Le Grand Vefour & Les Muses

[pirate]

I spent a few days in Paris staying at the Park Hyatt on the rue de la Paix very close to the Place Vendome. It opened during the Summer and consists of five apartment houses gutted and rebuilt fon the inside with exteriors kept basically unchanged. The interior was designed by Tuttle who is responsible for the Amanresorts. I haven't stayed at any of the latter. If you think of a semi-abstract sculpture of a man with hands raised , the kind of sculpture that might accompany an appeal about world hunger, you'll find it everywhere in the hotel, sometimes in pairs. On light fixtures, some door handles, and so on. Rooms have tall ceilings, higher than width in my room. Subdued colors except for gold paint on some door frames. Bathrooms include an open space with luggage stand and a couple of draers beneath and a shelf and hanger rod above. There is a sink with a large mirror. The bath and shower and a smaller sink with a mirror one step up. The shower is an overhead rain type and a handheld. one uses one or the other by switching the faucet. Typical large deep European bath. Lighting while plentiful was almost all overhead and so shaving was difficult. In room apart from ceiling lights to dramatize window, etc. fixture were one or two of the ubiquitous brass figures hold open solid cylinders. Reading in bed very difficult and the single fixture over the desk provided very poor lighting. Heating and ventilation fans were much too noisy for this class of hotel especially since it was just built. Elevators noisy compared to many hotels.

At the Adlon in Berlin the elevators are deliberately noisy. The rooms at the Adlon are much better. The Park Hyatt in Tokyo is my top hotel choice and is far superior to this Park Hyatt. The Widder in Zurich which consists of old houses rebuilt into a deluxe hotel is also superior to the Paris Park Hyatt. Tilla Theus who designed the Widder should have gotten the design job.

Except for foyers and corridors the ground floor is taken up by two courtyards one glassed over , a restarant with an open kitchen, a bar and an informal dining and drinking area covering one of the courtyards. The other courtyard has tables and chairs presumably for outdoor use in Summer.

The glassed over courtyard has a mirrored ellipsoidal shaped shell in which a large fixture used for the buffet breakfast is housed. Continental breakfast not up to standards of other Paris deluxe hotels. The Park restaurant has the open kitchen which is quite noisy. Add background music! I had one dinner there which was competant but undistiguished except, perhaps, for the chef's "gimmick" of offering a selection of mustards matching the main dishes.

Two meals worth mentioning. On a Monday shortly after noon I asked the concierge to try for a lunch reservation that day at Le Grand Vefour for one. The restaurant is a ten minute walk and I arrived at 12:30. Table not the greatest but restauurant completely filled up. I chose the 72 euro lunch menu, a Perrier and a lalf bottle of a 1997 Chablis premiere cru of Durop. 1997 was a wonderful year for Chablis but this speciman was rather ordinary (48 euros). Startind with a delicious expresso cup of creamogf cauliflower with small chunks of lobster. Followed by a couple of ravili of foie gras; good but not distinguished. The entree was a slice of tuna and vegetable jelled in a checkerboard fashion in a terrine. This was good but bland. The main dish was cod on a bed of soy beans and a side dish of green vegetables with some olive oil. The cod was slighlty brown fresh and firm, absolutely first rate execution and the fixings enhanced the main ingredient. This was followed by a cheese course (very good) and dessert( just some ice creams and sherbets). There follows a parade of jellies, mignardises, and chocolates which I didn't try. A plain gateau de Savoie was offered with my coffee and I had a slice. The service was excellent. Wine pricy but overall very good value.

The second meal was also lunch at the two Michelin rosette Les Muses in the Hotel Scribe, a short distance away. I chose the lowest priced menu at 41.5 euros. I had a Perrier and a half bottle of 1999 Beaune Marconnets (Bouchard I think) (around 39 euros). It was good but could stand more aging.

There were some cheese puffs at the table. A small piece of foie gras with some fresh fig sauce started the meal. Excellent. This was followed by the entree of thinly sliced scallops and beets arranged on overlapping concentric circles. Good. The main dish was a thick grilled slice of calves liver with a small galette of potatoes Anna and a delicious clear brown sauce at the side. I loved it. This was followed by dessert which was a nice finish but I can't remember what it was. Excellent mignardises offered. A really fine value. I had stayed at the Scribe a few years ago and had only breakfasts in Les Muses (one Michelin rosette at the time). They made perfect oeufs mollets for me.

I flew from Paris to Tokyo.