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Bistro Precision and Japanese Flair
PARIS – About once a year something leads me to
pick up the phone and book a table at Le Repaire de
Cartouche, one of the city’s better bistros, and
one that I seem to love more with each visit. It seems
that chef Rodolphe Paquin and my palate are on the same
wavelength: Keep it simple, keep it honest, and keep
the big flavors coming. Paquin tugs our bistro-craving
chord but does it with originality, spunk, and a pleasant
precision.
My last meal in this cottage-like spot included a perfectly
seared wild boar steak, or cote de sanglier, this one
seized in the hottest of pans for a rich, caramelized
crust, with an interior so beautifully rare, it was
the color of fresh raspberries. The accompaniment ---
red beets in vinegar – was as fitting as it was
colorful.
But the surprise of the evening was an inventive minestrone
of oysters and calf’s head, a warm soup fragrant
with plump oysters bathed in a creamy liquid studded
with vegetables and cubes of soft and succulent tete
de veau. Totally different, yet totally appealing.
Just right for the season was the terrine of blood
sausage, a perfectly spiced boudin noir set on a bed
of apples, accompanied by a welcoming green salad.
The wine of the evening – a red Minervois, Le
Bois des Merveilles 1999 from Jean Baptiste Senat --
started out tasting like a so-so, flat Beaujolais, but
grew and grew as the evening went on, tasting in the
end like a rich, pure syrah with lots of punch and tons
of notes. As is, it was well priced at 20 € the
bottle.
Desserts were tops, with warm, moist prune clafoutis
and a palate-cleansing pineapple sorbet. The crusty
bread from a neighborhood bakery was so good I almost
had to ask to take the basket away, fearing total overdose.
Now that sushi has well-invaded all of Paris (albeit
mostly bad sushi), the newest (old) game in town is
teppanyaki, a cooking method so simple as to not need
a name at all. Quite simply, it’s meats, vegetables,
fish cooked directly on a flat metal grill, with just
a touch of oil and a bit of seasoning. ( In Japanese,
a teppan is an iron sheet, and yaki is stir-fried food.)
The latest show in town is Azabu, a sushi-bar sized
little spot near the Odeon, and one I can see myself
returning to on a very regular basis. What is it about
food that is cooked in front of you that makes it all
the more pleasing? You want it all, even if it’s
not for you. You salivate, your nostrils flare, you
are just so hungry.
When you go, sit at the bar so you can watch the dexterous
chef. He works like an artist preparing his palate,
quietly concentrating on each and every detail, lining
up all the ingredients and bing, bang, zoom, they are
flipped on the huge flat grill – scallops, chicken,
squid, foie gras, beef, pork, you name it. Everything
is cooked quickly and effortlessly, some topped with
a metal hood to soften the heat and slow down the cooking.
The raw is good here, too, with a marvelous beef carpaccio
as well as a platter of fresh oysters served with a
seriously delicious sauce ponzu, a fabulous blend of
soy sauce, rice vinegar, lemon juice and a touch of
kombu, or kelp. (But these were rather difficult to
eat with chopsticks, since there was nothing to cut
the muscle.)
Equally lovely was a starter carpaccio of salmon, served
with fresh sheets of nori seawood to wrap your own salmon
packages. The main course teppanyaki chicken was moist,
copious, and delicious. Wash it all down with a bottle
of chilled house sake, or rice wine.
Le Repaire de Cartouche, 8 Boulevard des Filles de
Calvaire and 99, rue Amelot, Paris 11. Tel: 01 47 00
25 86. Fax: 01 43 38 85 91. Credit card: Visa. Closed
Sunday and Monday. About 45 € per person, including
service but not wine.
Azabu
3 rue Mazet
Paris 75006.
Tel: 01 46 33 72 05.
Credit
card: Visa.
Closed Sunday lunch and Monday. About 40 € per
person, including service but not beverages.
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