Chez L'Epicier

  Almost at the very end of Rue St Paul you will find Chez L'Epicier.  A little bit out of the crowds that saunter up and down St Paul in the evening.

 Housed in a small building with big glass windows.  Not only is L'Epicier a restaurant, it is also a market place where they sell olive oils, vinegars, salts and some prepared foods.  The restaurant has 2 rooms.  One room with a nice sized bar and a few tables and then the main room, where we ate.  There is a very mellow vibe.  Blue painted walls with chalkboards to highlight some specials of the day. 

The food is definitely inventive but also a tad on the heavy side.  I opted for a green salad to start.  My friend had the white asparagus soup drizzled with truffle oil and a whipped mushroom cream on the side.  Fred and our other friend went with the salmon.  Smoked salmon with lobster oil and thinly sliced fennel waffles on the side.  Interesting. 

Dinner was quite a large plate and after some wine, I had no problem consuming the whole thing.  2 long pieces of pork belly caramelized on top surrounding a cauliflower mousse.  The pork was delicious.  Tasty and well cooked.  The cauliflower mousse was sort of bland.  Next to this were 2 scallops each pan fried over a mixture of greens and a vinaigrette.  On the side of the dish was a swatch of curry mixture.  All very good and the whole thing worked.  Everyone had different meals and each were a mixture of different flavors and textures.  When the meal comes they describe everything on your plate for you.

We split a chocolate bar with shaved jellied beets on top which was a strange combo but the chocolate was intense and good.

After dinner, we strolled down Rue St. Paul to go back to the hotel for an after dinner drink.  Nice restaurant, good food but as always, them most important rule, is good company.