It’s Party Time! – Friday, 31 May

Today my dear friends Dale and Mimi took me out for an early birthday lunch to Restaurant Anne, which is in the courtyard and dining room of Hôtel Pavillon de la Reine (https://www.pavillon-de-la-reine.com/) on Place des Vosges.  Some months ago, Dale asked me for a list of Michelin-starred restos that I would like to try or revisit, and Anne was on it.  He remembered me rhapsodizing about my lunch there last summer (https://mariellen-musing.blogspot.com/2023/07/far-from-madding-crowd-saturday-22-july.html), and the decision was made!  

Our server took a shot of us
during a short sunshine break!

It is a chilly day (in the 60s) and showers threatened, but we chose to sit in the gorgeous courtyard.  All of their other customers sat inside, but the good news is that our slightly-louder-than-maybe-acceptable conversation and laughter didn’t disturb them!  It did rain for a bit, but the giant umbrellas did the trick most of the time!  And it gave our servers chances to step outside (aren’t we thoughtful?!?)

Our palate wake-up appetizer was a very crispy buttery pastry shell filled with black olive tapenade, topped with whipped mozzarella, sitting in a zingy red bell pepper sauce.  

Then, for our first course pure, sweet, tender, elegant salmon carpaccio that had been cured with honey, salt & pepper, and smoked on beechwood.  The plate also included spheres of cooked red beet, dollops of beet purée, slices of radish, tiny croutons, wispy frisee, a lively orange vinaigrette (I think there was some lime in there as well), and a quenelle of whipped cream.  

We got some theatre with it too – our plates were delivered under heavy glass domes into which beechwood smoke had been injected, and three servers removed the domes simultaneously.  I should have thought to record a video, but nope, all you get is a still!  The smoke subtly flavored the cream.  So gorgeous and so delicious!  A symphony of flavors and textures and colors.

With my carpaccio and my next course I had a glass of a very nice, very dry Domaine Delporte Sancerre Silex (Sauvignon Blanc).  White flowers, nice acidity, slightly woody.  Perfect!

Next, more fish, this time a smoky-and-crispy-skinned perfectly grilled red mullet with roasted artichoke, potato pavé (thinly sliced potatoes that are layered in a casserole with butter, cream, garlic, salt & pepper, and then roasted and cut into cubes for final crisping under the broiler or torch for serving), a slice of tasty fatty pork trotters gratin, and a sweet red wine and fish stock reduction.  

For dessert: cheese!  They brought out a selection of four cheeses and asked us which ones we would like to try.  All of us, all of them!  (These are some of my cheesiest friends!)  We had (right to left in this photo) a soft Pont-l'Évêque, a log-shaped goat cheese (I didn’t catch the name), a Morbier, and a nameless sheep’s milk Tomme that stole the show.  They were all wonderful, but oh, my goodness, the depth and complexity of sensations in that Tomme.  And isn't it somehow appropriate that the nameless cheese was from sheep's milk?

With the cheese, a glass of 2019 Chateau Le Pin Beausoleil Bordeaux by Michael and Ingrid Hallek (Merlot, Cab Franc, Cab Sauvignon).  Full bodied, dry, medium tannins.  Terrific!

Our mignardises included a Madeleine with white chocolate glaze, a crispy sablé cookie with slightly jellied lemony crème Anglaise, and a chocolate truffle.

Check out their brilliant logo, echoing the arches and vaults of Place des Vosges!

You must go, especially on a sunny warm day!  Restaurant Anne, 28 Place des Vosges in the 4th arrondissement.  One Michelin star.   https://www.pavillon-de-la-reine.com/restaurant-bar  

The courtyard has very old, very rounded large paving stones, so I was being extra careful walking across them, and Dale & Mimi were lending their arms for extra support, even when we got outside and waited for my taxi.  My driver was very nice and patient, and when he let me off at my apartment he said “Bon Courage, Madame!”  That was a first!