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I disagree. The macarons at the end of the meal at Adour are wonderful. I also have had good macarons at Le Maison de Chocolat. Also, in this months issue of Departure magazine there is a article about macarons and has a list of the best places to buy macarons in the United States.

I just checked opentable and it says nothing available during lunch time on Saturday - you sure you checked the actual "Jean Georges" and not "Nougatine at Jean Georges"? The Jean Georges website still shows just M-F for lunch as well. This would be amazing though. ← Jean Georges opened the main dining room for saturday lunch about 2 months ago. The menu is the same "tapas" style menu found during the week. Enjoy!!!

I am looking for great mussels in the city. thanks

I agree with HOLLY. Remember the Michelin Guide ranks restaurants the same way they rank tourist attractions: Worth a detour, Worth a journey, etc. Since food, wine, and eating are such an important part of French culture, enjoying restaurants and wanting to dine at famous temples of gastronomy is an important way to learn, enjoy and appreciate France.

If we were, say, to liken ADNY to the Plaza Athenee, then I'm not sure why anyone would expect much "holdover" from ADNY on the Benoit menu - the Plaza Athenee and Benoit are totally different, and I don't think they have ever been in danger of being compared with one another. While I haven't eaten in the dining room at Adour, I have sat at the bar and peeked into the dining room. Gosh, I think he overshot (or undershot, as it were) the "less formal" target, especially with the prices. ← I meant between ADNY and Adour, my apologies. The prices of Adour are much lower than at ADNY.

I was very unimpressed with the service at Robuchon. They tried to usher me out of the restaurant as quickly as possible. It was my shortest michelin starred meal I have ever had. If I had a choice of other memorable meals on the Rivera close to Monaco I would suggest Chevre d'Or in Eze for lunch (where you can appreciate the wonderful view as well as the great food) or mirazur in Menton. ← What did you think of Chevre? I've got a lunch booking in April. ← I had a superb lunch at Chevre this past May. I arrived early and was allowed to stroll the beautiful grounds of the hotel. I then enjoyed two glasses of Krug and some canapes outside and after went to the dining room for lunch. They didn't have a tasting menu at lunch. I remember my appetizer was morel based and arrived in two or three servings. My main was a superb piece of beef. Cheese Course followed and then I had a wild strawberry dessert that also had two parts. My wine was a half bottle of 2000 Beycherville. The meal was elegant and beutifully served and was definitely enhanced by the awesome view. I was blessed with a perfect day and a clouldless sky.

I think the truth lies somewhere between the two poles. ADNY had a six-year run, which wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't filling seats. I wouldn't call that failure. A lot of critics, Bruni among them, are hostile to luxury French restaurants, and believe no one with any sense wants to dine that way any more. They saw ADNY's demise as confirmation of what they already wanted fervently to believe. On the other hand, as you point out, the fact that Ducasse took it down a peg when he opened Adour suggests that he wasn't comfortable re-opening with an exact clone of what he had before. I'm still waiting to hear the real scoop about why Esnault has left Adour, and where Ducasse now wants to take the restaurant.I think Ducasse engages in a little double-talk about Benoit, as well. He complains that the critics are ill-informed (which they are), but also concedes that the restaurant was perhaps opened too quickly. ← Ducasse's goal was for Adour to be a less formal restaurant than ADNY. He did intend to open a "fine-dining" restaurant in New York after Adour and Benoit. One of the reasons they have been so few holdovers on the menu between ADNY and Benoit, especially the Baba Rhum, was an honest attempt to avoid comparisions between the two restaurants.

I think it is possible to appreciate perfection as you experienced at Bocuse even if a diner doesn't have experience with Bocuse's style of cooking. Unfortunately, I have not had much experience with traditional and if I may say " old-fashioned" cuisine. My only meal here in the USA that was traditional french cuisine was at La Mer, the restaurant at the Halekulani hotel in Oahu. Having been schooled on new york cuisine, specifically at Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, and ADNY, i was surprised by the heavy food I was served at La Mer. However, I was able to experience both Guy Savoy and L'ambrosie and enjoyed both, although i do realize that Pacaud and Savoy approach food in very different ways.

What do you mean my "more accessible restaurant" What makes Bocuse so hard to understand. What restaurants do you include in the class of Bocuse?

BPS, thanks again for another of your superb reviews. It is a shame, you didn't have the chocolate raspberry desert. Absolutely wonderful.. I am surprised you had any service issues at Louis XV. I agree with you that Ducasse is a superb chef, and Louis XV the pinacle of his stable. I can't wait to return and now I have your great pictures to look at whenever I get homesick for my favorite restaurant in Europe.. Thanks again!!!

