Paris Journal 2015 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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Why save the best for last? Life is short. Let’s talk about dessert first. We’d come to Auberge Bressane mainly because we fondly remembered the soufflés offered there. Five different dessert soufflés and one main course soufflé are listed on the menu. The most intriguing option: three mini soufflés that can be shared. We chose that one. The classic Grand Marnier soufflé stood tallest. Then there was the powerfully flavored salted caramel soufflé. And last, but certainly not least, was the rich, dark chocolate soufflé. You know that restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally, in which Sally (played by Meg Ryan) creates a scene and a nearby diner says, “I’ll have what she’s having.” Everyone knows that scene. Well, it wasn’t quite that dramatic, but I really enjoyed those soufflés! So did Tom. The caramel and the chocolate soufflés each came accompanied by a little copper pan with the appropriate sauce. The server made a dent in each soufflé and spooned some of the sauce into the center. Later, I spooned out the rest of the sauces. For the soufflé au Grand Marnier, the server brought a bottle of the liqueur to the table and poured some of it into the middle of the concoction. There were surprise bits of rich dark chocolate in the bottom of the chocolate soufflé. The caramel soufflé flavor was intense. The soufflé au Grand Marnier, by comparison, was ethereal. In sum, dessert was fantastic. The starter course was horrible. We’d ordered the classic six escargots, which arrived in the classic ceramic dish, but they were not only overcooked, they were charred!! Really charred! The only thing good about the dish was the bit of garlic butter which remained in it. I don’t understand why the kitchen let those charred snails go out into the dining room. The dish was so obviously, visibly burned – the only logical thing to do would have been to start over. In our 18 summers in Paris, I’ve never seen escargots so badly mistreated. Our main courses were good, however, and that’s a good thing because this was our most expensive dinner so far this summer. Tom ordered the Chateaubriand steak with Bearnaise sauce. The steak was tender, juicy, and cooked perfectly to medium-rare. Tom had ordered it rare (saignant), knowing that the kitchen might overcook it. His suspicions were justified. I ordered the poulet au vin jaune, a dish I’m familiar with and that I adore. While this was not the best poulet au vin jaune I’ve ever had in Paris, it was very good. A few delicious morel mushrooms were included with the savory sauce. We were given a platter of fries to share. The fries were perfect. They were almost match-stick fries – but a bit larger than that. They were certainly homemade, and they were served piping hot, crispy on the outside, still soft and flavorful on the inside, and nicely seasoned. The service was good, and ambiance at this old Normandy/Britanny style resto is oh-so-French. It was a good experience, except for the awful escargots. |
Thursday, July 30, 2015
The
Eiffel Tower and the sunset, on our way home from the restaurant Auberge Bressane.
Three
mini-soufflés to share, 18 euros at Auberge Bressane.
Auberge Bressane is one of those rare
Parisian restaurants where butter accompanies the bread, without your having
to ask for it. This butter was
especially nice – from Normandy. |
