A Load of Hot Air!

Take a balloon ride and see Ukraine from a different perspective

French cuisine is respected throughout the world, and rightly so. With their focus on flavour and presentation, and their use of some unique ingredients, most famously snails and frogs legs, the French really know how to cook, and how to eat. There are a number of French restaurants in Kyiv these days, but whether they offer authentic French cuisine is often a matter of opinion. Having recently celebrated its first birthday, Café de Paris on Andriivskiy Uzviz certainly sounded to us like a place where me might find the real thing, so last Sunday Zhenya and I set off to find out.

As someone who’s spent a lot of time in France, and who loves French cooking, I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur. And as a traditionalist whose favourite dishes include L’Escargot and Moulles Mariniere (or simply good old Moulles Frites), I am hard to please when it comes to French restauarants. Therefore, as Zhenya and I enter Café de Paris, I have to admit my expectations are low. But I am about to be very pleasantly surprised indeed.

Steppinig into Paris

As soon as we walk into the place, we see that the owners are making no apologies about this place being French – there is red, white and blue everywhere. The restaurant is on two levels, and has a small terrace to the front. The ground floor has a bar with some nicely placed tables, but when we arrive we’re shown to the floor above, and I like it.

The first thing that impresses are the large open windows looking out onto Andriivskiy Church, and the interior is equally as pleasant – the walls are patched with plaster with exposed bare brick and there are large black and white silhouette style photos adorning the walls. Down one wall is bench seating with small tables in front all with red table cloths, there are two large round tables in the middle and booths on the other wall.

Across the ceiling, large sheets of red and white linen are draped over wooden beams (which makes us wonder if they couldn’t find blue), and the whole place is strongly reminiscent of a shop-front eatery one would find in Paris.

We choose the table by the window, and laugh a little as we sit, noticing the serviettes on the table – even they are red white and blue. Our smiles broaden when our waitress Svetlana places a plate of mixed meats and a basket of French bread in front of us, and, returning a moment later with the menus, we start to peruse while enjoying the bread and meats.

Frogs in Wheelchairs

I’m instantly impressed with the menu, simply on the basis that in does indeed contain frogs legs and l’escargot. The prices seem very reasonable too with salads priced between 65 and 90hrv (for shrimp and avocado), starters for between 50 and 125hrv, soups from 40 to 45, a couple of pasta dishes priced at 70hrv, and a good selection of meat and fish dishes costing between 85hrv and 145hrv.

When it comes to starters my choice is immediate – snails (50hrv for six, 100hrv for 12), but Zhenya takes a little longer. It appears she really wants to try the Frogs’ Legs a la Provencale (125hrv), but is rather worried about it. “They taste like chicken,” I tell her, using that wonderful cliché used to describe just about everything. She’s finally persuaded. For mains Zhenya opts for the Duck a l’Orange with potatoes mousseline (135hrv), and I choose the Grilled Lamb Saddle with vegetables bayaldi (110hrv). I have no idea what bayaldi or mousseline are, but they sound good. We also order a bottle of Bordeaux Rouge 2006 (195hrv) because if we’re eating French food we want French wine. 

The starters are delivered promptly to the table, and I am a little disappointed that my snails are not in their shells, and I’ve not been given that snail extraction tool with which I would yank them out. But eating is about all about flavour, and the aroma coming from the dish with the 12 little bowls in it that’s been placed in front of me literally makes my mouth water.

Across from me Zhenya is looking delighted with her plate of frogs legs piled high with a simple chopped tomato, parsley, garlic and olive oil sauce. She picks up a frogs waist and nibbles on one if its legs. “Tastes like chicken,” she announces.

Now it is a rule in life, one should never eat garlic if your company is not eating garlic – it causes problems later in the evening – so it is good that my l’escargot are bathed in a thick melted butter sauce that reeks of garlic. I place a snail in my mouth and sit back and savour. It’s been too long. Memories of the Dordogne fill my head.

“I feel guilty,” Zhenya announces. “What do they do with the rest of the frogs once they’ve removed their legs? Are they all in wheelchairs?” She says this as she munches down on another leg. A moment later we’re in hysterics.

Owner Managed

The evening is going well. The wine is light and fresh, and the food so far has completely negated my low expectations from earlier. While we’re waiting for our main courses, a lady in jeans and a smock top we’ve noticed floating around chatting to people comes over to introduce herself. She is Ludmilla Jean, the owner. I often think that one of the main problems with the Kyiv restaurant scene is that there are not enough owner managed eateries in town, so it is wonderful to see Luda taking such an active part in the running of the place, welcoming guests and just generally making sure everything is running smoothly and all her customers are happy. Café de Paris raises itself another notch or two on my opinion ladder.

The main courses are well presented. My dish consists of two wraps of lamb saddle, lovely and pink, with a line of sliced tomatoes, courgettes and aubergines laid down one side of the plate and a pile of fried potatoes. Looks great, smells better, and when I try the lamb it tastes even better. The meat is a little fatty, but you have to expect that from lamb saddle, and I for one am no health freak so it doesn’t matter much to me. And it is tender and pink and truly wonderful.

Zhenya’s duck is also very good, and properly cooked. It turns out mousseline is a fancy word for mashed (apparently it means a dish mixed with cream), but the place can be excused for this fancy name 'cause the mash itself is fancy – very creamy and decorated with crispy fried potato lattices. But I am happy with my choice.

Good Recommendations

When it comes time to choosing dessert, we happen to be chatting again briefly with Luda so we ask her for advice. She suggests we try the Red Fruit Gratin with sauce sabayon with champagne (45hrv), and she says their Crème Brulee 45hrv) is proper French. We take her word for it, and I try the former while Zhenya opts for the latter.

Again, I am not sure what sabayon is, but it turns out to be a sauce made from milk and champagne, and in this instance it is poured over a delectable selection of red berries, just as it says on the tin.

I manage to persuade Zhenya to allow me a small taste of her Crème Brulee, and Luda was right, it is very French, which is a good thing.

It doesn’t take us long to polish off the desserts, and then we sit back and enjoy the cool summer breezes coming in through the window while sipping the last of the wine.

As I said at the beginning, I am a big fan of France and its cooking, and for these few hours, if I looked down the hill away from Andriivskiy Church, I could easily have forgotten I was in the heart of Kyiv and imagined myself sitting somewhere in Provence or on the banks of the Loire. I am very happy I have found Café de Paris, and I will return very soon.

Richard Caldwell