Le Passage in the 8th: Senderens at his best and worst.

 

3.5 Le Passage, 9, place de la Madeleine in the 8th, 01.42.65.22.90, open 7/7, calls itself a “New York-styled upstairs bar.” I’ve been three times since it opened a few years ago; the first time while eating downstairs to see what it was like; the second time because Colette and I seriously wanted to try it but stuff looked too sushi/curry/etc., so we went elsewhere and today, Lord knows why, after all the mixed reviews (Figaro up, Adrian Moore down).

Now disclosure: I’ve been a fan of Alain S’s since the late 1960’s atl’Archistrate and I even liked my first meal at his newest post-star invention. So despite the fact I’d read about dried out sushi and awful wait-staffs, I went with a clean slate.

First, though, its entrance is most off-putting; whereas on prior visits I’d entered from the main resto, going down the dank passage and being buzzed in was infradig. Then there are the “New York-style” chairs and tables – New York? – I lived there 25 years and I never saw stuff like that.

Next I looked at the carte, expensive, about 45 € for two “small plates,” this is his “second”? The waitguy told me the “menu” and for 36 € I went for it. (Wines were 9-10 € a glass and 25-? € a bottle.) I began with an amuse-bouche of a consumé of langoustines with a crème of celery with a daringly successful jolt of chopped chives; OK, Senderens knows his veggies and (with guys like Bocuse years ago), didn’t have to tell the world he found and used good ones.

Then came something that sure as heck (as Geo Bush would say) sounded like evitée de tomates but seemed like blah sliced turkey or rabbit with nice romaine leaves and dressing. Then came Senderens back blazing full bore – with a poule faisan rollatine stuffed with foie gras on a bed of perfectly cooked mixed wild mushrooms (cepes, pleurottes and oysters) and a peppery brown wine sauce – heaven!

The dessert also was not half-bad but mal-described as a macaroon; indeed the joy was in the incredibly delicious mound of coffee ice cream with pomegranate seeds.

The service varied between out-to-lunch (but I was supposed to be eating it) and talking about last night’s liaisons and attentive and helpful. It seemed incredible to have 3-4 wait-persons serving 7 customers and ignoring them 50% of the time a full 3 meters away. They were making up in professionalism by being enthusiastic, pleasant and energetic. It almost worked.

The bill for the 36 € “menu” and two glasses of passable wine = 54 €.

Go? In this recession/depression, if you’re still travelling on your corporate jet, still gas up 3 SUV’s and have your money in hedge funds – Go! but otherwise wait til we climb out of this hole in 7-10 years.

Comments

[nazila]

Thanks for your review. I'm in Paris by myself for the day and wanted to eat somewhere nice, but somewhere I would feel comfortable as a female dining alone. The best part -- its walking distance to my hotel.

I appreciate your reviews -- we use them for a lot of our trip planning.

[John Talbott]

You could just as easily eat at Senderens itself as the upstairs bar/passage. By the way, there's a topic on eGullet on Eating Solo you might want to check out. It's at http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=33694&hl=