Paris Vegetarian Recommendations

[John Talbott]

In today’s New York Times Kim Severson wrote an article entitled “At Last France Embraces the Vegetable" which mentions Arpege + Vegetable at Printemps (now closed, that is, the resto not the department store).

[pim]

Finally, even the top places will prepare vegetarian food on request, indeed guys like Alain Passard (L'Arpege) are trying to make it with just veggies.

Does anyone have any idea if Passard's vegetable dishes are entirely vegetarian. The French do have a habit of cooking or finishing off vegetables in stock or preparing them with animal fats.

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You are right, Bux, many of Passard's vegetable dishes are certainly not entirely vegetarian.

John, contrary to popular belief, L'Arpège is absolutely not a vegetarian restaurant. There are plenty of land and sea animals on the menu, even pork (I've been served something flavored with German ham hock), just not red meat.

[edited to add: sorry, I didn't read through the thread before posting my reply, so ended up saying pretty much the same things Louisa already did!]

Edited June 16, 2005 by pim (log)

[pim]

Also, has anyone tried a little place in the Marais called Piccolo Teatro? I walked by it the other day and saw a sign that said it's a vegetarian restaurant. I snapped a photo of the front door with this phone number.

Piccolo Teatro

01 42 72 17 79

[Bux]

. . . . contrary to popular belief, L'Arpège is absolutely not a vegetarian restaurant.  There are plenty of land and sea animals on the menu, even pork (I've been served something flavored with German ham hock), just not red meat.

. . . .

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A nice rare pigeon breast will do fine and make me forget about "red meat."

[John Talbott]

Finally, even the top places will prepare vegetarian food on request, indeed guys like Alain Passard (L'Arpege) are trying to make it with just veggies.

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This was infelicitiously worded; I've been, I know; what I was trying to say is Passard sought and got a lot of press for devoting energy and emphasis on vegetables. The "it" refers to reputation, buzz, splash - wrong word, I take it back.

Sorry.

[jeunefilleparis]

Bonjour All!

Sorry its taken me a little while to get back to this board. After Paris I was only home in NYC before flying to Denver.

Anyways, here are my thoughts on being a vegetarian in Paris after years of consuming anything and everything, very very difficult and a little depressing.

VEGETABLE: Like I mentioned earlier I had Passard's famous egg dish, I was so impressed with the presentation of this dish. 3 perfect brown eggs in little egg holders, all precisely cut at the seemingly same place to reveal fluffy little egg white loveliness inside. The more I thought about what I ate, I m still a bit baffled. It wasn't mousse like, wasnt eggwhite like, almost reminds me of the texture of my mom's lemon souffle. I dont know, but it was fun, not to mention delicious to eat and thats whats most important.

next was the risotto and to steal this line from another post "the risotto was creamy, dreamy, topped with a halo-like flurry of thinly shredded raw vegetables"

pretty much somes up my feelings on this dish. My dish also had these little purple flowers thrown in with the shredded veggies and that spark of color really pleased the eye. I m all about food as art as I can imagine a lot of people here are as well. It was quite creamy dreamy, all that parmesan cheese, and the most perfect risotto texture, ah, so good.

My dessert the famous tart ( at least the gentleman to my right said it was) with the slightly more than paper thin crust, blue cheese ( sorry dont know which kind) and layers of pear slivers, was nice but nothing really special. I m a bit bummed that I didnt go for les fruit rouges with infused hibiscus.

I didnt end up going back agian the next day so, no onion tart and no basil, peas and grapefruit, but , I really enjoyed that meal and will definately splurge on L'arpege next year in Paris.

On another note, I ate my weight in icecream which was really quite a treat. Last year I was introduced to a new place basically across the street from the bridge that leads to Ile St Louis. The name is escaping me, i think it was Dammonds or Dammons, and odd name to me, but none the less, excellent homemade glace. Some flavors I tried were bulgarian yogurt, chestnut, cinnamon, this one made from a Moroccan nut oil, cant remember the actual name,,,,, what others,,, salty caramel one that was fabulous,,,,

I ate lots of cheese which was no real surprise, and no real chore either.

I did find it hard to eat in "normal" restaurants and resorted to pasta dishes or salads. I had a horrible omelette with so called chanterelles and i sent it back because they were so dried out it was like eating twigs.

