has been years since an up and coming Parisian
restaurant came out of the starting gate with such a
bang. One-month waiting lists may be common for grand
and exclusive Michelin three-star restaurants, but a
tiny newcomer run by complete unknowns?
Astrance, a small, discreet, simply appointed restaurant
near the Eiffel Tower in the 16th arrondissement, is
just that place. With the gentle, self-assured Christophe
Rohat in the dining room and the able, agile chef Pascal
Barbot in the kitchen, Astrance is headed for nothing
but success.
How did this happen? Both Rohat and Barbot worked together
at Alain Passard's modern and audacious Arpege in the
7th arrondissement. They dreamed of someday having a
place of their own. Finally, with the help and encouragement
- even insistence - of their former boss, they took
the plunge and opened Astrance last October. Passard
also gave the young restaurateurs a client list of 500
faithful Arpege diners. In the fall, cards went out
announcing the new restaurant, and the phones have not
stopped ringing since.
Astrance is tiny, just six or seven tables downstairs,
two or three on a mezzanine floor. That means no more
than 40 diners per service. The décor here is
simple, modern, comfortable, with gunmetal-gray textured
walls, giant gilt-edged frames set with beveled mirrors,
finely textured white linens, chairs and banquettes
in solid yellows and oranges, and a collection of modern
glass and porcelain plates in bright colors and uncommon
shapes.
And the food is as crisp, direct, and sure-footed as
the restaurant itself. While you can see Passard influences
in Barbot's cooking, the combinations, presentations,
and menu itself are purely original . As with most modern
French menus, the ingredient stars, and so we have crab
and mussels, salmon and codfish, duck, lamb, guinea
hen and veal all playing a starring role. What's best
is that here we find uncommon use of the most common
ingredients - from Granny Smith apples to almonds -
treated with a rare self-assurance.
Eating Barbot's food makes me think of something chef
Joel Robuchon used to say: ""As chefs, we
don't have a right to make a mushroom taste like a carrot.
Our job is to make a mushroom taste as much as a mushroom
as we possibly can."
At Astrance, the flavors are pure and unmasked, but
always supported and assisted by a complex cast of culinary
characters. My favorite dish on the entire menu is the
glorious crab and avocado "ravioli." In place
of pasta we have paper-thin, round slices of the ripest
green avocado, flanking mounds of sweet, brilliant pink
crab. All is accompanied by perfectly salty mounds of
almonds and anointed with just a touch of sweet almond
oil. It can't get much better, much simpler than this.
Could I have this for lunch every day for a month, please?
And life does not slide downhill after that. The plumpest,
most moist mussels are embellished with butter and dotted
with a mixture of chervil and breadcrumbs, and set on
a bed of a tangy mix of carrots and cumin, all rich
and refreshing, familiar and yet born anew at the same
time. Perfectly seared scallops float in a steamy, chestnut
flavored broth, while giant chunks of chestnut add a
touch of sweetness, of weight, and texture. A portion
of guinea hen comes crisp as can be, as though it had
just been sliced from a whole-roasted bird, teamed up
with just a handful of sweet, moist baby clams.
But the most brilliant is one of the chef's newest
dishes, a warm buckwheat blini covered with a mound
of the sweetest confit of shallots you will ever find,
served with a cup of frothy, alabaster, oyster cappuccino.
The array of golden, crusty, hearty hearth breads from
master baker Eric Kayser on Rue Monge in the 5th arromdissement
are so good that when they give you a slice you wish
they would leave the entire linen-lined basket with
you.
The wine list is brief but carefully chosen by Rohat,
who spends weekends and vacations combing vineyards
in search of good buys, particularly in the up and coming
Languedoc region of southern France. Two wines definitely
worth trying include the white Minervois Domaine de
la Tour Boisée, a floral blend that includes
both chardonnay and viognier grape; and a simple vin
de table made near Montpellier, Domaine Belle Pierre,
a golden, highly flattering, faintly sweet wine made
from both the viognier and petite negrette grapes.
The name Astrance is a result of Parisian restaurateurs
obsession with restaurants beginning with the letter
A, on the assumption that the earlier you are in the
alphabet, the better chance you have of diners calling
you first. It works: Think of the former Archestrate,
as well as Arpege and Apicius. But when Rohat and Barbot
went searching for a name, they found that all the good
A words had been taken. Then one day Rohat was hiking
in the mountains of the Auvergne and came upon a wild
flower named Grand Astrance. He called his partner to
claim the name, and the rest is history.
Astrance
4 rue Beethoven
Paris 75016
Tel: 01 40 50 84 40.
Fax : 01 40 50 11 45.
Closed Sunday and Monday. All major credit cards. 180-franc
lunch menu. A la carte, 250 francs, including service
but not wine.
|
