Pirouette, Paris

A lot has changed in Paris over the past decade.  One thing in particular is the slew of young chefs who are leaving after working in the kitchens of the top places such at Le Meurice or Bouloud in NYC and then opening up their own place.  It wasn’t that this didn’t happen in the past but it did not happen as quickly.  The chef at Pirouette, Tomy Gousset did just that.

Pirouette is located in the back end of Les Halles.  The place has a soaring ceiling with an intimate feeling in light greys and browns.  Dinner is 36 euros.

They started us off with a small bowl of celery root soup very similar to a vichyssoise.  In the middle of the bowl was a thinly sliced red beet and a roasted piece of celery root.  Then they poured the soup perfectly over the top just letting the beet shine through.

We both started with pastas.  The portion control in Europe is perfect.  You never walk away stuffed.  I had the fregola sarda mixed with chopped celery, butternut squash and white truffles on top.  The crunch of those tiny fregolas (they are like Israeli couscous) mixed with the chopped vegetables was delicious.

Fred had the gnocchi cooked with spinach butter, smoked haddock and walnuts.  Quite creative.

For a main course I had the guinea fowl.  Covered in tiny seeds over a mixture of roasted roots.  Some had been pureed and others remained whole.  Fred had the scallops.

For dessert we both tried something different.  Fred went with the cheese.  Two slices of cheese that looked like thin slices of pie covered with a black cherry jam and spices.  Very rich.

I had rice pudding.  Something I never have but absolutely enjoy.  This was mixed with a salted caramel and caramelized hazelnuts set in the pudding.  There was an extra small glass on the side of more just in case you just wanted a few more nuts.

Nice night.  Good food.  We walked some of the way home but December tends to be a bit chilly here.  At one point we jumped into the Metro and made our way back home.