Another night at Chez Denise

DJ and Sara had tried to eat at Chez Denise (A la Tour de Montlhéry) last Saturday, but apparently it was closed for the Easter weekend. Fortunately, this meant that I could join them for dinner, since I had been busy the Saturday before.

When I called from work that day to make the reservation, I didn't recognize the voice as that of the son of Denise (who has long curly hair, a handlebar moustache, and leather pants at all times). Instead, this rather brisk man told me that I had to choose between two service times: 20h30 and 22h30. Before hanging up, he told me that I better not be late for my reservation, because they will give away my table. This is not the kind of treatment I've come to expect from the place, so I was a bit confused as to what was going on.

I never figured out who I spoke to on the phone (every time I've called to make further reservations, the person on the line has been perfectly friendly and flexible), but dinner at Chez Denise was great as usual. We shared a slab of rillettes and some salade frisée for appetizers, and then DJ and I each got a serving of the mutton and white beans stew, while Sara got the grilled lamb. As usual, both portions of mutton came out in one large ceramic casserole, still hot from the oven. The portions were huge and the dinner turned into a "who can make it to the end?" event. I'm ashamed to say that I beat DJ hands down, although I wasn't able to manage dessert. Sara got a fantastic order of Iles Flottantes (soft unbaked meringue on top of a sea of vanilla cream sauce). After a set of stiff digestifs, we headed out and found our way home.