5.0 Chez Geraud, 31, Rue Vital in the 16th, closed 01 45 20 33 00, closed weekends, represented a strange experience. I went to this very old (they advertise themselves as having won the Best Pot of 1973), very tried, very true (Rosa Jackson listed it as one of her favorite bistrots) and very well-known restaurant (it’s always been there, buried in the guides) and was Pudlo’s Bistro of the Year in both his big and small editions. Despite the fact that Pudlo’s one last year was a disgrace, since he’s in my pantheon of culinary gods, I had to go.
Look, it’s easy to criticize someone who has picked out just one bistro a year as the best for 15 years – but in retrospect, for me, this would not have been it. It’s the kind of place where a deaf 80 year old CEO/PDG loudly calls his 50 year old companion “jeune homme.” One approaches in the midst of old Passy, buildings all signed by the architects, cloisters all closed and arrives. One looks at the menu outside, weathered and minimalist – hummm, reminds one of Benoit, stunning prices for few choices. Enter.
Nice, but formal welcome, chairs and banquettes in red, homage to the 40’s but firmly reupholstered, installs oneself.
Menu appears – oh oh, same stunning prices and few choices (one could easily arrive at 100 € without thinking). “Menu” at 30 € it says. Ask.
Amazingly, lots of choices – several 1sts and maybe three mains – pick the leeks with foie gras and veal liver. Leeks are stacked like logs with a vinaigrette – divine, the foie gras is exceptional and even the salad is good. Wow!
Bread good, oh yes, the pre was a cup of brown stuff that looked like rillettes but tasted like the best of Mama Grossinger’s chopped liver.
Second course arrives, ordered "almost blue," not so, it was overcooked by my standards, and was without pizzaz or salt – sure it had a tart vinegar sauce and crisp surface and was accompanied by an over-salted galette – solution, combine the two. OK for ½ of it, then surrender.
Dessert, yes for 30 € one gets dessert. Easy choice, the first of the Gariguette strawberries are in - so had those – pas mal!
Very very good coffee and out.
Bill not as bad as feared – Menu 30, ½ bottle wine 15, coffee 3, exit for under the magic number. But looking back; can a place like this, serving four antique customers, survive, even with 16th prices, which the suits, loudly discussing how they’d vote for Sarko with their noses pinched, were paying? I dunno.
Should you go? ah, if you’re staying in Passy, and by definition that means you don’t care how much the yacht costs, J.P., sure.
*Originally published in April 2007.
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