A Few Dinners in Paris

Ah, dinner in Paris, another reason to keep coming back.  We've already mentioned two:  our first night (Serano ham, smoked mozarella, chicken with rigatoni, octopus, lemon tart) and our walk over to Place Saint Michele for foudue (cheese fondue with charcuterie, beef and duck fondue with boiling oil for self-service cooking).

We also make it to a few favorites:  La Poincare and Le Gaigne.

We found La Poincare a few years ago when we were looking at some touristic restaurants at Place du Trocadero (across the river from the Eiffel Tower).  Nothing appealed to us and we started walking back up Avenue Raymond Poincaré, heading back toward the Arc de Triumph.  A few blocks up the street, we passed La Poincare, stopped to read the menu, went in, and have been going back every trip since then.  This time, we go twice, but only have records of the starters, as both times, we become involved in our main courses and forget to take pictures.

The first night, we start with foi gras and creamy french onion soup.

 Fois gras with toast

La soupe à l'oignon

For our [missing pictures] main courses, we had moule marinier (mussels) and marget de canard (duck).  Wow!

Our second time, we share smoked burrata cheese and the fois gras, then share [missing pictures again, distracted and enjoying] sea bream and a risotto.  Wow, again!

Smoked burrata, fois gras

For our special birthday meal, we go back to Le Gaigne, a restaurant that we've been visiting for years, ever since they were in a small spot in the Marais.  Now, in a much grander location, a few block off Boulevard Hausman and near the Gare Saint Lazare train station, the food is still memorable.  The staff remember us from last year and treat us to another incredible dining experience.  They are a great part of the experience:  smiling, warm, friendly, engaging -- they are real people and complement the meal incredibly.

Let the meal speak for itself.

 Starting, of course, with a glass of rosé champagne, while perusing

 Amuse-bouche

 Quail stuffed with fois gras and confit thigh

Green asparagus tips, octopus, egg yolk, cuttlefish ink crumble 

Line-caught wihiting stuffed with spinach, parmesan, and sunflower seeds 

 Guinea hen ballotine roll with walnuts and savory endives 

(almost didn't get a picture) 

Brillat savarin cheese, truffled in-house

 Pineapple sorbet and marmalade on rum-soaked peppery Jaconde 

sponge cake, coconut mouse, shavings, and meringues

Double/triple wow!  Ok, we can come back again next year (it'll be my birthday again!)!