Paris Journal 2012 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com

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At last, l’Auberge has come along, My hungry days are over, And life is like a song . . . . At last, we finally dined at l’Auberge Bressane. So many times over the years we’ve walked by it. I would notice its very traditional look, examine the menu, and by the time we’d get around to thinking about dining there, they’d close for a very long summer vacation. Then last year (or was it the year before?), the restaurant was closed for the entire summer. An apology was taped to the front window, indicating to the dear customers that the closing was necessary in order to remodel the kitchen. Fair enough. The restaurant has obviously been there for a long time; that accounts for much of its appeal. The rich old wood paneling and other details explain, perhaps, why it is a listed historic place (according to some web sites). Last night, we decided to walk up to the charming, pedestrianized rue Cler in the 7^th arrondissement. We went on farther, pausing to gaze in the window at Le Petit Niçois on the rue Amelie. The restaurant was curiously empty, even though it was a few minutes after 8PM. Only one table was occupied, by a college-age kid and his mom. The menu has been changed at Le Petit Niçois, and I think I remember late last summer that a friend said there had been some kind of change in ownership or management of this restaurant. We enjoyed it in the past, but it doesn’t look hopeful at the moment. So we continued on to the edge of the Esplanade des Invalides, then turned to the right to go back to the avenue de la Motte-Picquet. Then we found ourselves in front of l’Auberge Bressane. The restaurant was open. It was almost full. The people dining there looked like they knew what they were doing. We liked the menu posted outside. We entered. We were warmly greeted, even without a reservation. The menu is loaded with soufflés. There is a starter course soufflé. There is a crab soufflé. There are six kinds of dessert soufflé. But last night, we did not order soufflé. Another time . . . . The cuisine featured here is traditional fare, with emphasis on that of Lyon and Burgundy. On the whole, it was exceptionally good. We will go back. I must work my way through this menu! The Tome, who’d been working hard on his latest book all day, ordered the Chateaubriand, and it came with a thick, homemade Béarnaise sauce served in its own little copper saucepan. He could have ordered a peppercorn sauce, which he saw being delivered to another table. He said that looked very good, too. Given the choice of garnitures, the Tome selected the fries. He was rewarded with a huge oval plate full of them; they were skinny, hot, and superbly prepared. They reminded me of the shoestring fries that chef Kent Rigsby used to serve with Maytag blue cheese at his restaurant in Columbus. (Ohio, of course!!!) Yumm. But I digress . . . . I did not want fries, so the server told me I could have green beans. Hooray! I love those. I was rewarded with an attractive metal bowl of excellent haricots verts. My main course was the restaurant’s “famous” poulet à la crème, au vin jaune et aux morilles. At least the menu claims it is famous, and I think I see why. I’ve had this dish at a number of places, and I really enjoyed it at Chez Maitre Paul, which no longer exists, and at La Gauloise. It is supposed to be a supreme de volaille served with a creamy sauce made with the golden wine of the Jura region. (Bresse is famous for its poultry, and the Jura mountains are on the east edge of this former French province.) At the Auberge, I was given the choice of the chicken breast or the leg, however. I normally prefer the dark meat, but my sense was that this dish should be made with the breast. And so I asked for the blanc when I was given this choice. While I may have had better sauce the first time or two I ate this dish at Maitre Paul, I have never, ever in my life had morel mushrooms as good as they were at the Auberge last night. These morilles had real life to them; they didn’t taste like they’d been rehydrated, as sometimes morels do. And the chicken breast was Frenched, which is very appealing. I would have cooked it a bit less, but I cannot say that the chicken was overdone. Anyway, Tom’s steak was not overdone; it was perfect, just the way we like it: medium rare, but more rare than medium. And oh was it ever delicious! It is not easy to get really good steak in France (compared to the excellent steak available in the U.S.). But this Chateaubriand came up to the highest standard, we believe. We enjoyed all this so much as we sat in the very traditional, old fashioned dining room. The desserts looked outstanding, so we decided to indulge by sharing a crêpes Suzette flambées au Grand Marnier. How exciting it was when our server brought a big, oval copper skillet to the table next to us, and fired it up. The Grand Marnier flamed blue, and the aroma was heavenly. When the flames died, the server adeptly arranged the crepes on two plates for us. Sharing desserts is commonly done in this place; no problem. While dinner portions are reasonably small at l’Auberge, dessert portions are large. I especially liked the marinated orange rind slices on this dessert, but the entire thing was simply fantastic. The service at l’Auberge Bressane was impeccable, friendly, professional, and 100 percent in French for us (which we like). (Reviewers indicate that English is no problem at the Auberge, however, and the restaurant does have an English version of its web site.) After the pleasant walk home, we settled in at the apartment, but instead of reading, I pored over the eight voluminous Picasa photo albums that my journal-reader friend Cynthia put together from her trip to France last Fall. What a great photographer she is! So many wonderful photos! By the time I finally went to bed, I was absolutely saturated with France -- the images, the cuisine, the language . . . . . Merci, Cynthia! Merci a l’Auberge Bressane!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012 The bar at l’Auberge Bressane on the avenue de la Motte-Picquet. The Auberge’s “famous” poulet à la crème, au vin jaune et aux morilles (above), and the green beans and Bearnaise sauce (below). A half serving of the crêpes Suzette! L’Auberge Bressane at the end of the evening.