Or perhaps you’d pre-
fer those French cheese puffs known
as gougères ($8). Though they
did not arrive at our table
warm, they were as light as a summer
breeze and so wonderfully cheese-
y that their tepid temperature didn’t
prevent me and my dining compan-
ions from devouring them.
When was the last time you
saw snails on a menu?
In a phone call after my
second visit, Muller confided
that Paulin feared
• OPEN EVERY DAY FOR
the French delicacy
DINNER STARTING AT 5 P.M.
wouldn’t play well in
• BAR OPENS AT 4 P.M.
New Jersey. Paulin
MONDAY TO FRIDAY;
12 P.M. ON WEEKENDS.
needn’t have worried. “It
• BRUNCH 12–3 P.M. FRIDAY;
sells very well,” Muller
11 A.M.–3 P.M. SATURDAY
AND SUNDAY.
reports. The snail and
chicken oysters fricas-
sée ($17), served in a sea of bright
green sauce, was beautifully plated,
and the roasted snails, often rubbery
in less skilled hands, were tender. If
you haven’t had snails before, con-
sider trying them here. The “oyster
meat,” considered by many to be the
most flavorful part of a chicken
(they’re hidden behind the thighs)
was succulent and lush.
Not nearly as thrilling but good
was a lobster salad ($12), a gener-
ous half-pound of sweet lobster meat
atop a summer garden of waxed
beans, green beans and corn. The
salad was dressed lightly with lemon
It’s a simple dish, proof that
and olive oil and was served with a
sometimes (often?) the more simple
basil aioli. Nothing novel, nothing
a dish, the better. The elegant flash-
exotic, just tasty and enjoyable.
fried salmon and tangy lemon-y
For entrées, you can’t go wrong
sorrel needed nothing else to
with the nice-sized juicy and flaky
wow my palate.
halibut coated with a thin layer
The most impressive dish of all,
of caramelized lemon marmalade
however, was that classic French
($29). The fish sits atop a bed of
comfort food known as coq au
textbook-perfect bright and chunky
vin ($26).This lovely rustic dish
ratatouille and is served with a
showcased fork-tender chicken
cherry tomato confit. It’s divine.
enveloped in a rich, lush, multi-
Divine, too, was the salmon and
layered deep-red wine sauce fla-
sorrel ($27), a legendary dish cre-
vored by mushrooms, bacon, leeks
ated by the celebrated Troisgros
and onions. It’s served with deli-
brothers, who helped launch nouvelle
cate späetzle. It’s impossible not to
cuisine at their eponymous restau-
eat every last bit.
rant, La Maison Troisgros, near
Impossible, too, would be pass-
Lyon, France.
ing up dessert, once you’ve tasted
COQ AU VIN WITH
MUSHROOMS AND
SPÄETZLE
STRAWBERRY
AND RHUBARB
PANNA COTTA
Melissa Rodriguez’s creations. I
sampled five out of nine offered (des-
sert is my favorite course!) and loved
them all: the stuffed-meringue vach-
erin adorned with raspberries ($13);
the molten chocolate cake known as
coulant ($12); the citrus-y madeleines
($8); the light and gorgeous passion
fruit cheese cake (Rodriguez removes
the passion fruit’s seeds, dries them
and then replaces them to visually
dazzle $12); and, perhaps my favor-
ite, a silky, smooth rhubarb and
strawberry panna cotta served with
oatmeal crumble ($10). I can’t wait
to go back and try the remaining
four.
Actually I can’t wait to go back,
period. ■
MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE FALL 2019
35