olivier

Never had the chance to meet her, unfortunately... I remember reading a very moving articl about it by François Simon, several months ago.

Interesting review! I agree that the food there is very, very classical. There may be no sparks, it may not be really demanding, but the two times I went, I thought that this is exactly how food should be. I only wish the restaurant wasn't so fancy. Same food in a more simple setting (and maybe in a less expensive part of town!) would probably be cheaper, thus offering an incredible quality/price ratio. It may even attract customers at night, making it less depressing to be seated at one of the three or four only tables occupied the same evening. As it stands, it's too expensive (for dinner), even if I have absolutely no complaint with the food in itself. I think I'd recommend it nonetheless (with the warning about prices). How much is the lunch menu? Something like 50EUR? If that's the case, it seems to be good value (that said, I know next to nothing about lunches in Paris).

I have eaten multiple times at all the top places in Paris during three prior trips to the city. Now, I like to go twice to the same restaurant during my week in Paris. I also have reservations at Le Bristol, Le Cinq (twice), Arpege, ADPA, Le Meurice, Guy Savoy, and I hope L'Ambrosie. I may try L'ami Jean as well and perhaps ask the concierge to help make one more lunch reservation when I arrive in Paris (either Pierre Gagnaire or L'astrance) ← Oh I see... I don't have that kind of stamina, and would probably feed on herbal tea for a month after a week like this one. I don't have the money either, but that's another problem. Anyway, I think I'm going a bit off-topic there, sorry.

Apparently, even the staff is impressed with people getting the tasting menu with the wines and asking to have the "Grand Dessert Ledoyen" (all 5 desserts)... I don't know what size the portions are in this menu, but if these are full portions, I think I wouldn't be able to eat much more after the cheese. As for recommandations, I only went once, so I can't really compare. If I had to go again today, I think I'd still order the langoustines, but you already had those three times... This will probably exasperate fortedei, but I really loved the spaghetti dish. There won't be truffles in June and it will also be a bit too late for morels, so this may not be on the menu (or they'll replace the mushrooms, like with chanterelles, and then it's a different dish). Also, there are other restaurants in Paris! Or maybe you're already planning on eating at all the other top places?

These were a la carte dishes. The tasting menu is the langoustines (which we had), the turbot and the sweetbread + cheese and dessert. The wine pairings were OK to very good. However, as it's often the case is these kind of restaurants, the wines were not on par with the food. I'm more interested in the food so that's fine by me. If you're really interested, I have the list of what we had. As the markups are higher on the wines by the glass than for the bottles, this is obviously not the most economical option. When you're only a couple, for the same price, you have to chose between optimizing the pairings with OK wines, or have one bottle of a better wine that won't perfectly go with what you ordered. Next time, I may chose the latter, with wine pairings with the cheese and no dessert wine.

Oops, thanks for pointing out the grammatical mistakes. Re: mozzarella. It was probably not the best amuse we had that night. I, too, like to have something to chew on a little bit. However, this was perhaps the only thing in the whole meal that seemed to be there for pure "show-off" purposes. Re: spaghetti dish. Have you tasted it? My description can't do it any justice. I didn't feel this was contrived. Well, the appearance of the dish is, of course, but apart from that nothing in the flavors or the way it's cooked feels contrived. On the contrary, it's a really simple (and excellent) dish, in my opinion. I don't really have experience with Italian cuisine (I mean, cooked by Italian people in Italy), but in a dozen meals in Rome a few weeks ago, I'm not sure I had better pasta. Or maybe what you're implying is that such a dish should stay simple in its form and tastes, and not cost 78EUR ? That, I can agree with. That said, I did not find anything to be pretentious in the way Le Squer cooks, on the contrary. Sure, some of the amuses may look like they're here just to impress, but they just tasted what they ought to, which is OK in my book. In conclusion, you may have a point generally speaking, but I'm not sure how much your statement applies to Le Squer's cuisine.

