Géosmine, 71 rue de la Folie-Méricourt, Paris 11
Géosmine (the name refers to the smell of freshly dug wet earth) opened last spring in the light, airy two-storey premises previously occupied by Botanique. The restaurant has received nothing but praise, to which I’ll add yet another voice.
The interior is bright, airy, and informal, both downstairs and on the upper floor (which is where the kitchen is).
Maxime Bouttier established Géosmine after having previously been the chef at Mensae in the 19th arrondissement. His cooking shows great finesse and the ingredients are allowed to come forth with freshness and without being compromised in any way by the preparation.
In the evening, one can take only from a tasting menu; at lunch, there is a choice of tasting menu and à la carte. As I’ve previously indicated, where there is a choice, I prefer à la carte.
The wine list is very extensive (88 pages) with plenty of natural wine selections including some quite rare ones, but also other selections that aren’t in the usual natural wine category. The list has plenty of high end selections that go well into three and even four figures. The sommelier, shown above carrying our bottle, recognized me from his previous time at Korus.
The silverware was sufficiently distinctive to merit a photo:
For wine, we took a 2021 Savigny-les-Beaune red from the talented (natural wine) producer, Fanny Sabre.
The wine was pretty with a finesse that old-time Savigny did not have and good precision to the red fruits. As so often, the wine came a bit warmer than we like our red Burgundy, so after an initial pour, we asked that it be cooled.
As amuse bouche, we received tartelettes of smoked eel in a lemon sabayon with pistachios, and buckwheat batons to dip into a cream of cuttlefish (seiche) ink. They were light, precise, and all-around delicious. The airiness of the tartelettes contrasted against the creaminess of the cuttlefish ink.
As entrée, L took the melon with Kalamata olives, savory (sarriette) and mozzarella.
She said it recalled the melon dish we’d had the week before at chocho, and I agree. It was delicious.
I took the green beans (haricots verts).
This was a fascinating and most satisfying dish with bits of steak mixed in with the green beans to provide both a flavor (meaty, smoky) and texture contrast to the beans, and the sweet peppers (guindillas) providing additional depth and the salicorne (sea asparagus) providing saltiness.
For her main, L took the fish of the day, which was tuna (she asked that it be cooked a little more than normal) with clams with a butter sauce in the middle, and on the side, Paimpol beans in a reduction of the water they were cooked in along with plenty of herbs, including basil. This was a grand-slam dish with all sorts of combinations of flavors.
I took the breast of free-range chicken with carrots and mirabelle plum. Here, again, the contrast of textures between the juicy chicken and the carrots as both purée and whole and sweetness of the carrots and plum against the saltiness of the chicken was superb.
We were sufficiently full that we skipped dessert.
The mignardises that were were given were a takeoff on the Sicilian pastry inspired by the martyrdom of Sainte Agatha (her breasts were cut off and are often shown in paintings on a tray that she is holding).
(One had already been consumed when this photo was taken.) At any rate, to us, with the redness from beet powder, this was not up to the same level of the rest of the meal.
Géosmine is producing food at the highest end of quality in an informal setting. I strongly urge you to go, and I will certainly be back soon.
Géosmine
71 rue de la Folie Méricourt, 75011 Paris
Tél: 09 78 80 48 59
Thursday-Monday lunch and dinner
Métro: Parmentier, Oberkampf, République