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Tastes from the Top
PARIS -- In these days of French anxiety, it is always
reassuring to know that when all else fails in this
country, one can always be assured of a certain gastronomic
bliss. Recent lunches at my two favorite restaurants
in Paris --- Guy Savoy and Pierre Gagnaire - reminded
me of what several hours of pure pleasure can do for
the soul.
Since finally receiving his well-deserved and long-delayed
third Michelin star, Guy Savoy has been giddy with joy.
His staff acts as though they are in perpetual training
for a non-existent fourth star, and we the diners are
the fine beneficiary of all that unleashed enthusiasm.
Guy Savoy has always been a brave, modern man, a trendsetter
in the kitchen and the dining room. He was the first
chef I ever saw use such an array of ultramodern white
china bowls, so perfect for tiny tastes, with the edges
acting as a blank canvas for a chef's creativity. His
penchant for modern art took fine restaurants out of
the obligatory oversized vases of flowers and a touch
of red velvet.
Savoy's latest act of bravery is to serve a single
green asparagus on a plate. But not just any asparagus.
Imagine the plumpest spear of green asparagus cooked
to perfection, with a little rectangular notch carved
out of it. In that little rectangle he poses a finely
fitting portion of a foie gras royale, a creamy compact,
smooth-flavored foie gras, all bathed in a forward-flavored
truffle vinaigrette. Not a bad way to start a lovely
meal!
I have had the pleasure of twice sampling his turbot
trio, a combination of gently poached Brittany turbot
paired with ratte potatoes poached in the turbot water
(picking up a gentle brininess along the way) and bathed
in a touch of turbot butter. This is followed by his
"petit ragout des cuinsiniers" tasty bits
of turbot quickly pan fried. It is hard to imagine how
such simple ingredients can be elevated to more than
the sum of their parts, and at the same time left seemingly
untouched. In this presentation, flavors are pure, almost
intense, textures are clean and well-defined.
Guy pulls off the same success with his "agneau
de lait dans tous ses états" combining brochettes
of shoulder and roasted leg of lamb allowing us to admire
all the ways a single tiny piece of lamb can taste.
He remains faithful as ever to his classics: the ever-soothing
artichoke soup topped with black truffles and Parmesan,
paired with a rich brioche buttered heavily with a truffle
and mushroom butter.
A wine I have loved here is Jean-Luc Colombo's Saint
Peray, La Belle de Mai 2000, a beautiful example of
one of my favorite grape varieties, Roussanne, which
has the ability to offer a wine with a fine balance
of acidity, with complex floral notes.
I confess that it is rare that a dessert remains my
strongest food memory of a meal. But I can't stop thinking
about how pure and pleasurable I found Pierre Gagnaire's
chocolate dessert. When the sweet, dark, extravaganza
arrived as part of a procession of "quelques"
desserts our table burst out with a laughter of joy.
It was like a candy store on a plate: four or five rounds
of chocolate cookie the size of an Oreo all filled with
a smooth chocolate mousse, stacked up like a dark brown
millefeuille. The dessert was streamlined and simple
in its own right, pure decadence in another light.
Like Savoy, Gagnaire is at the top of his form, and
that's saying a lot for both. Somehow, these two classically
trained chefs have managed to always keep up with the
times, always remain passionate and true to their art,
and make us all feel that they are having a good old
time at it as well.
Gagnaire's food has always been complex and full of
fireworks, but once you think through a dish of his,
it really is all about the purity of flavors, with am
emphasis too on beauty, on the progression of colors,
of varying essences of varying power. Even his butter
looks like the more beautiful thing you've ever seen,
the color of brilliant lemon zest. Sometimes I think
that his food is about all sensations, all the time,
and you have to step back from the table and think about
what is going on to digest it all in your mind.
But nothing is lost if you just dig in! He is into
processions these days, especially during his market
menu at lunch time. You will find things like a tiny
bouquet of asparagus green and asparagus white, enhanced
with a egg yolk pate that looked as though it was applied
to the bowl with a putty knife. An incredible gelée
of varied vegetables --- peas, snow peas and white Tarbais
beans - is a riot of color, texture, spring flavor.
Lieu jaune - a generally less than noble codfish ---
arrives warm and has a rich herbal essence to it. Here
we have the smoothness of the fish offset by the Gagnaire's
original 'sel cuisiné," his own varied mixtures
of fresh herbs and sea salt that he sprinkles atop his
dishes like we use common salt and pepper. Here the
mixture is one of chives and salt, and this simple addition
creates a texture that common salt could not. Finally,
his curry de racines (a mixture of varied root vegetables
paired with bean sprouts and pistachio oil) create a
colorful, spicy climax to his lineup of starters.
The main course - a perfectly cooked saddle of lamb,
pan-fried with oregano and served with a timbale of
lamb sweetbreads and sorrel - has an almost a calming
effect as it follows the fireworks of the complex first
course.
Wines I have loved here include Rossignol's 1999 Volnay
Chevret, a fine example of the 1999 red Burgundies that
are drinking now with a certain youthful beauty; and
Thevenet's 1999 Macon Villages, an always welcome well-priced
example of a classic Chardonnay.
Guy Savoy
18 rue Troyon
Paris 75017
Tel: 01 43 80 40 61.
Fax: 01 46 22 43 09.
reserv@guysavoy.com.
Closed Saturday lunch, Sunday, Monday, and August.
All major credit cards. Menus at 170 and 200 euros,
A la carte, 135 to 175 euros, including service but
not wine.
Pierre Gagnaire
6 rue Balzac
Paris
75008.
Tel: 01 58 36 12 50
Fax: 01 58 36 12 51
p.gagnaire@wanadoo.fr.
Closed Saturday, Sunday lunch, holidays and the last
two weeks of July. All major credit cards. Lunch menus
at 83 and 85 euros and 182.94 euros. A la carte, 155
to 215 euros, including service but not wine.
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