Personally, I'll eat anything. If it grew out of the ground or once walked on four legs, I probably like it, as long as it's well prepared.
But having grown up in a Muslim household, I can appreciate people's dietary restrictions, and as a kid, I often commiserated with my Jewish friends about not being able to eat bacon or ham or sausages with the other kids.
So after stumbling upon a full-service kosher restaurant in Paris that wasn't a falafel, sandwich, or sushi joint, I knew I had to check it out. After all, what sort of French cuisine doesn't involve pork? I want to see this black magic first hand
Le Cosy has found a keen, blessed-by-the-rabbis way to substitute the rich, fatty goodness of pig flesh in its dishes: Foie gras. And lots of it.
It seems every other dish at Le Cosy features foie gras (coincidentally, there's a store specializing in the fattened livers just across the street) and they're all the better for it. Want an entrecôte? How 'bout a slab of foie gras on top of it? Quail egg mille-feuille? Available with foie gras mixed in. Or perhaps you'd like a foie gras omelette. Or foie gras ravioli. Or foie gras over pasta and mushrooms. Or grilled foie gras flavored with mango?
Of course, if you're averse to force-fattened duck, there are great lamb or poultry dishes, imbued with an array of flavors from Earl Grey tea to chocolate to honey.
As hard as they try, though, Le Cosy fail to deliver a real gastronomic experience. While the ingredient list definitely oozes class - and oftentimes imagination - the execution isn't quite up to par with the fancy decor and the prices. The names on the menu conjure up vivid colors to match the chic interior, but presentation is dull and bland. Service is a bit lackadaisical. The wine list not particularly impressive.
Still, the food tastes brilliant, and the atmosphere is friendly and casual enough. The prices are a bit high for what you get, but if you're in Paris and want to keep kosher without overdosing on falafel, this isn't a bad place to start. read more