Michelin Red Guide for France 2008

[fresh_a]

I have misgivings with a few very disagreeable people they pay to answer the phone and take reservations at L'Arpege. They used to be great, but the last 6-10 months have been terrible: rude, misinformed, lacking politeness. I guess there may have been some sort of change in their organigram--anyone know anything? It's a shame.

[Felice]

Do you think that they feel compelled to demote a few places? After all, it certainly makes for a good story and sells more guides.

If Arpege were demoted to two stars, would it effect their business all that much?

[John Talbott]

Do you think that they feel compelled to demote a few places?

Yes, but only in the past few years and by me there's a lotta elephants our there in need of prunning, to mix three metaphores (incl the PSF).

  After all, it certainly makes for a good story and sells more guides.

I'm shocked, shocked, that sales trump accuracy.

If Arpege were demoted to two stars, would it effect their business all that much?

Not a bit - vide the feedback here on Taillevent, Hiramatsu, etc.

[HOLLY_L]

I think L'Arpege might take a bit of a hit business-wise. The prices are so high (even compared to other three-stars - it was my most expensive meal in Paris) that I would think at least some potential diners would reconsider.

[Bu Pun Su]

I will be really disappointed should Arpege lost one of its star. The last time I went there was June '07 and the food is still excellent. I felt very welcome and the service there is relatively personal compared to the other establishments.

I heard that the maitre d' - Laurent Lapaire is leaving and going to start his own business, but it should not be an issue since Michelin, as it claims, only concerned about what is served on plates. I (finally) met chef Passard in person last month and he did a special lunch as well as cooking demonstration - I don't find anything lacks in the dishes - as a matter of fact - they were fabulous given the ingredients limitation in Asia and the fact that he did not have all that he wanted in the kitchen

Well, I will just wait and see until the guide book is really out. Should the restaurant really lose its star ... I would still be the main supporter of Arpege until I really find that something is really wrong with the food. I will try to put my review perhaps next month about Passard's visit (probably in the Asia forum)

[sethd]

I will be really disappointed should Arpege lost one of its star. The last time I went there was June '07 and the food is still excellent. I felt very welcome and the service there is relatively personal compared to the other establishments.

I heard that the maitre d' - Laurent Lapaire is leaving and going to start his own business, but it should not be an issue since Michelin, as it claims, only concerned about what is served on plates. I (finally) met chef Passard in person last month and he did a special lunch as well as cooking demonstration - I don't find anything lacks in the dishes - as a matter of fact - they were fabulous given the ingredients limitation in Asia and the fact that he did not have all that he wanted in the kitchen

Well, I will just wait and see until the guide book is really out. Should the restaurant really lose its star ... I would still be the main supporter of Arpege until I really find that something is really wrong with the food. I will try to put my review perhaps next month about Passard's visit (probably in the Asia forum)

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Once again I must agree with BU Pun Su. I would be shocked and amazed if Arpege lost a star. I had two meals there in September and thought the food to be superb and the service equally wonderful.

[robyn]

Do you think that they feel compelled to demote a few places?  After all, it certainly makes for a good story and sells more guides. 

If Arpege were demoted to two stars, would it effect their business all that much?

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I can't speak for anyone except myself - but I don't dine at places that have lost stars. I will eat at a place that's on its way up - but not on its way down. FWIW - I have always thought that Michelin was too slow to grant stars - and too slow in taking them away (it is not unique in this regard IMO). I would rather eat at a restaurant that I think might get a first star in a year or so than a restaurant that had 3 stars for many years and just lost one. Robyn

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Robyn, you are right that Michelin is slow in giving and taking stars. But in the case of Passard, I haven't read a single bad review lately. As Michelin never explains the decisions, I would not change my take on l'Arpège yet, but now I need to go back and check despite the painful prices. It really sound like a strange decision.

Not to mention giving the third star back to Legendre... Had some bad meals there, and the best were only good.

I am a big Michelin supporter but these decisions, if confirmed, seem hard to understand.

[Julian Teoh]

Julot,

It looks like we will have to disagree on Piege. We had some stunning quality bar and foie gras when we visited in December. OK, he wasn't serving the 4-year old comte, but the cheeses were in perfect condition. However, your assessment of the room is spot on, and the service is also precise and courteous.

Taillevent offered Antony's 4 year-old comte, but perhaps cutting off my nose to spite my face, I refused, given the catastrophic progression of our dinner to that point. And yes, John, Taillevent is doing wonderful, wonderful business, despite the loss of the third star. There must have been at least twice as many people there than when I went in 2003/4, and this time, the seating was a lot more proximate, so there may have been even more, who knows?

