Crimson bricks, a marbled counter, leather banquettes, hanging mirrors… Ever since serial-bistrotter David Lanher (La Crèmerie, Le Bon Saint Pourçain, Anima…) opened this charming restaurant across from the Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin church, office workers on Rue du Bac file in, mouths open and eyes closed, as the French expression goes. The man responsible for the madness? Alexandre Navarro, a talented chef who trained under the greats (Ducasse, Constant…), who sends modernist plates out from his kitchen. Served à la carte the day we went for lunch: a delicious fried zucchini blossom stuffed with zucchini, feta and pine nuts, lounging on a bed of zucchini and Parmesan purée; incredible pearly white cod in an addictive smoked butter sauce, served with plump gnocchi and watercress; before a heady coconut-lemon blancmange served with a divine summer berry coulis. At lunch, the prix-fixe menu is worth bragging about – eg.: Albacore tuna ceviche with tomatoes; hake fillet with coco de Paimpol beans and a shellfish emulsion; a Sicilian lemon cream with an activated charcoal meringue and bergamot sorbet… // T.K.
FEELING THIRSTY? Naturalist wines: a Cheverny red or white from the Domaine des Huards (€9 a glass), a Minervois from Jean-Baptiste Senat (€47 a bottle), a Sancerre from the Domaine Vacheron (€59)…
PRICE: Menu €36-42 (lunch), €54 and €65 (dinner, food and wine pairings +€25 and €45), à la carte €41-72.
