Great Expectations

I don’t know about you, but much as I try to clear my mind from all I’ve heard about a place and enter it with no expectations, inevitably someone or some review has influenced those expectations.  Let’s take two consecutive meals in January as an example. The first meal was at a place, La Bigarrade, that I’d visited earlier this month on the urging of one of Paris’s hottest chefs, who had done some consulting with the owner-chefs. I entered and chatted up one of the chefs and liked what I saw but I didn’t go immediately, for several reasons, but by the time I had made a reservation, everyone and his uncle had gone, including my best and oldest food-finder friend, and given it rave reviews.  So there was no way I went with a neutral set of mind. And the meal was fine, just fine.  The risotto was good, the rougets fresh and tasty and the four generous desserts were good, along with fine bread, wine and coffee.  But somehow it didn’t hit a home run. The following day, I tried a place, l’Agassin, that had had just OK reviews (one heart from Rubin but alright from Simon) and when I drifted by last summer I just didn’t “get it.”  It looked also OK but not great.  And then my most trusted food scout announced that he’d eaten there and it was bad.  I don’t know what prompted me to doubt his judgment but a thought kept gnawing at me that Simon had really raved, there must be something good there. So I went.  And my, oh my, I was blown away – the foie gras in a warm veggie soup was terrific, the scallops were perfection, a boar stew was moist and “adorable,” and finally they served me a super pain perdu. Go figure! *My last meal at these two places were January 25 and 26, 2008, fully paid for. Test your expectations at: La Bigarrade 106, rue Nollet in  the 17th, (Metro: Brochant) T: 01.42.26.01.02 Closed Saturday lunch and Sundays Lunch menu at 45, dinner at 55 € l’Agassin 8, rue Malar in the 7th, (Metro: Alma Marceau) T: 01.47.05.18.18 Closed Sundays and Mondays Lunch menu at 25 and menu carte at dinner for 34 €.   ©2008 John A. Talbott