The French are different. Not only different from us, but different from each other. Their food makes the point.
We are traveling in France, eating in some of the top restaurants in the world. My favorite is the Grand Cascade. This beautiful restaurant was built in 1900 as part of the world fair in Paris, with a waterfall built next to it for a nice walk after lunch. It is situated in the largest park in Paris, the "Bois de Boulogne." The decor is like being in a castle.
While it looks like something from the 19th century on the one hand, on the other everything looks very new and clean. This time of year seating is only on the outdoor patio. Originally Michelin failed to award any stars to this restaurant, on the theory that no serious restaurant would seat people outside. But eventually they relented and now the restaurant has a star. We’ve eaten here with Parisian friends three or four times over the years, and not much has changed.
The chef is a minimalist. My first course consisted to a large morel mushroom with a mushroom stuffing, one poached langoustine, and a square piece of cake filled with pieces of langoustine and vegetables. Delicious and not overfilling for a first course.
Next was something almost impossible to find in the US, sweetbreads. I know a lot of people don’t eat organic meat, but I love this dish, and this was one of the best I’ve ever had. Again it was minimalist: One large piece lightly sautéed with a poached vegetable on the side.
As usual in this type of restaurant some sweets on the house were served with coffee.
A few days later we traveled to Lyon France to honor the memory of Chef Paul Bocuse. He built his own temple, a brightly painted house a half hour out of town, and people flock to it from all over the world. Upon making a reservation an email is sent out, so you know to expect a bill of at least $300 a person — if you don’t order too much. The Bocuse group are not minimalists. They serve time tested special dishes with a lot of sides, and a lot of table-side service and dishes "en croute."
The restaurant was totally filled in each of the four rooms we could see, and there is a second floor with a large room that I ate dinner in last year. This time we were there for lunch during the week, and it was still filled, but the tables are spaced well apart. As always, the service was impeccable even though the chef passed away a couple of years ago. I missed his friendly greeting at the front door.
We didn’t order as much as usual. We started with lobster in a citrin sauce, this was a complex dish with citrus foam and chopped vegetables around the edge. Then we shared an order of large white asparagus with hollandaise sauce on the side of the plate. How they find such large, delicious asparagus is a miracle, I never see it in Los Angeles.
Like the last time I was there, I noticed a very popular dish: the chicken from Bress steamed in a white organ about the size of a basketball. The ball is punctured table side and the then boned and served for two. The people next to us had that so we had the pleasure of watching the ceremony.
At the table on the other side of us the couple ordered the fish baked in pie crust, also prepared table-side, and it looked delicious, but that’s one dish that we can find in Los Angeles, and I sometimes I make it at home. So I ordered something a bit mundane and dated: Tournedos Rossini. That’s a beef filet with a slab of fois gras on top, surrounded by Bordelaise sauce. But this serving was a bit different: instead of a slice of fois gras there was a big piece, and there were two sauces, one dark and one with a cream base, served over the steak. It really was special. But the steak itself, as always in France, is no better, and perhaps not as flavorful as the meat in the US.
On the side was a wonderful small asparagus soufflé. And as always, a series of extraordinary sweets, including a small box of chocolates, was served with coffee. But even knowing about the sweets on the house, Joan couldn’t resist picking one of the extra desserts from a cart, and I had a slice of Roquefort cheese.
I washed it all down with a half-bottle of Cote Roti Madiniere 2021 and said a prayer over the wine that I can return here again.
Merv Hecht’s latest book “The Instant Wine Connoisseur” is available on Amazon.
