Astair: Not Quite as Nimble as I Hoped - Thursday, 4 October

There are about 20 still-functioning 18th century “Passages” in Paris.  I’ve visited several of them – they’re in various stages of repair or disrepair, some with many shops/restos/entertainments and some with just a few, with various degrees of “haute!”  Some day I might actually check all of them off my list!  Here’s an article about them:   https://www.timeout.com/paris/en/shopping/les-passages-couverts-1

Passage des Panoramas is in the 2nd arrondissement near the Grands Boulevards Metro.  One of my favorite restos, Canard & Champagne, is there (check out my report from a couple years ago here: https://mariellen-musing.blogspot.com/2016/05/doing-few-things-brilliantly-canard.html ), and there seem to be more and more restos and cafes every time I stop by, also several high-end stamp and ephemera shops, coin shops, a favorite jewelry shop, and other curiosities.


I had high hopes for “Astair,” a new resto that opened just last week by the same guys who are behind Canard & Champagne.  My hopes weren’t exactly dashed in my Thursday lunch there, but then they weren’t exactly met either.


It’s a lovely space, with comfortable seating both inside and “outside” in the Passage. I had reserved, so they gave me the “chef’s table,” a lovely round booth back by the kitchen. It felt a bit “spotlighty,” but happily the other diners were just paying attention to each other!

They have a pretty wide-ranging menu, but I decided to go with the prix fixe lunch menu, thinking that’s where they would be showing off their best stuff.

My bill, with a glass of Amatéüs Bobi Cab Franc from the Loire, a bottle of Badoit, and coffee came to 48.80 euros (about $58). Sadly, there was quite a bit of sediment in my wine and it came cold (not cellar temperature, but really cold) – after I warmed the glass up with my hands it was tasty, but it took a while!  When I told the waiter, he said “oh, sorry.” 


For my first course, a puréed mushroom soup with a quenelle of mushroom mousse, croutons, and some sautéed wild mushrooms - warming, earthy, subtle, delicious. Although it wasn’t quite hot enough, I could have eaten more! Their terrific crusty sourdough bread was great with it.

Then an ENORMOUS portion of roasted pork, with plentiful young potatoes sautéed with shallots and herbs.  It was deeeelicious but oh, my goodness, you could have fed a family of five!  It’s not quite as bad as it looks in the photo since there were large chunks of fat to cut off (the fat did lend scrumptiousness and tenderness to the meat and potatoes).  I maybe should have asked for a doggie bag (not sure what they call it here!), but since I wasn’t heading straight back to the apartment afterwards, I didn’t.

For dessert, a nice bowl of verbena panna cotta with fruit and cookie crumbles. Nothing fancy, but light and refreshing.





Coffee was served with a Valhrona chocolate stirring stick!

Service was a bit uneven. I’ll just chalk it up to newly opened getting-the-kinks-out. But next time I think I’ll go to Canard & Champagne instead!



Here's another fun-looking eatery near the north entrance of Passage des Panaromas.  Gotta check it out next trip!  Rock on!