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Le Villaret:
A Bright Light Bistro
PARIS – The other evening, as we walked into the
crisp, clean, lively bistro Le Villaret, a friend’s
eyes lit up and she said in amazement ‘’This
is the bistro I’ve been searching for for years.”
Located on a dreary side street in the 11th arrondissement,
not far from La Republique, Le Villaret is a bright
light in a sea of grey. From the cheery white lace curtains
that hang in the window to the elegant, high-back 1930’s
bistro chairs and on to the attitude here – friendly,
charming, unpretentious, no-nonsense – the place
is a gem.
And I cannot say enough good things about the food
or the wine list. Several recent meals here – where
Joel Homel rules the dining room and Olivier Grasalin
oversees the kitchen – made me want to become
an instant regular.
The food here is the best of what might be called bistro
modern. While the ever- changing selections always include
such classics as sole meuniere, roast chicken, salmon
tartare, and leg of lamb, all are treated with a contemporary
reference.
A favorite dish of several recent visits is a powerfully
satisfying medley of root vegetables – turnips
and salsify, artichokes and Jerusalem artichokes – arriving
in a giant white bowl, bathed in a deep, dense, poultry
stock, showered with chives and draped with a paper
thin slice of foie gras. Delicious! Paired with the
restaurant’s spectacular dense, crusty country
bread, it’s a dream dish.
Other winning starters include a duo of artichokes
and asparagus cooked in that same dense, intense stock,
and topped with a perfect poached egg; a trio of salmon
preparations (a well-seasoned tartare; a pair of brochettes;
a delicately cured filet); and an Asian-inspired dish
of oyster raviolis, showered with fresh, fragrant coriander.
I couldn’t get enough of the roasted country
chicken, set on a bed of curly green cabbage bathed
in a creamy sauce made with the sherry-like Arbois wine
from the Jura. The chicken was moist, firm and well-flavored,
and coated with a paper-thin potato galette, making
for pure crunchy pleasure.
Order lamb shoulder and it arrives in a newly polished
copper pot, perfectly roasted and set on a bed of potatoes,
turnips and broad beans. Leg of lamb is served on a
bed of giant white beans (marred only by an excess of
salt), and a hearty veal breast comes with chanterelles
and smooth broad beans.
The wine list is worth a detour all on its own. We’ve
loved the wholesome and refreshing chardonnay Chablis
1er Cru Domaine Francois and Jean Raveneau les Buttaux
2000 (41 euros); the opulent, silky, state-of-the-art,
pinot noir Chambolle-Musigny vieilles vignes Geantet-Pansiot
2000 (51 euros); the stunning, intense pure-syrah 2001
Cornas from Eric and Joel Durand (37 euros); and a memorable
silky pinot noir Gevrey-Chambertin, Les Favorites vieilles
vignes 1999 from Domaine Alain Burguet (74 euros). Everything
at Le Villaret is spotless and served with a natural
sense of caring. Each wine is carafed with attention:
Behind the bar you’ll see the staff lovingly washing
each carafe and drying it with a huge clean white towel.
The contents of each bottle are not simply emptied into
the carafe, but attentively, lovingly poured with a
flourish. And what I love, too, is that the empty bottle
and the full carafe are set on your table, and you get
to serve yourself. (No waiting for an inattentive waiter
to dole out the wine, drop by drop.)
Order a cheese course and soon an entire cheese house – four
full shelves of cheese -- arrives at your table. This
old-fashioned rectangular box include all the greats,
from a full shelf of goat cheese and on to Camembert,
Brie and Comté.
Desserts get as much attention as the rest of the fare:
Two great bets include a gorgeous individual pear clafoutis
served in a simple white porcelain bowl, and a grapefruit
quartet, including grapefruit sorbet, a grapefruit financier,
candied grapefruit and roasted grapefruit.
Le Villaret
19, rue Ternaux
Paris 11
Telephone: 01 43 57 75 56 and 01 43 57 89 76
Closed Saturday lunch and all day Sunday. 25 euro lunch menu, 28 euro dinner
menu. A la carte, about 30 euros, including service but not wine.
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