Pétrelle, 34 rue Pétrelle, Paris 75009

Although I have not previously written it up, Pétrelle has for some time been in the restaurants in my regular rotation, and I’ve never had a disappointing meal there.

The interior is funky, reminding me of something one might find in a U.S. college town, where those running the place have improvised with their limited funds.

As always when we have eaten at Pétrelle, a number of the tables were taken by visiting Asians — I find that as a group they are perhaps the best-informed and most discriminating foodies. There were also some tables of French people and one or more other tables of Anglophones in addition to us.

Lunch is served only on weekends. The lunch menu allows various options from two plates to four.

On this day, we chose the four services option, consisting of our choice of two starters (entrées) on the carte, one main (plat), and one dessert.

The wine list is outstanding. It is primarily natural wines, but all of the highest quality. The by-the-glass selections on the carte above gives a general flavor of the wine list, but a number of special wines are also on the list.

As an aperitif and to cool off on this warm, sunny day, L took a glass of the white Irouleguy, a wine from the French side of the the Pyrénées.

The wine was medium-weight and somewhat neutral, but it worked well enough as an aperitif.

I started with a glass from the bottle that we would share throughout the meal, a light 2021 Alsace Pinot Noir from Valentin Zusslin.

The wine was less impressive on its own than various other offerings on the list, but its freshness and minerality worked well with the food that was to come.

For our first starter, we both selected the white asparagus in tempura with sorrel sauce.

It was outstanding with very flavorful asparagus mixing with the crunchiness and playing off against the minerality of the sorrel sauce.

For the next starter, L chose the salad of chicken, cucumber, mint, and pimento.

The dish was different from what she expected, being more Japanese-inspired and bathed in a soup of what seemed to be rice vinegar. It was her least favorite dish of the meal, but not because of any defect in conception or preparation, just in a difference of expectations.

I took the millefeuille of beets with fresh chèvre, smoked eel, and horseradish.

This was a most successful dish with slices of yellow beet interspersed with the fresh cheese and the eel off to the side. The mellowness of the beets was offset by the saltiness of the cheese, the spiciness of the horseradish, and the smokiness of the eel.

For her main, L chose the skate wing with pointed cabbage and a lemony beurre blanc.

She very much liked it, especially the grilled pointed cabbage.

I took the veal with artichokes and anchovies.

This dish worked very well, with the tender veal playing against the baby artichokes and being highlighted by the salty anchovy sauce.

We both finished with the strawberry and pistachio dessert, highlighting the quality of the strawberries and pistachio with subtle orange flower hints in the cream.

The bill:

Pétrelle always supplies a special experience in the food, the wine, and the atmosphere. Its accessibility to most of the rest of Paris is not great, but it is definitely worth the effort and more. I urge you to try it.

Pétrelle

34, rue Pétrelle, 75009 Paris

Wednesday-Friday dinner, Saturday and Sunday lunch and dinner

Telephone: 01 42 82 11 02

petrelle.fr

Métro: Anvers, Poissonnière, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Barbès-Rochechouart