Hidden in a courtyard in the Marais, Grand Cœur (literally means "Big Heart") is a delightful brasserie that serves an exciting contemporary French menu designed by chef Colagreco himself and executed by stand-in chef Rafael Gomez, who is an alumnus of Eleven Madison Park and Gramercy Tavern, two of the finest fine-dining institutions in New York City.
Pumpkin velouté (15 euro) - Lunch started off brightly for me with a small bowl of warm pumpkin velouté. There's a bit of coconut milk in there, along with a pair of roasted scallops, a long strip of poached pumpkin and some pumpkin seeds. The soup was really flavorful and velvety and what has made this even more enjoyable was the tiny bit of unexpected spicy kick (which was lovely by the way).
Guinea fowl terrine (13 euro) - What would a brasserie menu be without guinea fowl terrine as one of the starters, right? This came with a bit of black chanterelle in the middle and was served with some country bread and herbs salad on the side. Not bad but I definitely like my pumpkin soup a little bit more.
Wild fish of the day (29 euro) - I took a flyer on the wild fish of the day which turned out to be wild grouper which was slow-cooked and then roasted. Chef Colagreco loves to add fruity flavors to his dishes (especially seafood) and it was in full display with this grouper dish. A very intense raspberry sauce made its mark there with sharp acidity which was complemented nicely with radish, onion and pickled carrot purée.
Suckling pig (27 euro) - The pork belly was nice and soft but a crispy skin was missing in action (otherwise would have been perfect). There were different textures of sweet corn there to balance the richness of the suckling pig.
Grand Cœur's Mediterranean-accented menu was truly as good as advertised but unfortunately, it was their service that let us down. Throughout the meal, the staff were friendly but service was very slow which took a little something away from our dining experience (example, our main course took more than 45 minutes to arrive but our server didn't try to do anything about it.).
Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: €€€
Address: 41 Rue du Temple, 75004 Paris, France
Closest Metro Station: Rambuteau / Hotel de Ville
Tel: +33 (0)1 5828-1890
Website: www.grandcoeur.paris
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