The metro was free this evening and we made our way in a full train to Gaite for the Menu de Saint Sylvestre produced by Mathias Thiery. We were greeted by Madame Thiery who is convinced that this will be for the last time, but she has been saying this for at least the last three years.
The room is small and intimate. There was some English spoken but the diners were mainly French. Just about everybody had the menu and the Champagne flowed freely.
We started with an excellent bottle of Champagne and switched to a half bottle of Brouilly, (beaujolais) for the meat course. There was just one young lady assisting Madame throughout the evening and they were both very busy indeed.
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| Amuse bouches |
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| Rosace de homard sur lit de mache. The mango and avocado were good with the lobster |
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| Escalope de foie de canard chaud aux raisins. The duck liver was very rich and we used our bread to sop up every last drop of sauce. |
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| Supreme de turbot aux huitres. The turbot was light compared to the previous course. The oysters were fresh, salty and tangy and I particularly liked the grognes a small vegetable that I have only seen in Paris markets |
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| Granite champagne. This cleared the palate and prepared us for the meat course |
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| Noisettes de chevreuil venaison, mousseline de marrons. |
By this time we were feeling no pain. The venison was rich and dark while the chestnut puree provided a good accompaniement.
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| The Farandole de desserts was a wonderful way to wind down. There were a lot of different flavors and the baba au rhum contained a lot of alcohol |
There followed coffee and mignardises which I forgot to record. What a meal. It was well paced and we were never waiting very long. There was fresh cutlery for each course but the server kept track of everything impeccably. She opened the Brouilly in good time for the venison but I was not allowed to taste it until I had finished my champagne. As we left Madame Thiery explained again that they were planning to retire so we left it that if they were still here next year she would make a reservation for us. M. and Mme Thiery will be sadly missed.
We left in good time to get back to Villiers and walked along the Boulevard de Courcelles to the west entrance of the closed Monceau Parc where we could view the Arc de Triomphe without any of the goings on in the Champs Elysees. The temperature had been up to 13 during the day but had dropped to about 6. Even so I was able to be out without my parka or long johns. There was a sound and light show and at midnight there was a short fireworks display.
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It was a great way to finish the year, especially as we walked off a little of the meal getting there and back. At midnight the small number of people around whooped and shouted and the car horns were deafening.
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