Septime and Chez La Vielle

These are the two last meals we had.  Septime’s setting is beautiful.  It is warm and inviting.  It is a set meal so whatever the chef is preparing at that time.  Heavy on the vegetables.  I didn’t capture everything but certainly hit some high notes.  It is far from a large meal but a variety of small plates with loads of flavor.

You begin with a whipped fetalike cheese and thin crispy breadsticks.

This is raw scallops in an apple cider vinegar topped with burnt toast and elderflowers.

Next was marinated acorn squash that had been peeled with creme fraiche on the side.  This was the roasted beets covered with a leaf dressing.

I missed a photo of the roasted endive with mushrooms and horseradish.  My favorite dish was the venison.  Venison with bone marrow with green peppercorns and quince puree.

We had a cheese plate (extra) before having the mushroom pannacotta.   This was the second dessert and final dish of chestnuts, goat cheese, and caramelized walnuts.

The following night we went to the bar at Chez La Vielle, Daniel Rose’s restaurant.  The bar is definitely more lively than the seating upstairs.  The man who runs this room and picks all the wines is an ex-pat who has been in Paris for 8 years.  The food here is very French and very rich.  Possibly too rich but oh so good.  We polished off the duck terrine.

The lentils with foie gras on top is so insane.

This veals brains had been slow roasted with vegetables and a very buttery rich sauce served with rice to mop that up on the side.  It was over the top delicious.  We ate it to the last drop.

We could barely get past a few bites of this chocolate tart.  As always, eating our way through Paris is a treat.  The food scene has changed dramatically over the past 5 years.  There are new places continuing to open up whereas years ago it was just the old guard who stressed over the Michelin star.  Not so much anymore.  I get the feeling that the young chefs are having fun and pushing their dishes in new ways.  Many of the trends we see in NYC start here from the natural wines to the small plates.  I can hardly wait to come back.