Garance's Gunmetal Grey Guises Great Grub - Thursday, 11 June

I am reformed! I shall continue to dine at temples of gastronomy, but at lunchtime whenever I can.

Restaurant Garance was my white tablecloth lunch destination today. It’s in the Les Invalides neighborhood, just a couple blocks from the Museé Rodin, so a handy spot if you happen to be in that ‘hood for some sightseeing!

And although the décor centers around an extreme version of the trendy gunmetal grey “color” (which to me is quite depressing), the food is definitely worth sightseeing and tastebud tickling!

Chef Guillaume Iskandar, a former sous chef to Alain Passard at l’Arpège, helms the kitchen. The restaurant received its first Michelin star in January.

While I was perusing the menu, the waiter brought me a couple pieces of the best brioche I’ve ever tasted, along with an herbed mashed sweet potato spread to accompany them.  The bread had a depth and herbaceous quality (extremely fine eggs and butter must have gone into it!), and its tender airy texture belied its richness.

For my first course I chose the “egg parfait.” What a marvel of understatement that description was!  When the deep orange yolk of the perfectly soft-boiled egg flowed onto the plate I almost fainted, it was so beautiful! Too bad I didn't grab my camera in time to capture video of it (really! it was that beautiful!) but I did get you a snapshot.  The egg was encrusted with crunchy savory breadcrumbs.  Quail (I think) drumsticks and “oysters” of intensely-flavored thigh meat were scattered about the plate.  Wonderful poached onion segment “boats” served as great scoops for the sauce and foam (I must experiment with these when I get home, but I imagine they were made by cutting a medium-size onion into about 6 wedges and then poaching them in chicken stock or court bouillon until they’re tender-crunchy, then separating them into individual leaves).  This was all sitting on a pool of dark lentil purée enhanced with squid ink (I think – it had a slight iodine quality to it).  It all was smooth, sweet, earthy, and impossible to turn down even though there was just a bit too much of it all for a starter course!

For my main course, a large portion of perfectly seared duck breast, topped with crunchy savory breadcrumbs. It was wonderful, but almost secondary to the fabulous vegetables and sauces!  I could have eaten the poached fennel wedges all day – intensely flavored, silky textured, that slight acidic quality you want to offset very rich meat. Two roasted mushroom caps gave a deep earthy quality to the dish, and the dollops of tart apricot purée provided beautiful contrast.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the waiter added a small bowl of white bean purée topped with some crunchy mushroom bits and a plate with duck confit, eggplant sauce, and a wedge of apricot.  Wow.  I couldn’t eat it all.  This would have easily satisfied 2 people.

But of course there’s always room for dessert!  I selected a scoop of heavenly chocolate mousse accompanied with some vanilla ice cream, pistachio purée, crunchy pistachios and fresh sweet cherries.  This managed to find a few pockets in my stomach not full of the previous courses!

Terrific espresso with two little financier topped with lemon crème wrapped things up nicely.

They didn’t have my favorite mineral water, Badoit, but the waiter recommended Ventadour 1858 and said it was better than Badoit.  So I got a bottle.  It was very fine (but better? nah, I don’t think so!).  The sommelier recommended a dry red Grenache from the Roussillon region in the far southwest of France to go with the main course, and it was a good choice – fairly light, spicy, a hint of tobacco – I was pleased!  Apparently this place is known for its very fine and extensive wine cellar.

All of this for 60€ (about $67).

The street level contains their bar with just a few stools and the kitchen in back (not visible). It’s painted in this deep gunmetal grey that I find quite unappealing.  The two dining rooms were up a dark staircase (happily, they had lights under the treads so one didn’t trip) and they were comfortable and bright. The room I was in had about 14 places.  I was somehow expecting it to be a bit more beautifully furnished, but I guess that the food gets to provide the visual excitement!  It was quite warm in the dining room (or maybe it was just me – I worked up a sweat hiking a few blocks from the bus stop to the resto!) 

Their fancy techno-toilet did everything except pee for you!

This part of town is chock-full of foreign embassies, so you see a lot of suits in the ‘hood and the restos.  It was fun hanging out with the diplomats for an hour or so and pretending that I was one of them!

The door you look for!