You know that wondrous feeling when you try a new restaurant, and after a few well-proportioned plates go whizzing by on the upturned palms of a charming waitstaff, you know you're in for a treat? Well that happened for us today at La Cantine du Troquet. Affordable, intimate, and well worth the occasional wait- the exquisitely prepared dishes were a well-deserved vacation from the humdrum gray of Paris that sometimes translates into uninventive food. Reliable, comforting- but uninteresting nonetheless- such is the case at La Coupole, a former gastronomic institution that has been sitting on its laurels for over a decade serving food that tastes like it was purchased frozen from Picard.
Whoops- I digress. Let me tell you what I had. I started with a terrine of boudin with a delicate dollop of homemade pesto. Boudin is a blood sausage, and although a terrine of blood sausage might sound overwhelming, it was delicate and refined and served with massive chunks of fresh country bread. Cornichons and spicy green peppers were served a volonté, as was the soup- a scrumptious velouté of root vegetables served with chunks of chorizo. Next up, I had sardines a la plancha, accompanied with an unforgettable homemade ragout. This is a place that really knows how to use tomatoes- no watery wastes of well-intentioned sauces at La Cantine.
I went for lunch, and walked out delighted for less than 20 euros. Friends say it's packed from nine o'clock on, so I say have a big lunch, drink a lot of wine, and pretend that it's night. It's so gray here, you won't notice the difference.
The chef, by the way, is Christian Etchebest- and La Cantine is a more affordable offshoot of his restaurant Le Troquet- referred to by French foodies as a temple of "bistronomique" cooking.
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