CyN

Scratch the Louis from the second one. It s just Relais d'Auteuil.

I haven't seen any comments on either of these 2-star restaurants in Paris. Can anyone give a report on either or both?

GREAT post, guys. Like reading a novel. Thanks for all that effort and all the writing skill that went into it.

Victor(I am clued into your name from Robert's post) you are the first one to my knowledge who has really trumpeted Can Gaig. Now you have weighed in in the same vein twice and you have my undivided attention. This is my first trip to Spain,(after 40 years of trips thru France) and I am ready and willing to be guided by anyone with previous experience and strong convictions.Thus I am ready to exchange one of my previous reservations for Can Gaig, if you advise it in strong enough language:)). I cant swap Botafumeiro, because thats a Sunday. I cant swap Cal Pep, because we have a date there with Steve Plotnicki, and I wouldnt want to miss the tapas anyway. Likewise, I will under no circumstances give up the schlep to Hispania. My wife is gung-ho, and so am I, for this somehat bizarre excursion, altho I dont know yet exactly how we are going to execute it. However I am ready to exchange any of the following four for Gaig if you feel strongly that I should:El Raco d'en Freixa, Drolma, Abac or Neichel. Speak up, I'm ready to do business!!

What about El Bulli?Give us your report on that one. And what about Ledoyen? I am trying to decide whether to lay out the big bucks for that one on my trip next month. I s it worth it?

Sumac, didnt mean to ignore you. I am not one of the "regulars" anyway. Your recommendation on that restaurant is probably first-rate-- but as you can see, my whole week is completely booked. Also, I'm not too thrilled with Adria-style chefs. I'm going to El Bulli itself, so I have no hankering to seek out his disciples.

I'm one step ahead of you, Bux. I already found that spot on Google and already e-mailed them about the taxi situation. It seems to be a sort of Chamber of Commerce. Now we'll see if and when they answer. If thats a dead end, I will have the hotel call the restaurant. Thanks again to both you and Robert.

I knew about Sant Pau and had planned to go there for lunch(rather than Can Fabes)but for some crazy reason they are closed from May6 to May22, so that idea went up in smoke. I also knew about Can Roca near Girona and was planning to go there if El Bulli had dumped me. But since I hit the lottery, it takes precedence and I cant fit them both in. You suggest that I call ahead about a taxi in Arenys de Mar. That sounds sensible, but who do you think I should call? The restaurant? The train station?A taxi company? Altho Hispania may not be a destination restaurant, it sounds so intriguing, and in such contrast to all the starred places scheduled on my trip, that I would really like to try it, if only I can get there. Thanks for your input. You are a friend in need.

Robert: Now you,ve given me something to chew on:)) I respect your judgment, and if you say I'm better off doing Can Fabes once and Hispania once, believe me I'm ready to do it! However, its too complicated to explain in detail, but I can only replace my lunch date at Can Fabes, not the dinner one.And on the day I had scheduled for lunch, I wont have the rental car yet, it was a train excursion. So to switch to Hispania, I would have to go there for lunch by .train. Is this possible??And then take a taxi from the train station at Arenys de Mar? Do they even have taxis at a tiny town like Arenys de Mar? I realize that these details may be outside your field of expertise. But perhaps the hotel can help me , if necessary, altho I doubt that they would have any knowledge of such a situation. What do you think? A couple more comments.: I am pleased to see you refer to dinners at El Bulli as "transcendental". This is a welcome sneak preview of your upcoming post, which every one is waiting for in such suspense:) Secondly, you are giving me second thoughts on Ledoyen. I went there several times in the 60s, was always enthralled,, but just hate to give in to their prices, or any Paris 3-star's prices today. But I will think it over, maybe I'll call them and get the price of their taster's menu, if they have one.

