La Casserole maintains sophistication, but disappoints on the executive menu

The room at La Casserole restaurant is an expression of seven decades of sophistication of French gastronomy in São Paulo. Cozy and finely arranged, it is a classic in the city center and turns 70 this month with high-level service and a renowned and respected kitchen.

While tradition maintains the quality of the food served there, attempts to deviate from the norm may not be so successful. This is particularly seen in the executive menu offered by the restaurant at lunch during the week. It can be a big disappointment for those expecting a beautiful French-inspired meal at more affordable prices.

The disregard for the “formule menu” is evident right at reception. The helpful waiters offer drinks to start the meal, ask if customers would like the house cover charge and deliver the traditional menu, which does not include the promotion. Only after ordering did the specific menu for the executive lunch arrive.

For R$98, you can choose one of three starter options, another of three main course options and finish with one of three desserts. Options vary from time to time. On a Wednesday lunch in April, the dishes on the menu sounded interesting, but weren’t very convincing.

The starters are good: the salad with leaves, fig, goat cheese, caramelized chestnuts and honey is delicious. Fresh, full of flavors and textures, with a contrast between the sweet fruit and honey, the salty cheese and an acidic touch from the leaf sauce. Great start.

The onion tatin is also lovely. It’s a small tart with sweet and smooth caramelized onions, also accompanied by a salad. It’s true that the dough could have been crispier and drier, but the onion was very tasty and went well with the salad.

But the dishes were the big disappointment. Entrecôte, a cut that has become one of the most popular dishes in France, comes with a very thin and unattractive ancho steak, accompanied by French fries and a good mustard sauce.

The meat arrives at the requested point, but a poorly treated cut was served, with so much sinew and fat that, even though it was small, a third of it ended up remaining on the plate at the end of the meal.

The frustration was even greater with the potato stuffed with duck confit. The dish already comes with a simplistic and discouraging presentation. As described, it comes with a very simple baked potato, split in half, stuffed with shredded duck and covered with its other half, as if it were whole, as well as a mushroom sauce surrounding it.

The potato is completely unseasoned and flavorless, the confit does not at all resemble the delicious duck leg cooked in its own fat, and has practically no taste. And the mushroom sauce isn’t very funny either. It’s a completely banal dish.

The finalization of the menu restores the quality a little with very pleasant desserts. The pear with wine syrup has a sophisticated presentation and a delicate, smooth flavor. Elevate your meal with soft, juicy fruit. The panna cotta with red fruit syrup is also beautiful, with a light and subtle cream accompanying the topping well.

At R$98, the full menu isn’t cheap, and this perhaps explains why the “formule” isn’t as prominent. For less than that, you can order classic house dishes, such as steak tartare (R$88), moules et frites (R$86), boeuf bourguignon or coq au vin (R$97, each). These are options prepared in the traditional way, and they always convince. You can’t go wrong, and they can be worth more than the executive menu, even without the starter and dessert.