The weekend before Easter I tripped down to Paris to visit the Hornblowers. On arrival they whisked me off to Le Petit Villiers for dinner. An unexpectedly reasonable and down-home family restaurant in a posh part of town, it offers French country cooking in a traditional atmosphere, with red checkered tablecloths and a covered enclosed terrace for smokers. You get a fair choice for your 22 euros menu du jour, with a 9-euro fixed menu for kids (steak-frites, dessert) which was fine for the Hornblowers two granddaughters, Hermione and Hepzibah. Or so we thought. It was past Hepzibah's bedtime and she was going to make us pay. She didn't want the children's menu.
"But you always have steak-frites!" said Vi.
Hepzibah whinged, wittered, griped and grizzelled. When her steak-frites arrived she didn't like it. It was a bit burnt on the outside and she didn't like "the black bits". Children's menus are all very well but, like vegetarian menus, they shouldn't be a variation on the normal menu. Chefs should know how to cook for children. She ate her frites, and drank her Coke, which at least woke her up and made her forget about the burnt steak.
Our food was fine, although Vi did say she knew what Hepzibah meant about the black bits on the steak. My eyes lit up when I saw "rognons sauce moutarde", my favourite. They were served in a creamy mustardy sauce, but hadn't been separated, they were still "on the vine", so to speak, which made me wonder how they managed to get the piddle out of them. I was always taught to cut the sinew out of kidneys and salt and rinse them to remove the traces of animal urine, and it's true they do smell a bit pissy when they're cooking. However, they had obviously found some way of taking the pee, as they were delicious and very tender, although I would have preferred them to be pink inside, as ordered, rather than plain raw.
When it came to the dessert, Hepzibah of course didn't want the set pudding. The manager, who had remarked kindly "There is always one who is a star," told her she could have anything she wanted from the menu, which defused her. During all this time Hermione, her 11-year-old sister, had sat good as gold and eaten everything that was put in front of her. She didn't much fancy the set dessert either but to reward her grown-up behaviour, I had arranged to swap desserts if she preferred mine. In years to come, Hermione will be quietly and successfully negotiating in the background while Hepzibah is selling her story to the tabloids.
The service was friendly and brisk, although the manager had his hands full with all tables busy on a Thursday night. Apart from the slightly overcooked steak and the slightly undercooked kidneys, we had to agree that the 100 euro bill for 3 adults and 2 children was indeed, as the website says, "un rapport qualité-prix exceptionnel".
Le Petit Villiers
(near metro Wagram)
Tél. : 01 48 88 96 59
"But you always have steak-frites!" said Vi.
Hepzibah whinged, wittered, griped and grizzelled. When her steak-frites arrived she didn't like it. It was a bit burnt on the outside and she didn't like "the black bits". Children's menus are all very well but, like vegetarian menus, they shouldn't be a variation on the normal menu. Chefs should know how to cook for children. She ate her frites, and drank her Coke, which at least woke her up and made her forget about the burnt steak.
Our food was fine, although Vi did say she knew what Hepzibah meant about the black bits on the steak. My eyes lit up when I saw "rognons sauce moutarde", my favourite. They were served in a creamy mustardy sauce, but hadn't been separated, they were still "on the vine", so to speak, which made me wonder how they managed to get the piddle out of them. I was always taught to cut the sinew out of kidneys and salt and rinse them to remove the traces of animal urine, and it's true they do smell a bit pissy when they're cooking. However, they had obviously found some way of taking the pee, as they were delicious and very tender, although I would have preferred them to be pink inside, as ordered, rather than plain raw.
When it came to the dessert, Hepzibah of course didn't want the set pudding. The manager, who had remarked kindly "There is always one who is a star," told her she could have anything she wanted from the menu, which defused her. During all this time Hermione, her 11-year-old sister, had sat good as gold and eaten everything that was put in front of her. She didn't much fancy the set dessert either but to reward her grown-up behaviour, I had arranged to swap desserts if she preferred mine. In years to come, Hermione will be quietly and successfully negotiating in the background while Hepzibah is selling her story to the tabloids.
The service was friendly and brisk, although the manager had his hands full with all tables busy on a Thursday night. Apart from the slightly overcooked steak and the slightly undercooked kidneys, we had to agree that the 100 euro bill for 3 adults and 2 children was indeed, as the website says, "un rapport qualité-prix exceptionnel".
Le Petit Villiers
75 av. de Villiers
75017 Paris(near metro Wagram)
Tél. : 01 48 88 96 59
