July 11

Dinner at the future #49? With a bit of art thrown in for good luck.

Yesterday was centered around nabbing a dinner rez at Bones at 8:30pm, pretty much the early prime time for dinner.  That left a whole day with no plans (kind of refreshing) so we decided to fill it with a small thing we have not done yet, which you must do in Paris, even if it is your fifth visit. We tackled the Louvre, vowing of course to skip all of the highlights. 

We decided to walk over around 3:30 to give ourselves four hours or so before heading directly to dinner. As ou can see, I have grown, taller and thinner and gone red. I now look totally Frenchified and finally have those long legs I always dreamed of.

All the books touted Wednesday late day as the 'slow' time at the Louvre, an oxymoron if I heard one since the lower lobby was teeming with a sea of people. But we know to use the Carousel entrance and the ticket machines (even though yet again CapOne denied Steve's card, even though we have called multiple times to say we are in Europe traveling for months) and quickly headed up to the top floor of Richelieu to see the Flemish paintings. Then through the Italian, French large format, Napoleon's apartments (awesome no matter how many times you see them) and purposely avoiding TML, the Mona Lisa. 

Now maybe we are a bit arted out at this point, or maybe we were a bit hot from the A/C or lack thereof, or maybe our legs were finally getting tired of walking or climbing steps,  but we found ourselves starting to just cruise through rooms almost without looking. 

Back to avoiding TML and the psychology of tourists.

We are in the Denon wing, the room before TML. Simply walking through, tired and hot, and a small painting catches my eye. I go closer. This painting is wow, the colors are vivid, the subject of the portrait interesting, the look unique, the emotions powerful. There is no one else even glancing at this masterpiece. Yet, it is a da Vinci. 

In the next room, hundreds are gathered waiting in line for a chance to see TML.....cameras snapping away.  Photos to be added to their virtual albums of the treasures they photographed but failed to see.

Dinner at Bones

Named for the 'bare bones' decor, 

  (Only kidding -this is not Bones)

this 30 seat bistrot in the 11th, is concrete and rust, exposed pipes and tables too tiny to fit the glasses and food and bread and butter (finally someone served butter with the bread and both were homemade), the carafe of water and the bottle of wine. 

 ( THIS is Bones)

It is a set chef's menu of three amuses bouche and four courses. For some courses you have two choices but the rest is up to the chef. You must call the afternoon of your reservation between 2 and 6 to confirm your table. At that time the chef is preparing the menu and asks if you have any allergies or anything you do not eat. Of course we said no, we will eat anything..........

Disclaimer: the menu was in French, the waiter spoke great English but some of the ingredients defied translation so some descriptions include our own thoughts to describe the taste sensations.

Amuse Bouches, no photos, we just dug in

1-Raw fish, small bites with green rhubarb puree sauce and a plate of homemade pancetta

2- Grilled duck heart with fresh shaved horseradish (if I served this to you and told you it was something else you would have loved it, but I am kind of ready for this offal craze to stop)

3-Bowl of cucumber juice with roe and just a drop of some kind of oil- unbelievably delicious, another reproducible find

Grilled calamari with sliced baby orange, yellow and red carrots, some raw some cooked, with micro greens, fennel frond, a mix of finely chopped hazelnuts and coriander on a tahini based paste.

Seared red tuna with marinated seaweed (not the kind we have, these look like tiny branches) , eggplant, poppy seeds and nasturtium leaves.

Cod filet, thinly sliced, and I am guessing sous vide, with spinach, chard and  broccoli over a puree of mushroom/soy

Dessert Steve

Strawberries,  lovage granita and an incredibly soft and tasty just torched meringue

Dessert Marci

Fresh roasted cherries, fresh almonds and purple thai basil with velvety  cherry sorbet

All enjoyed with a bottle of red Bourgogne. 

Every course was perfect.

This is one to be appreciated like the da Vinci and to be on next year's list around #40.