Madame Point’s Classic Example

The menu at La Pyramide seems fresh and modern, though the majority of the dishes are still those created by Fernand Point, many of them forty years ago. Guy Thivard, the present chef, has, it is true, added a few of his own dishes, such as the assiette de maree, escalope de saumon Pyramide and aiguillettes de canard. But these would not have surprised Point; he would have found them very much in his style.

Many of Point’s dishes, for instance the poularde de Bresse, either truffée en vessie or with sauce Albufera, the boeuf à la moёlle or the jambon cuit madère, were traditional ones which he simplified or reduced to their essentials, in keeping with his principle that the dominant flavours should be those of perfect ingredients. All these dishes are still prepared with the exactitude which Point brought to them. He would have approved, too, of a traditional dish introduced by Thivard, the poularde marinière, done with vinegar.