5.5 Le Cafe des Antiquaires, 12, rue de la Grange-Bateliere in the 9th (Metro: Richelieu-Drouot), 01.48.00.99.92, closed Saturday dinner and Sundays is a place that crept onto the scene in February but only caught my attention when Rubin gave it a 5.5 in his Spring roundup.
It seems as old as time, has that dark, red velvet decor and that certain ancient bar/cafe look we all love and is running a live video cam picturing rooms at Drouot over the bar. Pretty cool. And it has the feel of the Cafe Tournon, except rather than clean-cut, eager-beaver, elegantly-suited young legislative aides, here the clientele are all long-haired, scruffy, unshaven boys who know their rugs/furniture/jewelry/etc., and make their money buying junk for pennies at Drouot and selling it to antique dealers who sell it to rich Anglos for millions.
As my first, I ordered the carpaccio of scallops with sliced Tonka (tonco) beans and lime, divine. Really, really good.
My main was a filet of Salers beef that was cooked very well to my liking with fries. I realized as I approached it that as opposed to oysters where my routine is to have the first one unadorned, the second with lemon and the third with mignonette sauce, with beef I taste it first also unadorned, then with the sauce provided (here OK not great) and third with pepper ground from a mill - the best.
The frites were surprisingly good - why do I say this? - for several reasons - but uppermost is that my good friend told me that her's at Ralph (Lauren)'s were really bad. These, especially the small slices, were crisp and beautiful, the thicker ones less tasty. Ditto the diced veggies, OK, but not great except for a fine roasted eggplant strip.
(Side question: why haven't I been to Ralph's? Plain and simple, if I want Danny Meyer's food, I'll go there not some out-a-sight priced Paris knock-off.)
My dessert and coffee was/were the new "in" thing in Paris, the cafe gourmand; a coffee with a dollop of pretty much all they had on the carte.
My bill after a pot of wine, pathetic bread and house water = 57.50 E.
Go? Well if you're at Drouot, I think it's better than the famous Grange-Bateliere. Why not?
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