my dining companion had bestowed upon it.Here’s the second course - Poitrine de canard grillée aux olives, poivrons brûlés et girolles. How’s your french holding up? If not so well then - grilled duck breast with olives, burned sweet peppers and chanterelle mushrooms. While we were there, the table next to us ordered an entire duck. It came out from the kitchen and one of the servers cut it open, was not satisfied and sent it back rejected. Would that happen here in Columbus? By the way, duck makes the coolest crunchy sound when it’s being cut into.
And I mention servers in the plural, we had 4-5 people waiting on us at our table. The only one I could identify with a name would be the sommelier. I guess I could stick ‘em with bread boy, water boy, silverware dude, etc., but their roles overlapped and I’m sure I’d give offense to someone. For that matter, one had to be the Maître D’ or maître d’hôtel (master of the hall).
How was the duck? As good and then some as the picture. I opted for the Veau de lait poché aux citrons verts, quinoa soufflé et légumes d’été à l’huile d’amandon de pruneau (Poached milk-veal with lime, souffleed quinoa, summer vegetables in plum oil). How’s your French now?
I chose the veal since everyone else went with the duck and I’d had the duck before. The veal was very well presented and very enjoyable. I still can’t get that whole duck at the table next to us out of my mind. Next time.
By the way, check out the tower of butter to the left in the picture above. I’ve never been to a restaurant where I’ve been offered shaped and formed butter. And I’ve never been to a restaurant where you had your choice of salty or sweet butter. While we’re on the topic of butter, all dairy products in France just completely crush their American counterparts.
We added a fourth course of various cheeses from their cheese plate and then entered dessert. I love French fromages but they can be fairly taxing to the American palate. So if you’re idea of cheese is Kraft singles, the Tour d’Argent may not be for you.
The Profiteroles were absolutely decadent. That was some of the richest and deepest chocolate sauce that I have ever had. After all was said and done they even gave us another demi-course of desserts. I guess they may have been trying to soften the blow of the bill which totalled more than my monthly mortgage payment.
Oh well, c’est la vie, n’est-ce pas? I’ll add some more comments about the sommelier’s wine recommendations later. Bon appetit !
La Tour d’Argent
A Five Star Fine Repast
I guess if I’m going to hold myself out as some sort of food critic, I better have some credentials. What better credentials than to have eaten at one of the finest restaurants in the world. So I took a jaunt from London over to Paris via the channel.
La Tour D’Argent claims to be the oldest restaurant in Paris dating back to 1582. It definitely has one of the best locations as it faces the Ile Saint-Louis and overlooks Notre Dame and the Seine. Does it really get much better than this folks? I don’t think so.
We entered the ground floor and were greeted and led to a charming waiting area decorated in Louis XIV style furnishings while are table was readied. Nothing like making you wait to heighten the anticipation.
After some dainties, we were ushered to the fifth floor and the main restaurant. We had a great table with a view of the river below and cathedral in the distance. We were offered a champagne kir and another pleasantry that I have no idea what it was but the combination of flavors and textures was exquisite.
I began with the pressed crab pictured above. This was a pretty intense dish. The green tomato and aniseed jelly was a bit strong for my tastes but the combination of textures and flavors was still a great dining experience. We were ordering from the fixed menu and the other choice from it for the first course was the braised stuffed artichokes glazed with citronella. I tried a bite of this dish and found it worth all the raving
Virgin Plum Oil cold pressed from d'Agen prune seeds
Restaurant review
On the map
La tour d'argent
this recipe
15 quai de la Tournelle
75005 Paris
Poached suckling veal meat with lime, souffleed quinoa, summer vegetables sprinkled with plum oil
Also from La Tour D’Argent : Roasted St Jacques oysters and brocoli pulp laced with plum oil
Related recipes
Veal chop and vegetables sprinkled with plum oil (LEDOYEN / Paris)
Fresh red pepper and tomato purée perfumed with plum oil
Roasted veal with tonka beans, mashed puree with three varieties of potato, a plum oil sauce (AUBERGE DES SAINT PERE)
