Dear Basique: It’s not you, it’s me.
OK, pause. Rewind. Let me explain.
I recently visited Basique, an 11th arrondissement small plates restaurant, with a friend and fellow foodie. The menu is constructed around the small plates formula that took Paris by storm around the same time it staked its claim in London and New York. A short-and-sweet list of natural wines by the glass accompanies the selection of plates divided into categories A and B, category A being slightly more expensive, with prices ranging from 9 to 11 euros, while B will run you 6 to 9. (The categorization has repercussions on a lunchtime deal but pretty much means nothing at dinner.)
First, the pros.
The menu featured quite a few vegetarian and plant-forward dishes, many of which are very creative, including a beetroot-stuffed portobello mushroom with crisp beet and yuzu that would prove to be my favorite dish of the night, the ideal marriage of bright and earthy and kind of exactly the vegetarian dish I want in this in-between time leading into the warmer days of spring.
I was less blown away by the dish of the day – a leek vinaigrette with a paltry topping of roasted hazelnuts and a honey drizzle – and by the mashed potatoes gratinéed with Rocamadour cheese, which has almost cemented my unfortunate realization that while the French are amazing at making cheese, I rarely enjoy dishes featuring it, croque monsieur nonwithstanding.
Other veggie offerings included omnipresent burrata, here paired with artichoke, as well as roasted carrots with carrot juice, potato croquettes, roasted Brussels sprouts with peanuts, and casarecce pasta with pesto rosso.
Meanwhile, in the plant-forward but non-vegetarian category, we loved the creamy celery root risotto with a katsuobushi topping, which proved my dining companion’s favorite dish. It married tender rice with rice-sized bites of celery root for a bit of a trompe l’oeil, and the bonito garnish was a fun way of turning the plate into a study in beige that revealed itself to be of a striking and surprising flavorsomeness.
The friend I was dining with is a proud meat-lover, and part of the reason we chose this restaurant is thanks to the on-menu presence of Will’s pastrami, which is less fatty and served in thinner slices than North American iterations. It was paired with pickles and mayo, and it was certainly nice and peppery, but definitely elided any cooking in favor of the popular direction of “thing put on a plate.”
More impressive were the beef meatballs, which were rich, tender, and moist on the inside and crisp and caramelized without. They were served on a pool of fresh tomato sauce, and I wiped the plate clean.
The service is genial; the dining room is nice; the bread is good. And yet…
Dear Basique: It’s not you, it’s me.
Maybe it’s because I recently had a conversation with a friend and industry pro about how difficult it is to construct a truly wow-worthy main dish, which left me craving the cohesiveness of an actual entrée. Maybe it’s because I’ve eaten so many small plates in the past few years, and it takes a lot, these days, to really wow me.
Maybe it’s because, much like a swift and sudden realization a few years back that I don’t really want to wear flip-flops in a shower I’m paying for the privilege of sharing, thus cementing the end of my hostel-staying days, I’m not sure I still want dinner to be a mad rush to consume six small plates delivered in unison to a too-small table before the hot ones get cold and the cold ones get hot…
Look, the small plates trend is certainly here to stay, and what’s more, there are places that I still think do a formidable job: places like Le Grand Bain, where some “small” plates eat like mains, or Le Mermoz, where the staff have mastered the art of pacing their delivery. Martin and Chambre Noire manage to be self-awarely creative in their conception of plates that are, at the end of the day, mainly meant to accompany the bounty of natural wines on the list.
But try as I might (and for as much as I loved that mushroom dish…), I don’t know how to recommend Basique. If you have a group mixing omnivores and vegetarians? If you’re looking for small plates on a Monday night?
Perhaps…
Ultimately, I’m sorry I can’t get more excited about Basique. It’s just a little… basic.
Basique – 164 avenue Ledru Rollin, 75011