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Saturday, September 7, 2013

Restaurant Jadis

In a city with thousands of restaurants, bistros and brasseries to choose from, I turned to longtime friend and SF Chronicle Wine Editor Jon Bonne to nail down a couple of suggestions. The first on the list was Restaurant Jadis, a small affair in a very quiet part of the 15th Arrondissement a couple of miles from the heart of Paris, west of Montparnasse.

First off, apologies for the low lighting; just got a new macro lens and I can't figure out how best to shoot. Also, I hate using flash because it makes all the other patrons stare ...

Referred to as a neo-bistro, Chef Guillaume Delage's take on food appears to be combinations of simple flavors that enhance, yet don't overwhelm each other.

The first dish was a braised tomato, seeded then stuffed with seafood and served in what looks like a cold vegetable emulsion or soup (they referred to it as a "flan".


It came with a side salad made up of the vegetables used to make the broth, topped with the same seafood as what was in the tomato, tender squid. Refreshing and tasty.


Bob ordered the duck breast, served medium rare and I had the chicken liver and foie gras mousse served with langoustines and a parmesan crouton in a wonderful, buttery broth.


Rich, savory, with the mousse being light as a feather, I can't recommend it enough. And it was the perfect first meal of the trip. We were tired, a bit jet-lagged. We had walked around the city for a few hours, quaffed wine and people-watched a bit earlier, and we didn't want something weighing us down.


Now a chicken liver and foie gras mousse is a complex preparation – as was the seafood soup and salad –and while Bob and I loved it, we have to admit, the simplicity of the grilled duck breast, accompanied by a side of braised (they called them "glazed" carrots and turnips, kind of knocked it out of the park.


The root vegetables were cooked to al dente, tender to the fork, where just a hint of the bitterness of the turnip remained and blended perfectly with the natural sweetness of the carrots. I mean, the perfect Fall side dish. Seriously. We ordered a second side dish, it was that good.

The surprise of the meal was the prune liqueur sorbet; not too sweet, with an almost licorice finish.


After an afternoon of imbibing, Bob and I opted just to have a couple of Kir Royals with the meal, and we split a carafe of the house Bordeaux, nothing too crazy. The desserts were nice, too. I had the Jadis Mystery, a frozen piece of architecture where what appears to be a malt honeycomb-center (covered in dark chocolate) is encased in vanilla ice cream, which is rolled in toasted hazelnuts and then served with a warm, unsweetened chocolate sauce.


It's a mystery I didn't have a stroke, what with the armagnac ...


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