With the immediate success of Yves Camdeborde’s wildly popular L’Avant Comptoir, it was only a matter of time before other talented bistronomy stars followed suit with their own version of what us Southerners call a “s’wine” bar (most everything pork, cochon, ham, pig, hog, boar, jambon, etc. & wine).
A few weeks ago, Afaria’s Julien Duboué opened “Dans les Landes” – the ultimate s’wine-cochon bar showcasing hearty Southwestern cuisine of his native Landes region – and by April, (former) Racine’s Pierre Jancou, Frenchie’s Gregory Marchand and Jadis’ Guillaume Delage should all be open as well.
What’s the appeal? Not only are folks drawn to these casual and convivial places where nibbling on Eric Ospital jambon-themed plates and wines by the glass offer serious value – it’s a lot of fun to hang with locals – and the chef-owners get to come out of the kitchen and hang with the locals too.
Julien’s pretty new place is on a wide corner in the 5th at the foot of the rue Mouffetard and honey; I’ve never seen such a fast opening. He put the keys in the door on January 1 and then called on friends and family. Everyone from his parents, in-laws, cousins, aunts and uncles came in to help renovate by the first of February.
The dedication to authenticity shows. As soon as you open the door, it’s as if your TGV just pulled into the Gare Pays Basque. The iPod plays laid-back regional music, dried hams and long red pepper strands hang from terra cotta roof tiles, white exposed stone walls meet caramel-colored terra cotta floor tiles and the lighting is sexy – the red glass fixtures give the place a deep-ruby glow. There is even a plasma TV with Southwest weather and sport updates – a region deeply rooted in rugby and surf waves.
His move is proving to be a smart one – this Latin Quarter neighborhood needed the injection of new restaurant blood badly. On one of my recent visits, casual-chic locals were still streaming in the door at 10:52 pm although they close at 11 pm and the space was already filled to the rafters.
When we walk in, we are just as happy as the Afaria regulars to see the smiling faces of Julien and the handsome server-bartenders Benat and Nicholas who came with him from the flagship – seriously nice guys who understand how to give a warm welcome and know their wines.
Every single person who walked in the door behind us was visibly delighted by the gigantic saddle of grilled meat on the bar – a “plat du jour” display giving a first impression of the generous portions of good food to come.
Julien could have easily called Dans les Landes “Around the Table.” Contrary to L’Avant Comptoir, there are seats here – and lots of them, high group tables and standard individual tables. The tall hand-cut wood group tables are one of the décor features I like the most – they can easily seat 12-14 people.
The tasting plates on offer reflect the Lande’s unique combination of coastal and inland diet, made up of tuna, sardines, mackerel, shrimp, ham, duck, goose and beef with lots of tomatoes, peppers, white beans, green peas, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, asparagus, raspberries and both yellow and green kiwis.
He is cooking with the highest quality ingredients – even incorporating some of his mother’s recipes to create the longest chalkboard menu you might have ever seen -with prices ranging from 2 – 12 euros per dish.
We’ve been several times and still can’t seem to make a dent in it. Since you can expect a lot of pork, foie gras, duck, fried bites and grilled meats, it is most definitely a place to gather with friends to eat and drink over a long period of time so that you can sample and share. With so many choices there are bound to be something for everyone’s tastes.
Julien thought of everything down to the finest detail – not only do I enjoy looking forward to the next course to appear so we can taste it – the creative presentation with each dish could include glass mason jars, Camembert wooden-cheese boxes, cast-iron skillets, terra cotta tiles, uncooked risotto grains, black slate, natural wood cutting boards, silver terrines and huge slabs of fat back.
These are among the favorites so far:
This 2 euro mini croissant is by far my favorite and “sure wish one of those were in the kitchen right now” snacks; flaky buttery layers of béchamel sauce, jambon and black truffles. I literally pulled a Harry Met Sally at the bar – it’s the same reaction I first had to Yves’ ham croquettes at L’Avant Comptoir.
If those samplers weren’t enough, there is the fabulous plat du jour (a different main course dish each day) for 16 euros. I can’t wait to get back on a Wednesday for the Confit Canard and his mother’s recipe for pureed potatoes… ain’t nothin’ better than someone’s mama’s mashed potatoes.
The Thursday slice of the giant grilled hunk of pork pictured earlier on the bar – is perfectly cooked Echine cochon with delicious Tarbais beans …
and for serious carnivore’s, you should go on Saturday for the 3-4 inch thick cut of Charlosse beef, paired with house made frites and Béarnaise.
The wine list offers interesting AOC and VDP choices organized by a north-south-east-west orientation from Landes (not Paris) and start at 5e a glass – averaging 17 e to 40 e for bottles. Also on the list are whiskey, Pastis, beer and Kir, unusual for Paris and I’m sure will be welcome by folks who appreciate spirits.
Although I usually don’t imbibe with drinks at meals other than wine, the white sangria is so delicious, easy to drink and absorbs some of the ”heat” and “fat” of the courses, that I opted to forgo the wine completely on several visits. I so wish they’d offer the Sangria by the carafe (versus the glass).
If you have room for something sweet after the tasting plates, desserts are only 7 euros each… we started with a pretty island of white chocolate mousse floating in Kiwi gazpacho – delicious, but the choux vanilla pastry puffs and a thick creamy salted butter caramel sauce for dipping were so darned good my friend (and favorite natural wine caviste Fred) stopped eating the choux puffs and ate the “pudding” straight off of the spoon. Julien and Nicholas could have easily thrown us out for public indecency for practically having taken a bath in it.
I hope they find a way to make these thick “matchsticks” of chocolate and peanut covered pastry dough with hot chocolate dipping sauce more last minute… although I loved the dipping sauce and chocolate peanut covering, the dough could have been a bit more crispy to hold up to the sauce and give it more “crunch” texture.
After all this – forget coffee, you’ll need the little shot of fresh raspberry puree and Armagnac for a digestive to snap you out of a pork-induced coma.
Since he’s only been open a few weeks, he’s still playing around with the choices on the menu and coming up with new ideas daily. If you like something, tell them. If you don’t, you should tell them too. They want to know.
Julien and team have done a great job in providing yet another fun place to eat and drink well for top value. One evening, we spent nearly five hours devouring fourteen courses, a bottle of wine, many glasses of Sangria, and three desserts. The bill? 122 euros.
Advice? Reserve while you can and pace yourself… I didn’t call it the ultimate s’wine bar for nothing!
Dans les Landes, 119 bis rue Monge, 01.45.87.06.00, M°Censier-Daubenton, closed Sundays and Monday, 12 noon to 11 PM.
