Carré Des Feuillants
Paris, France
More than any other grand Parisian chef, Alain Dutournier is a man
with firm roots in the countryside. A native of France's fertile
Southwest, Dutournier brings the best ingredients of the region to the
tables of Carré des Feuillants, a sophisticated and elegantly
relaxed Michelin two-star restaurant right off Paris's fashionable
Place Vendome.
Amid an airy entry with its high atrium and flanked by separate dining
rooms decorated with bare wood floors, Venetian glass chandeliers, and
trompe l'oeil wood-paneled walls, Dutournier turns out an
ever-changing menu designed to challenge his creativity and show to
the best and most modern advantages the foods of his home region: rich
foie gras, well-aged beef that's grilled just right, farm-raised
chicken, pigeon, rabbit and lamb, not to mention pork raised in the
old-fashioned way. Each dish is married with farm ingredients he
loves, such as fresh fava beans, tiny baby purple artichokes known as
poivrades, wild mushrooms that include first-of-the-season wild
cèpes (boletus), and prized orange girolles or chanterelles.
Dutournier's food simply bursts with enthusiasm and a love of
full-flavored fare. His incredible barigoule de poivrades et petit
gris, a superbly fragrant dish full of happy flavors, earthy
aromas and soothing aftertaste, blends artichokes, snails and a hint
of basil, making a dish that is both inventive and satisfying. His
duck, roasted to perfection and served with barely a teardrop of fat,
is accompanied by a perfect marriage of golden turnips and bright
green, briny olives.
Each day at lunch, Dutournier offers a 250-franc ($52) tasting menu,
and at lunch and dinner, there's a 550-franc ($115) six-course
menu. Diners ordering the six-course menu have the option (for an
additional 150 francs or $31) of sampling four different wines with
the meal, selected to best accompany Dutournier's fare. À la
carte prices range from about 120 francs ($25) to 260 francs ($55)
for main courses.
Lesser-known wines from France's Southwest, such as Irouléguy
and Madiran, are always available, and each menu includes a selection
of bouteilles du moment from various regions of France,
generally priced from 200 to 400 francs ($42 to $80). A small
international selection of wines is also available by the glass, with
prices from 40 to 60 francs ($8 to $13). Not to mention an
ever-changing wine list that includes hundreds of bottles from all
over France, as well as California, Australia, Italy, Spain and Chile.
Cigars are definitely part of Dutournier's commitment to
gastronomy. The first Monday of every month, Carré des
Feuillants is also the headquarters of CACH (Club des Amateurs des
Cigars de Havane or the Havana Lovers Cigar Club), a group of 30
to 40 cigar lovers, a membership that includes the French female
fashion designer, Sonia Rykiel.
Dutournier is an avid fan of everything that's bold in flavor,
including spicy food, bullfighting, racy wines and cigars.
Dutournier's cigar selection is limited by government import
regulations, which strictly controls which cigars can be brought into
the country. But the list includes some two dozen offerings, including
a range of Hoyo de Monterrey, Punch, Davidoff and Montecristo.
"The best cigars are like the best wines, able to offer subtlety,
aroma, taste and pleasure. Good wines and good cigars are handmade, no
two are alike, and they have the marvelous ability to improve with
time," Dutournier says, adding that he loves nothing better than a
choice cigar and a bottle of good beer--Czechoslovakian Pilsner is his
favorite. But he also loves a smoke after a fine meal accompanied by a
well-aged Sauternes, eau-de-vie or Cognac.
Come to Carré des Feuillants with a sense of adventure, allow
Dutournier's knowledgeable staff to select your wine, and you're sure
to leave with a satisfied soul.
-- Patricia Wells
Patricia Wells, an American journalist who lives in Paris, is
currently updating the third edition of The Food Lover's Guide to
Paris.
Carré des Feuillants
14 Rue de Castiglione, 75001
Paris
Phone: (33)-l 42-86-82-82 Fax: (33)-l 42-86-07-71
Lunch: 250 franc ($52) menu
Lunch & dinner: 550 franc
($115) tasting menu 700 francs ($145) with four wines
à la carte: 550 francs ($115) to 700 francs ($145), not
including wine
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