So here we are at the Chateaubriand

Dad was 65 in August but we only got round to celebrating with a nice meal out last week, in fact just a few days before Chook's birthday (at this rate, we will probably celebrate that in August...). The nice meal out was eaten at the Chateaubriand, a restaurant near us on the avenue Parmentier (11th). It's a very interesting place, and that's before you even eat. They've kept the slighlty old fashioned, nicotine-stained and dark wood decor that dates from the 30s : there is a shiny zinc bar and old menu boards from that time, and classic bistrot wooden tables and chairs. The food however is on the futuristic side of modern. They don't claim any link to El Bulli or Hestor Blumenthal, but certainly admit the chef is in to taking flavours apart and finding those perfect, and sometimes unusual combinations.

5 courses. 43 euros. The same for everyone (though they had no problem with vegetarian mum).

Amuse-bouche/starter : Firm, perfect dices of sardine with slivers of fresh green olives, grapefruit, a pesto "cream" and beautiful green grilled gindilla pepper (not hot, but with wonderful crunch and 'green taste') with sel de guérande.

Fish course : 2 perfectly cooked scallops (sealed and caramelised brown outside, raw and melt in the mouth inside), sitting on a stripe of helianti mash/cream (a root vegetable, cross between jerusalem artichoke and celeriac flavor), trail of vanilla foam (not sweet) and, get this, orange salt. Coarse salt that tastes of oranges. My personal favorite.

More fish course : flaky opaque seabass with light and crispy skin, over which have been negligently flung chanterelle mushrooms, hazelnuts, mustard leaves (bit of earthy tang), small dark muscat grapes. A small heap of onion compote.

Meat course : a neat little lump of veal, pink in the midlle, surmounted by slices of pinf radish and sitting on a purple potato mash, drizzled with a sauce made with ultra-fresh (only just dead?) cockles which may have been raw. the vegetarian was exactly the same only the veal replaced by fish. The whole dish had a ring of infanticide to it.

Cheese or dessert? I went for the cheese : a fully mature brie, golden and and creamy with a crust that looked like the parched, cracked earth you see in drought lands (a bit whiter, admittedly); a vintage comté, smooth and strong with a crunch of salt; and a fresh little goats' cheese. Yum.

The others went for dessert, which they all liked but i thought bordered on the nasty : an avacado mousse and thin slices of pineapple topped with an acerola (south american fruit, very sour, tastes a little of passion fruit) foam, stabbed with a nut and caramel snap. Too sour, too sweet, too avacado.

All in all absolutely amazing and lovely. As they change their menu gradually but constantly (they replace a course or so every day), the food evolves with the seasons and the whims of the chef. Will return as soon as can afford. Highly recommended.