Restaurant Petrelle (Paris) 01/2013

We chose this restaurant because some 'fashionista' in a Vogue interview said how much she loved the place.  She's got a lot to answer for. We arrived punctually at 7.30, passed the display of fresh vegetables at the entrance
                                                                                and in time to see the chef pick up his cat from his work bench, in his tiny kitchen,and place it on the floor.                                                                             The waiter, only one, had to look after 28 diners who had all arrived by 8.30. He brought us a hand written 
 photocopied menu

                                                                               and a decent wine list. The two connected rooms for the guests are oddly furnished with a variety of different chairs, odd bits of statuary or tiles on tables      and some books dating back 150 years. A variety of completely unmatched  decor, peculiar murals and different over head lights in each room                                                                           must be intended to create an impression of some sort but it failed to have any appeal to us. 
The chef works, single handed in a tiny kitchen with the help of one kitchen hand to wash dishes, pots and so on. He is keen on organic and grows a lot of his own vegetables. 
The waiter produced a couple of crusty biscuits covered with mushrooms surrounded by sliced radish and a bit of green. Totally undistinguished 2/10.
                                                                            The menu was quite short. There was a fixed price three course option(Eu38)  but it did look exciting so we went for the a la carte. Starters were expensive, about Eu 33 ostensibly because they had truffles Sandra had an egg in a cream sauce which was quite good although the truffles did  
nothing for the dish and the side salad was jarring. 5/10.                                                                                  I had seared scallops which were overcooked, served with what was probably some finely sliced veal. There were truffles somewhere here too but this was poor cafe food 3/10.                                                                             The wine, a 2010 Rully, was pleasant             and the bread, a little over baked but very good 5/10. Sandra specified very lightly cooked for her main course of sea bass.  It came seriously overcooked and the waiter apologetically took  it away and my meal too 2/10                                         He returned 20 minutes later with both our dishes. The accompanying vegetables on both our dishes may have been the freshest in existence but were marred by grit in them. My dish, potted lamb, was good farmers food. Quite tasty but the sand was awful! 2/10.                                                              Undeterred we gave it a last try and ordered dessert. Sandra's lemon tart was an extremely tart tart which would have not made it to the shelves of any of the dozen or so patisseries we have patronized 2/10.
 Regrettably my baked custard was no better 2/10. 
                                                                              As we were leaving, we could hardly wait to get out of the place, we were offered a very good meringue 6/10
                                                                            The bill fot this heavy handed cooking was prodigious, almost Eu180, (1/3rd the cost of a totally superb meal at the three star Le Meurice) Without being asked in any way, the waiter reduced it by Eu 24, the cost of the desserts, because of the grit in the vegetables. He did a prodigious job. I was disturbed that both the cat and presumably the chef's dog wandered about the restaurant being fed by guests. Without a doubt he would be penalized in Australia by the Health Dept.

Score: 11/20