5 nights in Paris: LONG Notes

[Mhirby]

Hi everybody.

This is my first post, so as an introduction I'd just like to say that I'm obsessed by food and indebted to all of you for the invaluable information that you post here. After pillaging this board as a lurker, I thought I'd pitch in and add to the data with some notes of our trip to Paris December 28th - January 2nd. We had a great time, found the Parisians to be more inviting than ever before, and plan to return many times.

Furthermore, a couple of the meals here really shined in comparison to our top local Napa Valley restaurants. Some others were no better or not as good, but in these cases the exotic nature of vacationing in a foreign country seems to always add lustre and positive lasting impressions. In short, a great trip!

Kudos to La Table de Joel Robuchon for the best meal I have ever eaten!

Food Notes: Paris 2006/7 including NYE

Day 1 – lunch: L’ardoise – 1er on Rue du Mont Thabor

Incredible experience - if not for the deliciously hearty food, then for the experience of meeting the gentleman who “works” upstairs and him introducing us to the chef over a bottle of Denis Mortet 2004 Bourgogne Noble Souche, leaving us quite mellow for the rest of the afternoon.

Schatzi began with Ravioli du Langoustine followed by Lievre loin seared Medium over celeriac puree. Awesome – in season!

Mike had garlicky anchois in a huge container served with an accompaniment of Tapenade, capers, and butter with bread – serve yourself, then return to the waitress! - then moved on to Quasi du Veau – what seamed to be maybe sautéed slices of NY strip of veal with potatoes – delicious!

Dinner: Dominique Bouchet – 8th – Rue treilhard

Good, if slightly uninspired food at a nicely comfortable room in a sleepy quarter of the 8th. No 3 star tricks here, just nice dishes to warm and satisfy. Schatz started with Foie Gras terrine with dried fruits, which was strangely stuffed with a seared piece of Eel? – not successful, but the foie itself was great. She then had Mussels over a bitter/tart onion concoction. This last dish was the best of the meal by far.

Mike had Scallops with Black Truffles in a squash broth. Boring. The scallops were gummy, and the truffles had virtually no aroma. Probably not Melanosporum. Then I followed it with Sweetbreads with roasted potatoes. Again – just bistro fare, and the sweetbreads were a little pasty and chewy, rather than the tender/sweet that I always look forward to.

Overall - a bit overpriced and lacking.

Day 2 – Lunch

Salon de The – Paul – St. Germain

Schatz had a tart de fruits rouge. Mike had a tartine of fresh goat cheese and tomatoes with tapenade. Nice little place to get a diverse, small bite.

Dinner: Carre des Feuillants – 1st – Rue Castiglione

This amazing dinner was one of the best dining experiences of my life. No kidding. I have never had such a stellar combination of diverse foods prepared with as keen a thematic palette as here. And, it was absolutely successful and mouth-wateringly good!

To Drink – 2 glasses of Champagne – Billecart Rose, and 1997 Delamotte Blancs. Then a bottle of 1999 Thierry Allemand Cornas Sans Souffre! Top wine, still a bit effervescent actually, and bursting with clean personality and life. Should be great for years.

Course 1 – Marenne oyster aspic-ed in its juice with French atlantic caviar, a salad of seaweed with capers, and a parmesan foam miraculously shaped into a rectangle. !!!!!

2 – Cappucino of chestnuts with Alba White truffles!!!! Divine.

3 – Lobster spring roll – the only slight letdown due to overcooked lobster, but still good.

4 – Saint Pierre – wrapped in thinnest crispy potatoes imaginable with brussel sprout leaves which had a horseradish foam. Delicious.

5 – Suckling lamb – seared rack alongside a roasted piece in a cabbage leaf - all inside a mini clay “oven” box that was broken and opened with much aromatic intensity at the table !!! Little lasagna of provencal veggies with pistou, too.

6 – aged gouda “worked” with a few greens.

7 – incredible tour de force of desert flavors, with Schatzi getting chocolate and Mike getting mango raviolis with passionfruit filling.

