7.5 Premices, 24 rue Rodier in the 9th (Metro: St-Georges, easier by #85 bus though), 01.45.26.86.26, closed weekends and lunch Mondays, has been open 3 months but hardly caused a ripple, which is amazing since chef Alexandre Weill has an amazing cv; HEC School of Management; VP Morgan Stanley (Paris & London); then saw the light and followed his passion to the Ecole Ferrandi, the Restaurant du Marché, Ambroisie, Apicius, Bigarrade, the Ritz and Troisgros and cooks amazing food. The menu looks familiar and the prices not so easy but choices are difficult to make.
The amuse gueule was a glass with a base of celery puree with a touch of mustard grains on top of which was a small but beautiful piece of cod (cod was also on the 24 E "menu"); my Food Goddess Friend who's eaten everywhere, ordered the declinaison of green asparagus (done 4 ways: with fleur de sel, nuts, sauce and some other way I couldn't distinguish) which she thought was over-cooked but since she gave me the ends not the tips to sample - was perfect; and I had a sauteed lobe of foie gras with a puree of carrots with a touch of curry - superb.
For mains she had the lobster, potatoes and teeny-tiny mushrooms, which I tried to discourage her from having after my Lobster Roll disappointment yesterday, but was I proven wrong; and I had the duck pithiviers, which the charming waitress had made sure I understood was a tarte (having read the Bluffing for Dummies book I was ready for anything) that came with fingers of winter vegetables - wunnerful, except I thought several dishes had a tad too much salt. We finished by sharing a Paris-Brest, which she, a Paris-Brest expert declared very good (I agreed but not because I'm an expert, just because it was good).
With wonderful bread, a bottle of Cotes du Rhone Villages and two coffees, our bill was 110 E which I think was too little but maybe M. Weill comp'd us after engaging us thusly in French: "So, am I hearing an Anglo-Saxon accent." "Oh, oh, a horrid one?" "No, no, very light." And then commenced to speak in "London City" English about his two careers." Very personable chap indeed and a great chef.
Go? It's on Colette's list, a definite "must." And a dB level of 75.1 despite stark walls and ceiling.
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