Lunch at Allard

One of my favourite cookbook authors, Patricia Wells, sings the praises of Allard. We ate there today:

Beaujolais, salads of frisée lardons, and meats and poultry roasted whole, on the bone. Yet even in Paris, those old fashioned spots remain a dying breed. As good as ever is Allard, the well-worn 1940’s Left Bank bistro once the home of Fernande and André Allard. More than 60 years later, you can still find a very dependable duck with olives, tender Bresse poultry served with a sauté of wild cèpe mushrooms, and – my very favorite – the giant lamb shoulder, with portions large enough to feed an army.

I enjoyed my green beans with salty lardons in a creamy dressing and a navarin d'agneau accompanied by the 2001 burgundy house wine. Huge helpings of French home cooking that I almost managed to walk off.