Les Chouettes in the 3rd has become one of Colette and my favorites, especially on Sundays, and I was assigned to do a Chowhound-France meet for a visiting CH-aficianado from Kuala Lumpur so what could be better than the center table that seats 8 in the light of the three-story iron alcove? We had some difficulty deciding on the tempting choices but at least a few of us lit on the rabbit with feves, duxelles and a abat sauce; Hoo Boy! But it was not be be.....hold on. First, we all had the cold coques, encornets, artichokes and speck - wonderful starter I must say.
So when informed that the rabbit was replaced by pintade aka African chicken, we split between the magret de canard, gambas, piquillos and fennel and the pintade with all the mushroom puree and pieces and spring veggies - that was surprisingly good. Well, not surprising for Les Chouettes, where everything is good, but surprising for a rabbit substitute.
Desserts were split among us, with a sesame mousse, pistachios and glace lin; creamy caramel & chocolate, red fruits and milk jam (huh?); and a classic Paris-Brest described as "Irresistible" - in short it was not, but quite good, nonetheless.
We moved from a lighter to heavier red and had some white for those so inclined, as well. With 3.5 bottles of wine, no bottled water and several coffees (I didn't count) our bill for 7 amounted to 120 E a couple.