La Ferrandaise

By Parisian standards, La Ferrandaise is a very young bistro. Open only a few years, manned by a chef who has yet to see a gray hair on his head, this spot in St. Germain falls into the same traditional category as venerable institutions that have been open a hundred years or more. Yet it hasn’t had any trouble keeping up: it was packed on a recent night, and it won the Lebey award for Best Parisian Bistro in 2006.

The reason for its popularity becomes clear as soon as an amuse bouche lands on the table: a steaming cup of soup, balanced between creamy and light, rings in the spring with its first pungent note of leeks and a base of white potatoes.

A special of seared foie gras could be a textbook lesson in how to do this dish. Slightly pink, chilled to a perfect cellar coolness and processed to a dense but velvety texture, it first hits you with the scent of cognac and then a base note of shallots. Spread it on thin crisp toasts and top it with the accompanying roasted pear confit, and you’ve got a wonderful appetizer that could be a meal in itself.

The kitchen deviates from the purely French by serving lamb shoulder over polenta, pictured at top, yet turns around and reinforces its Frenchness by mixing that polenta with cream, butter, thyme and homemade chicken stock. The heartily seasoned lamb, redolent with herbs and shallots, meets its match in the intense red wine sauce made with veal or lamb stock, which not only makes it glisten but gives it that distinct umami flavor no stewed meat should be without.

All this costs just the prix fixe price of 32 €, plus 4 € extra for upgrading to the foie gras appetizer. There are a number of reasonably priced, good wines on the menu, like this light Coteaux d’Aix half bottle for 14 €. La Ferrandaise’s setting is casual with lofty aspirations to match the concept: an elaborate mural of cows in a pasture (a “ferrandaise” is a breed of cow native to Europe) faces an exposed stone wall—the Parisian version of exposed brick, plus a hundred years or so.

There’s an excellent cheese plate (4€), too. To make it, your server will just bring over the whole slate of cheeses and lop off several chunk, in this case two blues, a tomme, and a cow’s milk cheese.

As with many good Parisian restaurants, it’s French speakers in front, tourists in back. (I considered it a minor triumph to be seated in a middle purgatory area next to a couple speaking French with a country accent.) Service is pretty homey and casual—you have to retrieve your own coat from the coat check—but convivial and friendly.

One note of warning: though it isn’t in the Michelin guide yet, La Ferrandaise is in Time Out Paris, and already tourists are vying with local regulars for the few coveted seats in the house. (Fortunately, it’s open for lunch, and until midnight Friday and Saturday.) Let this be your incentive to visit Paris again soon.

La Ferrandaise
8 Rue de Vaugirard, between Rue Monsieur le Prince and Place de l’Odeon
Sixth Arrondissement
Paris, France
08 92 68 06 89
laferrandaise.com