Le pâté de saison with foie gras, black blood and duck

Laurence Castaing, a wonderful purveyor of foie gras from the Landes, had delivered a large foie gras for me at Le Boudoir, very near the Champs Elysées and when I went to pick it up, I met the young chef, Arnaud Nicolas, who gave me the best of impressions. This is how I decided to go back for dinner with three close friends and we all loved the experience.

La volaille Albuferra, steamed yellow chicken with foie gras sauce

At first, the place is a little disconcerting with high chairs and high tables all around and a red decor. For us oldies, it was slightly scary. But le Boudoir needed revamping and it was decided that young customers would take over the place. I was indeed surprised to see a lot of 30-40 years old, in this traditional French food restaurant. The specialty is pâtés of all kinds since the chef used to be a charcutier. You are welcome to take them home too.

Le Boudoir is a sweet restaurant near the Champs Elysées

So we chose a selection of three out-of-this-world pâtés :l’Incontournable, a long piece which can be shared as a starter, is made with birds only and has no pork. The terrine of the day was made of rabbit, the terrine all duck was outstanding. There is obviously a little bit of foie gras, and a lot of savoir faire in most of them.

As seconds, we had a saucisson lyonnais which did not smell of garlic, a tourte de canard for two with foie gras and green cabbage and yellow chicken Albuferra from the Landes, which was oven steamed. This seemed like a diet dish to me but the nice waitress insisted that I try it and it was a revelation.

L’incontournable pâté en croûte, made with birds only, a true delight

Of course the very delicate chicken was placed on a foie gras sauce and the steamed vegetable were delightful with it. The tourte is the signature dish and you have to try it. I regretted that there was no green salad to order, for an all pâté dinner can be a little heavy. But it ended up being very light.

Baba au rhum with whipped cream on the side

Desserts were just as excellent : we picked baba au rhum, served with whipped cream in very pretty Japanese looking bowls and tarte au citron which was more like a cold lemon soufflé on crust. A fantastic way to end the meal.

I chose a Marsannay which I love and the maitre d’ also decided to make us taste a côte de Bourgogne, stronger, less feminine I would say, but my friends liked it…

Chef Arnaud Nicolas is always smiling

The atmosphere is incredibly sweet with food lovers all around and special hooks to hang your bag on. And prices are adequate around 80€. Very attentive and smiling service, an exception in Paris ! (Le Boudoir, 25 rue du Colisée, 01 43 59 25 29)