Dishing Up Paris Classics
Some trends here arrive and depart as if borne by the ba^teaux mouches tour boats. Nouvelle becomes ancient in a flip of the fork.
But even when the competition for the new wave is intense, certain dishes endure. And so do the restaurants that always offer them. Bouillabaisse. Cassoulet. Choucrou^te garnie. Pot-au-feu. Andouillette. Duck a l’orange and otherwise. Steak frites. Souffles. The cheese course.
They’re the culinary equivalent of the Eiffel Tower. And they mean one thing: We’ll always have Paris.
Many of France’s greatest restaurants occasionally include such dishes on their collective menu of extravagances, luxuries and experiments. But more see these classics as their raisons d’e^tre. They spurred my springtime visit.
Bouillabaisse
Bouillabaisse, the fragrant seafood stew of the Provencal coast, comes from Marseilles. It’s a full-flavored union of soup and fish and, in some quarters, an occasional lobster. Arguments about the precise ingredients rise in proportion to the number of times it’s made. Who has the rascasse? Where’s the chapon? What about the eel?
One of the tastier and more refined versions of bouillabaisse is presented at Goumard, an elegant Right Bank restaurant so devoted to seafood that the only courses not extracted from the water are the cheeses and the desserts.
The bouillabaisse is a compact affair: one superb course with a whiff of anise. The fish are from the high end of the catch, turbot and daurade among them. A single langoustine is perched on the plate.
On the side is a ramekin of creamy rouille, the rust-colored combo of crushed garlic and red pepper. Slather it on the toasts, or add it directly to the soup. Goumard’s isn’t overly hot. But it does ignite each dish.
You can revel in a full-flavored bouillabaisse at Charlot, a stylish spot that calls itself “the King of Shellfish.” Charlot pointedly specifies that its bouillabaisse is governed by the rules of Marseilles. The rascasse isn’t lonely.
Marius et Janette is another friendly and dependable veteran devoted to the dish. And you’ll catch bouillabaisse in that buoyant Montparnasse mainstay, Le Do^me.
The wonderful soupe d’etrilles at Benoit has a hint of bouillabaisse. Benoit is the embodiment of the Paris bistro, a delightful Belle Epoque spot, busy and full of happy customers. They’re here for the soup. But Benoit’s timeless appeal comes more from cassoulet.
Cassoulet
Cassoulet is the Languedoc alliance of beans and meats in a pot of flavor. Like bouillabaisse, the ingredients may vary depending on where you eat it and where the chef comes from.
The cities of Castelnaudary, Toulouse and Carcassonne have their own. Benoit’s contains lamb, pork and confit of duck atop and amid the garlicky white beans. It’s a casserole of earthy, soothing stuff, bracing in cold weather and just as satisfying in summer.
Pork, duck and confit of goose are in the heady cassoulet of A Sousceyrac, one of the city’s colorful, veteran bistros. The stellar Au Trou Gascon heralds its southwestern roots with a sturdy seasonal version of cassoulet loaded with lamb and goose confit, pork and sausages.
Choucroute
Several varieties of sausage populate choucrou^te garnie. Bacon and other cuts of pork and, in some nouvelle renditions, seafood, define the Alsatian specialty.
Choucrou^te is the standard at restaurants such as the popular Cafe Runtz, a 19th century establishment where pork knuckle and apples poke through the cabbage along with the sausages and bacon.
Choucrou^te allows the chef to accessorize. Spiking the choucrou^te with fun and good feeling is the city’s big Belle Epoque brasserie, Bofinger. Dine under the fantastic floral glass dome, and surround yourself with traditions dating to 1864.
The huge platter of braised kraut verges on sweet. The gently cooked cabbage is topped with Montbeliard sausage, which has a hint of cumin; blood sausage; frankfurters; slablets of smoked bacon; and, if you want, confit of duck leg.
Tete de Veau,
Pot-au-Feu
La Tour de Montlhery, known just as well as Chez Denise, has a time-capsule quality. The menu written on the blackboard is a bistro dictionary and sometimes seems a study in anatomy. Most edible organs are represented: pig feet, veal kidneys, tripe.
At the top of the chart is te^te de veau, calf head. Here it’s a mercifully unrecognizable composition, with chunks of tender meat, skin, tongue and brains, served with highly seasoned sauce ravigote.
Te^te de veau, with a zesty sauce gribiche, also is a menu regular at nearby Chez Clovis, whose business card advertises “cuisine a l’ancienne,” old-fashioned food. Here in this classic bistro, the historic market Les Halles lives in evocative black-and-white photographs and in the spirit of the kitchen.
But the best of many reasons to eat at Chez Clovis is pot-au-feu, a lusty broth with meat, marrow and vegetables. The overflowing marrow bone is the centerpiece of the one-pot dish, flanked by rough cuts of beef ready to be shredded and a crate full of carrots, leeks and potatoes.
Simple, to the point, memorable. Pot-au-feu, naturally, is the specialty of the aptly named Le Roi du Pot-au-Feu. From the seasoned broth to the tiers of meats and vegetables, this is a deluxe version. That broth is outstanding and will do more for your soul than any chicken soup.
Steak Frites
Steak frites, with first-rate beef and perfect fries, is an elusive commodity, even in the city so associated with it. The bistro Chez Georges sears a tasty onglet, or hanger steak, as do La Tour de Montlhery and Chez Clovis.
But the most memorable steak-and-potatoes entree has to be the ultra-rich piece de boeuf Rossini, with a slab of foie gras the size of the beef and addictive pommes soufflees, from Alain Ducasse, the restaurant named after arguably the most influential chef alive, in Paris or anywhere.
