Quai n°4
Youth is an art.
Since the birth of the Quai, in the summer of 2020, in six or seven appearances, it is the same feeling: that of surrendering oneself into beautiful hands, donning the costume of an ecstatic victim. We know where we are, or almost.
The street is always poetic, the old cobblestones, lined with beautiful honey locust trees, find this scent of sweet urban walk. Like a theater. And then, this house, superb, and its worthy charm. It is there, in these walls, that Maxence Bourhala, Charles-Maxime Legrand and Nina Vray, in a just return to their roots, chose to put down weapons and luggage, in the heart of their native land, not even two years ago.
The weapons; their knives and whips, their pots and plates. The baggage; their lives, their paths, their schools; between Yves Mattagne's Sea Grill, the Château du Mylord of the Thomaes brothers, Thierry Theys' Nuance and the Gré du Vent, for them and in no particular order. These young hands have knowledge, enthusiasm and desire. An appetite to make good food, a desire to give good food. And that virtuoso touch.
Once inside, the décor is married to the quest, it bears a signature. It is deliciously reassuring to know that you are in a den of good taste, no matter what form it may take. There is also the presence of a beautiful central bar, soothing colors, well-chosen furniture, beautiful lighting. All this contributes to create a lively and delicate atmosphere. However, the real and beautiful reason, the essential subject to push the door of this beautiful house, is the plate.
Youth is an art. Oscar Wilde was right. Nothing is more true for our three accomplices. The kitchen ensures better than well and the team is growing with a young mood with all eyes turned towards excellence.
We have already immersed ourselves a few times in the menus of Quai N°4. So many beautiful walks, so many beautiful trips, as if taken by the hand in the flights of the young brigade.
Tender and generous, faithful to a spirit of simplicity and taste, the plate delights with precise work on meticulously selected products. Each visit shows an enlightened sense of composition, a concern for textures and a real work on juices and sauces.
Here and now, we still have the testimony of superb flights of fancy on the Sea bream, radish, saffron and fresh cheese, on the Hake, celery, almond and coffee, on the Scallops, dulce, salicornia and choron sauce, on the Duck, squash, Dim Sum and satay.
There is no forced landing in these menus, the grace asserts itself and carries the whole also and still by the desserts of Charles-Maxime: airy, tasty, fine, inventive. The proof is in the score around the Pear, chamomile, Jerusalem artichoke, and the Stroll in the forest, a light harmony around the Apple, caramel and chocolate.
In the dining room, there is also and above all, a more than benevolent and very precise service. And the smile of Nina.
The road was to be beautiful, it is. And now adorned with a star.
LD