Paris was uncommonly quiet when we arrived last week. Summer tourists had departed; the city's inhabitants were on holiday until the end August. (Their return over the weekend is called la rentree.) In that calm interim week, I restocked my kitchen pantry and searched for a new chef on the restaurant scene. It didn't take long to find one!
We accepted an invitation from Parisian friend Virginie to dine at Ô Petit Club on Blvd Wallace a few steps west of the Puteaux bridge. Virginie had invited us last fall when she videotaped Thanksgiving dinner at our home for French television. Her Senegalese husband Raoul Coly was planning a restaurant at that time. It finally opened in May.
Ô Petit Club is a small and informal just as Virginie predicted, with seating for two dozen at cafe tables, indoors and under an exterior awning. The main decor feature, inspired in part by Virginie’s Chicago visit, is a row of black and white photos of America's famous black jazz musicians. Outside, in the window, Ô Petit Club promises “cuisine du monde”. Inside, the menu reveals an innovative departure from what we think of as “ethnic” and “pan-African” cooking.
Chef Raoul’s Senegalese roots are evident in his choice of ingredients: the presence of several fish dishes, a wide variety of vegetables, tropical fruits and rice. I ordered the country's national dish, thieboudienne, a stew of fish and vegetables served over twice-cut rice, rich with absorbed juices. George chose Capitaine, a fresh water perch, grilled and presented whole. Its skin was crisp, the fine white flesh delicate and tender. Light-as-a-feather dumplings and a tomato and pepper garnish were great complements.
The training Chef Raoul received in Paris was obvious in our entree of salicorne algae with shrimp. Where else - perhaps at an embassy luncheon? - would you expect to find this labor-intensive dish of soaked and simmered algae dressed with spicy aioli, garnished with shrimp and given in a Michelin-starred presentation?
The fusion of African and French traditions make Chef Raoul's desserts truly memorable. We devoured an order of pain perdu without taking the time to photograph it for you. The Chef sautees his own dark pain d'epice and surrounds it with a creme anglaise subtly seasoned with the same fragrant spices that undoubtedly traveled the Silk Road from China many centuries ago.
Ô Petit Club, still in its infancy, already attracts a crowd of regulars. Excellent food prepared by an inspired owner-chef for a reasonable price is local dining at its best. I only wish this restaurant were in our neighborhood.