Did they cook special food for you (aka off the menu)? What did you have? ← I have met Chef Ducasse briefly twice. Once in New York at ADNY at the beginning of a Chateau Latour tasting dinner, then again at ADPA when I was taken for a tour of the kitchen. Chef was having dinner in the aquarium of ADPA. Both times he was pleasant and gracious. I don't know any Parisien chef is as friendly as Passard. During my first meal at Arpege, I happened to be sitting at Chef's table, underneath the picture of his grandmother. He came up to my table, said hello, commented on my wine selection ( a meurseult, if I remember) and I offered him a glass. He accepted. My last meal at ADPA in September, 2007 started when the GM Denis asked if they could cook for me. Alas, I never saw a menu that evening, but I do remember having the superb langoustine course as well as the Pate. Oh, I am returned to Louis XV in May for two more meals

I was on a cruise that spent a day in Marseille in September and had a wonderful lunch, as a solo, at Le Petit Nice. First, the restaurant is extremely responsive to email. I first emailed them in April and had a confirmation of a lunch reservation by the next day. Pretty impressive. The restaurant is in a nice hotel right on the mediterranean. The pictures on the hotel-restaurant site don't do it justice. I was blessed with a beautiful day and my table right by the window. I arrived early for my reservation and was offered a glass of champagne and canapes outside. I was then shown my table. I ordered the tasting menu. The food was simply prepared fish prepared in the mediterranean style; lots of olive oil. The meat course, veal, was perfectly prepared. My only complaint was I didn't think the cheese course was as good as it could have been. I forget what the desserts were, but i do remember enjoying them. The service was exceptional! i was even complimented on my choice of wine, a bottle of a premier cru Meurseult. I was also offered a complimentary glass of desert wine. Having eaten at 14 three star restaurants in France and Monaco in the last three years, I was impressed with the service, food, and location of Le Petit Nice. It was not the best or the most memorable of my meals, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Hope that helps.

I can't conceive why they would. Two of DM's other places (Gramercy Tavern and The Modern) are starred. On the Michelin thread, numerous people mentioned sub-par meals at 11MP. That doesn't comport with my own experience, but obviously it does happen. ← ... or against Humm, personally, although I can't see why since the boy did earn a star in Europe. I can't imagine that skipping the Continent would be the reason either; many others have and have earned their star(s) here. ← Perhaps consistency is the reason EMP does not have a star from the michelin guide. I have read enough negative reports of meals at EMP, including my own that ranks as one of the worst 5 meals I have had in new york over the last 7 years, to believe that EMP deserves such an honor.

First, You will really enjoy Mirazur. THe food is exceptional as is the service. I have friends who highly recommend Restaurant Bacon in Juan les Pin for boulubaisse. ← Bacon is in Cap d'Antibes not Juan les Pin ← Oops, my mistake/ Also agree that the lunch deal at Louis XV is amazing and worth every Euro.

First, You will really enjoy Mirazur. THe food is exceptional as is the service. I have friends who highly recommend Restaurant Bacon in Juan les Pin for boulubaisse.

BPS I eagerly await your review of L'arpege. I hope you had an amazing experience there.

Am I reading this correctly? ← Thank you for the correction. I just edit the post ← BPS, i must respectfully disagree with you on the service at L'astrance. I was treated extremely well at my lunch there in January, 2007. I thought the service was exemplary, pleasant,engaging, and worthy of a three star restaurant. Where else are you eating in Paris? I hope you are returning to L'arpege.

The wine service at jean georges is as good as the food. The two sommeliers are young, vibrant, easy to work with, and extremely knowledgeable. It is possible to do wine pairings with each course or anything else you desire. Just ask and I am sure you will be happy with what happens next. The wine list is evenly divided between old and new world wines.

This is also a VERY important point. Many have been fooled and made that mistake. Good catch, Nathan! ← I agree that Jean Georges is the best lunch value in the city.

I think it is the restaurants fault. When the service is terrible, the experience is bad. My meal at EMP was marked by some of the worst service I have ever had in any fine dining restaurant in new york or Paris.

I am not at all surprised with how michelin rates EMP: my meal there last year was one of the worst dining experiences I have had in New York in the last 10 years.

During my last meal at Benoit, the staff showed me the restaurants reserve wine list, which was almost the exact list from the old ADNY.

Although there is no tasting menu on the lunch menu, I am sure that if you asked they can put together a menu to your liking. However, there is nothing like dinner in the main dining room. Remember, the two tasting menus at dinner, the classic and the seasonal menu (which recently changed) are $148, .

Yes, they offer a cheese course at lunch.

The chocalate tart at L'ambrosie, the Baba at Ducasse, and the Tomato at L'arpege are three special desserts that i would love to sample again and again.