So, we went to Ledoyen a few days ago, just before Easter. Apparently, Le Squer wasn't there (didn't see him at all), but I'm not sure it showed. Here's what I wrote about it. It may not be as precise as other recent similar posts here, but hey, now it's written, I thought I might as well share it. I don’t know if this was because of the forthcoming Easter week-end, the economic situation or the fact that Ledoyen doesn’t really hits the headlines but I was able to get a table for two on a Friday night three days in advance. Quite surprising for this kind of restaurant. Actually, the room was never full the day we went. While we were still studying the menu, we were presented a set of four amuses: “earth & river” macaroon (eel & beet), truffle persillade, chicken samossa and a small bit of liquid mozzarella & basil. We could already recognize Le Squer at work here: these foodbits were prepared with the utmost care, with a reasonable use of “molecular” techniques (like for the mozzarella ball that explodes in the mouth). Their appealing apparence was coupled to understated, clear and precise tastes. It feels like the chef is more interested in giving his customers “hmmm”s of content than only “wows” of stupor. A more substantial pre-appetizer was then served. Some dice of raw salmon on a leek mousse, sprinkled with a few salmon eggs. The mousse/crème showed a firmness that I found unexpected. However, it was not the slightiest gelatinous nor greasy, and it melted very naturally in the mouth, revealing a magnificent taste of leek. Salmon dices were very tender and tasty. The association of the two products is very classic and was particularly well done here. Our starter were the “Gross Langoustines de Bretagne”, served two ways. One was lightly cooked “à la plancha” whereas the other one was fried. The waiters spreaded a very airy olive oil and lemon mayonnaise that slowly melted under the warmth of the langoustines, which indeed were of a very good caliber. This was a very generous starter, and the langoustines were truly excellent, perhaps the best I’ve ever had. There were of course some difference in texture between the two, but it was really hard picking a favorite preparation. Perhaps I liked the “a la plancha” a bit more, as it was softer and somehow closer to the original product. Contrary to what I feared, the mayonnaise did not overpower the delicate taste of the crustaceans at all, and perhaps made the even better. All in all, it’s really easy to understand why this is one of the “signature” dishes. Then, the first main course was the “white ham/truffle/morels/spaghettis”. Reading this does not prepare and can’t do any justice to what we found on our plates. The pasta were cut very precisely at the same size and aligned to form a perfect parallelepiped on which rested some morels and ham dices. There obviously a lot of hard work involved in this dish. On the side, the waiters poured a truffle and parmesan cream, that was also present inside the spaghetti case, with other bites of truffle, morel and ham. This dish almost plays in the “comfort food” register, but the building of the spaghetti “castle” and the perfect balance of these excellent flavors make this a dish that totally deserves its place on the menu of a high-end restaurant like Ledoyen. Very “gourmand” and very classy at the same time. I could eat this everyday. We shared the second main course: “Burnt eel toast, grape juice reduction”. The eel rested on a slightly toasted (but still soft) crustless and colored bread, and the whole was covered in the wine sauce. Next to it, sat a small potato cube in which a semi-spheric hole was carved and filled with cream. This dish showed some firmness under the fork, but was really tender in the mouth. Also, and maybe for the first time during this meal, the flavors were quite strong, maybe even “rustic”, which made the pairing with a 2004 “Empreintes” cornas from domaine Durand excellent. Once again, this was absolutely excellent and enjoyable, in a totally different way from the previous dish. However, at this point of the meal, we were already full, and may not have been able to enjoy it as much as deserved. Thus, we wondered if we should order some cheese or not. However, when the cart with the selection from Bernard Antony, the reknowned “affineur”, arrived in front of us, there was no hint of a doubt. We ordered a few cheeses, which were all matched with a corresponding wine by our sommelier. The order in which we were recommended to eat them was dictated by the wines and not by the cheeses, which led to some surprising transitions, like going from a very ripe and strong brie de Meaux to a more delicate reblochon. The pairings were really good, some I never tried, like the Ruinart blanc de blancs with brie, one I didn’t really understand (pineau des Charentes with Reblochon), but the star of the night was the Comté, really.The one we were offered had been aged for 36 months, and