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Paris’s Frederic Simonin: An Excellent Secret

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As mentioned, I am but one of the food-obsessed people in my family. My older brother, Matt, and his wife, Yuko, regularly explore great restaurants in Tokyo, where they live, and have come to befriend a 2-star Michelin chef there. On his recommendation, we lunched at the lovely Frederic Simonin. The easy-to-miss eatery on a side street in northwestern Paris debuted less than a year ago, but word has it that Chef Simonin—who worked at Taillevent, Le Cinq, and opened a Joël Robuchon restaurant in London—may be receiving some stars of his own soon.

The ubiquitous foie grass–Port reduction–Parmesan foam amuse bouche arrives!
(It’s still delicious.) In tableware news, the Mod glassware of varying patterns gave a playful spirit to an otherwise subdued dining room.

This got everyone craning their necks: a “vegetable salad,” but so much more than that. Various vegetables, some raw and some lightly cooked, with an anchovy-laced dressing. (Matt beamed at his shrewd pick.) I kept it on reserve as a final course in case I was still hungry (I wasn’t).

When in France, order escargot (snails)… with hazelnut, lettuce, and parsley sauce.

Scallops with radishes… love the bright presentation.

This won the appetizer race: a soft-boiled egg in truffle cream with mushrooms and herbs.

John Dory with cockles and roasted green onions in light citrus sauce

Calamari with mixed vegetables and fried zucchini blossoms

Line-caught sea bass and rigatoni stuffed with tomatoes, olives, and herbs. The rigatoni might have been a bit fussy; they were better to look at than to eat.

Chicken with (one long) truffle-cream macaroni

Simonin tips his hat to former boss Robuchon with this signature dish of potato purée. As local food writer Barbra Austin put it: “I don’t know if it’s more accurate to describe it as potatoes enriched with butter or butter enriched with potatoes.” (For the record, I thought these were better than Robuchon‘s—more butter, I’m sure!)