If you allow yourself to splurge, do so at Alain Ducasse.
Duck
For many visitors to Paris, duck is the main course. None has had more scribbled about it than the pressed duck at La Tour d’Argent. The centuries-old restaurant, with its incomparable view of Notre Dame, is periodically described as a haven for affluent tourists. But you’ll find much French spoken here. And most of the main courses feature duck.
Each fellow is numbered and immortalized in many ways. Three favorites: Marco Polo, sort of duck au poivre (peppery); Mazarine, with orange; and the pressed duck, canard au sang.
Lasserre rivals La Tour d’Argent in notoriety and in price. The stuffed pigeon is named for novelist Andre Malraux and the dessert timbale for the Elysee. But the restaurant remains the bastion of canette de Challans a l’orange, with little pommes soufflees to complete it.
Cheese
Once the entree is done, it’s almost obligatory for many French and an increasing number of visitors to move on to the cheese course. But you could make cheese your main course in Paris.
A lunch of assorted goat cheeses at La Ferme St.-Hubert is a tangy way to spend the early afternoon. They also make a significant croque-monsieur, the grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich, prepared here with nutty-sweet Emmental. Or ask for it with robust Bleu d’Auvergne. The exceptional shop has a full menu and tables.
Souffles
After the cheese, souffles. Plenty of premier restaurants serve high-rise souffles, including an apricot-almond cloud at Taillevent and a vanilla beauty at Pierre Gagnaire.
On the Rue Mont-Thabor, a short walk from the Tuileries, is Le Souffle. Here’s a restaurant with a single, precise mission. You can have a souffle as appetizer, entree and dessert.
There’s a “tout souffle” menu that’s light and right. The souffle with salt cod sounds odd at first, but it’s brandade lite. The chicken souffle once more poses the question of which came first. The souffle with morels is a gentle reminder of spring. A ham-and-cheese souffle takes the concept of the croque-monsieur one step beyond. And the pristine cheese souffle could do double duty as a breakfast treat. The sweet finales are even better, whether you’re drawn to chocolate, raspberry or the clear winner, coconut.
Ice Cream
In the middle of the afternoon, perhaps after lunch, meander over a bridge to the Ile St.-Louis and stand in line at Berthillon, the ultimate in ice creams and sorbets. Maybe you’ll choose fig, perhaps red grapefruit. Or cassis. You’ll be refreshed for tomorrow.
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GUIDEBOOK
Mastering the Menus
Where to eat: These Paris restaurants are listed in alphabetical order. Precede phone numbers by 01 if dialed from Paris, 011-33-1 if dialed from the U.S.
Alain Ducasse, 59 Ave. Raymond Poincare, 16th Arrondissement, telephone 47-27-12-27. Piece de boeuf Rossini, $86.
Benoit, 20 Rue St.-Martin, 4th Arrondissement, tel. 42-72-25-76. Soupe d’etrilles, $15.
Berthillon, 31 Rue St. Louis-en-l’Ile, 4th Arrondissement, tel. 43-54-31-61. Ice cream.
Bofinger, 5 Rue Bastille, 4th Arrondissement, tel. 42-72-87-82. Choucrou^te, $13-$19.
Cafe Runtz, 16 Rue Favart, 1st Arrondissement, tel. 42-96-69-86. Choucrou^te, $13-$17.
Charlot, 12 Place Clichy, 9th Arrondissement, tel. 53-20-48-00. Bouillabaisse, $29.
Chez Clovis, 33 Rue Berger, 1st Arrondissement, tel. 42-33-97-07. Te^te de veau, $15.
Chez Georges, 1 Rue Mail, 2nd Arrondissement, tel. 42-60-07-11. Steak frites, $21.
Le Do^me, 108 Blvd. Montparnasse, 14th Arrondissement, tel. 43-35-25-81. Bouillabaisse, $40.
La Ferme St.-Hubert, 21 Rue Vignon, 8th Arrondissement, tel. 47-42-79-20. Cheese course, $13.
Goumard, 9 Rue Duphot, 1st Arrondissement, tel. 42-60-36-07. Bouillabaisse, $60.
Lasserre, 17 Ave. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 8th Arrondissement, tel. 43-59-53-43. Duck, $46.
Marius et Janette, 4 Ave. George V, 8th Arrondissement, tel. 47-23-41-88. Bouillabaisse, $44.
Le Roi du Pot-au-Feu, 34 Rue Vignon, 9th Arrondissement, tel. 47-42-37-10. Pot-au-feu, $13.
Le Souffle, 36 Rue Mont-Thabor, 1st Arrondissement, tel. 42-60-27-19. Souffles, $11-$14.
A Sousceyrac, 35 Rue Faidherbe, 11th Arrondissement, tel. 43-71-65-30. Cassoulet, $22.
Taillevent, 15 Rue Lamennais, 8th Arrondissement, tel. 44-95- 15-01. Souffles, $17-$21.
La Tour d’Argent, 15 Quai Tournelle, 5th Arrondissement, tel. 43-54-23-31. Duck, $62.
La Tour de Montlhery, 5 Rue Prouvaires, 1st Arrondissement, tel. 42-36-21-82. Fish choucrou^te, $21.
Au Trou Gascon, 40 Rue Taine, 12th Arrondissement, tel. 43-44-34-26. Cassoulet, $22.
For more information: French Government Tourist Office, 9454 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 715, Beverly Hills, CA 90212-2967; tel. (310) 271-6665, Internet https://www.francetourism.com.