Chez La Vieille - Adrienne in the 1st; Simple, very simple, but ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

 
7.0 Chez La Vieille – Adrienne, 1, rue Bailleul in the 1st, 01.42.60.15.78, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, lunch menu 29 (not visible), a la carte 50-60 €, heralds the return of Michel Del Burgo to the real world.  It's already been reported on numerous times and the sentiment of the blogosphere is quite positive.

That's good because my last meal of his at l'Orangerie was shockingly bad, made worse by my eating pal and I ordering the veal a la plancha for two, which meant we both got screwed when it turned out badly.  So when my eating buddy today suggested we do the shoulder of lamb for two I really hesitated.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Look familiar?  It should, it's in the old Adrienne space across the street from the Spring boutique and across the other street from the new Spring where I was delighted to see they had poured the concrete for the stairs to the 1st cellar.  As Meg said in her blog one must have the door code to gain entrance unless like me, you scramble in through the kitchen window (just kidding).

It's tiny and my first thought was, how can a big guy like MDB pay two others in the kitchen and two in the salle with the money from 18 covers?  A trip to the toilettes revealed the answer - the 2nd floor has twenty more seats and is brighter than the wood-beamed downstairs. 

 

We looked over the carte and chose different starters: he the ox-tail salad above and me the ravioli of cooked mushroom with a slice of raw mushroom on top and lots of most tasty fluff (below):

 
Then, as I said, we shared the shoulder of lamb rose which was simply roasted with roasted garlic cloves and roasted diced potatoes and a sprig of rosemary on the side; what could be simpler, more easy, more elegant, more delicious?  We were happy boys.

With 2 coffees, a bottle of red and passable not great bread, we were outa there for 111 Euros.

Go?  You bet, Colette should love it. 

Comments

[d wurtman]

Just back from a lovely dinner at Chez la Vieille. Gracious service, hearty terrine, superb and perfectly prepared Fillet au Poivre, and a comfortable and stress-free place to spend an evening. Dare I say I enjoyed it more than dinner at Le Cinq last night?

[records management]

I'm reading your post while eating a pita bread with mustard and ham. It's just not fair ! :)