Continents

Thoumieux

For many years, Thoumieux was a pleasantly sleepy, family-owned vieille France brasserie specializing in southwestern French dishes. Well-known to regulars, the house mascot was a huge, lazy old cat that was often found sleeping in a corner; but occasionally the cat surprised a patron or two by brushing up against a leg under a table.

Now this old place is gone without a trace, and the new owner is Thierry Costes, son of Gilbert Costes, who with his brother Jean Louis has built an empire of expensive see-and-be-seen restaurants in Paris. (With the Café Marly at the Louvre, Georges at the Centre Pompidou and La Societe in Saint Germain des Pres, the Costes are absolutely ubiquitous.)

This background more or less explains what’s happened to Thoumieux, too. It’s become a place for flashy big spenders, with little to distinguish it from similar restaurants anywhere but Paris. Despite the fact that the Costes recruited Jean-Francois Piege, an exceptionally talented chef who was previously at the two-star Les Ambassadeurs at the Hotel de Crillon, our meal was an expensive hit-and-miss affair.

A starter of squid prepared a la carbonara was absolutely delicious, and a serving of shrimp with a garnish of buttered bread crumbs was also quite good. On the other hand, the steamed shrimp with avocado was a bore, and the pork belly was tough as nails and overseasoned with an Indian spice mix. Desserts are not worth mentioning, and the wine list is predictably expensive. All in all, we’d recommend this place for a light lunch on a day when everything else is closed. Dinner for two, before wine, about $150. 79 rue Saint Dominique (7th). Tel: 33-1-4705-4975.