Baillotte, 16 rue du Dragon, Paris 6
Chef Satoshi Amitsu worked in French restaurants in Tokyo before coming to France ten years ago. He then worked at a number of well-known establishments in France, including Georges Blanc, before opening Baillotte at the beginning of 2023. The restaurant has rapidly won acclaim for the quality and value of its offerings. This was my first visit, and it confirmed the acclaim.
The restaurant is on the narrow rue du Dragon, not far south of the boulevard Saint-Germain, in prime haute shopping land and also close-by to the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée Maillol.
There is an attractive downstairs room with small marble tables that are not too closely-spaced.
In addition, there is an upstairs room that can take overflows or be used for private parties.
We were there on a Wednesday lunch. The other diners were mostly French who looked as though the lived nearby or Japanese tourists, but there was also a German-speaking couple next to us.
There is a 3-3-3 formule (no à la carte) at lunch at 32/38€, modest for a Paris restaurant in these inflationary times and in this neighborhood.
The wine list is well-chosen with a mixture of well-known and lesser-known producers and reasonable markups. We chose a bottle of Marsannay rouge 2022 from the northern end of Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits. The producer is Domaine Derey Frères, still under-the-radar but becoming better-known; I was surprised but pleased to find the producer on the list.
The wine was elegant but also supple and displayed the freshness and sensuality characteristic of that vintage in Burgundy.
For her first course, L chose the toasted potato focaccia with a mushroom fricassée, dried Galician beef, and a parsley purée.
This was an outstanding dish with precise, intense flavors, each one standing out on its own, but also blending to create an excellent symphony of flavors.
I chose the blowtorched mackerel with burnt cucumbers, green sisho cucumber water and chili pickles.
The dish was a delicious as it was beautiful with great precision and freshness.
We both chose the stuffed chicken breast for the main course.
The chicken breast was moist and flavorful and the juice also very flavorful and a good complement. The eggplant purée and asparagus and radish accompaniments also added intense, precise flavor to make for a most satisfying course.
For dessert, L took the pistachio soufflé with raspberry ice cream, a special that was not listed on the menu.
This was an excellent “double dessert” with both the pistachio and raspberry elements being precise and intense and not overly-sweet.
I took the tiramisu for my dessert.
The chocolate and coffee elements blended seamlessly. The dish was light and joyous and again, not overly-sweet.
With a coffee that was comped and a carafe of water, the bottom line:
As stated above, both the quality and the value of Baillotte are excellent and I highly recommend the restaurant.
Baillotte
16 rue du Dragon, 75006 Paris
Tuesday-Saturday lunch and dinner, Sunday lunch
Telephone: 09 84 29 93 48
Métro: Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Sèvres-Babylone