Day 3 – lunch

Laduree – Madeliene – Rue Royale

Great array of the best macaroons of my life – truly unique and fresh. Also tried the croissant specialite Laduree, stuffed with almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts. !!! A perfect place to stop for a rich cup of café creme as well.

Dinner – Ze Kitchen Gallerie – Rue Grand Augustin – 6th

Really modern and sophisticated dinner – Drank 04 Janasse CNDP alongside an entree of Bar Marine with meyer lemon sauce and fresh radish, along with a “hash” of garlicky cooked Bar underneath. Really aromatic and satisfying.

Next were the dinners of milk-fed pork confit and loin seared with Thai spices, and Lievre (tasted more like a big rabbit = farmed) with more Asian influence.

Overall really exciting, delicious and a nice change of pace.

Day 4 – breakfast

Laduree – Champs Elysee

Ush! Definitely go to the Laduree on Rue Royale. It’s the original and the coffee and service is much better although the pastries are still great at the 2nd location on the Champs.

Snack – Costes – Café Etienne Marcel

Fun, Avant-garde/artsy/vintage atmosphere. Bad coffee. Decent French fries. Very friendly service.

Dinner – La Table de Joel Robuchon

Wow!!! What an amazingly wonderful way to ring in the new year – an eight course black truffle menu. Wonderful service. Three star atmosphere. Friendly with PERFECT food. Drank a very nice 2002 Comte-Lafon Meursault-Charmes, at a very reasonable price.

Courses – Amuse Bouche: Chestnut cream soup with truffle

1: Foie gras with sliced summer truffles, mache and warm potatoes.

2: Crab Crème in a martini glass with truffles and a Comte tuile.

3: Langoustine spring rolls fried with fresh herbs and a truffle in each roll.

4: Fantastically grilled scallops with black truffles and a mousseline of celeriac. !!!! great truffle flavor.

5: L’oef poele!!!! Just incredible martini glass: bottom layer had a parsley puree, next was a poached egg with black truffle, topped with a veloute. Just awesome!

6: Filet of Bar with artichokes and fennel with a fine bouillon.

7: La Poularde de bresse!!! 3 ways: white rolled around melanosporum stuffed with chicken liver puree. Slurp! Blanc with truffle studs, and rich dark meat grilled. All served with Ze Fameuse Potatoes!!!

8: first dessert: Very intense apple sorbet served in a glass beneath a cup of fruits in syrup with ginger.

9: Beautiful cup of Chocolate, praline cream, and candied orange millefeuille, with crispy bits and richness galore.

Coffee, marrons glaces, and Valrhona chocolate caramels. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

Day 5

Late lunch/early dinner – Gallopin – Rue Notre Dame des Victoires – M. Bourse

Brasserie with absolutely classic décor and very friendly service (aside from a few stinky armpits) across from the stock exchange (Bourse). Great salads (Mache with Smoked duck breast, foie gras and dried fruits), and decent grilled meats along with very good fine-claire oysters.

Dessert – La coupe d’or – across from Colette on Rue Faubourg Saint-honore – rumored to be kinda cool.

The service was utterly and completely horrible. Huge tourist trap. Don’t go here ever again. But still had a nice bowl of Berthillon.

Day 9

Dinner – Josephine/Chez Dumonet – Rue du Cherche-Midi

Really old school atmosphere, and traditional food to boot, which was really the way we wanted to end our trip in Europe. Food here is served in huge old portions, but that can luckily be ordered in demi-portions! This place was not full at 10:00 on a Friday night, which was very surprising given the food. It should be noted that Dumonet is for “feeders”, i.e., nothing too fancy, just great satisfying food. Prepare to be stuffed.

Gracious and relaxed service by young men who seemed out of place in such an antique atmosphere, but whose excitement about the food was evident. Huge Bordeaux list going back ages. Some deals hidden here and there.

We started by splitting the gargantuan Escalope du Foie gras with white grapes and mashed potatoes in a massively rich sauce. While only a half-portion, it was still the largest piece of seared foie gras I have ever been served! Awesome is the only word.

