Fresh from manning the helm at the overrated (and now defunct) Roseval, chef Simone Tondo has now taken over the helm at the ex-
La Gazzetta, a venue I've written about on this site a few times before. La Gazzetta descended from the pinnacle after the departure of phenom Swedish chef Petter Nilsson and was just never the same. It eventually closed in, what, something like early 2015? In its place, with a modest sprucing up of the interior, is chef Tondo's incarnation, the aptly named
Tondo.
As with Fulgurances (see my previous post), Tondo has quickly gotten a lot of positive buzz - Le Fooding, Telerama, all the usual suspects.
I've always appreciated the interior at 29 rue de Cotte - two large rooms, a well-appointed bar just past the entrance in the front room. Co. and I were led to a table in the quiet, dimly-lit back room and quickly decided on the 7 plates for 60 euros menu over the 4 plates for 45 euros alternative. What can I say that makes any sense? Not much, many have told me. What I mean is, the food looked great, but somehow underwhelmed. There was nothing out of the 7 plates that made me drop my jaw (or my fork, whichever came first) and say 'wow, this is excellent,' or 'gee, this is amazing.' Not only that, the dishes were rather miniscule. Let's just head right to the pictorial stage of the festivities and you can judge for yourself.
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| The carte - click to read, or use that magnifying glass I suggested. |
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| chef Simone Tondo, still young (http://tondo-paris.com/equipe/) |
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| A room with a view |
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| The painting behind Co., minus Co. |
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| Foccacia, oyster soup, etc. |
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| More of the foccacia dish, half eaten (sorry) |
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| This is the dorade |
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| I don't know, potato and bok choi as a main dish? Kind of a miss. |
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| More fish - lotte this time (but not a lot of it) |
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| The canette - probably the hit for me |
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| Dessert 1 - baba et clementine (doesn't work if you don't leave the bottle of rum on the table, hint) |
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| Dessert 2 - pear and black chocolate |
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| Not on the carte, but on my camera - I think they threw this in at the end, and why the hell not? |
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| What's food without a little wine - this a 39 euro Syrah |
To be fair, with 7 dishes, the plates don't have to be copious, so my magnifying glasses poke might be a little harsh. This was a good meal, but nowhere near dazzling. There was just something missing that could have put Tondo on the map for me. A bit too pricy (159 euros for two) for just 'I guess it was pretty decent.'
TONDO
29 rue de Cotte Paris 12
tel. 01 43 47 47 05
website: /http://tondo-paris.com/
Déjeuner : Jeudi, Vendredi, Samedi de 12h15 à 14h
Diner : Mardi, Mercredi, Jeudi, Vendredi, Samedi de 19h30 à 22h
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