Lazare!!!

I had the most fantastic time at the brand new Lazare. It has been open two months at the newly renovated Gare St. Lazare. The brains behind the operation is three-star chef Eric Frechon who is at the stoves of his restaurant at the very fancy Hotel Bristol.

The restaurant is not only beautiful but fun. I got a seat at the counter with many walkins and lots of singles and became friends with everyone around me, including the lovely server, Sandrine.

The specialité is the jambon-beurre that you can get in any boulangerie in the country. But not like this one. They must put grams and grams of fresh Normandy butter on the delicious baguette and then stuff it with lots of delicious jambon de Paris. The result is heavenly: rich and flavorful. At 7,50 euros, it will not break the bank and is fine for a filling lunch.

I wanted to have more of a feel for the workings of the kitchen.

The kitchen is open to view and there is a lot going on. I chose a wonderful salade d'haricots verts, coeurs d'artichaut, noisettes grillées, with a wonderful vinaigrette.

It was fabulous!! The vinaigrette was balanced and highlighted the other freshly-made ingredients. They served me another baguette with the salad which I hid in my bag for tomorrow's breakfast.

Another specialty was one of the desserts: the Paris-Deauville. It is a cross between a flan and a soufflé with a light caramel sauce. Excellent!!

I met a number of interesting people while I had my wonderful lunch. One man had a train to catch but at the Gare Montparnasse. He said he came early to Lazare because there is nothing good to eat at the other station!