You've heard of Boutary, the restaurant on the Left Bank, now discover Petit Boutary, its little brother in the Batignolles district, and itself the big brother of Comptoir Boutary, a stone's throw from the Saint-Lazare train station. Three toddlers with different, yet well-tempered characters, all products of Maison Boutary , founded in 1888 in south-west France.
Specializing in its early days in wine, the Maison has since expanded its activities, opening these three Parisian restaurants - as well as a fourth in Tokyo - and also venturing into caviar production. While Boutary is a chic restaurant in the 6th arrondissement, Petit Boutary is a simpler establishment where the chef combines more relaxed gastronomy with the atmosphere of a neighborhood bistro.
The new chef is Roméo Agbodjan. Trained at Le Pergolèse, the restaurant of chef Stéphane Gaborieau, MOF 2004, as well as at Le Divellec, on the edge of the esplanade des Invalides, the chef is now free to inject elements of his African origins into the dishes he imagines in the kitchens of Petit Boutary - with even a Tchigan ('prestige' in Mina) tasting menu that mixes inspirations from Benin to Ethiopia.
While he is guided by market produce and the seasons, Roméo Agbodjan can't help but honor the finest seafood. It's a passion for the man who is also a fisherman in his spare time, and a stroke of luck to have stumbled upon a caviar-producing Maison - featured on the menu with tastings starting at €15.
Whether indoors or out on the large sunny terrace on a quiet side street, Petit Boutary's cuisine is available on tasting menus only. It's the perfect place to indulge your senses. For lunch, expect to pay €24 for the dish of the day, €32 for a starter/main course or main course/dessert, €39 for a starter/main course/dessert and €54 for a 4-course menu, at the chef's discretion.
At our lunch, after a quartet of sapid amuse-bouches (virgin vegetables and grilled octopus/buttered calourde and lemon/tarama and trout roe/corn espuma, roasted buckwheat, chives and Espelette pepper), a gazpacho of white asparagus, green asparagus and tomatoes, topped with half a pan-fried avocado and a dash of chive oil, refreshes the palate under the zenith of the sun.
This is followed by a crushed potato, seaweed butter and lightly lemony Isigny cream, topped with a lovely quenelle of Baeri caviar, and then on to the fish ( flame-roasted mackerel on a kale risotto, brioche emulsion and teriyaki sauce - a delight) and a second fish on a cream of dried fish, grapefruit and samphire.
Before passing a tiramisu with a siphon containing pistachio ice cream, it's time for the meat, a leg of lamb spiced up with sweet chilli, glacial ficoïde and reduced meat juice. A discreet, free and joyful address.
Location
Petit Boutary
16 Rue Jacquemont
75017 Paris 17
Official website
www.petitboutary.com
