Cucina Testa Rossa: La Bastide Odeon, Paris

Friday, 25 February 2005

La Bastide Odeon, Paris

My culinary alma mater, The French Culinary Institute in New York City, is in town with a group of students and that means two things. 1. I get to see my friend Scott, and 2. free meal(s). When one is financially challenged, one tends to swallow one’s pride, hopefully along with a great dinner! Anyways… last night the FCI’s Chef Marc and mon ami Scott hosted 18 students and 1 alumni (namely me!) at the gracious La Bastide Odéon in the hip St. Germain/6th arrondisement, located in between the Théatre de l’Odéon and the Jardin de Luxembourg. Voila le menu...

Dîner à La Bastide Odéon
Chef Gilles Ajuelos
Le 25 février 2005
pour L’Institut Culinaire Français Ecole de Cuisine

Sur l'arrivée (Upon arriving):
~Beaumont des Crayères Champagne (Champagne)
Les Olives Assortée (Assorted Olives)

Les Entrees (Appetizers):
~Domaine du Deffends Blanc 2003 Vin de Pays du Var (White wine)
Pressé de poireaux à l’huile d’argan, chèvre frais, et pain grille
(Leek terrine with argan oil, fresh goat cheese and toast)
or
Rémoulade de celery et pommes, saumon cru au sel et caramel de vinaigre
(Celery and apple remoulade with cured salmon in a caramelized balsamic sauce)

Les Plats (Main Course):
~Domaine Vallembelle 2003 AOC Faugères (Red wine)
Rascasse à la plancha, risotto crémeaux au potiron et à la sauge
(Grilled red snapper with creamy pumpkin and sage risotto in a port sauce)
or
Magret de canard épicé à l’orange, purée de dates et navets confits
(Duck breast with a date puree, candied turnips in an orange sauce)

...and a beautiful vegeterian dish for Scott. Vegetarians are every chefs worst nightmare (though they'll never publically admit it!), unless of course you are a vegetarian chef. When an order comes into the kitchen that there are 1 or 2 vegetarians in a party, eyes roll and the digust is tangible. When the South Beach Diet hit critical mass, every other order was requested the "South Beach" way and it was enough to send the kitchen into anarchy. Try it and watch the chef.. I dare ya... ;-) Luckily such nonsense like the South Beach Diet, Atkins Diet, etc... doesn't exist in France! Nor are there many vegetarians! ;-) It's simply not logical...

Les Desserts (Dessert)
~Café et thé (Coffee and tea)
Sablé moelleux aux poires et crème brûlée à la pistache
(Short bread with a poached pear on pistachio crème brulee)
or
Tranche d’ananas pane au pain d’épices et son sorbet fromage blanc
(Gingerbread encrusted pineapple slice topped with fromage blanc)

And what every chef is most intersted in...
We met the chef who treated us to a tour of their shining kitchens. They are of course spotless and look virtually brand new with a custom made stove in the center with a flat top, 6 burners and 2 “planchas” (one for meat and one for fish!) which is like a flat stainless steel griddle but it sits above water (sorry, hard to describe) and eliminates the need for sauté pans. The sauces are made separately from various reductions and a stack of small copper sauce pans sits at the ready. The prep kitchen is huge by restaurant standards, has a dry storage area and all the latest gadgets (mixers, ice makers, convection ovens, refrigerators, walk-ins, etc…). They keep very little produce and food in general on hand as most everything is delivered fresh daily.

The chef hails from the south of France where he spent a decade as sous-chef at Nice’s glorious l'Hôtel Negresco! Naturally, he serves provençal cuisine but when opening his own restaurant, opted for a convivial, familial atmosphere rather than the more formal XVIII century styled, Michelin award winning, The Chantecler.

For an appetizer, in honor of Mme Guiliano and her French Women who Don’t Get Fat, I selected the pressé de poireaux. The leek terrine as you can see is a visual delight. Argan oil, from the Argan tree, hails from Morocco and claims to have medicinal properties such as lowering cholesterol, improving circulation and fortifying the immune system. Known as the “almond of Barbary”, the Argan fruit has a “green, fleshy exterior like an olive, but larger and rounder. Inside, there is a nut with an extremely hard shell, which contains almond-shaped kernels.”

For the main course I had the snapper that was cooked to perfection and since I could bathe in pumpkin risotto, I was a happy camper. I’m not a big fan of pistachio and thought it looked beautiful, I opted for the pineapple which was encrusted in gingerbread crumbs and topped with a quenelle of fromage blanc ice cream and a prefect quenelle sized mint leaf. Fromage blanc (white cheese) is a French thing and is a cross between plain yogurt and cream cheese and is adored by the French (and my friend Scott).

This spring, La Bastide is highlighting wine from La Vallée du Rhône. The first Tuesday of every month, winemakers from AOC Rhône Valley wineries will be in the restaurant to share their wine and “parler de leur passion”. Next month (on March 1st) features Le Domaine la Réméjeanne par Rémi Klein AOC Côtes du Rhône et Le Domaine de l’Oratoire St. Martin par F. Alary AOC Cairanne.

What the heck is AOC, you ask? Good question!
AOC stands for Appellation d'Origine Controlée or Appellation of Controlled Origin. A French system implemented in 1935 to protect the highest quality producers of wine (and cheese, meat, etc.), the laws guarantee that the producers meet specific standards and strict criteria in all aspects of production. Wine AOC laws that dictate which varieties (chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, etc…) can be planted and which production methods can be used in specific wine regions. This is why only sparkling wine made in the Champagne region can be called Champagne! Sparkling wine made anywhere else in the world must be labeled “sparkling wine” and not “champagne”.

Cheers! Bonheur et Santé!
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La Bastide Odéon
7 rue Corneille, 75006 Paris
+33 1 43 26 03 65
http://www.bastide-odeon.com/
Métro: Odéon; RER: Luxembourg
Hours: Tues-Sat, 12:30-2pm and 7:30-10:30pm
Cuisine: Provençal
Menu-carte: 36.50 euros