知り合いの間でも評判の高いクーポールで食事をしておこうと、地下鉄でヴァヴァンに行った。駅を出るとすぐ角に魚料理の老舗ル・ドームがある。僕が大昔パリで初めてディナーをした思い出の店だ。隣席の上品な老婦人と会話したら、服装学院の人で仕事でパリに来るとよくその店で食事すると話されていたのを思い出す。クーポールをはその2-3軒先にある店で、中に入ると1000平米あるというその巨きさにはちょっと目を瞠る。いつも混み合っている店だが、すでに2時を過ぎていたので閑散としているものの、客の服装は皆それぞれちゃんとしていた。すぐ近くでは見るからに金持ちのお嬢さま達が牡蠣とオマールでシャンパンを楽しんでいた。対照的に我々は24ユーロのランチメニューを注文してみる。サービスはかなり遅く、失格の評価だが、鴨のフォワグラもサーモンパテも非常に美味しかった。プロヴァンスのグラスワインも秀逸な選択だ。それに比べるとメインのラムステーキや白身魚のポワレは少しグレードが落ちる。途中から担当が変わった男性給仕は愛想も良く、きびきびと仕事をこなしていた。
★
La Coupole is a highly-reputed restaurant among some of our friends, and we decided to have lunch there, so we took the metro to Vavin. In front of the station is le Dôme well-kmown for many years which was the very first place I had dinner in Paris decades ago. I still recall the old Japanese lady in the next table told us friendlily that she worked in Cultural Fashion Academy and often had meals there when visiting Paris.
La Coupole is located a little further from le Dôme and its gigantic room is of about 1000 square meter floor size. The restaurant is usually packed, but it was already after 2 o'clock in the afternoon leaving only a few people, all well-dressed. Near to our table were a couple of obviously rich, young girls enjoying champaign with oysters and a hommard. In contrast, we ordered the lunch menu of 24 Euros, and the service was very slow disappointingly. The entrées of canard foigras and salmon pâté were still excellent, and a glass of côte de Province was superb. The plâts, ramsteak and dorado poirée, were not as good as the starters though. A male staff took over our table by that time, and he was amicable and efficient.
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