I had the chance to explore another one of the restaurants in the Guy Savoy food empire last night. Les Bouquinistes is located on the Left Bank just across the street from the Seine at the Pont Neuf bridge and Notre Dame cathedral. I’ve been lucky to get to spend time with Greg Reinacker and Anita Taylor from Newsgator the past couple of days, and we’re having a blast getting to know each other. Dinner together was (another) great conversation about quantum mechanics and entrepreneurial company growth patterns and shoes, with some very nice food thrown in for good measure. The atmosphere at Les Bouquinistes feels very California to me. It’s probably some big blasphemy in the food world to compare Paris to California, but I call it like I see it — and I saw bright, cheerful colors and contemporary art and fresh food with sophisticated flavors that I associate with dining in San Francisco. I had an appetizer of risotto with prawns (confirmed first that it was prepared without wine) and shared bites of Greg’s swordfish and salmon carpaccio. For my entree I had tuna three ways: seared, tartare, and in phyllo, served with a side dish of basmati and wild rice with herbs. The tuna was excellent and each preparation was distinct from and also complementary to the others. The seared tuna had capers and caraway seeds and a tart, acidic finish and was my favorite of the preparations. The tartare was good, but my favorite tartare is still at Aqua. Dessert was hard to choose, with lots of fruit options. I finally went with the trio of creme brulees. They were served in oval shaped glass glasses instead of the traditional ramekin. The flavors were fruit, nougat and pistachio, with perfectly crisp tops. Very nicely done. I’d eat here every week.
Since coming home, I've eaten out twice, that is if you count popcorn at two different movies......I miss the fun dining with you!
Posted by: Renee Berberian | Sunday, April 24, 2005 at 11:14 AM