I don’t frequently venture into the 8th arrondissement for food, but I’m glad I did on one recent occasion, for Le Mermoz has conquered my heart.
Despite its ritzy address, Le Mermoz’s dining room is welcoming and warm: the bistro vibe stretches from the personable (anglophone) service to the tiled floor to the perfect dose of lighting (yes, I’m becoming an old person, but I really like to see my food – especially when it’s as beautiful as the food here). It’s the perfect setting for Californian Chef Thomas Graham’s positively delightful food, a crescendo of small plates where each new arrival was better than the last.
We started things off with a house-made poultry terrine studded generously with hazelnuts and prunes. The texture here was just out of sight: caramelized on the outside and a combo of creamy liver and toothsome meat within, with big, crunchy chunks of hazelnuts. The seasonal fig accompaniment was a nice touch, but this terrine didn’t need it – it definitely stands on its own two feet.
Accompanying this and all of our other dishes was a steady supply of warmed bread from Ten Belles, aka my all-time fave. (Though tbh I preferred eating the terrine on its own – it was so delicate and perfectly balanced that the flavorful char of the bread almost overpowered it. It was far more useful an implement later on, when I had sauces to mop up.)
Next, we had sweet potato agnolotti with rosemary brown butter sauce. Just… omigod.
An ultra-creamy sweet potato filling inside the perfect al dente pasta is already a no-brainer, but what pushed this over the edge for me – and, indeed, what seemed to govern most of the dishes here – was the exquisite balance of acidity. Lemon juice and zest (maybe?) added the perfect zing and freshness to the brown butter sauce, seasoned with chives. It was quite simply phenomenal.
Soup could seem like an odd choice for a shared plate, but when we saw this Roscoff onion soup on the menu, we couldn’t help ourselves. Luckily, our server delivered three small bowls with our soup plate, so it was easy to portion out this delightful combination of velouté, onion jam, foam, trout roe, and almonds. The menu promised licorice, too, but as a stalwart licorice hater, I am delighted to say that it wasn’t terribly present – it just managed to perfectly balance out the rich earthiness of the onion. The resulting soup was savory, rich, creamy, and a little bit sweet. In a word: delicious.
This trompe l’oeil dish saw cuttlefish sliced into tagliatelle, piled atop a thick chorizo sauce. The cuttlefish boasted the ideal creamy texture, and once again, there was a lovely hit of acidity in the sauce that boasted an almost Thai-influenced flavor. Lemongrass? Perhaps some lime? I’m not 100% certain of anything except that it was delightful.
When you say potimarron, I say “Gimme!” especially this time of year. And this Hokkaido squash preparation may have been one of my faves I’ve had recently. The skin-on squash was roasted until lightly charred outside and super tender within. Filled with spelt and topped with a creamy, harissa-tinged sauce and a sprinkling of squash seeds, it was earthy and sweet and frankly delightful. And the finger lime “caviar” over the top afforded the perfect balance to the natural sweetness of the dish.
I must preface my evaluation of the dessert by reiterating the fact that I am not a chocolate fan. From a technical standpoint, this dessert was, of course, lovely, with a thick, laminated pastry shell containing a rich, dense chocolate filling. But I didn’t get much in the way of the maple promised in the cream, and in this instance, the puddle of orange (lemon curd, perhaps?) beneath the tart pushed that signature acidity of the realm of balance and into wholly sour. It wasn’t bad; it just wasn’t my favorite.
As opposed to many other spots governed by the small plates trend, the delivery of the plates here was expertly staggered, so we could afford each one the attention it deserved. It bears noting that the lunch menu is a more traditional entrée-plat-dessert scenario, and if Instagram is any indication, affords the same – if not more – elegant technicity. A lovely wine list and really reasonable prices (ranging from 9 to 22 per plate but averaging about 15) means that this has just skyrocketed to the top of my list.
Le Mermoz – 16, rue Jean Mermoz, 75008