7.3 Joia par Helene Darroze, 39, rue des Jeuniers in the 2nd, 01.40.20.06.06, closed Sunday nights (Metro: Grands Boulevards or Bourse) is a place I went to great trepidation; my last two meals with the cheffe have been among the worst in my life and I vowed never again to darken her door. But time softens the negativity and trusted tasters prompted me to give her another try. The site is impressive. the open kitchen and décor welcoming, although the EXTREMELY LOUD (82.6 dB = about the level of the beginning of a hearing loss), intrusive and awful music is a huge turn-off.
The carte encourages you to share and has lots of small and big plates, so we started with:
- a raddichio salad with walnuts, pear and a terrific dressing that Madame swooned over
- a perfect egg with black truffles and Jerusalem artichoke cream and chips that Monsieur swooned over
- a tempura of kokotxas (under the jaw) merlu which Colette thought was tough with a tasteless batter and I deemed soft and tasty (go figure!)
- a terrine with pistachios which all liked
To finish up, we shared a pavlova and light baba not with rum but rather 8 year Darroze family Armagnac.
Our bill, with great bread, a bottle of Bordeaux and two coffees, was 136 or 90.66E a couple.
Go? If you're 20-30 and like LOUD, OK; otherwise caution!
Welcome back Mr Talbott, After dining with you vicariously for many years I have missed my daily lunch for the past several months. If only I had lost 10-15 lbs during my internet fasting....
Kind regards,
David Westcott
Posted by: David C Westcot | April 02, 2019 at 02:05 AM