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by Morton Hochstein
Montparnasse 25 (Hôtel Le Méridien Montparnasse)
19, rue du Commandant- Mouchotte – 75 014 Paris
Tel. 01.44.36.44.25
Josh would be hungry. It was a valid assumption, knowing his budget as a student in Paris and knowing that he had asked his mother to bring lots of ramen when she came to France.
I had a vision of Josh holed up in an attic, maybe something like Rudolfo’s quarters in La Boheme. He was, instead, in a minuscule, though comfortably designed, student apartment with all the modern conveniences. However, the nearby bar restaurant where he took us, was a bare-floored, barely-lit room where patrons sat at battered tables that could well have been old in Rudolfo’s time.
The kid needed fine dining, fine service and elegant surroundings. He needed to see another side of Paris. For that, we took him to Montparnasse 25, at the Montparnasse Méridien. This left-bank outpost, just a short hop from more traditional tourist byways, is one of the city’s great luxury restaurants, one of the less heralded secret destinations favored by knowing Parisiennes.
Restaurant 25 is the main dining room of Le Méridien, a skyscraper of a hotel that towers above its neighbors on Rue Commandant Mouchotte. It stands tall across the street from a major railroad hub and the direct bus to Charles DeGaulle Airport. The Méridien is business oriented, with all the gadgetry and electronic equipment, meeting rooms, and support services a traveling executive might need, and great elegance when it comes to fine dining
Entering the thirties-style restaurant is like stepping into a dining room on one of the great ocean liners of the time. Restaurant 25 is dark and discreet with black and gray walls and soft lighting, tables comfortably distanced from each other. A maitre d’ hotel, almost a vanishing institution these days, greets you at the entrance and escorts you to your seat.
The captain presents you with a menu and wine card and before you have made a choice, Chef Christian Moine sends his greetings. They come as what is laughingly called carrot juice, mojito style, an enticing blend of vinegared honey and carrots that have been pureed and served in a deep glass with a sprig of mint and coffee ice cream, and a tartine de truffe, toasted country bread , rubbed with olive oil, topped by thin truffle slices. Chefs enjoy playing the amuse bouche game, and Moine is one playful master in the kitchen.
Our hungry, no, our famished student put away the chef’s gift quickly and helped me with mine. Josh, my grandson, has always been an experimental eater, a pleasure to take out with us, since no dish has ever seemed too formidable for his tastes. He went for an order of delicately sautéed scallops, embellished with chicory and tiny apple lasagna, dressed with a peppery beetroot oil. He then helped me finish off an order of sweetbreads and a crisp salad of baby mustard leaves spiced with bitter almond oil. Rollie’s starter was foie gras paired with sweet and ground quince with small slices of toast. Josh got a little of that, too.
Our hungry student has always liked fish, but given the opportunity to splurge on steak, he chose a pan sautéed fillet, (very flavorful; he allowed me a sample) accompanied by grilled foie gras and sorrel. I have always considered chicken to be the true test for a kitchen and chef Moine responded to the challenge with a crisp and flavorful, perfectly roasted bird from Bresse, guarded by a battery of small grey snails and accompanied by a cardon with sinfully good bone marrow. The third member of our group has favored turbot ever since her first experience in a long-vanished Manhattan dining palace and was happily appeased with Moine’s exquisite treatment of that fish, cooked on the bone and caramelized with lemon, sharing its plate with a savarin of scallops in spinach broth.
Josh had more room for sweets than his amply fed grandparents, but we joined him at dessert time. Not exactly, because Rollie chose from an incredible selection of cheeses, opting for a comte, mimolette, and tome de savoie, with slices of walnut bread. Josh chose, happily, a banana milkshake accompanied by a pineapple fritter and I luxuriated in an airy warm soufflé with licorice ice cream. Moine and his kitchen crew are at their most playful with desserts and they provided an amusing climax to our evening of elegance. Poor Josh… back to ramen until our next visit.
© February 2008 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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