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As If the Angels Were Cooking
PARIS – Of all the chefs I have spent time with
over the years, few have impressed me with their depth
and stability as has Benoit Guichard, on his own since
1996 at the famed restaurant Jamin in Paris’s
16th arrondissement.
Before that he could be found fine-tuning his talents
as the faithful lieutenant to Joel Robuchon, both at
Jamin and later at Restaurant Joel Robuchon on avenue
Raymond Poincare.
Today, he appears full-grown and very much his own
man, with a style that is classic, contemporary, modern,
even touched a bit by Asian inspirations. If someone
wants to fully understand what is truly great about
French food and about classical French training – the
discipline, the rigors, the constant search for excellence
on all levels – then they should reserve a table
at today’s Jamin.
Guichard – with two well-merited Michelin stars
to his credit -- is now cooking on all burners, and
has fine tuned his style, which is by no means static.
His menu changes almost day to day, as one ingredient
enters the market and another departs. He seems to
be in a “wrap” mood, a little conceit that
is reminiscent of Asian food and one I love. On one
visit we found a perfect rectangle of turbot wrapped
in bright green spinach leaves, almost a gift-wrapped
package to please the palate, sauced in a delicate
and golden Champagne sauce and flanked by a pair of
fat, fragrant and perfectly cooked green asparagus,
the first of season from Provence.
A starter might include an almost Chinese-flavored
morsel of chicken wrapped in a veil of dough and expertly
deep-fried. The breast of the famed breast chicken
is “wrapped” in a super-fine bread coating
that seems to have been handled with the fingertips
of an angel.
Another evening, a complete sense of well-being came
over me as the waiter delivered a first-course of a
giant, soft-cooked egg enveloped once again in that
angelic bread coating. The now-golden egg sat on a
bed of wilted
spinach dabbed with a rich truffle sauce. Alongside,
a trio of perfect green asparagus added proper contrast
in color, flavor, pure enjoyment.
I can never get enough langoustines, and here the
chef who hails from Brittany’s langoustine-rich
waters, knows what to do. The least possible! A duo
of giant langoustines are wrapped into a delicate homemade
pasta, all floating in an unctuous chestnut broth.
Here, the marriage is magic, for the flavor of the
deep and dense flavor of the chestnut seems to pick
up right where the lingering flavor of the langoustine
left off, almost like finishing a sentence.
Guichard can go classic and homey when he wants to,
and nothing is more satisfying than his long-braised
joue de boeuf, or unctuous beef cheeks pairs with gigantic
rounds of pasta coated with melted Comté cheese
from the Jura.
On one visit, the finale ended was a rich and satisfying
chocolate feuillete, a truly angelic puff pastry; on
another, it was a roasted mango glazed with a highly
reduced pink grapefruit sauce and served with a soothing
citrus granite alongside.
There are some treasures on the wine list, and current
discoveries include two selections from the region
of the lovely village of Minerve in the Languedoc.
The Chateau de Gourgazaud -- owned by Parisian businessman
Roger Piquet -- is beginning to make some nice waves.
His 100% Viognier 2001 is full of the ripest fruits – pears,
citrus, a touch of honey – and the 1999 red Minervois
La Liviniere Reserve would make any wine lover smile,
with a fine balance, and the roundness and plumy notes
of Merlot paired with the flavors of red fruits ripened
by the summer sun.
Jamin
32 rue du Longchamp
Paris 16
Tel: 01 45 53 00 07
Fax : 01 45 53 00 15
Email : reservations@jamin.fr
Closed Saturday and Sunday. All major credit cards.
53 € lunch menu, 95 € dinner menu. A la carte,
105 to 135 €, including service but not wine.
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