So tomorrow we head back to the USA only for a month or so (can't wait to return to France) and we chose a small bistro on the northeast side of Paris near the Republique that was simply wonderful.
AKE has seating for about 20 plus some seat at the open kitchen bar and has wobbly tables with candles and super ambiance. The menu has about 8 options and are meant to be shared, so we chose two to start and ended up with four all great options.
The wine was a Hautes Cotes de Beaune 2018 Gymnopodie from Domaine de la Roseraie which was a superb aged pinot noir that went with everything. It took our server a while to find the wine in the cave, but she found one bottle numbered 1352 out of 2336 so the production was very small!
We started with the Terrine(all photos on FB) of pork and chicken with pistachio and Armagnac and a fruit infusion like marmalade and the sourdough bread was warm and had a super crunchy crust to boot. Next came Gateau grille, a "cake" made of potato, carrot and Jerusalem artichoke with a super yet simply aioli.
Choux de Bruxelles were grilled Brussels Sprouts with parmesan, fried shallots and citrus (oops grapefruit) and fried anchovies that we loved. The winning dish was the Croquettes de lieu noir or Fish Croquettes made from Saithe(fish) with spinach and leeks with a fabulous to-die-for remoulade(was it apple in the sauce) and radicchio. Our friends back home know how picky we are about crab cakes and these fish croquettes were as pure and simple as the best crabcakes back home.
We finished with a glass of Grenache and some cheese: Comte and Tomme de fleur de Savoie that was so floral and super to give us a take-away flavor from France ending this amazing 7-week journey that seemed to start ages ago in the UK!