Overall, being a vegetarian in Paris definately will take some adjustment time. Next year I ll do some more research and figure out where to go and eat so that I can still enjoy some culinary delights.

Hope that everyone has a great summer. I will be away working in the mountains and therefore offline til August!

a bientot

Lauren

Edited June 20, 2005 by jeunefilleparis (log)

[Louisa Chu]

Lauren - so happy you too had a great meal at Vegetable. I know Marlena and at least one other person - also with a good palate - who weren't so lucky. On the Arpege eggs - the whites are replaced by soft whipped cream seasoned with vinegar - so it was that tartness you tasted that reminded you of the lemon souffle. How beautiful that your mother has a signature lemon souffle. The purple flowers you had in the risotto were fleurs de bourache - flowers from the herb bourage. There's a trend at the moment in Paris with Michelin-starred chefs using them in salads, as a garnish, etc. Sadly you didn't miss much in the red fruits infused with hibiscus - just macerated berries in juice - no discernable hibiscus. The ice cream boutique you went to was Damman's. Have a great summer in the mountains - I miss them in Paris!

[pim]

Found a vegetarian/vegan Chinese place in th 13th. Green Garden at 20 rue Nationale. They use soy protein in place of meat, to some very lovely ends.

No, this is really not chicken.

I blogged about it if you want to hear more.

[John Talbott]

Yesterday, le Figaroscope published a “Dossier” of vegetarian or vegetarian-friendly places that included:

B.A.M.

Lena et Mimile

Les Vivres

Zoe bouillon

Naked

Biotifull Place

Café Guitry

Lood Juice Bar

And also Bioboa, Colette Au Water Bar, Rose Bakery, Mon Vieil Ami, le Montalembart & Relais du parc.

[cigalechanta]

http://www.nwfolk.com/vegparis.html

[John Talbott]

So I'm sitting in a restaurant today in the heart of a stadium (Geo-Andre at the Porte de St Cloud,) a few feet from the Parc des Princes, with a lot of jocks, ex-jocks and some never-jocks, having a reasonably carnivorish meal that has lots of veggies, watching delicious gazpacho, avocado and other stuff go by and I ask - could one have simply a vegetarian meal here? But of course. And maybe it's not just in a Health Club type resto where one can, but with the Joel Thibault vegetables and great product here, maybe lots of places.

Anyway, for what it's worth, this was Le Stade, 20, ave de la Porte de Saint Cloud in the 16th, 01.40.71.22.22, open for lunch Monday-Saturday; dinner Thursday-Saturday, with a menu at 21 €, a la carte 30-50 €.

[babern38]

Here in the united states, it seems that many finer restaurants who offer multi-course tasting menus have one that caters to a vegetarian's needs. I have very little french fine dining experience and wonder if french, or other european country restaurants in general take vegetarian needs into account. Its my general impression that many european countries, especially france, find a vegetarian's willing choice to not eat meat of fish to be strange. Is this correct?

I ask because my fiancee is a vegetarian (no fish either) and wonder what difficulty she might have if we go to high michelin starred restaurants. Thanks

[BigboyDan]

She's gonna' starve.

[Pork Belly]

In all my experience eating at Michelin starred restaurants in France, Spain and Italy, I have not found one that offers a Vegetarian Tasting Menu. In Paris, the 3-star Arpege has a Vegetable Menu because of the chef’s love of vegetables that he grows himself. He uses eggs, butter, cream and cheese but I don’t know if it is vegetarian because he might also use chicken or fish stock. There are a couple of 3-star restaurants in France, Michel Bras and Marc Veyrat, where vegetables play a prominent role. Although there is a general trend toward vegetables and grains, the starred restaurants still very much put their emphasis on meat and fish. I am sure the restaurants can accommodate your fiancée but that would seem to miss the whole point of dining in them. But at least, it would give you a chance to eat in them. I don’t think being a vegetarian is “strange” in France. It’s just the starred restaurants don’t cater to them. One can choose some wonderful non-meat/fish items off the menu, especially in Italy where there is more emphasis on vegetables and grains; but having a Vegetarian Tasting Menu? nada

[fresh_a]

Espadon?

