Ordering defensively

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Ordering defensively
I don’t know about you but because I eat in a lot of new, largely un-reviewed or not multiply-reviewed places and get an immediate impression whether a place is one more of a thousand exactly like it or truly one of a kind, I’ve developed a strategy I call defensive ordering, akin to defensive driving.  What do I mean? Let’s take two meals I had last week.  The first one was at a place – Girondine, the Bistro of Gargantua (I kid thee not) – that looked all the world like 1,000 others nearby in the Deepest 13th, that quarter so well-served by restos and so poorly served by Metros.  It was located on a boulevard, a red awning covered the terrace, it had a nice-looking internal room and welcoming staff.  OK good enough: but was it one of a thousand or one of a kind? The cheapo (18.90 €) menu-carte had all cold/salady things, the mains looked banal and the desserts standard fare.  So go with the carte but order defensively (e.g., things they can’t screw up.)  That way I think I scored (but will never know of course.)  I had a “croute” of morilles that were so woody tasting and smelling they must have been on the forest floor just a few hours ago.  Then the confit of duck (which along with magret, is almost impossible to destroy) which wasn’t bad but did not break the sound barrier – but the diced, fried in goose fat and garlic, potatoes were divinity themselves and the moelleux of chocolate the best I’ve ever had (my gold standards being Chez Catherine’s and that at the Bistrot Cote Mer, neither of which I can compare today because CC is out of my bistrot price range and the BCM was sadly sold and ruined.  (Note to those who might be tempted to go to Girondine; it is called the Bistro of Gargantua for a good reason, thus order minimally.) Next day, totally different venue – the hautes of the Seine, in serene Suresnes, a place called Pere Lapin, I suppose because if he called it Pierre, he’d get sued.  Here, in contrast to the doctors and lawyers and families in Girondine, the clients were all terribly well tanned, nouveau riche women and somewhat pale shirts.  Here the ardoise looked great, as opposed to other places where one suspects they’re throwing yesterday’s stuff or the supplier’s oversupply at you.  And here, I took “le menu:” why not find out what the guy can do with inexpensive but good product?  A lot it turns out.  A velouté of lentils (what could be simpler?) had teeny tiny slices of bacon with extremely tasty teeny tiny croutons (and I hate standard croutons) and mascarpone and was masterful; the bland swordfish blocks (well admit it, when did you last have tasty swordfish that wasn’t over the hill?) were rescued, indeed beatified, by a tart sauce of grapefruit and orange bits atop a pissaladiere; and the roasted figs were stuffed with incredibly finely chopped almonds and accompanied by an ice of verveine – super.  Go back?; on a nice day when the arteries need the hill climb and God is in Her heaven, you bet. My late August finds: Pere Lapin 10, rue de Calvaire in Suresnes (92nd (T2 Suresnes) T : 01.45.06.72.89 Closed Mon & Tues Lunch menus 20 and 25 €, a la carte about 40 € Girondine 48 bvd Arago, 13th (Glaciere) T : 01.43.31.64.17 Closed Sunday night only Menu-cartes 18.90 and 30 €, a la carte 36-40 €   ©2006 John A. Talbott  
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