Les 2 Garçons, Lundn: ‘Dzînd sṗsificli t b yr cumḟtzon’ – resṭront rvy
(Transcription of an editorial published in the Observer on 22 May 2022)
Ɖs z a clasic Frenć bistro gaṛntìd t spred dlît
Je Rênr, Súnde, 22 Me 2022
Ol resṭronts atract trîbz, n hir at Les 2 Garçons a vri ptiklr trîb hz cm ǎt t ple. W cn rīć fr obtys yḟmizmz f w lîc, mangl ɖ lanḡj in srć v oriɉnaḷti, bt “ɖ ćaṭrñ midl clasz” priti mć cuvrz it. Phps ɖe hv a sbscripśn t ɖ LRB ɖt ɖe wuri ɖe d’nt rīd inuf v, or a membrśp t ɖ Royl Acaḍmi ɖt ɖe fir ɖe d’nt yz az reğlrli az ɖe śd.
Ɖe ador BBC Redio 4, apart fṛm ɖ 6.30pm coṃdiśoz, ẃć ɖe nvr laf at. Ɖe luv gd cofi n wel-md sǎrdou. Ɖe dsper v ɖ guvnmnt, hop Cir Starmr z ɖ riyl ʈñ n fanṭsîz abt gwñ on hoḷde t Frans. Francli, ɖ’d g ɖr mor reğlrli f sć bhevyr dd’nt mc ɖm fir ɖt, wɖ ej, hd cm intrenćt habits. Ɖe mt wel b dǎn t onli wn v ɖer ǒn hips. Ɖe r ɖs nyzpepr’z rīdrz. Ǒ, sod it. Ɖe r m.
Ɖs tîni Frenć bistro, tuct in at ɖ botm v norʈ Lundn’z Crǎć Hil, hz jst 22 sīts. Ɖr r bér florbōrdz, net crtnz hafwe p ɖ windoz n a lot v blacbōrdz fr ɖ scriḅlñ p v bgîlñ speślz. It cd hv bn dzînd wɖ bʈ ɖm n m in mînd. It z a prfict xpreśn v ǎr luv fr a srtn cnd v clasic, unfusi bt luśs Frenć cc̣ri, lūbṛcetd bî gd butr, pǎrd bî ćopt garlic n fistfuls v freś grīn hrbz. Evri meny dscripśn cunjrz p an imij v hǎ hapi y wl b ītñ it. Nt a sngl wn lets y dǎn. Ɖ diśz hir cd hv bn srvd at eni tîm ovr ɖ prīvịs nîn decedz. Ɖe jst mt nt olwz hv bn qt so gd.
It’s ẃt y wd xpct v ɖz tū ptiklr garçons. Śef Roḅt Rìd hz clasicl Frenć ćops forjd in ɖ gretist v Frenć cićnz: h cct at Roger Verge’z Moulins de Mougins on ɖ Riviera, at au Crocodile in Strazbrg n Joel Robuchon’z Jamin in Paris, bfr rtrnñ t Lundn. Ɖr, h bcem hed śef at Marco Pier Ẃît’s Ocrūm ẃn it hld ʈri Michelin starz. At ɖ Ocrūm h met Jean-Christophe Slowik, a frunt-v-hǎs vetṛn hu hd wrct at Le Manoir n at Harvi’z, Pier-Ẃît’s orijinl lōnćpad, bfr oṗnñ hiz ǒn nebrhd resṭront, L’Absinʈ, in Primroz Hil. Ɖz c’rirz r acin t ɖoz v vetṛn gitarists n beisists hu, btwn ɖm, hv pleid wɖ Yes n Soft Mśīn, Pnc Flôd, Jeʈro Tul, Cñ Crimzn n Jeṇsis: les monstrz v roc ɖn monstrz v stoc.
Ɖs īvnñ ɖ rūm z fl, īvn ɖo it z onli a litl aftr six. Ɖ dînrz sīm dlîtd t b ɖ frst sitñ, srtn in ɖ nolij ɖe cn d ɖ fl resṭrontʈñ n stl b bac hom bî 8.30pm, djstñ dinr ẃl slumt in frunt v BBC4. Slowik, custmri scarf taid at hiz nec, wrcs ɖ teblz wɖ olmst comic Galic ćarm, dpoẓtñ glasz v kir wɖ jst a bluś v cassis, n tōcñ p ɖ blacbōrd speślz. Rìd z olso ǎt hir, pleyñ ruśgoli, blu n ẃît strîpt epṛn ovr hiz ẃîts, Marco-stîl. H tecs ordrz n dlivrz diśz fṛm ɖ cićn at ɖ bac, ẃr ɖr r a cupl v uɖr ccs. It z a tît oṗreśn, az it nīdz t b wɖ so fy teblz. It trnz ǎt ɖt uɖr nyzpeprz olso hv resṭrontcritics. Hu ń? Wn v ɖm hd jst stumbld upn ɖ ples. I asc Slowik f ɖt’s ẃ it’s so fl so rli. No, h sz. It’s bn lîc ɖs sins ɖe opnd in ɖ ōtm last yir. It jst filz p a litl qcr nǎ.
A proprli crispt leg v duc̦onfit slumps intu a bed v ẃît bīnz n lardnz, wɖ a litl saḷd t hlp y sǒc p ol ɖ luvñli sać̣retd animlfats n mc y fīl ɖt yr dayt z baḷnst. A ćicnbrest v impecbl peḍgrī z prizntd in a limpid broʈ v vejtblz wɖ, t hlp it ol alñ, a raṃcin v sōs gribiche, ɖt briłnt egi sōs wɖ musṭd n cornichons n so on, ẃć impruvz most ʈñz. W cd hv hd steic frites wɖ béarnaise sōs or rost sìbas wɖ ny ptetoz, or śerd a rost leg v Piṛniyn lam wɖ a gratin dauphinoise n wîld muśrumz. W cd hv dn ol v ɖt, bt w dd’nt.
Ɖ wînlist z a p’red v botlz fṛm Brgndi n Alsace, ɖ Languedoc n ɖ Rhône. It z an intîrli unṣprîzñ c’lex́n. Ẃć z ɖ pônt v a resṭront lîc ɖs; indd, v ɖ intîr tṛdiśn v ẃć it z a part. A tru bistro z nt ɖr t s’prîz or dazl. It z nt mnt t ples y ǎtsd yr cumḟtzon. It z dzînd sṗsificli t b yr cumḟtzon. Les 2 Garçons z abt az cmplit n dlîtfl an xpreśn v ɖt az I hv cm acrs in a vri loñ tîm.
