Wednesday, April 01, 2015

Paris: Saint Germain des Pres - Clover Restaurant – Jean-Francois Piege

 


Paris: Saint Germain des Pres - Clover Restaurant – Jean-Francois Piege. Roughly behind the Cafe de Flores is the Modern French new restaurant Clover by two stars Michelin chef Jean-Francois Piege.  It takes its name from the chef’s childhood passion for the four-leaf clover. “Think of this intimate forty-square meter place as sort of a post-modern Brasserie Lipp, or a place that offers a deep experience of the moods of this chic and still intellectually vibrant part of Paris. Happily, however, they part ways entirely when it comes to their menus, since Piège’s witty, delicious and intriguingly wholesome contemporary French cooking couldn’t possibly be more different from the generally tired and over-priced brasserie standards served at Lipp… his bold modern kitchen is clearly seeking to reinvent the Rabelaisian pleasures of traditional French bistro food for a new era that’s increasingly attuned to environmentalism and good health.” Alexander Lobrano.
Above. Executive chef Shinya Usami prepares Quinoa Craquant Aubergine Sesame Noir Sate.  The blue and whites plates where bought by Piege on a trip to California.




Clover Restaurant – Jean-Francois Piege. Long and narrow the small twenty seat restaurant was designed by M & M and the interior was designed by Charlotte Biltgen. In the modern Japanese style the food is cooked in the dinning room at the end and stored up front in pretty refrigerated compositions.

 
Clover Restaurant – Jean-Francois Piege. Interior Designer Charlotte Biltgen’s attention is detail is modern and refreshing.  No tablecloths, on rough wood tables, pretty Scandinavian flower vases hold a leaf.  The salt cellar in brass has a Japanese feel to it. And the bamboo chairs are very nice too. The sparse table setting is refreshing and I loved the red stitching on the napkins.




Fin Veloute d’Asperges Vertes Hareng Noisette



Clover Restaurant – Jean-Francois Piege.  Saint-Jacques Cuites Sur Un Pave Parisien 

“There are scallops cooked in their shells on big pink-granite paving stones, which are served on a steel plate alongside red beet jam; puffed grilled quinoa wafers with eggplant-and-black-sesame puree; and steamed Croaker fish with a thatch of pink turnip shavings in a succulent yellow pool of nasturtium flower juice. Even if healthy is the mantra of the cooking here, there’s still the occasional decadent dish, including a small golden pastry filled with wild duck meat and foie gras, topped with black truffles and served with a small salad of curly endive.” Alexander Lobrano for The New York Times T Magazine.  

 
Clover Restaurant – Jean-Francois Piege - Sur Une Idee Bresilienne Banane Persil Poivre 


 
Clover Restaurant – Jean-Francois Piege - Coffee is served with a Chocolate Chip Cookie