Au Trou Gascon

Abracadabra! To cast a new spell over this bastion of bourgeois cuisine, Jean-Félix Frichot (formerly of Le Perchoir) and Grégory Reibenberg (also behind La Belle Équipe, Basique, Scaria and Les Rêveuses) have pulled off quite the impressive sleight of hand. Gone are the purple carpeting and café curtains; in their place, you’ll now find a tiled counter, white tablecloths on only some of the tables and panoramic views of Sarah Chougnet-Strudel’s kitchen – who until recently was the chef at Regain in Marseille. The other night, the brilliant chef had everyone talking about her aristocratic creations: an ethereal chicken liver cake brushed with anchovy sauce and chipotle chili oil; beef tongue sliced lace-thin over binchotan-grilled leeks, plus sauce gribiche and a stunning yuzu curd; exquisite duck prepared three different ways – first as mezzelune (half-moon-shaped stuffed pasta) filled with offal, floating in a fragrant lemon balm and cilantro broth, then as a delicate corn crêpe folded over crispy strips of fried duck skin and a bright apple-pear-chili chutney, and finally as tender slices of duck breast paired with dashi-braised turnips and apple paste in a full-bodied jus… Wowzers! Dessert was a generous coupe of apple-parsley sorbet and plum purée, all doused in Armagnac – a dazzling finale to the meal that left us utterly enchanted. // Scotty Lard

FEELING THIRSTY? : Jean-Félix serves clean wines, including Au Pied Du Mur, an Auvergne chardonnay muscaté from Les Chemin de l’Arkose (€8 a glass), Mirage, a Cévenol red from the Domaine de Cassagnas (€40 a bottle), in addition to a handful of cocktails that pay homage to his time at Le Perchoir – like the Dartagnan that combines Armagnac, dark rum, Aperol, Chartreuse and maple syrup (€15).
PRICE: : Set menus €24-29 (weekday lunch), à la carte €41-73 (dinner and Saturday lunch).