Californian chef Mailea Weger's restaurant Lou may not have lasted long at this address, but we can only hope that its successors will last longer. Erso, a new bistronomic restaurant on the Saint-Ambroise side of the 11th arrondissement, has been unveiled.
Set up by Marine Bert (ex-Lutetia, Lazare, Pantruche) in the dining room and chef Yann Placet (trained at Ferrandi, former chef at Pantruche where he met Marine) in the kitchen, Erso is in the right vein of neighborhood restaurants where you can find seasonal, market-driven cuisine, tinged with good ideas.
Relying on local produce sourced from producers in the Paris region - with the exception of seafood, the chef's real pet peeve, in his own words - Erso unveils an affordable lunch menu: €23 starter/main course or main course/dessert, €29 starter/main course/dessert.
"I love playing with spices and herbs, and experimenting. In all my culinary research, my aim is to find the ideal balance between flavors. Creativity takes on its full meaning when the combination of tastes both surprises and seduces," explains the chef.
On the menu at the time of our visit, a palet of roasted butternut (8€) with cumin butternut mousseline, garlic and lemon confit cream, shavings of romanesco cabbage and a creamy pecorino sauce; a homemade country terrine (7€) with mustard seed pickles and beet pickles; guinea fowl supreme (17€), lemon sweet potato mousseline, roasted baby carrots, golden turnip pickles, smoked paprika sabayon; and pollack fillet (19€), cauliflower mousseline, roasted pumpkin, vinegar raisins, white wine and savory sauce.
All in all, a successful lunch, with the exception of the pavlova (8€) for dessert, which suffered from the lack of flavor of the season's last vine peaches.
In the evening, the menu is more refined, with nobler products and more elaborate recipes than at lunchtime, such as roast monkfish (28€), stuffed quail (27€), pithiviers (25€), oxtail pressé (13€) or snacked cuttlefish (15€).
To fill your glass, it's a matter of trusting Marine who, as well as overseeing the room, has taken charge of the wine list, which features references from all regions of France, with a special place for natural and biodynamic wines.
With its sleek, Scandinavian-influenced decor byEscalier D, large open kitchen with counter where you can sit and watch the ballet in the kitchen, glass roof overlooking a charming courtyard and summer terrace, Erso caters to all tastes. An address that should quickly find its audience in the neighborhood.
Location
Erso
18 Rue Saint-Ambroise
75011 Paris 11
Official website
erso-restaurant.fr
