5.7 L'Office, 3 Rue Richer in the 9th, 01.47.70.67.31, (Metro: Cadet) closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, has apparently had a series of British chefs (at least one trained by Jamie Oliver) since Gregory Marchand (he of Frenchie)'s brother-in-law departed for Belgium, and for a month has had two guys from Manhattan (Del Posto, where I've always eaten well) in the cuisine - Mike and Kevin - who have paid their dues in Umbria and elsewhere. TMK, only Caroline Mignot has "discovered" it on her similarly titled blog.
They offer superbly priced lunch "menus", 2 courses for 19, 3 for 24 E, dinners for 27 & 33 E and there are lots of choices plus a large selection of wines, some of which they'll pour a la ficelle, which was perfect today.
My American chef pal (who else to take to a new place chef'd by two Yanks) ordered the pork belly with tomato, egg and rocket and I had the pulpo with bone marrow and lemon - both of which he declared were "tasty, very tasty."
For mains he had the chicken with celeriac and shaved radishes (which I did not order d/t the dreaded white chicken breast I'd been subjected to recently - foolish boy, this was moist and super-flavorful) and I had the beef cheeks with a gingery taste, on a bed of carrot puree, covered with greens (sorry, I should have scraped some off for the photo). Again, his verdict - "tasty, an reasonable."
For finales he had the apple tarte which was terrific and I had the quince sorbet that I thought was the only off dish in the meal; too much of one texture/flavor. But hey.
With very good local bread, a 1/2 bottle of Syrah, 2 Illy coffees and sparking water made there, our bill was 66.10 E.
Go? Be the first on your block; the big boys are on their way.
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