of course paired with a very good vin jaune from Jura (the French region, not the Scottish island!). Antony is known for offering some of the best Comté in the world, and I must say this one lived up to its reputation. We also couldn’t settle on which dessert(s) to order from the menu. Our waiter made an excellent recommendation and we decided to share the “Grand Dessert Ledoyen”. Before the parade began, we were given some pre-desserts that were really good: an almost unbaked meringue with lime, a more crunchy but very light and airy coffee meringue, a small macaroon and a candied strawberrry. The first dessert was the Levure glacée, râpé de chocolat blanc et d’amande, which was an excellent transition dish: it was somewhat neutral in taste while remaining very fresh. I would have gladly eaten more of this one, which is always a good sign. The next one was the signature dessert: Croquant de pamplemousse cuit et cru. This was a combination of candied grapefruit, fresh grapefruit wedges and some sorbet and sheets of sugar. It was very satisfying and conveyed all the aromas of the fruit perfectly, with a good balance of bitter, sweet and acidity. However, I can’t say I was blown away… it may just not be my type of dessert. We went on with the Fraise des bois d’Andalousie: a ball of meringue containing wild strawberries and a lemon and rose jelly. I remember enjoying this one very much (I’m a sucker for wild strawberries), but I realize I can’t really remember the tastes… maybe because of the one or just because it was more simple and conventional, thus more easily forgettable. Then, came our favorite dessert of the night: Glacé de caramel fumé, pistils de chocolat, which was perfectly balanced, maybe simpler than the grapefruit one, but nevertheless immensely enjoyable. Maybe at that point of the meal, I just needed something that didn’t require me to pay too much attention to really understand and enjoy. And that's also probably why I couldn’t enjoy the Finger de chocolat, pralin citronné as much as I would, had I not been full: textures were interesting, flavors aplenty, but that was just too much for me. Of course, they also brought mignardises with the coffee: some excellent caramels with a firm texture which slowly melted in the mouth — perfect; and a light version of the classic Brittany pastry, “the kouign-amann”. Here, it was more of a brioche than a real kouign-amann full of butter, but even in this form that still had some of the crunchiness and the sugary and buttery taste of the original recipe, we could not finish it. What transpired the most from the dishes we tasted during this meal was the understatedness of the flavors. Not that the food wasn’t tasty, on the contrary, but these were only very natural flavors that the chef didn’t try to modify in any way, unlike what Gagnaire, for example. The service displayed the same characteristics: discreet but very pleasant, never intrusive and with finely tuned kindness and smiles. That said, it seemed more rigid at the beginning of the meal. There were some minor mistakes, like the fact the order of the dishes recommended by the sommelier was not properly communicated to the kitchen, so we had to send one back. This happened without trouble, though. Other slight imperfection: when I mentioned I didn’t really get the reblochon/pineau pairing, our sommelier was prompt to get defensive. I was just looking for his view on the subject, and the reasons of this choice, but he seemed to get caught off-guard. Once again, nothing really serious. The person that was taking care of us for most of the dinner was consistently good: a young man, apparently passionate about gastronomy, always smiling and who fitted perfectly in the restaurant’s atmosphere. All in all, Ledoyen might not be the “funniest” restaurant in town, but it’s almost perfect for food-lovers who are more interested by what’s in their plate than what’s happening around it, or for a romantic dinner (maybe even more so with a table near the windows). Of course, one has to pay for all of this, and Ledoyen sure isn’t cheap: a little bit more than 800 EUR for two. However, half of that went into wines: the two of us drank around fifteen glasses, not including the two glasses of champagne we had at the beginning of the meal. A bottle would have been less expensive, but the pairings probably not as good. Moreover, our glasses were always refilled when finished, with no extra charge of course, so we didn’t feel ripped. Also, let’s not forget that we each had an appetizer, one main course, a half main course, the cheese course and half the “Grand Dessert”… Contrary to what some people say about high-end restaurants, portions are very large here. I believe I have a good appetite, but this was clearly too much food. So I guess it’s possible to have one full (and gargantuan!) meal here with drinks for around 270EUR per person. Still very expensive, of course, but totally worth it in my opinion.

