Les Papilles

I must admit, Les Papilles made it on the list due to another Anthony Bourdain episode. I watched that show with hungry eyes, itching to jump on a plane to Paris. I had been to Paris before, but felt like this was my chance to do it my way. I must say, since this is one of my last posts for this trip, that Paris is all that and more. Not only the food, but thanks to David I was able to experience the amazing art scene as well. Parisians deserve to be snobby...I would be too if this was my hometown. Instead, I get to be snobby about skiing and hiking :)

Les Papilles is in the Latin Quarter. Its teeming with students, French hipsters, and tourists streaming south from Notre Dame, looking for the "West Bank" experience. The night of our reservation David and I found ourselves caught in a blitzkrieg snow storm, so we jumped from cafe to cafe, waiting for the fooding hour.

Once 7:30 hit, we ducked from doorway to doorway until we finally made it to our spot. The inside immediately reminded me of Antico Roscioli in Rome. Small narrow space, with a larger alcove in the back. One side of the narrow space devoted to wine/beer/bites, and kitchen somewhere in the back.

The menu is set each night. Three courses for 30 some odd Euros....STEAL! This place is also known for its wine, which lines the walls. One word of warning....pick your own bottle. I let the manager pick for us, and then I noticed as I walked the restaurant, almost every other table had the same bottle. I am not disputing the wine was not good, but definitely not great, plus it makes everyone feel special if they think something was picked just for them....just some words of advice:)

The course break-up was as follows:

1. Sweet Potato Soup with Chorizo, Croutons, Paprika, Quenelle of Cream & Crispy Parsley
2. Beef Roast with Carrot, Snap Peas, Wax Potato, Sun-Dried Tomato & Onion in a Red-Wine/Beef Stock
3. Chocolate Mousse with Caramel Foam

The beef roast was achingly good. Perfect morsels of fork tender beef, dripping with rich and balanced red wine juice, cut with sweet medallions of carrot and peas. Everything about this was perfect, in the most simple sense. There was nothing elevated about this...It came out in a huge crock and could easily have fed two, but due to its sheer goodness, not one piece of meat was left. Unfortunately, this meant I could not finish the mousse, but I made sure to scoop out all the caramel foam, which had the ubiquitous French inclusion of the right amount of salt!

Would I come back to Les Papilles....Yes. It is on par with Le Chateaubriand, as one of those places that would be on regular rotation if I were to move to Paris. Ah, how I miss it!