Robert,You needn't worry that you may have done me a disservice. True, I'll never know what I am missing, but so what, there is another one that I would have missed instead( in this case, El Raco d'en Freixa, which I am substituting for Isidre.)I'm very happy to kiss Isidre or any place else, goodbye, where anyone on eGullet that I respect has had a bad recent experience. The hell with them. Why go there when there are so many other places available? I have to except El Bulli from that concept, because Lizziee's famous negative report is keepng no-one, including me, away:)) We will be in Barcelona a week. Going to El Raco d'en Freixa,Can Fabes by train for lunch,Drolma, Abac, Botafumeiro(a Sunday, when there are few choices) Cal Pep(meeting Steve Plotnicki there, an eGullett- created meeting) and Neichel. Then renting a car, off to Sant Celoni for dinner at Can Fabes,(an encore) then on to El Bulli. Then by train into France, Jardin des Sens at Montpellier, then by train to Roanne and Troisgros( he is fixing us a special old-timers menu,duplicating what his uncle used to prepare 35 years ago) and then on to Paris, where we are booked into the Bristol(a Sunday), then Jamin and final day Astrance, if they will lower themselves to accept us, otherwise Laperouse.Original idea for final day was Ledoyen, but I refuse to pay their prices(I've been around the block too many times to still get a thrill which is commensurate with the prices:))

Based on what I've read on eGullet, I had booked Ca L'isidre for our openg night dinner on our forthcoming trip in May. Based on your report I am unbooking it . I put my confidence in you because you belong to the old-timers club:))

Had a great dinner there 3 years ago.But this year they have lost their second star. There must be a reason. I am bypassing it on my trip this year.

Pirate, your memory for details is astonishing. Thanks for the informative and authoritative post. Bux, your disqualification is rescinded and and you are now an official member of the old-timers club:) Robert, of course you are a charter member. Anyone else?

I dined twice at Alain Chapel but never saw any souffle of barbue on the menu. I would have grabbed for it if I had. Bux, I sent a short post but for some reason it didnt get printed so this is a repeat. You are right to distinguish between memories of eating and memories of dining in that decade.Since you dont possess the latter, you are disqualified from our (slowly) growing group of old-timers:)

OK Bux, you are right to distinguish between eating memories and dining memories from that decade. Since you dont possess the latter, you are right to disqualify yourself from our(slowly) growing club:)

Pirate!!! welcome to the old-timers club! Do you remember Garin's truite souffle? Why are you remaining anonymous? Are you a celebrity??

Robert, you are the only one, so far, whose eating memories go back that far. Denis turned out some miraculous dishes, things whose equal I have never tasted since- altho at this date I havent the faintest memory of what they were.I remember also that his prices were absolutely astronomical. I take it you never sampled Chez Garin on the left bank. Garin was magnificent. In his case I do remember his signature dish: trout souflee. Nothing like it ever.And not expensive. He moved to Toulouse and then disapperared. a pity.

We will be in Barcelona May 13-20,Can Fabes May 21 and El Bulli May22. We would be delighted to meet you for dinner Steve,or any others of you, if our dates coincide. Yes, Lizziee, I saw Robert's compilation of posts on Barcelona last week and complimented him on it then. You are right, Bux, the Spain posts should be kept separate from the French- but in this case its hard to keep them from overlapping. As far as Paris goes, Lizziee, we will be there only three nights, starting on a Sunday(May 25). On Sundays choices are limited, but we are happy to be going to the Bristol, which has received great praise on this board. A few years ago on a Sunday we went to the Ambassadeurs at the Crillon and the dinner was outstanding, one of our best ever. We intended to go back this time, but got a jolt when they lost that star, so we are switching to the Bristol. The next two nights will be nostalgia trips , first to Laperouse, then to Ledoyen. Many are the great dinners we had at those two joints in the 60s and 70s( and also Chez Garin and Chez Denis, for those of you old enough to remember) I read your report on Ledoyen with great interest, Lizziee. I hope they still have the mushroom soup on the menu! I am pretty well disgusted with the insane prices the Paris 3 star restaurants charge.At one time or another I have sampled almost all of them, some when they were only 2 stars like Grand Vefour and Senderens when he was at Archestrate and I am unwilling to contribute further to their insanity. Ledoyen is an exception because of nostalgia. Before ending this interminable post, I'll recount something interesting about Gagnaire.Some years ago at Jamin I asked the captain if Robuchon has any favorites in the provinces- after all, who should know better than the master himself? He said Robuchon had recently returned from a province trip and was greatly impressed with a chef named Gagnaire in St. Etienne. So naturally on our next trip we sought out St. Etienne, almost as remotely located as Bras at Laguiole. The place was deserted. I mean we were the ONLY customers. The captain said Gagnaire was out of town. The dinner was mediocre. Not too much later I read that he had gone bankrupt- surprise!- and then after that I read that he had found backers to open a place in Paris. The rest is history. We ate at his Paris place once, it was marvellous- but I wouldn't pay his prices again. BTW my name is Cy- the cyn handle results from some stupid confusion

