black calavados
review by wildrise
Wildrise is a fan from Australia who dined at BC while on a trip to Paris with her husband...
See more photos and reviews here
It is hard to find BC. I had the exact address and knew it was on the corner of the streets named after the leaders George V and Pierre 1er de Serbie but I still had to ask the bellman at the nearby Four Seasons for help. Black Cavalados is very discreetly within what looks like a beautiful Parisian apartment building. Only the large black door that protrudes from the building gives away that it may be something other than it seems. When we arrive, the big black door is closed and no one is there. To the right, outside the other entrance is the menu of BC encased in glass and the door number 40. This is it.
Still a bit unsure, we walk up a flight of stairs and come to a landing. There is coat rack and a small podium but no one is there. To the left is a large white door – no sign, no windows. My husband and I look at each other confused. Did we come in the wrong entrance? There is another flight of stair beyond the coat rack so we walk up only to come to two closed doors - obviously not where we are supposed to be. As we walk back down, the large white door opens and a lovely small blonde in a size 2 grey knit dress and great pair of heels elegantly slides through and closes the big door behind her. She sees us and greets us.
“Are we in the right place? We have reservations at 8:45 for BC?” She says yes and begins to help me off with my coat. As she is hanging our coats – I inquire if we could have an aperitif (don’t I sound French? HA) in the bar before our meal. She replies “it iz not pozeeble” in a sexy way that only the French can make English sound. I’m puzzled as she opens the big white door and leads us in.
The contrast is amazing from the white staircase to the black restaurant. The door is shut quickly behind you, not to let any light in. The other side of the door is lacquered black, as is the walls, the ceiling, the bar. It takes a minute for your eyes to adjust. About 6 ft up on the wall, runs a line of dimly lit over-sized light bulbs, the clear kind where only the filament is glowing white. Running up the wall corners and lining the ceiling are little white lights not unlike Christmas lights. From the pictures I had seen – I thought there were mirrors or brushed steel on the walls – but there is not – the black lacquer is just that shiny that it reflects the dim light giving off a silvery glow.
It is smaller than I thought. By the black door there is a bar with some stools. Behind the bar there is a panel of brushed metal with a line of Johnny Walker Black bottles on display in front of it – only Johnny Walker Black bottles. Across from the bar are three booth type tables. The booths form a subtle V shape which is great for two. My husband and I are seated in the middle one of these. It’s very comfortable and I like sitting side by side with my husband.
The front room has more tables there are probably 12 all together. There are three windows dressed with sheer black drapes. On that Saturday night there was obviously a larger party expected and some tables were together. We were the first ones in the restaurant at 8:45. I knew Parisians ate late – but I obviously hadn’t adjusted my clock enough. (I recommend a 9:15/9:30 reservation.) But it was starting to fill up quickly after we sat down, and by 9:30 not a seat in the house was available.
BC is a place where the Rock n Roll and haute cuisine intersect. There is a funky cool feel to this place - slightly more casual than I expected – more of a club vibe than a restaurant in some ways. The New Yorker in me felt at home, like I was in Soho rather than in Paris. While the table setting and presentation was formal, there was an undeniable jauntiness. The music wasn’t Rock n Roll though, even if the tone of the place was. It was contemporary but more like club music, which is not my thing really – but it wasn’t too loud that it intruded.
The waiters were cool – there were 4 of them that I saw and they all attended to you. Each was dressed individually. If I had to guess, they are told to dress casual but fashionable with at least one item of black. All of them wore jeans, one guy wore an untucked white tux shirt with a black vest, another wore an untucked black button down shirt, open at the neck and with a thin black tie around his bare neck, and another wore a black shirt with black suspenders. All young. All happening.
The bartender/waiter came over with menus. He was friendly, asked where we were from, said Australia is his dream place to travel to. He spoke great English, sexed up with his accent. I asked why it was not pozeeble to have a drink downstairs first, he said there was a private party downstairs tonight. He kindly offered that the party would be over at 3:30am and open to the public then. Now if I was with my girls, Mel and Anna – well.... it would have been pozeeble to see the bar, but there wasn’t a snowball's chance in hell I was going to get my husband to stay up that late for me to peek into Chris Cornell’s bar. I’m sorry to report – I have no report on the clandestine bar below.
The menu is in a square black (what else?) leather folder. Inside it is printed on silver sparkly paper. As you turn the first page the provocative first title is simply “EAT ME”. Why does that make me smile wickedly? Interestingly enough, “EAT ME” is prominently printed in English on the French version of the menu as well. I’m guessing the play on words wouldn’t translate.
The menu is very diverse and unique, which I came to appreciate even more as I spent the next two weeks in France. While French fare is world renowned – I noticed it didn’t differ much in terms of variety. But that is not the case at BC where it is an elegant fusion of American and French. The bar menu or “to share” menu (the page titled “Eat Me”) has a variety from Wagyu burgers, potato pizza, caviar, fondu, & mac & cheese with truffles. After midnight – there is midnight spaghetti served to 2am with ricotta, blackberries & strawberries.
We went for the formal menu of entrees and plats (mains). Both my husband and I ordered the ceviche. Instead of the fish being in soaked in lemon juice as I have always had it, BC served it with grapefruit and onion– it was delicious – so fresh tasting. Fabulous!! For dinner, I had the Black Cod while my husband had the Quail. I would have ordered the Chilean Sea Bass if it hadn’t been labelled “Fish & Chips with Black Ketchup”. Somehow I couldn’t justify flying from Australia to order Fish & Chips in Paris at a cost of AU$66. But the Black Cod was good. It was served with Japanese rice patty with blueberries. My husband loved his quail and it was served with a rectangular block of potato – crispy on the outside, creamy white on the inside. The food was presented beautifully, standing out on the bold white china contrasting all the black that surrounded.
Anyway – my husband and I finished our meal. We didn’t order dessert because we had visited my cousin at 5pm and she had served us Pastries and chocolate at that time. While we were walking back to our hotel, my husband presented me with a gift. Somehow the sneaky bandit of a man swiped a menu from BC - and I have a French version of the BC menu as a memento of my great night.
Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007
