8.0 AG, 2, rue Clement in the 6th, 01.43.25.77.66, closed Sundays (Metros: St Germain, Mabillion, Odeon) has been open for a month and looks to have already collected a loyal following, some local, some foreign (no Yankees to be seen, however). The exterior proclaims its genre - "bistronomie - vins de propriete" and the interior has two sets of wall decor that are super-cool and certainly not those left by the wonderful Bistrot de l'Alycastre when I ate there in 2009-2010.
The have menus at 22, 29 and 40 E and of course supplements and we had some difficulty choosing.
As in a fancy restaurant, they had 2 amuses (warm cheese "biscuits" and watercress soup that needed salt & pepper to come alive), good bread rolls and fine butter. With a super bio Bordeaux we were off.
Colette started with a very generous serving of 6 scallops with a parsnip puree and divine mushrooms and I had a ravioli (that the carte said would be stuffed with crustaceans but was instead was stuffed with veal (that I thought was rabbit); but the sum total result was spectacular.
Then Colette had the exquisitely flavored bar de ligne with a creme de citron caviar and I a tender, melt-in-your-mouth milk-fed piglet triple-chop with an intense sauce on fragola grains with bits of chorizo in it, with al dente tiny veggies outside - now, I must explain that they brought both main dishes out and then pitchers of the sauces which we slurped and soaked up to our hearts' content.
I was ready to call it quits then and declare victory like Sen George Aiken (R-VT) about Viet Nam but a little voice said - "Go for dessert!" So they brought out two round bowls with stuff on top and behold they had lids and within wonderous things - in her case yuzu, meringue sable and sorbet, in my case what Rubin called a "Mont-blanc reviste....[avec]....joli arcitecture" Indeed; whever is the pastry chef here is a winner.
Coffee came with little madeleines and candied nuts just like the big boys serve.
Our bill; with a bottle and glass of wine (with one offered) and no bottled water was 122 E. The noise level was quiet but my meter showed dB level 176 dB = 1 ton of TNT at 250 ft, no that can't be right, oh my battery is dying.
Go? Better. Once the word gets out you'll be lucky to get a rez. Our genial host Alan Geaam, a Lebanese-Frenchman by way of Iowa, will treat you royally and the chefs equally well; they are, according to Alain Fusion "Chef Mehdi Ben.....ex-Meurice, Pré Catelan et aux Château les Crayères... [et]... Marius Dufay,....ex-Ledoyen et du Mandarin Oriental."
