I Can Practice Moderation when I Get Home! - Thursday, 28 September

Today I planned to have a modest 3-course lunch at Savarin la Table, a hot new resto in the “Embassy” area of the 7th arrondissement (near the Musée Rodin), and it just so happened that their full 6-course menu was available at lunchtime, so hey, why not? I didn’t have any dinner reservations, and I had all afternoon to walk it off. Besides, I can practice moderation when I get home! Don’t’cha just love my rationalizations?

It might not look all that appetizing (lentils have a way of looking like, well, you decide for yourself…) but it was!  Lightly poached chunks of rich salmon, a zingy whipped butter enhanced with salt and lemon, chunky Puy lentil soup, herbs, and a crispy pastry baton.

Next, gorgeous and fabulous thin slices of raw Bonito tuna, rolls of zucchini ribbon, black olives (inside the zucchini rolls), intense lemon zest crème, diced apple and cucumbers, herb-infused olive oil with fresh very-finely-chopped herbs. WOW! I cleaned up every drop of the juices and sauces with the terrific baguette.

It’s hard to see the beauty of the next dish from the photo, but its intense dark and roasty flavors were a delightful contrast from the previous course. One large ravioli was stuffed with ground roasted lamb, topped with several sections of broiled young octopus, served with braised fennel stem and a dark rich brown poultry sauce, and topped with julienned raw zucchini. Excellent for a temperate fall day, but I would love to have it again in the middle of the winter!

Then more fish – broiled Bar (sea bass) with herbed mashed potatoes, aioli, and crushed fresh raspberries in olive oil – what a combo! – the acidic zing of the berries and heat of the aioli beautifully enhanced the meaty bass. I’m pretty sure that I’ve never had raspberries with fish before, but it works and I must add it to my repertoire!

Then a dish that I didn’t quite understand (and that I was frankly a bit too stuffed to completely enjoy) – a slice of a pork roll stuffed with ground chicken and spinach, served with salsify, pearl onions, shiitakes, and shrimp, and topped with a veal stock. It tasted like there were sweetbreads or some other organ meat in the stuffing too – maybe chopped chicken liver? Good, but I could eat only half of it.

Finally, a Savarin-shaped cake (baked in a small special ring mold like a Savarin but not the same texture and flavor) drizzled with a simple syrup (rather than soaked with the traditional rum syrup). Cooked apple chunks in a caramel sauce were in the center of the ring under a heap of lime whipped cream into which a few transparent caramel shards were embedded. My only two complaints were that the cake was served cold (instead of room temperature) and I was too stuffed to fully enjoy it (my bad!).

You’ll be glad to know that I didn’t have multiple wines with my meal – just one kir vin blanc (white wine with a splash of crème de cassis). It was sufficient for lunchtime!

the view from my window seat

I got a sweet little table by the window where I could enjoy watching all of the activity on the street and look inside cars and trucks as they were going by and pity the poor people who walked by, looked at the menu posted outside, and got turned away since they didn’t have a reservation! The are 18 seats in the ground floor dining room and a circular staircase going up to another dining area (which I didn’t explore). I just love these tiny outposts of haute cuisine – how do they do it?

Chef Mehdi Kebboul stopped by my table a couple times to ask how I was enjoying my lunch. His sister was the hostess/waitress (and had taken my reservation by phone a couple days ago) – she was clearly very proud of him and of the resto. Fabulous food, gracious service, a pleasant environment – what’s not to love?