David Toutain, Paris

Although we have come and gone I have to post one more meal we had in Paris.  I don’t want to forget the meal and I don’t want to forget and come back.  The restaurant is David Toutain.  The chef is Toutain who has spent time at some of the top restaurants around the globe.  This is his first restaurant.

The restaurant is sparse yet elegant.  Reminds me of Danish design.  Organic, natural, simple and warm.  There is a small upstairs mezzanine where we sat and overlooked the main dining room.

The menu is simple.  Either you order a wine tasting with the courses or not.  Also you can order how many courses you want.  We opted for the smaller meal although there are several added additions that come with it so the meal is long yet those are the only decisions you need to make.

You begin with roasted salsify roots.  The insides have become soft like a mashed potato.  Dip that in the white chocolate cream to intensify the flavor.  A wonderful starter to the meal.

The next starter is from beets.  A crispy chip made from beets formed in a roll and then stuffed with a beet cream.  It is quite delicious and should be eaten in one bite.  I always wonder how many times someone had to work on this before they got it right.

There were truffles available that evening for another course.  We decided we had to try them so we opted for one dish split among the three of us.  It was definitely the call.

An egg stuffed with soft egg cream with a hint of cumin and tiny vegetables.  On the side is a small piece of bread to be dipped into the egg.  This was off the charts.

Simply cured salmon that your fork just slid through served over a mixture of green sauces to dip your salmon into.  There was this one crispy piece on the top, I can’t remember what it was but I do remember it was one of the best parts of this dish.

What’s a restaurant in Paris without bread?  Warm light rolls served with a lightly salted butter.  There were also crispy crackers that had a hint of fennel in them.  It was more of a course than anything else because by the time the next course came we had finished everything.

Simply poached foie gras alongside small super creamy potato gnocchi’s that were out of this world.  This was served in a very light yet rich consomme.

This was our truffle course.  It was a risotto that was made mostly from vegetables and very little rice.  Quite different and not as heavy.  Like a celery root.  Shaved white truffles on top.  The perfect amount.  I think if we had each had a full portion bowl of this we would have not been able to eat another bite.

The fish course.  Lightly poached white fish served with a mixture of different creams too and small sweet potato bites on the side.

This was amazing.  Three small bite sized piece of roasted eel sitting in a dark Asian flavored sauce.  Really different and divine.

The meat course was pork.  Same concept again.  A deconstructed place with a small piece of meat served with just a few vegetables and different sauces so that every bite was good yet different.  The portions were perfect and the flavors intensified as the meal progressed.

The first dessert was a very rich cream like a vanilla mousse.

The second dessert was savory made into sweet.  The chips were from a root vegetable.  I wish I could remember the different flavors but unfortunately at this point it was a blur.

Last out was the simple treats that they send you off with.  Small warm lemon muffins that were light airy tart yet sweet.  Loved these.  There was also a chocolate truffle with a tiny nut inside.

All and all the dinner was delicious.  Chef’s choice which I do like on occasion.  The attention to detail was obvious and we left feeling just perfect.  I’d really like to come back here.  It is definitely a place to treat yourself when you are in Paris.