Every once in a while I do venture beyond the confines of Italian dining, although in a country so obsessed with its own cuisine that often means crossing the border. I went to Paris last weekend for the Independent Winery Fair , an expo center packed with some 1000 wineries from all over France, each with a table, ready to talk to you about their wine and serve you a sample. Small wineries meant smaller price tags too. I took home nine of my favorite bottles.
Amid fois gras sandwiches and and dark chocolate tastings we were warned to save room for dinner, as we would be having a traditional French prix fix menu at L'Astier, a time tested neighborhood bistro in the 11th.
L'Astier
44 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud.
Tel 0143571635
This meant a salad starter, which in France is never a simple Romain heart with a squirt of lemon juice. I had the endive salad with came with ham, melted Gorgonzola, and toasted pine nuts in a pine nut vinaigrette. I had to forgo half of that due to a nut allergy, but the servers brought me a small bowl of rich, toasty olive oil.
Next came a block of fish, similar in consistency to sea bass, but with a slightly milder flavor. It was delicately crispy on the outside and flaky and moist inside, and came served on a bed of mixed mushrooms, also delicate and balanced.
Then came the plateau des fromages, the communal cheese plate that makes the rounds of the restaurant before dessert. It was pretty varied, with a lot of Chevre, basic tomes, and some Saint- Marcellin that made the cherries pop right out of our bold bottle of Grenache.
Dessert came next, and I risked the flour-less chocolate cake. I has happy to find that there were no traces of nuts in sight, and it was moist and just sweet enough.
The service was sweet and attentive, though they'd mistakenly taken our reservation for an hour earlier. They scrambled to put together a table for our party of five, which was a little cramped. But they were clearly very sorry for the mix-up and managed to make the miracle happen at 9:30pm on a Saturday night none the less.
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