They came by with an amuse-gueule of quail egg topped with salmon roe in a creamy ginger sauce: this was entertaining, but I thought the ginger sauce a bit strong: I didn't use it. It was a pleasant little thing and rather artistically presented, with a tuft of radish
sprouts on the side of the tiny plate. The egg was soft-boiled, and the roe, of course, was raw salt-cured.
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Rabbit fricassee with spring vegetables was not a superabundance of meat with some nice vegetables: pearl onions, salsify, small peas, baby carrots, thread-like green beans. The sauce was winy and good, although there was a heavy hand with the salt. With this went a
California Pinot Noir, J 1996: ruby red, lightish, meaty, really a nice wine but a bit much at $10 a glass.
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Pan-seared black sea bass with squid ragout and a sauce of carrot with anise and orange was pretty spectacular, although I like my fish done just a little less than the medium that it came. Perfectly fresh fish with a crispy skin and snow-white flaky flesh; the sauce,
again very light, was one of those things you think won't work, but they do after all; the squid came as a tangle of linguini-like shreds tossed in garlic oil. I could have eaten the squid all day. I ordered a Saint-Veran 1997 (Verget), which was your very standard
Chardonnay, but exceptionally clean; it too was $10 a glass.