Big City, Little Kitchen

Spy shot from Le Soufflé taken with camera phone

There are few things more quintessentially French than the soufflé. So, when in Paris…eat lots of them! You will find this particularly easy if you make a dinner reservation at Le Soufflé, a cozy, unpretentious nook on a tiny street in the first arrondissement. This is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach; one gets the sense that the waiters enjoy parading past carrying soufflé after puffy soufflé, incorporating an element of performance into grandly delivering and preparing the dishes at the table.

Although they offer plenty of non-soufflé items à la carte, you are really missing out if you don’t order from the prix-fixe, three-course soufflé menu (also a real bargain, at 30 euros). As an appetizer, you can’t go wrong with a classic cheese soufflé, but I would recommend the white asparagus version: pale, delicate, and rushed from the oven to the table. With typical stoicism, the waiter unceremoniously jabs a spoon into its center, creating a crevasse into which he pours a rich and creamy sauce that both melds with and calls attention to the delicate flavor of the asparagus.

Before the main course arrives, a perfectly dressed, leafy green salad appears on the table, cleansing the palate and breaking up the potential monotony of two consecutive savory soufflés. The morille main soufflé is earthy and distinctly mushroom-y, yet remains astonishingly light. Also rewarding is the soufflé of jambon et fromage; so French, and unequivocally delicious.

Of course, the most important part of the meal is dessert, and the kitchen sends out some impressive confections. The Grand Marnier soufflé is so much fun to receive: again, after setting it down, the waiter jabs holes in it, then douses it with more of the liqueur. It arrives so perfectly puffed and golden, it almost seems like a shame to touch it. That sentiment is easily overcome when you taste it. Similarly, the dark chocolate version is accompanied by a white chocolate sauce, while the cafe flavor is simply dusted with powdered sugar. Perhaps the most impressive of the lot, though, is the raspberry soufflé: who wouldn’t be over the moon to tuck into a towering, hot pink, sweet-tart dessert?

Don’t come to Le Soufflé expecting the super-glamorous, dimly-lit, sexy Parisian restaurant experience; its charm is in the absence of all that. The unassuming facade, bright (read: rather unflattering) lighting, and paintings of soufflés adorning the walls belie the treasures at the table. This is a place for enjoying the warm atmosphere, the pleasure of the other diners (many of them locals), and sharing wine and soufflés with friends.

Le Soufflé

36 rue Mont Thabor
75001 Paris

+33 01 42 60 27 19

http://lesouffle.fr/