Lizziee Alsace was the only part of France we stopped in last summer- we were winding up a trip that started in Italy and then went to Grindelwald. Off and on over the last forty years we've gone on endless driving trips from restaurant to restaurant in France. . There is hardly a restaurant of any note that we havent visited at one time or another( also including Girardet in Crissier,one of the worst and Robuchon four times in Paris, the absolute best).But I'm getting a little long in the tooth for this insanity and the trip coming up this May will probably be the finale.We re going to Spain - a first - seven days in Barcelona, then Can Fabes, then El Bulli(with a mixture of elation at having hit the entrance lottery and trepidation at your drastically negative report). Then Jardin des Sens in Montpellier, almost the only one we've missed, then Troisgros(for the umpteenth time ) and then Paris.

This is a belated response to your Alsace report, belated because I just came across it today. I visited all three restaurants, L'Arnsbourg, Auberge de l"Ill and Beurehiesel last summer. I am in 100% agreement with your opinions, Liziee- blown away by L'Arnsbourg,highly pleased with Auberge de l"Ill and unimpressed by Beurehiesel. As to L'Arnsbourg, you omitted the(to me) phenomenon: the way those waitresses literally RACED around that room. The speed with which they flew in and out of that room and from table to table was a spectacle unprecedented in my restaurant experience - a sight which was a source of continuous fascination. We were also stunned by the way that parking lot filled up. In the afternoon it was empty, sitting in the woods in the middle of absolutely nowhere. At night every parking space was filled. I asked Madam where all the people came from. She shrugged- she had no idea. Unbelievable. As to the Auberge de l'Ill, the hotel was luxurious, our treatment regal. The aperitif in the garden while they prepare to call you to your table after you have made your menu choices, the beautiful dining room, the elegant service. I contrast all that with the last time I was there-1965! No hotel then, the restaurant not nearly its present size.My wife and I ate there six nights out of seven- they were closed one night during the week. We stayed up on the mountain at Trois Epis and drove down there every night, determined to eat thru the entire menu. By the fourth night M Haberlein, the outside brother, finally noticed us. "Ah, les amoreux de gastronomie" he exclaimed. We told him we had two more nights to go, fully expecting to receive royal treatment on our last night, complimentary champagne, or wine or at least after-dinner liqueur.Of course, we received rien. On this trip he came around after dinner, looking pretty ancient. I recounted my story, he had absolutely no recollection of the whole episode. I'm sure I hold the recrd for the most consecutive dinners there. Nothing much to say about Beurehiesel.Very unimpressive and unmemorable. I fail to see why they have 3 stars.But what does impress me is you, Lizziee. How could you possibly eat that lunch at L'Arnsbourg and then show up for dinner the same night at Beurehiesel?? Where in heaven's name do you get the capacity?

A really great project, Robert, and much appreciated by me.