Le Gavroche

He’s like a kid fresh from la Butte who decided to enter the bistrot world the way others enter the church. ‘Nothing shoddy about it, m’sieur, it’s the real deal, one of those things that’s been around since… oooh, who knows!’ He’s got the cockiness of a market stallholder, the smile of a well-groomed hostess and an utter determination to give pleasure. The menu, for its part, is like the place, firmly attached to everything that is good, reassuring, with no room for the ‘tasteless’.

The oeuf mayo is fully realised, the côte de bœuf is as marbled as one could wish, thick like a good eiderdown, crunchy on the outside and juicy in the middle, the frites are golden like a young girl in the sun, one’s tablemates are of course friendly, the Chénas is passed from table to table, the conversation flows, one forgets oneself, one feels good… ‘It’s true there’s a spirit about the place, m’sieur, it’s alive… Some have even seen it move!’