We happened upon Atelier Maitre Albert as we were looking for lunch in the Latin Quarter one day. This is another casual restaurant owned by a three star chef — in this case, Guy Savoy. This quote is included on its sign: “La cuisine est l’art de transformer instantanement en joie des produits charges d’histoire.” With indigo walls and marble floors, it’s chic, but it’s also inviting… like a modern, minimalist take on hearty medieval style. I was a little apprehensive about going in with outfits chosen for a day of walking around Paris, but we were treated with absolute cordiality.

The menu is based around the open rotisserie that provides a glowing backdrop for the open kitchen, and it was written on a chalkboard temporarily perched next to our table. There were 4 dishes available for each course, but it felt like there was plenty to choose from. And I liked how a salad on the side was described as “quelques feuilles de salades”.

Aside from a pair of unfortunately pasty gougeres to start the meal off, the food did what food should: popped with flavor. The dishes were quite simple, but they were perfectly made and presented with just a perfect touch of creative flair — like the twig in my cod, the jars of dessert for Chad, and my grapefruit terrine, which was one of favorite desserts of the whole trip.

The style of the decor and food reminded me a lot of gesture drawing during my meal. It seemed like everything had been considered in great detail, and then distilled into a flourish of simplicity.

Gougeres.

Cold Tomato Soup with Mascarpone Cream. I know it’s hard to carry soup without having it splash around, but I was a little disappointed by how messy it looked, despite being in a spiffy bowl. But then, I tasted how good and pungent it was, I was mollified. It kind of looks like the shape of the cream follows the contours of the bowl.

Salmon “Toutes Saveurs” with Herb Oil.

Rotisserie Cod. Chad thought that this looked like a Japanese Garden. I really like this simple twist on the presentation — it made what could have been a boring dish into something that makes you think differently about what you ordered. I usually get annoyed by inedible garnishes, but I think only because they’re usually so random and trite, unlike this.

Potatoes Dauphinois. Creamy, while still holding the potato as its main flavor.

Rotisserie Chicken with Mashed Potatoes.

Grapefruit Terrine. I loved this. It’s simply bits of grapefruit that have been molded into a terrine and sliced, but it was irresistible in a way that I can’t fully comprehend. It was just perfectly flavored, textured, and refreshing.

Chocolate Pot de Creme and Creme Caramel. I like this clever twist on what could have been a ho-hum dessert, even if there is a bit of triage involved to make that small bit of cake last. But, it’s technically a garnish, even if it is given center court, so in the end, the whole thing worked.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 13th, 2006 at 10:57 am and is filed under Paris, Restaurants, Sampling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.