Last Friday, my friend Evelyn’s parents (they’re the most fantastic combination of Brooklyn-trendy and Paris-chic, along with some witty humor) took us out to one of the most delicious lunches just before we had to catch a train for Munich. Often times, what makes the restaurant highly-rated or commended is the food paired with the service. But the focus of La Ferrandaise, a cozy yet modern bistro just by the Jardin du Luxembourg, was simply the food. The presentation was obviously lovely, and the service was there, but it’s really rare for the tastes of dishes to linger for me the way they did after that meal. All the food and ingredients are locally and organically produced. Needless to say, it was the start of a fantabulous weekend.
The meal began with not just a bowl of bread, but with radishes and olive butter as well.
For my appetizer, I ordered mackerel salad with red wine and spices – the mackerel was quite pungent, but in the best way possible – neutralized by the crouton on the side and tomatoes in the salad. I ordered a salad in an attempt to be “healthy” because I knew that Munich/Oktoberfest that weekend would mean lots of wurst and beer.
For my main dish, I had duckling breast, red onion and shallot confit with figs – the duckling breast was impossibly tender and I liked this dish especially because often meat is served with very strong sauces, but the sauce used on this duck was subtle, so that the focus was on the texture and tenderness of the meat rather than the intense flavoring.
I was served the red wine Chinon because I ordered a red meat as the main dish.
And finally, for dessert I had roasted figs with honey and dried apricots, and mascarpone ice cream – that ice cream was maybe 1000 gajillion proof alcohol – figs have been my fruit of choice recently, and this just reminded me why that is. I highly recommend that you try roasting figs.