I'm a bit baffled by the fact they left Chaudun out. I wouldn't say he's better than most of these (oh wait...), but hey, the guy is adorable, and his chocolate, as far as classic flavors go, are really fantastic.

I almost mentioned this but failed to. La Peche is spot-on correct about this dish. I really did not understand why it was included on the chef's "classics" - nor why it was included on the menu at all. It is hazardous eating, as was an apple "tart" that my friend ordered - the phyllo-like shell had the same mouth-shredding tendency as the sugar glass work on the famous Pampelmousse Millefeuille (or whatever they call it) dessert. ← I remember reading a few things about that (maybe on your flickr, UE?), but I thought everyone loved the grapefruit dessert. Anyway, I think I'll take the 5 desserts.

I guess I had not done my homework properly before asking this, as several reports prove that they indeed do split dishes. Good news. (I'm answering myself instead of editing my previous post so that people wondering the same thing know about it...)

I'm dining there soon so I have quite a few questions about it. It looks like I'd better avoid the turbot dish, and maybe even the sweetbreads one (love sweetbreads, but I fear I might not like the combination with the sauce/lemongrass). Any other sub-par dish I didn't notice in the recent reviews? Also, they still have an awful lot of truffle dishes on the current menu. This could be fine by me, but isn't the season over? I haven't bought truffles since late February, so I don't know how the season evolved since then, but I sure don't want to eat frozen truffle. Maybe I should ask them to show me the product before even considering ordering some? Finally, do they split dishes if you ask them to? What I may like the most doesn't seem to be on the set menu and I'd like to taste more than three dishes, but if they only make full portions, I'm afraid I won't appreciate the end of the meal as I should.

This is such an awesome shop! Everything is excellent or better at Génin, but I think that's really with chocolates that he excels. I only bought some the fourth time I went, but it may now as well be my favorite chocolatier (with Chaudun and a few others for specific things). As for the (plain) caramels, I found that they are almost identical as the one they offer with coffee at Le Cinq. There's a thread about destination restaurants: well, this is a destination shop/salon de thé.

Lunch menu seems like your best bet. I know some like that restaurant but Gaya really hasn't much in common with the rue de Balzac Gagnaire experience and I felt it was too expensive for what it is when I went.

What about the projet de loi that will outlaw tastings, including in shops and at wine fairs? Imagine a wine fair where you are not allowed to taste the wine. The French government seems intent on destroying the wine business in their country through restrictions on advertising, etc. ← Bachelot announced that the law regulating "open bar" practices will not make free wine tastings illegal. This is not surprising as I believe the wine lobby in France is quite powerful.

OK, my friend will up the bidding to 150 E per couple (it's not I, as some have suspected) and its not necessarily romantic but celebratory. ← Because he is your friend I'll recommend the following for less than 150 euros/person. La table de Robuchon. Drouand Senderens Sensing ← Unfortunately it's 150 EUR for two, not per person! I'm sometimes asked that question with about the same prices and find it extremely difficult to answer, so I'm really interested in seeing what some of you have in mind!

Great thread, really. While I'm not sure I would really like Passard's cuisine that much, everytime I read a review in this thread, it makes me want to go. I guess I'll try to get a reservation in the near future, so I'd like to know if there are dishes to avoid or others that are consistently terrific. There's already some good info on this topic, but any insight is welcome! Oh and I guess I'll go a la carte, as with the splitting option, one can have a pretty good preview of many dishes for much less than the full menu. While talking about being cheap (relatively speaking), I'm a bit afraid about what people say about wine prices at l'Arpège. A "alcohol-free good meal" almost sounds like an oxymoron to me, but I'm always reluctant to pay the price of a dish for an quite ordinary bottle. So, will it be water only, or is there some way to get the best out of the wine list for a reasonable price? Or should I just not look at the price and order something good and just think about it the next day?

More precisely, he said that we've been told it's the deal of the century. But it's not, according to his review.

Are you referring to the piece he wrote Jan 7th? I think there's more to come. ← What makes you say that? Simon just wrote on his blog about the loss of the third star for a Champs-Elysées restaurant, and wonders whether Ducasse, Gagnaire or Le Squer will be affected. He also stated that he probably won't hunt the rumors down this year... maybe he just knows he won't get any fresh gossip?

I have searched and think no similar topic has been discussed here to this date. I'd be interesting of hearing about which supermarket-available products you find good enough. I'm speaking about basic cooking products as well as prepared and ready to eat items.

