Patisserie Perfection: Boris Lumé

Emily Buchanan July 3, 2015

Summers for me are almost exclusively a Provençal affair. With temperatures soaring into the 80s and 90s, I bunker down in the cool stone kitchen of my hilltop farmhouse in Vaison-la-Romaine, to test recipes, cook from my bountiful summer vegetable garden and prepare for my late summer cooking classes.

So for those of you travelling to Paris this summer looking for gastronomic inspiration, I leave you in the capable hands of my good friend and co-conspirator on the fifth edition of The Food Lover’s Guide to Paris, Emily Buchanan.

Patisserie Perfection: Boris Lumé

[Guest post by Emily Buchanan]

If the original Belle Époque exterior of this immaculate Montmartre patisserie (a classified historical monument, built in 1900) is not enough to draw you in, then the rows of Boris Lumé’s signature finger-shaped tarts, glistening in the glass vitrine, surely will. The pastries here have as much charm as the décor, with its off-white and duck-shell blue wall tiles, butterfly-themed tile frieze, and original heavenly ceiling fitted out with a crystal chandelier – this is what dreams of Parisian pastry shops are made of.

Pastry chef, baker and owner Boris Lumé opened his first shop with his Japanese wife Mihona (also a baker) on the leafy rue Caulaincourt in the 18th arrondissement in 2013, after time spent under the tutelage of the likes of Joël Robuchon in Tokyo, and Cyril Lignac and Meilleur Ouvrier de France Frederic Lalos (of Le Quartier du Pain) in Paris.

His selection of tarts and viennoiseries (breakfast pastries) is small, but finely tuned – each creation a small work of art, but without pretension. His tarte citron doesn't have many rivals with its irresistibly crisp base, thick pillowy lemon cream that has just the right balance of acidity, sweetness and creaminess, hiding a thin layer of soft cake-like hazelnut biscuit.

Among the lineup is an excellent version of the classic Paris-Brest, a light choux casing filled with praline cream and punctuated with a crispy praline crunch. Other offerings include tarts with seasonal fruit toppings such as strawberry or fig, and a less traditional matcha and black sesame tart with red fruits, a nod to Mihona’s Japanese origins.

I love their homely tartelettes, soft pastry casings filled with dark acidic cherries (griottes) and an earthy pistachio cream.

The viennoiseries are without fault: buttery, light and perfectly flaky. The baguette tradition has a flavorful crumb, although I prefer my baguette a little more bien cuite – well baked – with a crunchier crust. I’d rather go for their near-perfect, nutty pain d’épeautre (spelt loaf), and I can hardly pass by this shop without grabbing a loaf.

If you’ve been searching for the perfect Parisian pastry shop, you may well have just found it.

For more Paris restaurant reviews, get The Food Lover's Guide to Paris 5th edition book or iPhone app.

The new Guy Savoy

Patricia Wells May 18, 2015

The red carpet is out for Guy Savoy all over the city of Paris. With his new restaurant celebrating an official opening Tuesday, May 19th, this three-star chef and his almost giddy staff are luxuriating in their new sunlit home inside the 6th arrondissement Hotel de Monnaie de Paris along the Seine. With no less than five dining rooms boasting huge windows, the restaurant overlooks tall shimmering chestnut trees, the Seine, out onto the Louvre, Pont Neuf, the Île de la Cite. and beyond.

For Savoy, 62, the adventure and the dream began in 2009, when he visited the oldest institution and oldest factory in France, the French mint. He bid, and won a chance to move his 17th- arrondissement restaurant on rue Troyon to the mint. Construction proceeded more slowly than anticipated, since asbestos was found in the structure and needed to be eliminated. Today, the restaurant sits on the top floor, with spacious kitchens just below, sporting welcoming windows with the same bright view as Savoy’s diners.

One enters the august, newly renovated space walking regally up the red-carpeted stairs decorated with medallions and laurel wreaths. Dining rooms are warm and cozy, in colors of brown and anthracite with touches of modern lighting, all fully respectful of a building founded in 1864 and rebuilt in the 20th century.

Two “soft-landing” preview lunches in the new dining rooms attest that Savoy’s food remains on the same steady course he has followed since first opening in Paris in 1977, achieving his third Michelin star in 2002. Guests will find many of his signature dishes, such as the landmark soupe d’artichaut à la truffe noir et brioche feuilletée aux champignons et truffes (a masterpiece that marries earth with earth, the earthy flavors of artichokes and the wild mushroom essence of the truffle, embellished with an unforgettable mushroom brioche brushed with fragrant truffle butter). His famed huîtres en nage glacée never fails to excite or delight, nudging the briny, iodine-rich essence of oyster to new heights as a mildly creamy oyster puree lines the oyster shell as the real deal sits atop it like a king. A spoonful of jelly created with the oyster liquid tops it all for a celebratory hit of oyster heaven.

