Tracé is a small place right across the street from the previously written up L’Aube.  In 2020 chef Clément Vergeat re-imagined the place and it opened in Sept 2023.  The name had to do with the lines brought by all the people working there, that came together to form the place.  There are about 20 seats with a couple counter seats and otherwise tiny marble or wood tables to service the guests.  The marble ones looked particularly uncomfortable with their large pyramid-shaped legs leaving little room for the human ones underneath. Some bench seating lines the walls but it often doesn’t match the chair height on the other side of the table.  The open kitchen is surrounded by concrete walls and floor with faint music in the background.  Chef Vergeat came out to introduce himself and check about allergies but otherwise remains in the back.   There are only tasting menus and you sign up for what you want when you make the reservation with wine pairings available.  The meal had good pacing but still took about 3 hours and the portions were on the small side.  The staff were great at being able to answer questions regarding the food but it was a mixed meal.

Set-Up

 

Food

Amuse bouche started with white fish accra (fritter) that were with watercress mayonnaise and dill.  The interior was soft but otherwise this was nothing special with too many greens on top.  A tartlet of broccoli, egg yolk,  parsley and chipotle was okay with no spiciness.   Guggenheim soup was named for chef’s impression of that named museum.  He must have been thinking of the walls for the brown pickled onion soup.  Here the onions still had texture and were sweet in a tasty broth.  This was easily the best of the 3.

 

Green asparagus from Les Landes were mingled with a vegetal gribiche sauce, bottarga and wild picking.  The bottarga was the orange colored pieces that are a signature of the chef and fairly mild in flavor.  The raw asparagus was garden tender and the gribiche sauce had lots of garlic flavor.  Some of the wild pickings were tasty and others, like mint, were too strong and overpowered the other ingredients.

 

Black garlic tapenade brioche looked awesome but it was mostly just okay.

 

Mushroom tart also contained coriander, and morels with a poulette sauce.  It looked like they made the whole tart and cut it in half in the kitchen to plate it.  Some fermented mushrooms were slightly tart.  Overall it was wonderful – the crisp thin shell and the strongly flavored sauce were great.  They left more sauce on the table if you wanted it, which is always a nice touch.

 

The Signature langoustine in two courses was served with puff rye bread.  The first preparation was topped with squid lardo next to an emulsion of langoustine.  The lightly cooked langoustine was lovely with the terrific sauce that had pollen worked in somewhere.  The sauce was great with the bread.  The other preparation was langoustine tartare with langoustine jelly and galangal (like ginger).  It was in the upper part of the dome covering the first plate.  It was cool and refreshing.  Both winners here.  The rye bread was interesting with tons of buttery layers with rye flavor.  It was even better.

 

Suckling lamb was stuffed with razor clams and cauliflower semolina.  Lamb jus was mixed with fermented garlic, curry and an emulsion of razor clam juice to make the sauce.  The perfectly cooked lamb was tender and the sauce delicious.  The clams were quite mild, but overall it was good.

 

Pear and Jerusalem artichoke made up the first dessert.  Fresh pears with fermented Jerusalem artichoke were topped with thin pear crisps.    The sauce was made from the artichokes.  It was a wonderful combination of flavors and textures.

 

The second dessert was strawberries under a cloud of lavender topped with dehydrated Cyprus powder.  It was light and the strawberries intensely flavored.  A nice end to the meal.