So let’s get to why you won’t go here out of the way straight off. You think It’s too far from central Paris, you didn’t like Qui Plume, it’s too fancy, blah blah blah. Reality: It’s 7 minutes from Auber on the RER then a brief walk, it’s less Japanesey than Qui Plume, it is more pretentious than fancy I’ll admit. And the service after 10 weeks is still not polished. But the food, oh la la!
8.0 L’Ours, 10, rue de l’Eglise in Vincennes, 01.46.81.50.34 (RER or Metro: Vincennes), closed Sundays and Mondays has been open 10 weeks and it shows: the very nice young girl at the front desk doesn’t know or hasn’t been trained to handle more than one thing or person at a time, she parked me in a side room which was fancy but whose chairs had no back support until my “date” showed up, they were out of the wine I ordered (but did substitute a better one at the same price), the more junior waitguy hadn’t memorized the no-choice menu offerings and the establishment left you waiting between courses longer than should occur in a star-seeking place.
But the food, from the often open kitchen, most of which I’ll omit the superlatives about:
Chinese tea (which I guess was supposed to calm us before the storm of dishes)
Two amuses - ginger and fish and a salsify something
Lieu noir with beet juice and a risotto made from some healthier grain than rice
Filets of beef, perfectly undercooked without instructions from us and parcooked mini-veggies
A lovely assortment of cheese (which my old friend got talked into taking, but since she was paying I went happily along for the ride)
Terrific bread and butter
Strawberries, incredible cherries, and a rhubarb sauce
Chocolate nummies.
Coffee in wildly constructed cup holders.
Our bill, as I said, my friend of 50 years, paid, I dunno. But the 3 course (which is 6 or 7 In reality) “menu” was 45€ and the wine 22€ (although a glass was 12€). (Dinner is 75 or 105€).
Go? You won’t but I will even for the chef holding court. Or to see a neighborhood where they have cool leaf blowers and colored bicycle covers. You'd think you were in Amsterdam.
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