7.5 Le Sot l'Y Laisse, 70 rue Alexandre Dumas in the 11th, 01.40.09.79.20 (Metro: Alexandre Dumas), closed Sundays and Mondays at lunch is a place I loved many years ago but dropped off the radar screen for various, largely unknown reasons. I had heard via the intrepid Paris by Mouth website on which I participate, that it had recently been taken over by a Japanese chef, Eiji Doihara, who like the chefs at Qui Plume La Lune and Ribouldingue as well as Hide and Le Petit Verdot (which are somehow part of the Hide-empire), cooks straight French food and was working in the Ducasse offshoot in Tokyo.
The "menu" at lunch, we'll get to that later, did not interest me, so I and most of the four of us went for the carte; being warned that the carte items took more time; "no problem," I said "my appointment with the President of the Only Republic wasn't until much later." So we ordered - but WARNING: 1). The nice Japanese lady (the chef's wife, I assume) hasn't finished her French lessons yet and we had to get help from Estelle, the French front-lady and 2). They don't serve some items listed (particularly the pied de porc and pigeon, which two of us hankered after) and what they have and don't have is not marked.
In any case, two of us had the foie gras with fresh uncooked fig slices and balsamic - fantastic, one, the terrine of leeks - declared very good, and one the boullion of oysters with winter veggies and potatoes - exceptional.
In any case, we were on a roll and the magret with almost painfully raw vegetables and turbot with shaved fried parsnip and a beet puree kept to the chef's high standard.
For the finale, three of us had what the true researcher in the group found multi-mentioned on the web, the kaki/persimmon (they were correct) and he, resting on his laurels, had the cheese plate.
Our bill per couple came to 135 E,.... but wait wait wait...
If we hadn't been so persnickety and taken the "menu" for 24 E for 3 dishes, no bottled water and a bottle of wine per couple, the bill would have been 79 E a couple. But for me, 17 E for outasight foie gras was worth every rapidly disappearing Euro.
Go back? You ask? I have a rez for January 3rd with charming Colette.
I would probably hold off praising a Japanese cheffed place until after 7 Dec. as there are still a few of us with pre-1940 birthdates. This does sound like an entirely re-worked place than the old spot above our friend Ficka's former apt. 7.5 on the Talbott scale will get me there at the 1st opportunity, painfully raw veggies or not.
Posted by: Jim Hutchinson | December 07, 2011 at 10:18 PM
Interesting you should mention December 7th; France 2 had a most accurate piece on Pearl Harbor while l'Express devoted the whole Restaurant section to new Japanese restaurants in Paris.
Posted by: John Talbott | December 08, 2011 at 09:29 AM