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Grannie Chez Naoto
Add: 27, rue Pierre Leroux 75007 Paris
Tel: 01 47 34 94 14
Hours: [Mon-Fri] 12~2:30pm, 7:30~10:30pm [Sat] 7:30~10:30pm (closed on Sun)
Price: [lunch] €23/menu [dinner] €36/menu
Visited on: Oct 2013
My first dinner at Grannie Chez Naoto was a rather bizarre experience. I found this Franco-Japonais restaurant on La Fourchette while searching for a place to eat near Le Bon Marché, and seeing that it had received good reviews, I booked away. When I arrived around 8pm, I found the restaurant completely empty (and it stayed pretty much this way as my friend and I were the only customers that night). The chef owner, a round-eyed Japanese man who looked about 50 in age, seemed genuinely surprised to see someone walk in, as if he never expected any customers on a Tuesday night. Mmhmm.
After a few moments of hesitation, we sat down to take a look at the menu – and I’m very glad we did because the dishes that came out throughout the evening were such pleasant surprises! We took the dinner formula (€36), which included an entrée, a plat, and a dessert. First came bulot persillé avec crème de céleri rave, whelk with parsley and celery root cream. It was a visually appealing dish with soft contrasting colors, and on the flavor side it was quite pleasant as well (but the purple chips were stale, unfortunately.)
Risotto aux crevettes, shrimp risotto. So rich in flavor, I couldn’t help but swoon in for spoonful after spoonful of this even though it was my friend who ordered it.
Cerf rôti avec sauce Baileys, roasted venison with Baileys sauce. Yes, Baileys sauce, and it went surprisingly well with the lean yet tender venison. The accompanying vegetables were perfectly cooked as well.
Poitrine de cochon ibérique mariné au miso, Iberico pork belly marinated in miso, also served with some very delicious vegetables. The miso marinate was wonderful, though the generous layer of fat that took up half the space was a bit intimidating even knowing that pork belly is supposed to be fatty…
Cheesecake ananas citron vert, pineapple lime cheesecake, served on a bed of Oreo cookie crumbs. A rather unique presentation of cheesecake, very refreshing.
Creme brulee aux noix, walnut crème brûlée. Pleasant.
I chatted with the owner/chef (who, by the way, is super cute in his round-eyed manner) in bits and pieces throughout dinner and found out that he has been running this restaurant for 14 years already, single-handedly manning the kitchen during all this time. I remember wondering how he is able to survive given how expensive the rent must be in this area and how empty his restaurant seemed, but apparently the space is packed on weekends. I myself subsequently failed to get last-minute reservations twice after this first dinner, once for Friday and once for Saturday. Will remember to book ahead next time…