35 Quai de la Tournelle, Paris 05. Métro Maubert Mutualité.

Owner-chef Phillipe de Givenchy set the tone of our visit when he met us in the restaurant’s little glass-walled foyer and personally conducted us to our table. Behind the tall young man’s calm, reflective demeanor we sensed an intense committment to the art of the table.

In place of the usual blandly anonymous décor, the walls of the small, plain dining room bore pictures that could well have personal significance to Mr de Givenchy. For example, a depiction of a swimmer half in half out of the water, or perhaps of a person on the borderline of two states of consciousness.

Upon opening the lunch menu we were disappointed to see that the specialty that had so attracted us the previous day was served at dinner only. But that was our only disappointment at la Timonerie. Even that might have been avoided had we ordered in advance, since as we soon discovered, the chef was accommodating and eager to please.

We recognized the bread on the table as that of Beauvallet & Julien.

Amuse bouche: An oyster, very strong and fresh tasting, served with a slice of spicy chorizo. The muted clash of marine and peppery notes created a taste sensation unlike any other in our experience. For a parallel we would have to look to music, perhaps to the blending of voices in the soprano duet in Act 1 of Così Fan Tutte.

Chablis J-P Grossat (demi F90) contained more fruit than most Chablis, and less of Chablis’ stony character.

Salade de pommes de terre, sardines au lard et aux herbes: A vertical arrangement of dry herbs and greens of several different kinds (we identified mizuna or some similar mustard, mint, lamb’s tongue and baby lettuce leaves) piled on top of fresh sardines just barely cooked, and potatoes wrapped in French bacon. The potatoes were hollowed and stuffed with a mildly peppery purée like a rouille. The logic of this unusual combination of ingredients might not be apparent on the printed page, but it was clear enough to the palate. At first the salad components gave out their characteristic flavors. Then, as the greens picked up the oil from the sardines and eventually some of the rouille, they generated intriguing flavors in combinations with the other ingredients.

Salade de croûtons de pain, d’herbes fraîches à l’huile d’olive: Another vertical arrangement of the same herbs as in the previous salad, but this one based on a foundation of four thin, tile-shaped toasts of precisely-calibrated crunchiness and nutty flavor. The "tiles" each bore a blob of a light herbal purée that gradually mixed with the greens to create various and to some extent random taste effects. It occurred to us that the toasts at the center of this creation were a transformation of the bread of Beauvallet & Julien.

Daurade rôti à l’estragon et piment et son jus de matelotte reduite: An entire sea bream cooked on the bone under a large slice of red pepper, served in a gleaming coat of reduced red-wine sauce that looked like molten chocolate. The flesh of the fish was cooked short of the flaky stage, white and succulent.

Sandre rôti, choux et pomme de terre en vinaigrette, céleri frit: Criss-crossed slivers of crisp-fried celery root resting on a filet of perch, which in turn rested on a base consisting of a whole steamed potato and an equal volume of rolled-up savoy cabbage. A tang of vinaigrette was discernible in the cabbage, but the chef had taken care not to overpower the delicate flavor of the fish.

Tarte fine au chocolat: A simple slab of tart, superbly rich.

Soupe de pruneaux au vin rouge cuit avec des fraises. Both the prunes and the dark red syrupy sauce had a stupendously concentrated flavor from the strawberries.

But that was not all. With coffee, itself superb, came the most intriguing of the chef’s inventions. A chocolate confection, a mouthful in the form of a truncated pyramid, it offered a slight resistance to the teeth—hazelnut?—and to the palate a transitory suggestion of ruby port mixed with strawberry jam.

Mr de Givenchy watched us intently. "You like?" He really wanted to know. Gratified at our response, he handed out seconds.

"I make here," he said with a proprietary gesture. We fancied he was pointing at his heart.

The total at La Timonerie was F664.