Lunch at Au Passage in Paris

It was one of those weekends in Paris where the sun was hot, the mood was mellow and our son fell asleep at all the right times. In this post, I will share the outstanding lunch we had, while Anton was fast asleep, at one of our favorite restaurants in Paris, Au Passage.

Asparagus in a 'beurre rouge' sauce, a buerre blanc style sauce using red wine

Ceviche with Red Mullet

Terrine of foie gras on toast with pickled peppers

Bavette steak with sweet onions and potato purée

Veal tartare with fried black olives crumbled on top, piment d'Espelette, and all the right fixings

Strawberries with rhubarb sorbet, meringue crumbs and white chocolate mousse

Au Passage
1bis Passage Saint-Sébastien
75011 Paris, France

Lunch and dinner, Monday-Friday; dinner only Saturday; Closed Sunday

tel: +33 1 43 55 07 52

Omnivore Dinner at Au Passage

 

As some of you may know, the Omnivore World Tour food festival has been in Paris recently, synthesizing an array of culinary events.  Having just come back from a long California winter, we accepted the fact that we might have been just a little too late arriving home to Paris to book a table at any of the F***ing Dinners, which pair a local chef at his/her restaurant with a visiting chef for a one night set menu.  We had just seen that the F***ing Dinner at one of our new favorite spots, Au Passage, was fully booked ("please do not call!").   This dinner paired the resident Australian, James Henry with Brooklyn's Isa's Ignacio Mattos.  We sighed in defeat, but then my phone buzzed across the table. A text from our good buddy Josh Fontaine.  He had two free seats. And, yes, we'd take 'em.

Three Amigos: Josh, Carina, and Adam (of Candelaria)

On paper, the menu was very simple (see above photo).  Even though I knew that there would be more to the plates than the words lead on, the level of over simplification reached comical heights when "amuse bouche" turned out to mean: lardo with spiced candied almonds; then an oyster with shallot and ginger granita; followed by a small cube of fois gras in a delicate broth; finishing with some small slivers of uni on shaved fennel.  Now on to the first course...

The bread at Au Passage is from Thierry Breton, Chef and owner of Chez Michel, a respected Breton bistro in the 10th.

The recommended wine pairings, of which we only ended up ordering the cider.  
That is, after a white and a red from the regular wine menu

Chardonnay at 14%!

Scallop and Cabbage.  'Nuf said.

In contrast to the over-achieving brigade of amuses bouches, the first course was exactly what was described on the menu: scallop and cabbage, the former with just the lightest kiss of a sear, and the latter braised or browned in the most delicate way.  Though this might sound boring, it was as if I had been given the purest proof that these two flavors are wonderful together. 

Then came the tartare de boeuf, in a planetary arrangement of circles.  I don't know how else to say it, but this course of this F***ing Dinner was really f***ing good.  The perfectly seasoned beef surface gave way to a mantle of molten Jerusalem artichoke puree.  And when eaten with some crumbles of the fried flax seed crust, a wisp of cream and a crispy pepper corn, it reach a complete spectrum of textures and flavors; soft, meaty, creamy, crunchy, earthy, nutty and bright all at once.

Watch out for peppercorn asteroids!

The Prettiest Li'l Mackerel Filet in Town,
Dressed up in Multi-Colored Carrots, Horsradish Cream, and Crispy Capers

Pineau D'Aunis.  For those I-can't-decide-between-Pinot-Noir-and-Gamay moments

Magret de Canette with Mustard Greens and Jus

Heart and Liver of Canette with Mousse of Celery Root.  
The best little heart I've had in recent memory, 

Biodynamic Cider.  Not too sweet and totally right on.

Lemon Custard with Ginger Granita.  A moebius strip of palette saturation and cleanse.

All in all, it was a very fine meal.  It exemplified a progression in the new trend of sensibly adventurous bistronomy cuisine that's been happening here in Paris.  The doors have been opened by the likes of Inaki Aizpitarte for young, high-level chefs to experiment with unusual pairings of simple and traditional ingredients.  And now, rather than push the accepted new palette further into the unknown, the younger chefs seem to be focusing in closer on simple pairings and experimenting with a minimalist hand. 


