7.0 Kitchen Galerie bis, 25, rue des Grands Augustins in the 6th, 01.46.33.00.85 has a lunch formula that at present runs one 34 Euros for three courses, water and coffee, a la carte according to one source goes up to at least double that.
It's a very modern renovation of a space I recall as grey and dreary, dazzinglingly colorful, with mirrors and glass, etc. As opposed to the mothership, it has an ample list of wines by the glass and 50 cl. carafe and more interesting full bottles than at Ze.
How to explain the first course(s)? Well, here's a photo of the six zors d'oeuvres served us, that's right "zors:" everything from sweet potato to coques, from cucumber to cod. With a "formula" you get three each and we told them to just go ahead and pick them.
For our mains we split the spare ribs with veggies and rascasse also with veggies; both in cocottes which they offered to take the food out of but suggested it would stay warmer inside; we complied. Both were very good.
Again we split our desserts: a prune concoction and a fig one, both with beautiful sauces.
Now, what do I mean by "two steps forward and one back?" Well, whereas the zors d'oeuvres seemed to move William Ledeuil's concept at Ze forward to small plates of exotically spiced and herbed items, the mains were closer to the traditional ones he served at Bouquinistes before moving to Ze. Did they work? Well, for once, I'm going to reserve judgment until my second meal (just as I did at Ze where the first meal caught me off guard and it wasn't until my second meal that I really got "it.")
Our bill with water (filtered and prepared there), coffee and wine was 89.70 Euros.
PS The noise level is unlike that in any of his prior restos I've frequented: most unpleasant.
Go? Definitely, it's interesting to see what this guy does, but I suspect my next meal on the rue des Grands Augustins with Colette in a couple of weeks will be back "home."
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