Bones
Add: 43 rue Godefroy Caviagnac, 75011 Paris
Tel: +33 9 80 75 32 08
Hours: [Tue-Sat] 7pm-2am (closed Sun & Mon)
Price: €55~63/set
Visited on: Jun 2015
Bones, a hip neobistro by Australian chef James Henry, opened sometime back in early 2013. I have been there once shortly after its opening, and the meal was pleasant if not without some kinks to be worked out (understandable and expected for new restaurants). Bones has since then became wildly popular and difficult to reserve, but recently the word is out that it will be closed permanently on August 7th. Oh my, what happened?
So finally, I decided to come back for another visit one and a half years after to see how the restaurant has evolved. We were there during the second service on a Saturday night, the place was packed and the ambience very lively, no sign of a restaurant that’s closing in just weeks. The menu (€55 or €63 with cheese) is composed of 4 small bites and 3 courses, with a choice of main course.
The meal started with “artichaut breton”, half of a Brittany artichoke served with some kind of tuna (?) dipping sauce. Eeexcellent.
“Terrine de veau“, veal terrine topped with leek and mustard.
“Thon blanc cru et livèche“, raw white tuna on whole grain bread, topped with onions and an herb called lovage.
“Palourde ajo blanco“, clams served with an almond-based Spanish cold soup. Loved the flavor until the fishy taste hit.
“Asperge grillée, tourteau et jus de concombre“, a soup of grilled asparagus with crab and cucumber juice. Absolutely loved this one for its refreshing and surprising flavor.
Main course choice #1: “blette farcie au ris d’agneau, sauce tomates et herbes“, lamb sweetbread wrapped with chard, served with tomato herb sauce. The sweetbread was nice, though I personally am not a fan of smoky flavors so didn’t quite enjoy the tomato accompaniment.
“Echine de cochon Kintoa grillée, tomate et aubergine“, grilled Kintoa pork chine served with tomato and aubergine. Good flavor but tough to cut.
“Sorbet cerise“, cherry sorbet served with a chevre-flavored meringue and a sprinkle of elderflower. Loved the acidity of the sorbet, balanced by the soothing meringue (the touch of chevre was perfect). There were also some “sablé aux graines de courge et citron”, cookies with squash seeds and lemon, that were quite nice.
A very good meal at Bones. It’s too bad that the restaurant is closing – I’m not sure exactly why and didn’t try to dig deeper – but I certainly look forward to James Henry’s next venture.