Le 14 FEVRIER

We had Danielle and me this evening a great dinner in a tiny restaurant recently open in the Old Lyon set for only 14 with a contemporary decor using items(posters,knife rests...)of the French illustrator Raymond Peynet,famous for his lovers drawings(the restaurant is called "Le 14 février,i.e the Valentine's Day).

We had the cheapest 5 courses surprise menu called Prélude,38 euro(the other one with 9 surprise courses costs 52 euro)and enjoyed the fine French cuisine of the young Japanese chef, Tsuyoshi ARAI,an exciting new cooking talent and the Japanese pastry chef who delighted us ,first with a slice of sausage cooked in brioche, snail fritters with chorizo sauce and winter squash velouté with coffee and caramel in the bottom of the cup!as appetizers.

Then we had tasty gambas with avocado purée,pata negra ham and smoked salmon seasoned with fruit passion vinegar,

As fish,we enjoyed a piece of a perfectly cooked pike perch with shellfish and sea urchin sauce,spinach ,crystallized tomato and a bit of delicious celeriac(one of my numerous guilty pleasures)

As main course:a delicious piece of duck breast with foie gras sauce,a great piece of Brussels sprout(another weakness) and turnip.

As cheese:thin slices of Pecorino Romano with a complimentary glass of Pays d'Oc red wine .

As desserts:a "kind" of caramel meringue filled with hot chocolate,apricot compote and almond milk icecream and to finish a funny dessert inspired by Mac Donald's with a coke mousse and cherry granita in a glass,a macaroon imitating a burger,a long French frie made with potatoe! and sauces(red fruits for the ketchup and another stuff? for the mayonnaise)

Curiously 2 half bottles are cheaper than a whole one!so Danielle had her fav Burgundy Chablis(15 euro) and I had a Côtes-du-Rhône Crozes-Hermitage red wine(18 euro).

Friendly,professional,elegant Asian waiter and cute Asian waitress(isn't she Christian?) who gave us also some heart-shaped bread...

This place where you can go without the one you love ,if you like French haute cuisine with some Asian touch, really deserves a Michelin star!

update 07/02/2011: only the 52 euro menu(mise en bouche + 9 courses) will be served from 03/03/2011!

update 27/02/2011:rated one* in Michelin guide 2011