Amâlia, Paris

by arianrh

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  1. I had heard only good things from this sub, and the experience exceeded my expectations! I was nervous after a disappointing dinner the night before at Septime, but this dinner blew that one out of the water on every level.

    I took the Grand Menu, which is 120 euro for seven courses (nine including hors d’œuvres and petit fours, which are not insubstantial). The dishes were tasty, creative, perfectly executed (with one exception), and did a great job highlighting quality ingredients.

    The service was really warm and welcoming. Cecilia, the co-owner and pastry chef, was lovely and made a little time to chat with me even with a full house and dealing with a large party at the same time. The other staff were wonderful and attentive as well, and the sommelier gave me a great recommendation for a red wine to go with the main courses based on my preferences. They all seemed genuinely happy that I was so happy with the food.

    What I ate:

    Breadsticks (not pictured)

    Hors d’oeuvres (cylinder stuffed with potimarron squash, leek mousse tartlet, parmesan tart): Lovely, though I was not the only diner to lose a good portion of the stuffing of my cylinder onto the plate!

    Gnocchis glazed with mushroom jus, scallops with miso, potato: I loved everything about this; all the flavors and textures here were perfectly balanced, in a way I would not have expected from “gnocchi, scallop, potato” (and miso, mushroom, etc.). I was also so excited to finally have a seared scallop on this trip!

    Crab “risotto” with coconut and a lemon gel: A fun and unusual take on a risotto, well balanced and well placed in the progression between two richer dishes.

    Pasta with foie butter, aged comté, balsamic vinaigrette: The only false step the whole evening was that the pasta was slightly undercooked, but I almost didn’t care because this dish was absolutely delicious. This is exactly how I like foie to be used in a dish—judiciously, in a way that really exploits its flavor in a balanced and coherent dish, not a slab as an expensive and gratuitous flourish.

    Rouget à la bourguignonne with beef cheek, spinach, Brussels sprouts (sorry, took a bite before remembering the picture): A smart take on a surf-and-turf. I normally lack enthusiasm for cooked white fish in French/Anglo cuisine, and this dish didn’t quite change my mind about that, but I thought the beef cheek and jus complemented the fish perfectly and made the dish work for me, without overwhelming the freshness and flavor of the fish. I LOVE that the server poured the jus tableside and left me the rest of it in the little carafe (which would have served two if I had not been solo). I liked it so much I dumped it onto my plate after I was done with the dish and ate it with the bread, which made the server smile and tell me the jus was also one of her favorites.

    Jersey beef, smoked sea urchin: Really good, wonderful texture, and the sauce was so flavorful and delicious that I also mopped up all of it with my bread; the only little critique I have is that I would have wanted a bit more flavor of char on the beef, especially with a piece that nice with such great marbling.

    Black garlic mousse, Amarelli licorice, lime: I really liked this, despite not being a fan of mousse—I think because all the key flavors counterbalance what I usually find to be boring one-note creaminess in a mousse. Perfectly calibrated for predessert, and made me retroactively judge other predessert palate cleansers I’ve had more harshly.

    Caramelized ceps and coffee ice cream: Thjs was nice, even as someone who doesn’t really enjoy coffee ice cream/desserts or chocolate/cacao desserts. I loved the idea of ceps in a dessert.

    Petit fours (pear with pastis, chocolate popping candy, some kind of chocolate bonbon, financier): Nice selection to end the night, I especially liked the pear with pastis.

    Absolutely fabulous, and amazing value for money. If I lived in Paris, I’d be back every time they changed their menu, if not more often.

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