Pirouette in the 1st: still crazy (cool) after all these weeks.

So, so, so, I was here at Pirouette a coupla weeks ago and I really liked it and so I took my treasured wife/mistress/partner/companion of, would you believe - 51 years?, even though by now, all the "big boys" had weighed in and I was sure the place would be full, haute-gamme'd and ruined; but, but, but, it was indeed full, haute-gamme'd but in no way ruined, indeed it was even more nuanced than before.

The carte/ardoise is overwhelming; abundance, options, Oy vey, what to do?

Madame, the French teacher/scholar from St Malo had the chestnut soup with mushrooms but it, like all the dishes to follow, cannot be described so simply, it was a melange of ingredients, textures and flavors; as was my new author friend's dish of tiny slices of artichoke, goat cheese and gnocchis; and my foie gras (sorry California) with a port gelee and fig compote and fig slices  was about as good as it gets.

For mains, Madame and I had the veal 3 or maybe 4 ways - thymis, kidneys, tongues and perhaps, real muscle, terrific; M. had the mulet which apparently, despite living in France and being married to a French woman for a lotta decades, he's never had, with confited veggies was pretty darn good; and Colette had the langoustines, which, surprisingly, were not the usual 5 in a row from the plancha, with a "ah hem" "salad" but a creative melange.  Man oh man!

Alors, for dessert, we shared a chocolate "tart" - whoa - and Colette's fave - the rice pudding, with extra caramel and toasted almond slices, pas mal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, so, so, there's the wine for you wine guys, and with no bottled water and good, indeed quite good bread and two coffees, our bill was 111 E a couple (d/t 2.5 bottles of wine and some 7 E for supplements).  Disclosure: I was offered and gratefully drank a wondeful poire digestif .

Go?  Silly question.  The big boys love it, the New York Times will feature it soon and I'll try to get in as much as possible before it becomes the next Spring, Chez L'Ami Jean or Frenchie for die-hard webfoodaddicts.

Comments

[ryan]

Bon jour!

All of the dishes look great and delicious. I can't wait to try their foie and eel entrees.
We plan to spend five nights on rue montorgueil around thanksgiving (mom, dad and one toddler who is patient beyond his age but not quite long enough to last 3 hour lunches). We booked all dining reservations thanks to your useful reviews and now need to decide on sat dinner and mon lunch spots. We dont want to travel too far with a stroller and a heavy little man and were thinking l'apibo and pirouette, both places will be five minute walk from our place.

Now our questions are: which place would take longer to finish three courses and provide more relaxed environment? I guess we will have to go to less romantic and less crowded spot for dinner.

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

[John Talbott]

I think it's easier & quicker at L'Apibo, esp at the window table; Pirouette's a bit more formal; another idea nearby is L'Hedoniste which also has a very friendly staff.
Colette suggested we tell you about the enclosed park (paying) in theLuxembourg which was ideal for a 3-year old we had staying with us - well,worth the schlep from the 18th.

[Ryan]

Just wanted to thank you for recommending pirouette where we enjoyed great food, wine and service. We preferred this location over septime and robuchon etoile. One place we also enjoyed equally for lunch was les tablettes in 16th.

We never liked paris from previous trips (we were students who thought fast food is the way to go on travel) but fell in love with the city and cant wait until we go back there.

Now we need to survive on over priced and mediocre french food in nyc.