[julot-les-pinceaux]

I won't budge from my judgement on the meal I had, but a friend who came last year and also was there the same night, and said that it was like Piège was depressed or something, that he had an exceptional meal the time before, but he agreed with me that that night was mediocre at best.

So maybe we just had reallty different experiences. Though for me, the experience at les Ambassadeurs was just as boring as it had been in the Plaza under the same Piège.

That said, there is no doubt that Piège is very able, and, though that never happened to me, I am pretty sure that he can do a great meal.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Simon says... l'Arpège does not lose its third star

[fresh_a]

Simon says that Il Vino and Aida will be getting their first stars..

[Ptipois]

So maybe we just had reallty different experiences. Though for me, the experience at les Ambassadeurs was just as boring as it had been in the Plaza under the same Piège.

That said, there is no doubt that Piège is very able, and, though that never happened to me, I am pretty sure that he can do a great meal.

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The question is, how do you get a great meal from him? What does it take?

Being very able does not mean you will be a great cook, even if you can become a renowned chef. It takes something special, a touch of humanity, I don't know but whatever it is Piège does not have it. To me his food always meant pure technicity without the grain of madness that makes true talent. I owe him (from his days at Le Plaza) the only haute cuisine meal that ever nearly bored me to sleep.

The problem, when you are into this "pure technique" trip: it does happen that your primary concern — taste and texture — no longer makes it through your creations, even though it may be the only thing you ever talk about.

Last monday, at the OFF3 festival in Deauville, he did a demonstration on stage. He has to be praised for sending stuff to the audience for tasting, which few chefs actually did. But he should have refrained from it. Everything was bad. Not not-quite-successful, just bad.

Deconstructed tabboulé (French-style tabbouleh, i.e. a couscous salad) was a crispy tube filled with a snotty, gooey, tasteless cream and nasty small bits of hard, dry semolina that stuck to your teeth (and damaged your fillings if you had any).

Liquid grated carrot salad tasted, quite simply, like stale carrot juice mixed with sparkling, carbonated water, and it was awful. It was supposed to reproduce the taste of carottes râpées and it was a failure. No acidity, a dull dusty taste — give me a carrot, a bunch of parsley and a juicer and I'll do much better than that. It seemed like another case of the Emperor's new clothes.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Honestly, I couldn't agree more. But Julian and some others had experiences they liked, and I don't want to discount their opinion. But I wouldn't want to go back and I wouldn't advise people who share my taste to.

[John Talbott]

This morning’s Figaro had an article that started on its first page about “who merits three Michelin stars,” that I thought belonged here rather than in the Digest.

My first impression, looking at the photos of the 14 chefs featured was how strikingly it was that they were all white French males, despite the fact that the “jury” that selected them was more diverse, having two women (Margaret Kemp and Alexandra Michot) and five foreigners (Oscar Caballero (Sp), Rudy Chelminski (US), Margaret Kemp (UK), Andrea Petrini (It) and Chiyo Sagae (Ja)). The others are all well-known and consist of a who’s who of French resto critics – Beaudouin, Bougereau, Demorand, Champerard, Esquerre, Gaudry, Gantie, Gloaguen, Leclerc, Pudlowski, Ribaut, Rubin and of course the host, Francois Simon. It’s interesting to note who wasn’t there - Claude Lebey, Philippe Toinard and Jerome Berger leap to mind and any blogger among the dozen French and Anglo individuals from that sphere.

As for their “findings” there was consensus on some (Gagnaire and the Bras) but dissent on others (Bocuse and Pic). Simon (and/or his editor(s)) divided the list into three categories;

Who truly merits three stars

Gagnaire

Bras

Louis XV

Guerard

Roellinger

And also Alleno, Barbot, Veyrat, Passard, Pic, Bocuse

Who Doesn’t Merit three stars

Martin

Trama

Lr Squer

Savoy

Lorain

And also Bocuse, Relais Bernard Loiseau, Pic, Ducasse, Blanc + l’Auberge de l’Ill

Who will merit three stars

Piege

Passedat

Elena

Dutournier

And also Marx, Frechon, Yoshino, Chibois + Osteau de Baumaniere.

Finally, Simon holds firm in his prediction/leak already summarized by him and Adrian Moore concerning Le Petit Nice, l’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Il Vino, Aida, Ze Kitchen Galerie + La Grenouille

PS I’ll put up the link Monday when the IS/IT folks at Figaro go back to work; currently though it’s readable on their pdf version, free when one registers which I strongly suggest.

