Restaurant La Fontaine de Mars - Paris

First day in Paris. We were tired, disoriented, jet-lagged and very hungry. We'd had a bite in the hotel when we first arrived but after that sleep had overtaken us for most of the afternoon. Now, 9 hours since our last food, it was time for our first dinner in Paris. This restaurant is most well-known -- to me, anyway -- as the place where the Obamas ate when they were in Paris. I really didn't know much more about it than that but was happy that we had a place to go -- thank you, Adrian Moore! -- and it seemed, by all initial appearances, quintessentially Parisian. Turns out, it was a great place for our opening repast . . .


Restaurant La Fontaine de Mars, Rue de l'Exposition, 75007 Paris (Menu)



Bread
A nice assortment. Given the condition our condition was in, this made us happy.



Salami
We were even happier after they set this down. Not pictured here are cornichons and mustard, which were also served gratis.



Wine
A bit young but a fine first bottle of the trip and while not a steal, a decent value at €30.



A new wine-drinker
My son tried most of the wines on this trip -- he's very good about trying everything -- but really, he didn't take to them, which is probably for the best.



Seared Foie Gras with Poached Pears
Ultimately, this is my favorite preparation of foie gras -- a nice, hard sear, a creamy interior, some sweet fruit and some slightly acidic sauce -- and this was textbook. I absolutely loved it.



Charcuterie
It seems very doubtful that this was made in-house but it was a great assortment and all of it very tasty.



Calf's Head Salad with Hot Roseval Potatoes (Tete de Veau)
This was really awesome, though hardly a salad in the traditional sense. I loved the intensely-flavorful persillade and the super rich tete. A phenomenal dish.



Grilled Squid over Potatoes
The boy ordered this daily special, as he's a huge seafood fan. I liked the fresh, tender squid but wasn't crazy about the potatoes, which were too heavy a match for the delicate squid.



Cassoulet
It was night #1. It was cold and drizzling. This was the perfect thing to order.



Cassoulet
After the initial presentation, the cassoulet was removed to the service counter and plated.



Cassoulet
The initial serving and sadly, I couldn't even finish this (a harbinger of things to come). I really enjoyed this but ended up having a version I enjoyed much more at Chez Dumonet. This particular rendition didn't pack quite the same amount of flavor as Dumonet's did. Also here, the beans were cooked bit unevenly.



Beef Bourguignon
Fantastic depth and complexity of flavor. The beef was tender and the bacon was smokey and rich. I could not believe how delicious those little mushrooms were -- not just vessels for absorbing the flavors around them but bringing their own distinctive punch, too. Another great dish for this kind of night.



Slicer
A lot of the restaurants in which we ate had beautiful slicers; usually set right in the dining room, as this one was.



Armagnac Shelf
A nice selection, which I should have sampled . . . but I didn't.



Tourtiere Landaise
Delectable prune tart served with house-made Armagnac & pruce ice cream.



Chocolate Mousse
This tasty mousse was served with a coned cookie that was filled with coffee-flavored cream.

We enjoyed this meal thoroughly and it set the food tone for the whole trip in many ways . . . friendly, kind and helpful service, bistro favorites prepared more meticulously than I was used to, good, inexpensive wine, and bread & butter with old-fashioned, distinctive flavor. It was a great place to kick off our eating in Paris.

=R=

Restaurant La Fontaine de Mars
Rue de l'Exposition
75007 Paris, France
01 47 05 46 44

Very nice. Would love to be there. I think the "head salad" would not be tried by myself but I certainly would gobble up the beef dish and the prune tarte. That's about all I could eat with a green salad. I don't consider myself a small eater but gosh I could never finish a meal like that.

This was one of our favorite stops of our trip several years ago. I'm really glad to see it's still turning out great food. All of the photos bring back wonderful memories. Thanks for that.

UNCLE! You're killing me! I'm gonna have to knock over the piggy banks of every kid in my neighborhood (and probably yours as well) to buy my plane ticket. I can't take it anymore. Perfect pictures. Perfect food. Paris. I suppose the only downside is that these restaurants expected get paid for their food, right?

Seriously: stellar pictures. Again. Fascinating, instructive, delectable (in every sense).

Thank you.