The Movable Feast of Aux Chiens Lunatiques
Lucky Parisians enjoy at-home feasts by Chez Panisse chef David Tanis.
By Dorothy Kalins
What could be more decadent than dining spectacularly in Paris without setting foot in a restaurant? When chef David Tanis — who'd run the top-notch kitchen at Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, on and off for decades — decided to change his life, immediately after September 11, he made a deal with Alice Waters: he'd cook at Chez Panisse six months of the year and live in his 17th-century Latin Quarter apartment the other six.
But a chef's gotta cook, and gradually Tanis and his partner, the polished maître d' Randal Breski, grew restless. So they quietly launched a dinner club: Aux Chiens Lunatiques (At the Mad Dogs' Place), named in honor of their fox terrier, Arturo, the best-fed animal on the Left Bank.
Here's how it works: every so often, from November through April, the pair decides to do a lunch or dinner. Word goes out through a Website (now being updated); then twelve friends and strangers (who will soon become friends) gather for an outrageous meal cooked by Tanis and attended to by Breski. A jar is passed to cover expenses.
A long table set with snowy linens is the scene of lively chatter and sumptuous market-driven menus. There may be Tanis-made foie gras pâté on crusty organic baguettes from the famed baker Kayser. From their neighborhood market in Place Maubert comes farm-raised duck breast to roast with figs, or, from the butcher Charcellay, fine lamb to braise with Moroccan spices. Wild mushrooms for a ragout are bought at the marché biologique on the Boulevard Raspail; their favorite affineur supplies the ripest cheese; superb Breski-chosen wines accompany the meal.
Like most luxuries, dinner at Aux Chiens is available only fleetingly and is therefore even more desirable. To join a table or to arrange for your own, contact Tanis directly at davidtanis@wanadoo.fr. Bon appétit.
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