We were really enjoying our day in Paris and decided to just keep on strolling to Tuileries Garden.
Familiarity had changed our perception of distance in Paris. Places that used to seem quite far now seemed relatively close.
And we got to Tuileries Garden in what seemed to be no time at all. The Tuileries Christmas Market was being set-up and we could see that the Ferris wheel was already in place.
It would be in full swing when we returned to Paris.
Even though it was fairly chilly, the sun was out, so you could count on Parisians and a tourist or two (i.e. us) taking time to enjoy the day at the fountain and pond known as the Grand Bassin Rond.
It made for a relaxing afternoon…..
I'm not quite sure if it was the weather, something in the water, perhaps the air, or the environment, but we would readily adopt, the French equivalent of "Afternoon Tea", known as Le Goûter. We just seemed to flow into it. And it started on this day as the Missus decided She wanted something sweet and a spot of tea from that place She had come across when I took my baguette class on our last visit. So we headed back to the Marais and Au Petit Versailles du Marais.
After ogling the dessert collection…..
We headed over to the tea salon, grabbed an outside table, ordered the Missus's selected pastry, tea for Her, and coffee for me.
The woman working here is a hoot….she works real hard at wooing folks in who look at the menu sign and always says "best choice…best choice…." when you select one of the pastries.
I gotta say, I even enjoyed the Royal Caramel as it wasn't overly sweet.
Au Petit Versailles du Marais
1 Rue Tiron
75004 Paris, France
After our snack we headed back to the hotel and took a break.
I had made reservations for dinner with a restaurant I'd had my eye on since reading about it in Alexander Lobrano's blog named Granite. It helped that the restaurant was less than a 10 minute walk from our hotel.
Located on Rue Bailleul, Granite does modern French, and the chef Tom Meyer worked under Anne-Sophie Pic at the 3 Michelin starred Maison Pic.
The place looks quite modern.
The service was quite warm and yet professional and we got the 7 course tasting menu with a single wine pairing which the Missus enjoyed.
Things started out with an oyster course.
The brininess of the oyster was balanced out with a bit of sour tartness from green apple and the celery like flavor of lovage. The menu stated that kimchi was used in this dish but I couldn't detect that. Very clean and refreshing overall.
We both loved the Cepe; porcini mushroom which was wonderfully earthy.
The mushroom was seared perfectly with almost a buttery texture, though the other items on the plate added a bit too much sweetness for us.
Like the mushroom, the scallop was seared perfectly, the interior was perfectly rare and sweet.
Though there was a bitter component in the dish that distracted from our total enjoyment.
The Artic Char was wonderful.
Tender and buttery in texture; the lentils were wonderful and almost nutty, and there was a light sweet earthiness to the dish which elevated the flavors. The sauces really enhanced this dish.
Of all the items presented for this meal, we enjoyed the Pigeon Course the most.
We were instructed to start with the "naan", basically a buttery cube of flatbread with wonderfully flavored fowl in it. The skewered liver was wonderfully gamy and delicious.
But the real "winnah" was the seared pigeon breast which was quite tender, wonderfully gamy, the sauce featured chocolate which was more savory than sweet. There was so much complexity in the flavors. This was amazing!
The rose foam was a perfect palate cleanser.
I enjoyed the Pomelo Meringue as it wasn't overly sweet.
The Missus loved the chocolate; which was very decadent, without being overly sweet. The Earl Grey sorbet was wonderful as it added a grounding, almost lemon-orange flavor which went so well with the chocolate.
We enjoyed the service and pacing. And while I don't think we'll be returning; there are just too many options in Paris, this was a pleasant meal.
Granite
6 Rue Bailleul
75001 Paris, France
I noted in my previous post that there's quite a bit more filling these days and on this visit they went a bit overboard on the chipotle. This was much spicier than I recall, though perhaps my tolerance has waned over the last couple of years? I also noted that they have changed the bread in my last post as well; it's quite yeasty and much lighter than what I used to enjoy. Regardless, the combination of eggs, beans, cheese, salsa performed adequately as my late breakfast on this day. Though perhaps I would have appreciated a bit more beans.
Man, this was much better than I expected. The beef, while perhaps chopped a bit more finely than I like was nicely chilled, with a clean finish, loved the ratio of capers and scallions to beef. But the most surprising thing were the frites, which were crisp outside and creamy inside.
The noodles were really good, doughy and chewy. The tamago was cold, but nicely cooked and marinated. The chashu was on the tough side and needed more flavor.
A very pleasant dish. The skate had been nicely prepared, buttery in texture, good black pepper, though perhaps a bit more salt would have helped. Very moist and tender. The accompanying veggies were fine and the caper butter sauce did well with the fish.
The women were from London and arrived via the Eurostar. Something I'd like to do in the future!
