ah…boullion racine. apparently one of the last true "belle epoque" type brassieres left, with a little bit of the snottiness left over to prove it. but it really was pretty in its way, with cut mirrors on all of the walls, a green and gold pallet and great views too.
some rose and a soup for each of us to start: a fish bouillon with garlic butter, croutons and cheese and a squash and chestnut soup. then onto scrumptious and rich tiny little dauphine cheese raviolis in cream sauce and what i hear were equally satisfying escargots in basil oil. (seems basil is the common flavour pairing for escargots in paris restaurants.) and finally the awesome creme brulee for dessert, seen at the top of this entry. i'm sure you've had ok creme brulees and then really good ones. this was a great one. you can see how perfect the burnt crust was, and the custard was very good–tasted good but also a real custard in texture and consistency.
but at night, off to somewhere very different though just as good: le taxi jaune. this place was recommended in reviews i'd read but also by a good friend who stayed in the 3rd on a recent visit to paris, so just a short distance from the oberkamph restaurant and bar area. after going to le taxi jaune, i think of the 11th as a true neighborhood-area too.
i got the feeling that if i lived in paris for a long time and made good friends, we and our families would head to le taxi jaune all the time. most of the other diners in this tiny restaurant seemed like they all knew each other and there were a couple of kids and babies dining with them late into the night. the food was good–how can you go wrong with truffles and cream. you can barely see the slices of salsify under all of the shavings. and we ordered the cahors based on a recommendation only to notice later this was the very same bottle on the regulars' tables. i'd never had a cahors before (south-west french region) and i loved it. so much that i brought a bottle back. thanks for the recommendation, j.z.! ltj became one of our favourites too.