7.9 Kei, 5 rue Coq Heron in the 1st, 01.42.33.33.14.74, closed Sundays and Mondays, lunch menus 38 + 48 € for 4 or 5 dishes and dinner ones for 75 & 95 € for 6 or 8 dishes, opened the end of February and has gotten rather rave reviews since then.
When I (mis)read Emmanuel Rubin's announcements of soon-to-be-opened places on December 15th I thought Kei Kobayashi was just taking over Gerard Besson's resto and that I'd wait until fall for game season, Besson's strength, to go. It took me a few reviews to realize I'd really gotten that one wrong; it was a whole new deal. My memory is not good enough to recall what's different, except the lamps, but it's stark, not Starke, but in a really nice way, from the place settings to the menu/"menu" encased in a wooden "ribbon."
I went with a rediscovered old friend and we both decided to have the forced choice 4 course "menu" of a starter, fish, meat and dessert; it was forced in another way; there was a choice of pork vs veal but we both had to have the same meat course - both of us being bloggers/food writers, we would much rather have chosen to have different items, but if those are Kobayashi's rules, it's his game, I'll play it.
The amuse-bouche was/were a tartare of crab on top of corn soup on a base of good-looking but ineffabley tasting cucumber gelee (not pictured and not tasting of much anyway). Then came two mini-slices of foie gras, cooked and raw veggies and fruits wrapped in intriguing circlettes with pungent mushrooms (also not pictured but quite tasty).
Now with the bar he hit his stride; it was beautiful product, beautifully cooked, with a crisp skin on a bed of molecularized salsify tinged with truffles and topped with a most tasty salad with most tasty dressing.
With the meat course he was running; the veal filets were generous and their teeny bit of salt either in the meat or the "sauce" brought the flavor to a peak; the whole baby spinach was really good and the sprig of broccoletti and 1/2 Noirmoutier potato just right.
My companion, who hears the recitation of ingredients much better than I was off at the "Ladies" when the waiter's spiel was delivered but dessert consisted of a "lemon tart" with crumbled crumble on top and a meringue cross-walk/ladder on which was balanced sorbet and a fluffed emulsion of lemon, again.
The after-dessert consisted of two shot glasses - one with raspberry/bavaroise, the other rich caramel - with two sable crossed sabers. I also had a coffee which I really thought was special and quite good chocolate truffles.
With a bottle of their finest Corsican wine (from the full list, not the abbreviated hyped-up one of four on the printed menu) our bill was 111 E.
Go? If it's any indication, I'll bring Colette here ASAP despite the fact that a lot of what we had has been mentioned by others, making me wonder how often he changes the dishes.
Why did I subtitle this - "The incredible lightness of being?" Well, because somethings (the cucumber gelee) were so refined that their taste went over my head and others (the raw veggies and fruits) bordered on the precious; but the fish, meat and sorbet had heft and delivered the goods.
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