Quinsou

A return visit after the prices shot up

I’ve always liked chef Antonin Bonnet’s food. I recently returned to Quinsou for a special dinner, my fourth visit to this Michelin one-star restaurant in Saint-Germain.

I came back hoping that the experience might bump the restaurant back onto our list of 50 favorites. And while I loved everything I ate, there was once again something missing. This had more to do with the feeling in the dining room than what was presented on the plate.

It’s hard to put my finger on it, but there’s something about Quinsou that feels a little ungenerous. It’s probably the cost. The price of the tasting menu has jumped from 75€ to 125€ since my last visit, and two of the available options carried pricey supplements.

The cheapest wine on their list was 80€, and most bottles were priced north of 160€. In the past, I’ve enjoyed their pairings and might recommend that as a way to spend less on wine, but the price of their pairings has jumped from 45€ to 75€. The pricy wine (and the optional cheese plate) bumped the price of our dinner for two to more than 400€.

For me, there’s a mismatch between the spare decor and those high prices. The vibe-less room has a neutral palette of brown and white and the tables are unadorned. Other restaurants that are getting away with such minimalism at high prices have more beautiful rooms to work with (Septime, Le Chateaubriand). In this space, it almost feels like a guest chef from a fine dining restaurant is doing a pop-up at neighborhood bistro.

But what about the food? It’s honestly still great.

The 125€ tasting menu began with two amuses and then opened with this carpaccio of bonite (tuna) with ponzu sauce, green meat radishes and apple ginger condiment. Fresh and delicious.

The next course offered a choice between an open “ravioli” made from shaved butternut squash and filled with cindered chèvre, cedrat and pumpkin puree (above), or seared sea scallops with girolle mushrooms and caviar in a vin jaune sauce (below).

The ravioli was cerebral and interesting; the scallop was profoundly delicious. That vin jaune sauce carried the dish. I’m not sure it needed the caviar and the 25€ supplement.

The next course was a beautiful piece of line-caught sea bass with horseradish sauce, a purée of chervil root, and some roasted scorsonière (similar to salsify). There was also a deep, dark drizzle of jus made from the fish head. A spiky and provocative dish.

The next course offered another choice, this time between guinea hen (above) and a veal sweetbread (below). The guinea hen was tucked between a purée and a “veil” of celery root. A drizzle of jus corsé and a dab of walnut “ketchup” added some delicious punch.

The sweetbread was bathed in brown butter and served with a dollop of garlic cream. On the side was a delicious square of pommes paillasson (a fried potato cake not totally unlike a latke) dressed with sauce Périgueux and shaved truffle. It was an indulgent dish that carried a 35€ supplement.

We added the optional cheese course and enjoyed a perfect Saint-Nectaire with quince and saffron paste for an additional 14€.

We really didn’t need that cheese course - it was already such a large menu with five courses plus amuses. We scarcely had room to enjoy the dessert, which was a pleasingly bitter lemon tart with bergamote sorbet tucked beneath a nun’s cap of meringue.

As you can see, I have no quibble with the food. It’s a generous number of courses for 125€, but a third of the options carry an additional charge. Without the supplements, with some less expensive wine options, and with a little something extra in the dining room (warmer service and decor), Quinsou would feel balanced and worth the price. As it stands, I’d reserve recommending this to wealthier friends who don’t so easily feel the pinch of a 400€ bill.

For my money, and at that amount of money, I’m probably going to be happier at Maison, Alliance, or Amâlia.

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QUINSOU

33 Rue de l'Abbé Grégoire, 75006
Open Thursday-Saturday for lunch & dinner
Open Tuesday-Wednesday for dinner only
Closed Sunday & Monday
Reservations online or at +33 1 42 22 66 09

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