When I was living in the 15th arrondissement, I was lucky enough to be just up the block from perhaps the world’s most perfect local: Autour de… (and yes… the ellipses were part of the restaurant’s name). Questionable use of punctuation aside (a talent shared among no shortage of French restaurants bafflingly adding apostrophes where they have no business hanging about), this spot was practically perfect in every way. Its genial owner Philippe nearly seemed to serve as the local mayor, aided by a cast of cordial, occasionally smiling servers. The cozy dining room was the perfect place to dig into a choice from a succinct list of a handful of delicious specialties, my favorites of which included the sweet-and-sour sherry-glazed duck magret and the fork-tender seven-hour lamb with hazelnuts, ladled over mashed potatoes to soak up all of the rich sauce. (I could never quite decide if I wanted to start or finish with the baked camembert drizzled with raspberry coulis, which promised to ruin my appetite as an appetizer but push me well over the edge of fullness if I waited for dessert.) And while it was delicious and beloved among those of my quartier, it flew under the radar enough that it was rare to rock up and have to wait more than ten minutes for a table.
The restaurant sadly closed a few years before I myself fled the Left Bank, and ever since, I have yet to score a true local with as much heart as this one. But I may have finally found it at Café les Deux Gares.
My first visit was a recent weekday lunch, where the prix fixe proved a delicious steal: 21 euros for two courses or 25 for three, with two options on offer for each course on the day of my visit. (Three, if you count the three-oyster option for an appetizer). Between the two of us, my dining companion and I managed to sample all of them, save the aforementioned oysters and the cheese course, a category I’ve sworn off for the moment, pending the return of the gilded cheese cart or an offering other than Comté.
Seasonal green beans were served with apple, garlic-caper mayo, and shallot-cider vinegar for a light yet lush beginning.
Ever on-brand, I opted for something I’d never seen before – monkfish liver cream, topped with burst cherry tomatoes, breadcrumbs, and marigold. I had never tried monkfish liver before, but as a lover of strong-flavored fish and an erstwhile sampler of organ meats, I loved this dish, enjoying the cream both on its own and atop the rich sourdough loaf served in generous thick slices.
For the main, my friend dug into the pork faux-filet up top, served with a halved roasted carrot and a handful of sweet peppers as well as a burnt eggplant condiment and pork jus. I, meanwhile, opted for the mackerel, which was perfectly crispy on the skin side and tender and flaky beneath. It came on top of a raw fennel salad and a roasted zucchini half, and while seeing as we’re on the tail end of the season of the latter, it proved a bit bland, the fennel, fish, and rich rockfish reduction more than made up for it.
Dessert was a single, delightful scoop of fleur de lait ice cream – a light, refreshing offering almost halfway between ice cream and sorbet. It was served on top of a mirabelle condiment and finished with bright pêche de vigne granita, and while the end of mirabelle season was palpable in the relative mildness of flavor that I usually so love in the tiny yellow plum, I’ll admit I scraped my bowl clean anyway.
In addition to the prix fixe, there were a handful of other à la carte choices on offer, including charcuterie, Pyrenees trout with raw cream (14), Camargue mussels with lovage and cider vinegar (18), smoked veal tartare tonnato (16), and boudin noir with potatoes and tomatoes (28). The tantalizing combos and prodigious use of both vinegar and rarer fresh herbs definitely has me intrigued to return.
Of course, I am not the first to fall for Café les Deux Gares; it’s already been lauded by far mightier pens than mine. But thanks to the friendly staff, cozy dining room, and view over the train tracks of Gare de l’Est (I promise, it’s dreamier than it sounds), it may well have secured its spot as my new local.
Café les Deux Gares – 1 Rue des Deux Gares, 75010