5.2 Le Dome du Marais, 53bis, rue des Francs-Bourgeois in the 4th, 01.42.74.54.17, open 7/7, is a place I remember eating at under its prior chef and management many years ago; I was stunned by the setting and fresh, locavore product theme.
Well, it's still stunning, but the food while good, is not.
The amuse-gueule was a nice enough bit of avocado/guacamole, Madame's "frozen" pea soup (she being French got the English carte and I got the French one) was nice and my tartare of daurade with ginger and lime was, ahhh, nice. So far no fireworks.
At about this point, a former writer colleague sitting at the next table sent me her card and in due time we chit-chatted with her and the publicity-marketing person, all very nice, no really, but the main courses took forever to arrive.
Madame had ordered the beef tartare lok lak (which I'd never heard of but our nice wait-person explained had an Asiatic twist; indeed, lok lac is a (cooked) Cambodian beef with soy, garlic and oyster sauce, but my well-traveled friend said she also tasted cardamon) and I had a St Pierre with veggies and potatoes with lardon bits and a side of celery puree. All quite, well, nice.
I skipped dessert but she had the cafe gourmand where the brownie was the best part and I a plain coffee.
With a bottle of Chinon, another glass of house red, good bread and no bottled water, our bill should have been 109.50 E but they made an "error" and charged us for yet another glass of wine - I don't know whether to be angrier at myself for not really inspecting the bill or them for sloppiness, greed or immaturity.
Go? I'm afraid that despite the stunning decor and setting (although the chairs in the anteroom were unsittable-in), the price-quality, lack of pizzaz, long wait and over-charging over-ride whatever scenery there is.
The Dôme du Marais was excellent until early 2011.
It was run by an experienced chef, the former owner of a Michelin one-star restaurant in Nantes, I believe. Excellent value, creative dishes, interesting textures and flavours, fresh seasonal ingredients, a dedicated and professional team. The daily drudgery of buying fresh from Rungis at five AM, the closing late at night every night after cooking a fairly extensive and complex range of dishes, must have been too much. The Café des Musées is still owned and run by the same chef; it is very good, but does not go for the same market.
The new people (my wife and I last dined there in March 2011) probably came from the world of Ready-To-Wear: slick, going for “fashion”, “buzz”, whatever…The idea that cooking for, and running, a proper restaurant are respectable, lifelong, crafts (“métiers”) are obviously foreign to them. The members of the old crew seemed ashamed at what the old place had become (loud pop music!) . They have now thankfully found greener pastures.
We are waiting for these new owners to give up, in the hope that some dedicated, conscientious, chef/restaurateurs will revive something worthy of or resembling the old Dôme.
Posted by: Parigot | May 11, 2012 at 10:53 PM
Parigot: Well, that explains a lot; I do enjoy the Cafe des Musees as well.
John
Posted by: John Talbott | May 12, 2012 at 04:24 PM
Having read the previous comments,things have changed AGAIN.we received a very warm welcome.The amuse-bouche was delicious ,our entrees came quite soon after our orders were taken and were outstanding,both in taste and presentation .All three of us had sea-food main courses and were delighted with the Lotte,St Pierre and Raviolli de Hommard..once again,excellent presentation and respect for the produce.Reasonably priced for such an outstanding experience .we'll be returning to try their other dishes..my wife is a fine cook ..it takes a lot to impress her.
Posted by: Dr Bernard Colantoni | August 29, 2012 at 08:22 AM