Friday, 9/29
We arrived from Amiens in the late afternoon and took an Uber to Ana and Bertrand’s in La Varenne.
After settling in, we drove into Paris to have dinner at Hectar in the 9th, (Bertrand refuses to take the train) and after much difficulty finding it, attempted to park in the garage that was nearest to the restaurant, but it was full. Bertrand was annoyed and didn’t know what else to do, so he dropped us and Ana off at the restaurant and went home.
Fortunately for him, he didn’t miss anything, as the food was terribly disappointing. Service was not great either, as the small staff seemed overwhelmed.
This was Stanley’s birthday dinner, and I had chosen the restaurant after much careful research. The atmosphere was nice, and it was filled with presumably happy customers. We couldn’t understand why it reminded me of last year’s experience at Le Mazenay (see last year’s Paris posts).
The quail starters that Stanley and Ana had were adequate, but not in any way special. We’ve had much better, including the ones Stanley prepares himself. I had soupe au pistou, which was just ordinary bland vegetable soup.
For main courses, Stanley had cassoulet, which was absolutely awful, a bowl of undercooked beans with tough meats. Cassoulet should be cooked for many hours, even days, for the beans and meat to soften and the flavors to meld. It’s not a difficult dish to make. This one was not at all what it should have been. Stanley makes a much better version himself. Ana and I had a special of colvert, which is a wild duck. I’ve had excellent versions of it in other restaurants, particularly Le Radis Beurre, but this one was poorly executed, with a skin so tough it had to be cut off and put aside. The meat wasn’t bad but just uninteresting.
For dessert, they had figs topped with whipped cream, which weren’t bad, but again nothing imaginative. I had “chocolate mousse”, which I put in quotes because it was not a mousse at all, more like a bowl of chocolate sauce.
Only the wine was satisfying and well-priced.
For the 3 of us, the bill was 211 euros.
Saturday, 9/30
We took a day trip to Moret-sur-Loing and Fontainebleau, about an hour’s drive from La Varenne.
Moret-sur-Loing is a charming and well-preserved medieval village, famous for being the home of the impressionist painter Alfred Sisley.
After touring the village, we had lunch in Fontainebleau at Fuumi.
This is a Japanese restaurant owned by the chef of Axel, the neighboring restaurant, which has a Michelin star and is, according to Ana and Bertrand, wonderful. Fuumi was a mixed bag. Sashimi was excellent, as was the udon noodles with ground meat and the gyozas. A main course of pork belly with noodles was also very tasty, but the fried chicken was too heavy with batter, and the chicken was overcooked. They use white meat, and it really would be better if done with dark meat.
Overall, pretty good but not worth a detour.
We bought a cake for Sunday’s dinner at Dardonville, which is known for wonderful desserts.
After lunch we visited Alex and Marie, Ana and Bertrand’s son and his wife, who have a 16-month old baby, Amelia, who we were meeting for the first time, at their lovely house in Samois-sur-Seine, just a block from a back entrance to the chateau of Fontainebleau. We had coffee and a delicious cheesecake souffle that Ana had bought at the patisserie adjacent to the restaurant and under the same ownership.
Back to La Varenne briefly, Stanley and I then took the train into Paris to have dinner at Le Servan, an Asian-influenced French restaurant in the 11th. It is owned by 2 sisters who are French-Phillipine.
The cuisine is very imaginative. I started with a tartare of veal, and Stanley had a salad of pig’s ears. Main courses were echine de cochon (a very tender cut from the upper back of the pig, done to a perfect medium-rare) and a raviole (we can’t remember what it was stuffed with, but it was wonderful._For dessert, I had a coupe glacee with berries and he had clafouti. With wine, the total was 141 euros.
