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By Root 1217 0

caramelized flaky pastry. And one of the few chefs who dare bring to the capital the real food of Brittany is, fittingly, Thierry Breton, which takes us back to the Crillon Four (or Five if you count chef Christian Constant, who himself has opened Le Camelot on the rue Amelot and charges an impossible 120 francs for dinner). Breton’s Chez Michel, near the Gare du Nord, has nothing to do with Michel, if it ever did, but with a young chef who once was named Apprentice of the Year; worked at the Ritz, at the Tour d’Argent, on Joël Normand’s team for President Mitterrand, and at the Crillon; and now runs a place so retro-provincial it almost looks intentional. This is country food from the Nord—lots of fish, to be sure, plus la cuisine d’armorique, dishes like ceps stuffed with oxtail and terrine d’andouille (smoked tripe) served with little pancakes fried in salted butter—plus occasional trips into fantasy—with all the twists in technique and méthode we have come to expect from this crowd.

One of the best of the small new restaurants is Le Bamboche, in the Seventh, owned by the fine young chef David Van Laer, who first became well known at the cutting-edge haute-cuisine restaurant Apicius. Though its style of cooking is similar to (if slightly more tailored than) that of the others, Le Bamboche could not be mistaken for a bistro. It is beautifully decorated and probably 50 percent more expensive and 30 percent more dressy. The special 180-franc budget menu is excellent and honest, but this is not the same as at the bistrots modernes, where everyone eats the same food for the same price. Whenever I stick to Van Laer’s 180-franc menu, I always wonder what I am missing.

This is a wonderful time to eat in Paris, to which I sneak away as often as I can. But ruminatively chewing on my savory jarret de porc and joues de veau over the past two years, I have wondered whether the trend Yves Camdeborde started may be self-limiting. His talent, and that of the Crillon Four and the other young chefs, were recognized, polished, and disciplined in the vast, well-staffed kitchens of the haute cuisine. Where will the next generation of cooks get their advanced culinary education if the haute cuisine becomes just a sad thing of memory?

I’ve spent many happy afternoons in the tiny kitchens of my favorite bistrots modernes, learning tricks, techniques, and recipes. Here is one of my favorite dishes, from Eric Fréchon.

Roast Squab with Green Lentils

La Verrière

4 squabs, about 1 pound each

6 tablespoons cooking oil

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic

¼ cup sliced shallots

3 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

8 cups homemade or canned chicken broth

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup (about ½ pound) lentils, preferably the small, green lentilles du Puy from France

1 medium-large onion, peeled and halved, each half stuck with a clove

2 carrots, peeled and halved crosswise

3 slices (about 2½ ounces) smoked bacon

2 tablespoons softened butter

4 branches of fresh thyme, as a garnish

Wash the squabs under cold running water, reserving the neck, gizzard, and heart. Butterfly each squab as follows (or ask the butcher to do it for you): With poultry shears or a sharp knife, remove (and reserve) the backbone by cutting on both sides of it. Cut off and reserve the first two joints of each wing. Skin side up, press down on the squab to flatten it. Turning the squab skin side down, remove the ribs and breastbones by inserting a sharp, thin knife between the bones and breast meat. Using your fingers, twist off any bones that were attached to the backbone. Wash and dry the squabs, wrap them in plastic, and refrigerate.

At least 4 hours before dinner, make the squab jus: Chop the reserved backbone, neck, tail, wing joints, ribs, bones, and innards into ½-inch pieces. In a 3-quart saucepan over high heat, darkly brown the squab pieces in 2 tablespoons of the oil for 10 or 15 minutes. Pour out the oil (without discarding any of the little browned bits in the pan, which are the point of this entire procedure),