Eating Out In Paris and Environs : Mac/Val Musee de l'Art Contemporaine et A la Folie !

Pure hazard offered a visit to Mac /Vaĺ, a museum of Modern Art, out in Vitry sur Seine and it's restaurant/salon de the : A la Folie .

Mac/Val, the museum, is a special place, a collection of modern art dating from the 1950's. It's strong point the vibrant collection of contemporary French artists.

Recent shows include that of the wonderful performance artist Ester Ferrer.

It seems a bit odd, a museum of this size, so close to Paris and its huge national museums. But the building and collections  are  impressive. Perhaps one day, Paris limits will have spread to include even Vitry-Sur-Seine !

The Mac/Val restaurant has gone through several name changes: Transversal, Le Chantier. Several chefs including the darling of Parisian foodies : Iñaki Aizpitarte.  Laurent Chareau and Gilles Stassart were also involved in Mac/Val 's café since opening in 2006.

Today it's a new story, a new name and a new chef : Hervé Riebbels.

At A la Folie, there's a good vibe, sitting in the garden on this lovely early fall day. It was opening day and the restaurant is humming along nicely, with museum staff trying out their new cantine for the first time. Everything is 100 %  Bio or "culture raisonée". Basically simple, seasonal recipes made with care in a peaceful contemporary setting.

L' Entree : salade des lentilles, poached egg and a bit of jambon poêle. Good crispy rolls. All baking done in house.

Le Plat : a filet mignon of  porc, bit of pomme du terre dauphinoise and mandolin sliced carrots, oh so sweet! Bit of chopped herbs like dill and parsley and a reduced jus puddled under everything.

 My favorite thing ?  A little colored ball of a pickled onion colored with tumeric. I'll be making those for sure ! Unexpected color and crunch always get my attention!

The quality of the meat and vegetables is top notch. Everything has depth of flavor, lovely color. It's beautifully cooked. The chef is attentive to detail without being contrived, nor making a chichi presentation.
Didn't go over the top with dessert  but there is decent coffee ( always a good sign) with its little square of a good chocolate and as they say la tour est jouée !   

It will be interesting to see how Hervé progresses in these surroundings. We are in a Museum of Modern Art and I'm hopeful that will inspire him to even greater heights ! He is starting from solid cuisine and I wonder what the "Folie" part will be ?

It's early days yet but we'll see how they manage to entice not only museum goers but also the surrounding inhabitants of Vitry Sur Seine. The afternoon salon de the and the sweeter offerings should help with that ! I'm also looking forward to those one off events that the MacVal continues to offer relating Art/Food.

A very lovely lunch at A la Folie. Even better because it was totally unexpected !

Hours :

Du mardi au vendredi, de 10h à 16h.  From Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm 
Samedis et dimanches, de 12h à 18h.  Saturdays and Sundays 12am to 6pm

Règlement par CB (Visa)  chèques déjeuner accepté . Payment: Carte Bleue / Visa 

Réservations : 
01 45 73 26 68 
herve.riebbels@free.fr

*as in : Je t'aime A la Folie! or I love you like a crazed person!

*Ugh. That lentil on the knife. Oh well! Next time.