Red snapper and fennel
I fell upon this restaurant on a side street off of the pedestrian rue Daguerre, an area of Paris that I know very little while running an errand in that part of the 14th. What caught my eye was the Chablis they had by the glass: the 2006 Moreau Naudet (…I know, I have selective vision…) L’Entêtée (Hard headed woman) is a tiny little place-like a hole in the wall- but clean, good light and simple, yet modern. The set menu looked fresh, creative and not too expensive.
The woman owner and chef in the kitchen runs a tight ship. Presentation is perfect. The recipes rely on simple, accessible ingredients with a lot of spice and freshness.
The fennel salad with red snapper tartar was excellent. Vegetal bitterness and pepperiness of fennel with the peppery preparation of the snapper was fantastic.
Eggplant purée with homemade pesto bread
The eggplant purée was very good and creamy The pesto bread, surprising: good idea but, disappointingly, a little sweeter than expected on its own. The creaminess of the eggplant went well with the slight sweetness of the bread.
Lamb tajine with lemon an prunes
The lamb tajine was very flavorful and enchantingly aromatic. A good autumn dish, hearty and with exotic spices. I only wish she had chosen pitted prunes to make the dish, because, unknowingly, I almost broke a tooth chomping right on a prune pit.
The Moreau Naudet Chablis 2006 was as I remembered it, with wonderful fresh lemon- butteriness of Chardonnay. That taste of Chardonnay that naturally has butter aromas without the heaviness that wood can sometimes bring.
I’m delighted to be reminded that in some of the lesser arrondissments of Paris (by that I mean with lesser rents, so that young upstarts can actually pay rent, start a business and make money) that places like this exist and thrive.