Savoy constantly works to capture the essence of an ingredient and bring it to your palate: His pea soup, made with peeled peas (!) and a puree of that regal vegetable, topped with a soft-cooked quail egg, blends on the palate with intensity and clean, welcoming, spring flavors.

And there are new dishes --- such as salmon “cooked” on dry ice at the table – with the fresh, brilliant strips of salmon embellished by an avalanche of varied citrus, including lemon, lime, and the rare Australian caviar citron, sporting little, citrus-flavored beads that look just like the caviar of our dreams.

Savoy’s masterful pastry chef, Christian Boudard, has outdone himself with spring desserts: In one, rhubarb is sliced paper-thin and dried to bring out its brilliant flavors, molded in the shape of onion skin, which serves as a perfect vessel for his vibrant rhubarb sorbet. He works the same idea with this season’s strawberries, a fine sorbet, paper-thin slices of strawberries, dried to bring us its very soul.

Do not forget Sylvain Nicolas, Savoy’s sommelier, a man I trust with my wine life! He has never steered me wrong, visit after visit. Discoveries at a recent lunch include Josmeyer’s Grand Cru Brand Riesling, 2009, a wine that is at once authoritative, regal, lively, and pure. As well, Domaine Rebourgeon-Mure’s pinot noir Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Arvelets moved everyone at the table, emerging with a purity of fruit, finesse, and expression of delightful ripe tannins.

The Hotel de la Monnaie restaurant is not his only project for the moment. In December he opened L’Huîtrade on rue Troyon, a compact oyster bar offering some of the world’s finest oysters and oyster dishes; the former Restaurant Guy Savoy on Rue Troyon will become a fish restaurant, d’Etoie sur Mer in June of this year; and already famous for his brioche, Savoy will open a brioche boutique, Goût de Brioche, at 54 rue Mazarine, Paris 6, in June.

Porte 12: Sophisticated, signature fare

Emily Buchanan October 10, 2014

Porte 12 fig meringues hazelnut ice cream

I knew that I was going to have a good time on my first visit to Porte 12 – a brand new modern French restaurant in the 10th arrondissement – when, as we sat down for lunch and I heard them playing a favorite Nat King Cole tune, followed by the modern-day American jazz singer Stacey Kent, belting out a great song. There’s much to love, even embrace about this small, 30-seat restaurant with its simple, bright, contemporary décor, a bustling open kitchen, sincere and attentive service, not to mention straightforward, yet sophisticated, signature fare that makes me want to come back for dinner...which I plan to. Whimsical corset-shaped light fixtures all but swing from the high ceiling, echoing the space’s former incarnation as a textile and lingerie atelier. The one-bite starter of a miniature potato hollowed out, filled with an eggless aioli, a sprinkling of crunchy toast bits, and a few herbs sets a surprising and satisfying tone, and I’ll be serving a version of this to my cooking school students first chance I get.

The restaurant is overseen by Singapore chef André Chiang, with Vincent Crepel in charge in the kitchen. A native of Lourdes, Crepel has also worked in the kitchens of the landmark Swiss restaurant made famous in the 1980’s by Fredy Girardet, (now under the direction of chef Philippe Rochat and Benoit Violier), as well as, of course, in Chiang’s own highly celebrated restaurant in Singapore, Restaurant André.

Dishes that both inspire a cook as well as please the palate are always winners in my book, and Chef Crepel offers a stylish serving of moist and tender duck hearts bathed in a deep, dark poultry sauce all topped with an ethereal, thin, creamy potato puree, paper-thin toast crisps and a few tender, bright green wisps of salicorne, or edible sea beans. Also on the winners list goes his so simple yet brilliantly cohesive creation of ultra-tender strips of chicken breast set atop a full-flavored mixture of herb-infused fregola (lightly toasted Sardinian pasta that’s similar to Israeli couscous), and more of those crunchy, nutty, toast bits for added texture. The dish was brought together seamlessly by a delicate corn purée. His dessert (photo) – a plate of vibrant, warm, thickly sliced fresh figs, atop crumbled chocolate brownie, surprisingly tangy and not-too-sweet crumbled meringues, and a hazelnut ice cream that was light, yet made its presence felt, rounded-off a memorable, well-priced (€35) three-course lunch. The only disappointment of the meal was the rather timid plate of barely cooked mackerel-like chinchards set atop thick slices of crunchy, barely cooked potatoes, a pairing that was far from satisfying. The wine list is streamlined and offers some good choices by the glass, including a favorite Chardonnay from the Jura, from Domaine Labet. The 3-course lunch menu allows two selections for the first and main course, with a single choice appetizer and dessert. A smaller lunch menu of two dishes – starter and main, or main and dessert – is a very reasonable 28€. The more expensive dinner menu offers more choices, from 58-65€.

Porte 12
12 rue des Messageries | Paris 10 | Tel: +33 1 42 46 22 64 | Metro: Poissonnière
Open Tuesday to Saturday. Closed Saturday lunch, and all day Sunday and Monday.
reservation@porte12.com | www.porte12.com (reservations taken online)

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