Just back from a pre-birthday boozy Friday lunch at L'Ami Jean. Pretty damn awesome...
Started with a plate of thin-sliced andouille with a chunk of homemade butter of beurre d'isigny into which had been blended small grains of delicious sea salt and a chewy crusty rye bread that was amazing... then a square of caramelized beef cheeks served with braised beet greens and paper thin slices of bacon, then a cold terrine -- utterly weird and delicious -- of foie gras, smoked eel, granny apples, gelee and bucatini. Bizarro and good.
For main course an incredible Aile de Raie - skate wing -- served sauteed with two purees on the side: one of celeriac that was light as a cloud, the other of potato = the good kind of puree de pommes de terre that is forced through a horse-hair tamis and blended with gobs of good french butter. Robuchon-esque. Heaven.
For dessert, bourguignonne de fraises de bois - wild strawberries poached in vanilla and burgundy, and the BEST rice pudding with homemade salty caramel sauce. A cool paper chinese take-out carton of homemade marshmallows that had been flavored with bergamot (the essential oil used for Earl Grey tea) to top things off.
Spare, simple, chunky and stylish restaurant: Totally simple: wooden tables, wooden boards serving the charcuterie, pieces of slate for coffee service, thick cotton dish towels for napkins. A couple of bottles of really good 2005 Chinon "Les Roches" from the Loire Valley. All in all, well worth it. Chez L'Ami Jean, 27 rue Malar, 75007 Paris.
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