Le Pichet, a Perfect Neighborhood Bistro

Whenever Arufa & M are in town, they eat at Le Pichet, a small old-fashioned bistro complete with menu written in cursive on black chalk boards, wood bar and tables, sidewalk service, and a floor of small while tiles dotted with black ones.  

Sidewalk tables outside Le Pichet

Menu boards

Le Pichet is known for its charcuterie.  Pork blood sausage made with cream and egg is smooth and flavorful; duck liver and pork pate earthy and meaty; chicken liver pate as smooth as foie gras.  There are also various saucissons, jambon, beef tongue, and in all a total of 12 selections.

Charcuterie - (clockwise from top) duck liver pork patre, chicken liver pate, beef tongue, salami, pork blood sausage.

For entrée, there may be escargots, and better yet a decadent plate of roasted beef marrow bones sprinkled with coarse salt served with fava beans in a demi-glace.  The beans offered a nice balance to the richness of the marrow.  The sauce added complexity to the flavor.  On one evening, the plat du jour was an incredibly tender octopus, slow-simmered in a rich ragout of charred tomatoes, fennel and Pastis, that tasted of ocean. 

Escargots

Roasted marrow bones, fava beans

Slow-simmered octopus

Arufa & M like to order quiche for their weekend brunch.  The Le Pichet quiche is light and fluffy, simply the best.  Another popular brunch dish, eggs broiled with ham and gruyere, may be better if a dry cured ham (such as jambon de Bayonne or d’Auvergne) is used in place of the jambon de Paris, and if the yolks are runnier.

Quiche

Oeufs, jambom et fromage

Le Pichet has an excellent clafoutis, a classic baked dessert of cherries with a thick flan-like batter, dusted with sugar, and served lukewarm.  The Le Pichet version is traditional except that the Bing cherries have been pitted for the diner’s convenience, at the risk of offending the purists who swear that the pits release a particularly wonderful flavor during baking.  Another lovely dessert is the chocolat chaud -- a large cup of hot chocolate served with a quenelle of thick cream on the side.  One can eat spoons of chocolate and cream in whatever order and proportion one likes.  It is heavenly for lovers of bittersweet chocolate.

Cherry clafoutis

Chocolat chaud

Le Pichet is a real gem.  The all-French food and wines are not only good but also reasonably priced (by the way, all wines are available by the bottle, pichet, demi-pichet or glass).  For anyone who looks for a classic Parisian neighborhood bistro, this unpretentious comfortable place is the destination.  One can hardly find a better alternative outside France.