My first visit to L’Ami Jean was the day before my 30th birthday. My little sister, who had been visiting, sprung the surprise of their pantagruelesque prix fixe on me, a menu that, if observing my neighbors on a recent return to the restaurant, has remained resolutely the same in the nearly-five years since we were last there.
But that’s part of the charm of this bustling restaurant: that the long tables allowing you to sit elbow-to-elbow are still in place; that Chef Jégo still presides over the open kitchen with his booming voice; that, in a time when plant-based is on trend, pride of place is still given to meaty mains that are far too large for even the hungriest diners to finish.
Instead of the prix fixe, on this most recent visit, we ordered à la carte: no less daunting an endeavor. I began with what I’d hoped, given the price, would be a more diminutive starter than most other offerings: the 15-euro house-made terrine, studded with hazelnuts. It arrived stabbed with a knife à la Excalibur with a tureen of cornichons. I made the barest of dents in it and opted to take the rest home.
I’ve never been a big fan of cooked endive (and in fact, I recently realized – with some help from someone who knows my tastes better than I do – that endive is the vegetable whose raw and cooked iterations have the largest discrepancy of perhaps any veg on my personal taste barometer [oh, to pal around with fellow food nerds]). That said, this particular version of baked endives à la béchamel (20 euros), with raw ham in place of cooked and a generous pile of herbs on top, was far more my speed than most.
Mains at l’Ami Jean can be either shared or individual. Either way, they’re generally 1) Carnivorous and 2) Massive. Take this individual portion of stewed game meat (40 euro). Poetically dubbed a “chimera” of “hairy” game, it married wild boar and rabbit in a rich, wine-scented gravy and was topped with a generous amount of spring onion to cut through the fat. In a word? Superb.
The only downside was that I had a tougher time getting excited about this confit veal cheek (42 euro), which was delicious but somehow paled in comparison to the more assertive stew.
This silky side of mash was designed to share – and included with both mains.
By the time you’ve finished all that, you will not want dessert. I know. You will want to take a long walk home and then lie down and bellyache about how much meat you’ve consumed. But friends, you have to order the rice pudding. Despite the attention given to every single dish on the menu, it’s what Jégo remains most famous for – and one of his most popular takeaway offerings during confinement, as I wrote for the BBC.
It’s decadent and rich and sticky, served alongside house-made roasted nuts and caramel sauce. And at 15 euros, it’s frankly a total steal.
L’Ami Jean – 27 Rue Malar, 75007