Some Nice Moments, but there Won't be a Sequel - Tuesday, 4 June

 

In support of my little project to dine at as many of the Michelin one-star restos in Paris as possible (an impossible goal since there are 80 of them and some drop off every year and some are added, but hey…), today I had lunch at a new spot, Pantagruel in the 2nd arrondissement.  It’s a bit off the beaten path, on a narrow street, and wouldn’t you know, my taxi’s progress was inhibited by a delivery truck (seemingly delivering the complete contents of a new establishment’s equipment, furniture, etc.) and a garbage truck and …).  I arrived just a little late!

I was seated across from the open kitchen.  Quite a few young cooks were working in that small space, but they seemed well organized!

My three amuse bouche:  

Asparagus soup with an herby oil, mustard seeds, lots of salmon roe, and almonds. Sweet!  A cylinder of lobster cream cheese with pastry discs, tarragon cream and herbs  An asparagus bud with horseradish cream.

Next, a three-part first course:

   

A mini tart with lemon cream, topped with blanched slices of beet and carrot.  Carrot broth with some shreds of lobster and a fluffy poached meringue (ala ile flotant).  A blanched carrot strip encasing an egg yolk, grated carrots, and crispy rice in a peppery (Aleppo?) vinegar, topped with a mound of fluffy and smoky egg white.  In the background you can see their seaweed miso butter.

With this course, a dry, lemony, slightly smoky Sauvignon Blanc “Touraine 22” from the Loire by Gaec Desloges.  Nice!

They offered a lobster “sandwich” for an extra 20 euros, so I decided to give it a try.  Here’s how I think they made it:  Breadcrumbs and butter (?) were spread on the bottom of a pan.  Then chunks of lobster meat and almonds were mixed into lobster flesh puréed with cream, and this mixture was spread onto the breadcrumbs and was topped with more crumbs and compressed.  It was probably roasted for a while, and then sliced into rectangles and crisped under the salamander just before serving.  It was served with a pool of lovely dark sauce made with the lobster carcass and some tiny squash blossoms.  Interesting and tasty, but too large a serving and not brilliant.  

For my main course, a lovely slice of soft, salty, tender-yet-slightly-toothsome veal.  Tasty, and a special treat since it’s very difficult to find veal in the U.S.  It was served with a dark veal demi-glace and a gorgeous asparagus cream with dill. 

On the side, cured strips of the leg meat with flowers and herbs, and a white asparagus salad with finely minced tarragon vinaigrette between in two large slices of daikon (?).

The Face B Calce Peaux Rouges (Shiraz, Grenache) wine started soft and red-fruity and ended spicy with the veal.  

For a cheese course, they offered a quenelle of goat cheese that had been baked with rosemary, tarragon, chervil, pepper, etc. in a casserole and then topped with fresh herbs and micro flowers.  It was served with an herb cracker and a floral olive oil.  The freshness and perfume from the herbs and flowers dominated, along with the tarragon in the cheese.  It was interesting, but I would have preferred the cheese fresh.  The Face B wine started fruity but went dry with the cheese.  

For dessert, 

Tarragon cream topped with pieces of sweet, crispy filo (or perhaps brik) pastry. 

A cute bittersweet chocolate shortbread cookie with frothy cream sweetened with honey.  A honey cookie with slightly lemony ice milk.

A chocolate sablé that was almost flavorless.  A hibiscus infusion with kumquat added a bit of zing and freshness. 

A fresh, dry Meyer-Fonné Crémant (Auxerrois, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir) from Alsace countered all of the sweetness quite well!

I felt a bit rushed throughout my lunch - guess I should have reserved for earlier than 1pm!  I was the last person out of the resto at 2:30.

Some very nice moments, but overall not up to the standard of most of the Michelin one-stars I’ve visited.  Restaurant Pantagruel  24, rue du Sentier 75002  https://en.restaurant-pantagruel.com/

Overall, there have been more traffic issues on this trip than I usually encounter.  My ride home from Pantagruel should have taken about 15 minutes, but it was almost an hour!  My driver took a bit of a circuitous route to avoid road and bicycle lane construction (lots of that happening prior to the Olympics).