The Orsay Is Where we Want to Eat

Another area where it’s tough to find a good restaurant just outside a touring destination is around the Orsay Museum. Essentially one must either head West towards the Rue du Bac or Southeast past the Assemblee Nationale. Westward one has several opportunities. My most recent favorite is Cinq Mars on the Rue de Verneuil where the hearty fare include such things as a huge sausage on a huge bed of mashed potatoes and a huge chalkboard of wines from all over (France of course.) An old favorite that (as Yogi Berra said) nobody goes to anymore because it’s too crowded to the Restaurant (le Club) of the grand ecole, the Ecole Polytechnique. It’s open to the public, but full of politicians of all stripes and if you’re a fan of the 8 PM news, you’ll see the cast of characters enter and exit the private rooms periodically. I’ve been talking about it for years but to my knowledge no one I’ve recommended it to has ever gone; it probably intimidates. Just a bit farther are two seafood places, the older, Gaya Rive Gauche, now under the management of Pierre Gagnaire, is stark but elegant, the other 35º Ouest, which by my reckoning is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, simpler and also pricey. I’d also tout you off the Ferme St Simon, which is under new and in my opinion, less successful, management. Heading the other way out of the Orsay resist the impulse to plotz at the nearest bar-brasserie and head over in back of the Assemblee Nationale to the Rue de Burgogne where the 2nd of Bernard Loiseau’s Tante restaurants lies. Loiseau, of whom it was said he never tired of inventing and pushing, died 5 years ago, but his wife has successfully managed what was a complex and complicated empire quite well and the standard of this place – Tante Marguerite, had apparently held up although its prices have crept up. I would discourage you from seeking food further up the street, because I had a horrid meal at Auguste and a meal at Arpege will take all afternoon, albeit a pleasant afternoon. My favorites if you must eat exiting the Orsay are: Cinq Mars 51 rue de Verneuil, 7th (Metro : Rue du Bac) T : 01.45.44.69.13, Metro Rue du Bac Closed Saturday lunch and Sundays Lunch menu 21,50 font>€., a la carte 35-50 €. Gaya Rive Gauche par Pierre Gagnaire 44 rue du Bac, 7th (Metro : Rue du Bac) T: 01 45 44 73 73 Closed Sundays A la carte 55 €. Restaurant le Club Maison des Polytechniciens 12 rue de Poitiers, 7th (Metro: Solferino) T: 01.49.54.74.74 Closed Weekends A la Carte 35-60 Tante Marguerite 5 rue de Bourgogne, 7th (Metro: Assemblee Nationale) T : 01.45.51.79.42 Closed weekends Lunch menu 34 €, dinner menu 40 & 65 €, a la carte 60-65 €.