PPS Simon also states that the Michelin ratings are now based more on marketing and geography than gastronomic merit. Monday in the Digest I'll post info from Simon's "Croque Notes" about Le Petit Nice.

Edited by John Talbott for PPS and links.

Edited February 23, 2008 by John Talbott (log)

[Bu Pun Su]

Thanks John for always keeping us up to date with the culinary news in France

What does it mean when Bocuse's and Pic's names are mentioned twice - in "deserve" as well as "does not deserve" (3-star)? Who is Yoshino - I mean what is his restaurant? I don't see the name of Pacaud anywhere ...

Edited February 23, 2008 by Bu Pun Su (log)

[Ptipois]

I can't figure out how Simon can, on the one hand, state (with good reason) that the attribution of Michelin macarons owes more to politics than to food appreciation, and on the other hand decide who deserves three and who does not.

As long as nobody has come up, as yet, with an efficient, clear and detailed set of criteria allowing to judge what it takes to deserve one, two or three macarons, and as long as the Michelin rules of attribution remain anything but transparent, I wonder how anyone can play at let's-pretend-we're-Michelin and think in their place. I mean, a minimal requirement would be to know exactly how Michelin thinks.

Edited February 23, 2008 by Ptipois (log)

[John Talbott]

What does it mean when Bocuse's and Pic's names are mentioned twice - in "deserve" as well as "does not deserve" (3-star)?

It means that "jury" was split on Bocuse - 9 for and 9 against; Pic - 9 for and 8 against

Who is Yoshino - I mean what is his restaurant?

He's the chef at Stella Maris a fine but expensive place IMHO

I don't see the name of Pacaud anywhere ...

He is on neither the Pro or Con List, likewise Taillevent + Pre Catalan

[John Talbott]

In a front-page article, in the New York Times today, Martin Fackler says that one of the reasons that the Michelin is moving into foreign markets is "to compensate for its declining influence in Europe, where it has lost readership to the Internet and the shifting demands of consumers who no longer want their tastes dictated to them." There is much criticism from Japan, which is the peg and dateline of the piece, saying the Michelin doesn't understand Japanese cuisine and that “has debased its brand. It won’t sell as well here in the future.”

[algy]

I don't see the name of Pacaud anywhere ...

He is on neither the Pro or Con List, likewise Taillevent + Pre Catalan

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no mention of Troisgros?

Or is La France profonde too profonde?

[fresh_a]

At least it all makes for fun, heated discussion between obsessives...

[winemike]

Francois Simon says, here are the results...

[Felice]

I don't remember having heard a thing about "Le Restaurant" in the 6th which earned its first star. A search on Google didnt turn up much either. Strange that it would gather such little attention and then get a star.

[HOLLY_L]

I believe Le Restaurant is at the analogously named L'Hotel. L'Hotel gets quite a bit of press, some small proportion of which is about Le Restaurant.

[John Talbott]

I don't remember having heard a thing about "Le Restaurant" in the 6th which earned its first star. A search on Google didnt turn up much either. Strange that it would gather such little attention and then get a star.

I was puzzled as were you. The only review I recall and in the "Digest" is that ironically from exactly a year ago from Pudlo - the Week of March 5th, 2007 -

"Thursday, Gilles Pudlowski, in Le Point provided his assortment of food and restaurant likings: he states that he is following Le Restaurant, at/in L'Hôtel, 13, rue des Beaux-Arts in the 6th, 01.44.41.99.01, menu = 50 €, recently taken over by Philippe Bélissent, a young ex-Ledoyenist serving farm eggs with truffles, bar with chestnuts and Bresse chicken"

I believe Le Restaurant is at the analogously named L'Hotel.  L'Hotel gets quite a bit of press, some small proportion of which is about Le Restaurant.

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Correct: this is from my Google search: at

http://www.toptable.co.uk/venues/restaurants/?id=6912

"Le Restaurant de L'Hôtel has been awarded one star in the 2008 Michelin guide.

Located in the chic L'Hôtel in the heart of Paris's famously bohemian Left Bank, Le Restaurant is a sophisticated establishment headed by accomplished Head Chef Philippe Bélissent. Previously a sous chef at three Michelin starred restaurants, Bélissent took over the kitchen at Le Restaurant in 2005. Renowned for his seasonal menu – favourite dishes at Le Restaurant include duck foie gras cooked with sangria and Mirabelle plums; pigeon casserole with grated beets and mash; and roasted figs served with banyuls, pistachio ice cream..."