Cool and overcast, with occasional light rain.

We busied ourselves with laundry (having by this time unlocked the secret of the operation of Mme Laroche’s washing machine—hold the door shut until it starts) and with that task out of the way it was time for the real business of the day. We had a hankering for fresh fish, and with that in mind we set out for:

30 avenue Ledru-Rollin, Paris 12. Métro Gare de Lyon.

Outside, on a blue canopy, the words Produits de la Mer announced the restaurant’s commitment to fish dishes. We quickened our steps. Inside, we sat in a corner of a large rectangular dining room that would have been elegant but for a few tacky details—ill-fitting closet doors, torn curtains. Other details, such as a silver wine bucket, hinted that the place had once seen more prosperous times. Only one other table was occupied.

Taking our orders, the waiters spoke clear, brisk French, never mumbling or descending to fractured English. Overall, the service was exceptionally polite and efficient.

Amuse gueules: (1) A cheese puff-pastry dome topped with melted and browned cheese. (2) Fish pâté, somewhat cold and dense, and green mayonnaise on a five-franc size slice of bread. (3) An egg-cup full of tiny, explosively fresh and tasty mussels, the whole topped with a cheese crust.

Salade de mâche, rouget, pétoncles et copeaux de foie gras: A copious serving of mâche covered with shavings of foie gras and surrounded by small scallops and pieces of red mullet. The foie gras broke under our forks to mix in with and coat the mâche, and suddenly the modest green, always good, became sumptuous. With this and the goodness of scallops and red mullet, this was a very successful salad.

Petits supiouns farcis à la brandade de morue: A southern-accented dish consisting of six torpedo-shaped stuffed cuttlefish resting on puddles of rouille, the "torpedos" arranged spoke-fashion around a pastry boat laden with browned onions and tapenade. A topping of black olives and a spray of julienned zucchini put the finishing touch to this visually elegant presentation. On the palate, the brandade stuffing came to the fore with mildly emphatic and satisfying savors compounded of salt cod, potato and garlic.

We drank St-Véran Les Grandes Bruyères 1995, a good wine for less than F200.

Paupiettes de sole, dés de homard: Three sole paupiettes—spinach, fish pâté and poached salmon wrapped in thin slices of sole—served with lobster dice fenced in by lobster legs, with vegetable accompaniments consisting of domes of white rice and of spinach, and football-shaped zucchini, carrot and turnip covered with green beans in a cross-hatched pattern. These elements, all cooked to perfection, were tied together by a sauce with the particular flavor deriving from toasted crustacean shells. Only a few fish scales and fragments of lobster shell spoiled the gloss of this fine and elaborate dish.

Trois poissons du jour, grillés au citron: Filets of exquisitely fresh sole, salmon and striped bass garnished with same vegetables as the paupiettes, plus lemon, fresh fettuccini topped with tomato peel, and medallions of roast potato stacked overlapping like fish scales. The sole and salmon were cooked just past the translucent stage, while the bass may have been slightly undercooked.

Ordering bleu de Bresse may have been a mistake, because its rich and penetrating character seemed out of line with the delicate dishes preceding it. The St-Véran made a good match to the cheese, however.

Assiette de gourmandises. The notable items were meringue, a crêpe containing more meringue, and a piece of chocolate cake served with coulis of cassis and coffee-chocolate coulis. A raspberry sorbet, also offered, proved of barely routine interest.

A gratin de fraises delivered good strawberry flavor. It was served with the regrettable raspberry sorbet instead of griotte as advertised.

The total at la Frégate was F612.

***

In the early evening, strolling the pedestrians-only stretch of rue Daguerre near Square Claude Nicolas Ledoux (Métro Denfert-Rochereau) I happened upon one of the city’s bustling indoor-outdoor markets. Though comparatively small, Marché Montrouge offers a dizzying selection of high-quality produce and prepared foods. I noticed a pot of aligot—an appetizing Auvergnat concoction of mashed potatoes, Cantal cheese curds and garlic—and dreamed of someday visiting the hearty-eating region of which it is a specialty.