8.1 Lazare, Parvis de la Gare Saint Lazare (exterior) and -2 Rue Interieure (interior), 01.44.90.80.80 (but right now reservations are about 7-8 days out for lunch), open 7/7 from 7h00 to midnight, is a mad-house - but a nice mad-house. The design and decor are fantastic, it has an open kitchen with two huge windows, a table d'hote, bar with many stools (all occupied so don't count on plotzing down on impulse), hustling,
bustling, loud (87.8 dB), slow between courses, sloppy (well, it's only been
open 17 days) and fun, really fun.
High above the North wall are two chalkboards, one like a railway Departure Sign with times of the day and stuff served then; one with the recipe for their signature dessert - a Paris-Deauville cake; and the menu is like one might have found in a rail station cafe 50 years ago. Except it's Eric Frechon's food - and not the food you recall from the Eric Frechon of La Verriere, Le Restaurant d'Eric Frechon, Eric Frechon, le Bristol, le Crillon, or le Mini-Palais - it was in Monty Python's term's totally different; part-bar, part-restaurant, part-cafe, part-neobrasserie, part-well-Eric Frechon.
Colette and our friend from across the River Seine ordered the haricots and artichoke and green lettuce salads which I though was nutz - but the freshness of both and dressing, especially on the later, made me regret my nasty thoughts. Others had the friend gambas with EF's own concoction of catsup - they were above the Greenwich Mean Standard.
Then two of our eating pals had the 7-hour lamb with bulgar which all three ladies went gaga over; Colette had the gambas; and I had the sole Dieppoise (with teeny tiny mushrooms and teeny tiny shrimp), whose order prompted my dear companion of 54 years to say "John, are you sure? Sole, not the horse meat, are you OK?" "Don't tell me what to order," snapped I, 'I'm a free man." Glad I did too. Horse meat next time.
Then the table ordered and shared the signature dessert - the Paris-Deauville cake and an aumoniere de crepe, pommes, caramel, etc. Quite fine as was the Waldo wine.
The bill, with two bottles of said Rasteau, no bottled water and 4 coffees, was 267 E ÷ 4 = about 67 E thus about 134 E a couple.
Go? Call 7-8 days ahead for lunch and enjoy because I'll bet a cookie that in 6 months the curse of the New York Times will have killed it.