Au Passage
1bis passage de Saint-Sebastien, 75011 / 01 43 55 07 52
Open Monday - Saturday, No lunch service on Saturday

How To Be Populaire

The other day started out normal enough.  We set out in the late morning to pick up some items from a friend's apartment that was to be sold in a matter of minutes, along with everything in it.  We walked away with some decent kitchenware, lightbulbs, a nice hammer, a good water filter, and some sel de Camargue.  It was getting close to lunchtime, and we realized that the recently-opened Au Passage was right around the corner.  Not only did this "bar á manger" win "best love restaurant" in Le Fooding's 2012 restaurant guide, but it is owned and run by the same group behind our lunchtime and drink-time favorite, Les Pères Populaires.  Au Passage has a similar vibe to Le Pères Pop, but elevated: the vintage furniture matches and seems clean, the evening small plate menu is extensive and features more gourmand items, the lunch menu offers two main course options and a cheese course, and the along with the signature Vin Populaire, numerous natural wines are featured.  It is cool without being pretentious, homey without feeling raggedy, and the staff is relaxed, friendly, and knowledgeable.

The walls featured numerous hand-printed posters, available to buy, by the print artist who created the label for Vin Populaire. 

We were a bit early, so we took a seat on a leather two-seater couch and enjoyed an organic green tea while the kitchen finished prepping for the lunch rush.

Our starter was a little green dollop of brussels sprouts puree at the bottom of a glass bowl, topped with marinated raw pieces of mackerel and small clams, and a leaf of tarragon.  Mackerel can often be overly fishy, especially when raw, but this was fresh, briny and delicious alongside the sweet little clams and tarragon.

The main course was one of those simple and oddly paired dishes that reaches an unknown region of astounding flavors, similar in style to other new outposts of modern french bistronomy, most notably Le Chateaubriand.  The dish was a lightly seared piece of bonito tuna with some roasted pears, a couple radicchio leaves, roasted salsify, and pureed Jerusalem artichoke.  Sometimes you get a plate of food on which every item is the perfect strength, perfect ripeness, perfectly cooked, and perfectly similar and different from the next: sweetness from the pear, earthiness from the Jerusalem artichokes and salsify, velvety meat of the tuna, and the bitter crutch of the radicchio.   And at €13.50 for two courses, we will be returning.  Often.

As chance would have it, our good buddy, Michael Cera, who is on tour playing bass for Mr. Heavenly, called to invite us last-minute to a show he was playing at what venue? L' International, of course, another establishment run by the same owners of Les Pères Populaires and Au Passage.

Later on, with a couple hours to burn before the show, we headed over to another nearby place of interest, Aux Deux Amis, a spanish-leaning wine bar, with an interior that is straight-up 50's Paris. I asked if there was a nice Gamay or Pinot Noir, and was poured a glass of both in the form of a Burgundy made of equal parts Pinot Noir and Gamay.

After the first glass, we gave in to the cheese and ham sitting centimeters away from our noses. If a generous pile of paper-thin Bellota ham garnished with house-roasted almonds and a few slices of raw milk Manchego with quince paste aren't the best things to eat alongside a light a fruity red wine, I don't know what is. Actually, I do, and the list is getting out of control. 

When the time came, we made our way to L'International, and noticed that our waitress from lunch walked in after us.  We ordered the first of many rounds of Vin Populaire, caught up with Michael about South America, and enjoyed a raucous evening of doo-wop-drenched, garagey indie rock, courtesy of Mr. Heavenly.

If the 17th arrondissement wasn't so far from the venue, we might have ended up there after the show for a glass of wine at Les Caves Populaires, just to complete the tour.  Instead, we had a group stumble down the hill to Candelaria for big bowls of punch, Mexican beers, and 12 year old Pappy Van Winkle.

Au Passage
1bis passage de Saint-Sebastien, 75011 / 01 43 55 07 52
Open Monday - Saturday, No lunch service Saturday 

Aux Deux Amis
45 rue Oberkampf, 75011 / 01 58 30 38 13
Open Tuesday-Saturday

l'International
5/7 rue Moret, 75011