[bleudauvergne]

Noted that pure vegetarian tasting menus are extremely rare if not non-existent. But if Babern38 were to go into a michelin starred restaurant and tell them that he's a vegetarian, what's going to happen? Would his experience be totally ruined? Would they kick him out? Do you think they wouldn't make an effort? I also seem to recall some buzz not long ago about a vegetarian restaurant gastronomique with a nice tasting menu in Paris...

[fresh_a]

Most étoilés would make an effort- I've had fine experiences having Guy Savoy (very accomodating), Taillevent, Arpege (obviously) , Gagnaire, Table de Robuchon, Relais d'Auteuil, Ledoyen, etc create special menus for my clients. Even the Espadon now has a fully vegetarian tasting menu on certain days..

Edited June 20, 2006 by fresh_a (log)

[Brad K.]

L'Astrance

2 Mich. stars (deserves 3)- no set menu, just a fixed price tasting. When I ate there last with my wife, who is a vegetarian too (although she eats some fish) they were very happy to accomodate us. The maitre d'/co owner spent much time talking to us and his wife also happens to be a veg. One of the best meals either of us have had. One funny thing, he was asking her if there were any particular vegetables she liked/disliked and then casually and seriously asked "what about foie gras?". Ahh, the French.

[fresh_a]

Foie gras' one of my favorite vegetables.

[RodneyCk]

She's gonna' starve.

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ROFL!!!

[Ptipois]

One funny thing, he was asking her if there were any particular vegetables she liked/disliked and then casually and seriously asked "what about foie gras?".  Ahh, the French.

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You mean it's not a vegetable? Damn. Ahh, we French.

[prashant]

Hello all: my first post on eGullet which has been a very useful resource while planning my trip to Paris next week with my wife. We've rented a studio in the 5th - rue de la Harpe [i know, touristy, and all the Greek yechh restaurants, but I got an excellent deal ]. My wife is a vegetarian [not vegan, though] but I'm OK with fish and white meat. We have reservations at the following:

Maceo

Ze Kitchen Gallerie [they emailed back saying they would come up with some veggie dishes]

Le Souffle

Any other suggestions? We're open to trying anything except Indian for the simple reason that we're from India! No problems Metro-ing to other areas of Paris in search of a good meal...

Difficulty in getting reservations aside, I'm unsure as to whether it would be worth checking out any 'starred' restaurants simply due to the veggie aspect...? All the menus and reports seem to be focused more on meat dishes.

Lastly, a question on dining etiquette in Paris. In the US where we used to live before this, it's OK to stop in most restaurants and just enjoy dessert. Is this something we can do in Paris? We can't indulge in a lot of the great food due to dietary restrictions, but the desserts in some of the reports look so tempting, and we'd love to sample them if possible.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Ptipois]

Lastly, a question on dining etiquette in Paris. In the US where we used to live before this, it's OK to stop in most restaurants and just enjoy dessert. Is this something we can do in Paris? We can't indulge in a lot of the great food due to dietary restrictions, but the desserts in some of the reports look so tempting, and we'd love to sample them if possible.

Thanks in advance for your help!

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I'm afraid this is generally not done in French restaurants.

But you can perfectly do this in salons de thé and pâtisseries that have a sitting space! Also, some large chain pâtisseries like Ladurée extend their services to being restaurants at lunch, but outside of lunch hours you may enjoy only sweet dishes if you wish.

[John Talbott]

But you can perfectly do this in salons de thé and pâtisseries that have a sitting space! Also, some large chain pâtisseries like Ladurée extend their services to being restaurants at lunch, but outside of lunch hours you may enjoy only sweet dishes if you wish.

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Ptit took the words out of my mouth; I was going to suggest you check our Compendium on Pastry shops thread and think about taking some to your apt/hotel to eat or going to an upscale place like Laduree or a nice tea salon, about which we have a thread too.

[John Talbott]

Figaroscope’s “Dossier” this week published a list of places serving fruits and vegetables :

5 fruits-5 vegetables

Maison Blanche

100% bio

Phyto Bar + Crudus

Vegetable menu

Le Transversal

Entirely steamed

Vapeur Gourmande

Vegetarian menu

Maceo

Daily market

Supernature

Crudities

Mi Va Mi

Veg dip and salads

C Nature

And for more vitamins – l’Ampere, Wanna Juice, Biotifull Place, Lood Juice Bar, Bioboa, Bob’s Juice Bar + Pousse-Pousse.