I may be alone there, but I'd say that a thicker crust is good news. It was almost non-existant before, and I like my tarts with a real crust! And indeed, the sardine sandwich is really good, too. Exactly the kind of shop I'd like to have near my workplace.

I'm not sure how essential a trip to Cluizel's shop is, but this is just my taste. Still, if you go there, why not go to Hevin, too, which is a few hundreds meter down the street, and which I really prefer? All in all, if I had to choose only one chocolate shop, this would be Michel Chaudun. Pain d'Epis has some fans. Sure, they're good, but I find their shop rather unexciting. Secco, which is not far from there is excellent and much more charming IMHO. These are the obvious ones, but then again, not those I would recommend. I admit liking very much some Herme pastries and his macaroons, but it has been overhyped. If you have a chance, and like chocolate pastry, try to go to Christian Constant in rue d'Assas, it's one of my favourite shop. Almost as expensive as Hermé, and it might not look exciting at first, but it's deciptively simple and overall excellent. Secco which I mentioned up there makes some wonderful pastry, with more reasonable prices. There are many more that could and should be included there, but these are two of my favorites, far above Hermé (and Ladurée, which I've never really liked for good and bad reasons). Le Cinq is getting some rave reviews recently, which are well deserved in my view, but of those you quote, I only tried Pierre Gagnaire (which was a life-changing experience, there again probably for good and bad reasons). I know this is may sound as a stale advice, but what about La Régalade? It's great, it's inexpensive and a lot of fun (if you're not expecting top notch service and having 3hrs+ to eat your meal and chat around coffee or digestive). Should you go there for dinner, do it after a light lunch, not a one-billion-course meal!

I don't know if I'm disturbed or anything, but all in all, I've always found Simon quite lenient. I don't have actual examples to illustrate it however, so my point probably doesn't hold much weight... Somehow, it's like when I used to read "Les Inrockuptibles" (French "trendy" culture magazine): there are other people who do the "new gems discovery" job better, I hate a lot of what he writes, but all in all, it's fun, and sometimes perfectly on point, so I enjoy reading him.

Don't know where you're from, but I'm not sure there's really good sushi in Paris, at least compared to what I had at Sushi Yasuda in NYC. That said, for quite good sushi at a reasonable price, your best bet is probably to go in the 2nd arrondissement, rue Ste Anne where there are a lot of japanese restaurants (not everyone does sushi). To be honest, I don't know really know these, and some are obviously bound to be better than others. Korin was hyped by François Simon (french food critic "guru") last year, for example... You can also check here for a list of "authentic" and recommended japanese restaurants. I know only a few of them, which are all good, so I'd say the list is quite solid. In the 9th, you have Hotaru rue Rodier, which serves good sushis but also other japanese dishes. I could also recommend BenKay, in the 15th, reknowned for their teppanyaki, but who also has very good sushis, and which is super-expensive. In the 4th, Isami is all the hype too, but I was disappointed last time I went (disappointed as in "ok, that's good, but absolutely not great"). That said, I don't understand why we don't have as good sushi as in the USA (and probably Japan, but I never went there) in France. I'd be interested in reading some theories about that...

For my last restaurant dinner of 2008, I decided to go back to Stella Maris and try the lièvre à la royale there. It was everything I expected, and more: the way it's presented is quite astonishing, indeed. It almost looks like a Bras or Ramsay "coulant au chocolat". Very good, but some part of the dish were "chewy", which surprised me a little bit for a lièvre à la royale. (low light + ultra compact = lots of noise, sorry.)

L'Empire des thés on avenue d'Ivry has some pretty good aged cooked pu-erh. Most tea supposedly older than 10 years or so found elsewhere in Paris is likely to be falsified, as pu-erh often is. L'Empire des thés are reliable. They have a 10-year-old cooked pu-erh that I recommend. Green pu-erh (brick or bing cha) is rather hard to find in Paris. Addresses here. ← I know La Maison des Trois Thes have (alledgedly) very old pu-erhs. I would say they are reliable too, based on the reputation of their owner, but I really don't know anything about tea... At least not enough to pretend to be able to distinguish vintages. Oh and they're super expensive, too.