Sunday, 10/1
Sunday is the day we spend at home when we visit Ana and Bertrand, having a main meal in the afternoon and a lighter supper in the evening. We went to the farmers’ market in the morning and bought a chicken, which Stanley cooked. It’s a recipe we’ve been making recently that is simple and wonderful, roasted with butter, tarragon and cognac. We also picked up some rabbit terrine for an appetizer. Dessert was a cake we bought in Fontainebleau at Dardonville (famous for wonderful cakes), incorporating several layers of different mousses, including raspberry and pistachio, covered with a raspberry glaze. The weather was beautiful so we ate on the terrace facing the river.
Bertrand made the evening meal, salmon trout and potatoes. It was still warm enough to eat outside.
Monday, 10/2
Almost all museums are closed on Monday, but we did find one open, the Grand Palais Immersif, next door to the Bastille Opera, which had an Alphonse Mucha exhibit, so we planned to see it in the afternoon. We took it easy in the morning and set off for Paris to have lunch at Le Radis Beurre, a longtime favorite of ours.
I had the appetizer I always order there, the pigs feet, and Stanley had head cheese. His main course was sweetbreads, and mine was colvert, same as I had last year. It was way better than the one I had at Hectar the previous Friday. We shared a dessert of rice pudding, and a bottle of a really great Vacqueyras. The bill was 136 euros.
We loved the Mucha exhibit, but I didn’t take any photos as it is not the actual art but projections on walls. It was a very innovative concept. Trust me that it is very worth seeing.
https://grandpalais-immersif.fr/en
We had time to kill before dinner at Jeanne Aimee, so we had pina coladas at a nearby café, arriving at Jeanne Aimee for our 7:30 reservation.
The chef is French but uses many Japanese ingredients, making for some very interesting flavors and textures.
They now offer only a tasting menu, which we normally don’t care for, but this one was an exception. Unfortunately I didn’t get a printed menu and the descriptions of the dishes were complicated. There was a menu on the website, which only varied slightly from what we had, but it’s not showing up now. It only shows the lunch menu, but maybe they will correct that.
Beware of the sommelier pushing wine pairings, as they are expensive and what I saw him pouring at neighboring tables was nothing special. We ordered a bottle of a light red that went well with everything, for 49 euros.
The bill was about 230 euros.
https://www.restaurantjeanneaimee.com/en/
Tuesday, 10/3
Again we left in late morning to have lunch, this time at Brigade du Tigre, an Asian fusion small-plates restaurant.
We ordered 4 plates and 2 sides, starting with a raviole of chicken, crawfish and rice and duck tartare, then fried chicken and noodles with meat and seafood, with sides of rice and kimchi. The food was very interesting and tasty. With a bottle of rose, the bill was 91 euros.
https://www.brigadedutigre.fr/
Afterward we took a boat cruise on the Canal St. Martin and the Seine. It took two and a half hours, most of which was on the canal.
The guide was very informative and described everything in both French and English. Note that you must book this tour in advance and not all days are available. We managed to get a reservation only a day ahead but this is not always the case.
https://www.viator.com/tours/Paris/Seine-River-Cruise-and-Paris-Canals-Tour/d479-3001CRUISE
Again we had time before dinner, so we had cocktails at Le Mabillon on Boulevard St. Germain.
Dinner was at Le Sergent Recruteur, where we had lunch last year and were very impressed.
This time the menu was almost exactly the same. We both began with foie gras, which was excellent, and a generous portion. Stanley had chicken and I had grouper, both very good but not exceptional. We shared a chocolate dessert. With an excellent bottle of 2013 Cahors (62 euros) , the total was 247 euros.
https://www.lesergentrecruteur.fr/
Wednesday, 10/4
Left for home. We were notified the previous day that our United flight was being cancelled, and they were going to book us on the same flight the following day. We were not happy about this, so I was able to get them to put us on a Lufthansa flight, but it meant having to change in Frankfurt, and arrive in Newark 6 hours later than the original flight. At least we were able to get home the same day, and the flight was pleasant enough.
Robert Rems' Open House 