Café de la Jatte

My husband and I celebrated thirteen years of marriage by shipping our angels off to their grandparents, who stoically bore the exceptional amount of noise very small people can make. On Sunday night we went to see Mortal Instruments and ate Haagen Dazs ice cream . . . just because we could. We were free!

But on Saturday night, we had our “official” anniversary date, and we went to Café de la Jatte.

This restaurant is located in Neuilly, which is the posh suburb right outside of Paris – the way Beverly Hills is to LA.

If you want to know how to correctly pronounce Neuilly, take the vowel sounds from the word “could” (oul) and slip it in front of the N.  N(oul)-yee. Got it?

This building was built at the end of the 19th century for a rich landowner. After that it was turned into a riding circuit for horses, and following that it stored all the furniture used in the Opéra de Paris. In the 80’s it became an Italian restaurant, and that’s what it is today.

See? The menu (posted outdoors by law) is in Italian and French. Let’s hope you can read one of the two!

I had been here before to celebrate a friend’s birthday. We ate in the winter garden in the back and saw little birds hopping amid the trees and plants on the other side of the glass. They keep it closed when it gets really cold, however.

The other thing that struck me besides the birds was the giant (fake) skeleton of an aquatic dinosaur hanging from the ceiling.

Because . . . why not?

The place was empty when we first got there. In part, because it was before 8PM, and in part because it was a school holiday and everyone goes away.

But we enjoyed the special attention, like getting to see how they poured alcohol, then set it on fire in the Parmesan wheel of cheese, scraping the melted cheese, and mixing the pasta directly in the wheel.

I know it’s no fun to see pictures of food other people are eating in dim lighting, but . . .

BUT I’m gonna do it anyway. Matthieu ordered smoked mozzarella covered with grilled eggplant.

I ordered grilled vegetables with a fondu dipping sauce, made of some cheese I can’t remember the name of.

We went crazy – those were just the appetizers.

Matthieu had the pasta in the Parmesan, of course,

and I had fish with a sweet orange sauce.

The main dishes are about 30€ alone so it’s quite a splurge. The kind of thing you do on your 13th wedding anniversary.

But as the place comes to life, and your candlelit table is your own little island, all the stress and worries and dirty dishes and broken roof tiles and things that distract – fall away as you remember that life is pretty good when you’re married to the one you love.

Le Café de la Jatte

Ile de la Jatte – 60, bd Vital Bouhot
92200 Neuilly-Sur-Seine

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