For our plats Schatzi had the Duck confit (brilliant) served with bistro potatoes with garlic and parsley and a side salad, while I had the Millefeuille de Pigeon. Fantastically clean flavors in the squab with another superbly rich sauce.

Schatzi ended with the classic crème brulee while I grazed on the enormous cheese plate.

Just simple, great food all around!

[John Talbott]

Well for a first post it's terrific and Welcome! Glad you had such a good time and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

[Bu Pun Su]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience in Paris

You're one of the few people who praises La Table de Joel Robuchon (since many simply hate this place). If you don't mind, how much was the black truffle tasting menu there?

I ate the degustation black truffle menu at Robuchon Macau (not very keen on it though) - there are 3 memorable dishes, while the rests are nowhere close to spectacular. However, your menu is very different than mine

[Mhirby]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience in Paris

You're one of the few people who praises La Table de Joel Robuchon (since many simply hate this place). If you don't mind, how much was the black truffle tasting menu there?

I ate the degustation black truffle menu at Robuchon Macau (not very keen on it though) - there are 3 memorable dishes, while the rests are nowhere close to spectacular. However, your menu is very different than mine

←

The truffle menu was the only menu available for New Year's eve. The price was 250 euro/person. Very steep, but we were willing considering it was New Year's eve.

It was absolutely worth it to us. A great way to spend NYE. I just cannot really find a fault in the dinner, aside from possibly pushy wine service.

Now that Robuchon is a global enterprise, I'm sure there is considerable variation among his restaurants.

What are some of the negative comments you've heard regarding La Table Paris?

[Bu Pun Su]

The complain? Hmm, let's see if I can recall

Some say that La Table is simply L'Atelier (the same cuisine) with nicer tables and chairs since the menu is similar. I guess they expect La Table to offer a unique creation of Robuchon that's not available at other Robuchon's establishment, where in fact it serves bistro-like food as oppossed to haute cuisine.

And like you said the wine service is not good. Also people complain about the quality of the wines. In general, I think people's expectations are too high and think that La Table would be something like Jamin in the past, so by the time they ate there, they might be disappointed at the end.

I would take note of your good experiences eating there, but maybe still a long way to go as there are many other places that I would like to try in Paris.

[Mhirby]

The complain? Hmm, let's see if I can recall

Some say that La Table is simply L'Atelier (the same cuisine) with nicer tables and chairs since the menu is similar. I guess they expect La Table to offer a unique creation of Robuchon that's not available at other Robuchon's establishment, where in fact it serves bistro-like food as oppossed to haute cuisine. 

And like you said the wine service is not good. Also people complain about the quality of the wines. In general, I think people's expectations are too high and think that La Table would be something like Jamin in the past, so by the time they ate there, they might be disappointed at the end.

I would take note of your good experiences eating there, but maybe still a long way to go as there are many other places that I would like to try in Paris.

←

Thanks Bu Pun Su. I had also heard that the food was really similar at L'atelier, and that the style of food could be said to be in the same genre as, say, Senderens, as another 3 star chef now doing "cuisine bourgeois." - Definitely down-scale from the acrobatics of Jamin (at which I never ate). But we weren't expecting 3 star food, so maybe that's why we were so pleased. Also, maybe what we enjoyed, because it was New Year's eve, was in fact closer to 3 star food than is usually served.

The wine list was good. There were many other bottles of wine I would have loved to try, like 03 Janasse CNDP "Chaupin", and 02 Girardin Puligny-Montrachet "Combettes" off the top of my head.

Mike

[racheld]

Mike,

I seldom use "awesome" in polite conversation, but this is a time.

Your memories and descriptions are SO real, and give a mental picture and taste of all your delicious meals.

Welcome!!!

Edited January 15, 2007 by racheld (log)

[Mhirby]

Mike,

I seldom use "awesome" in polite conversation, but this is a time.

Your memories and descriptions are SO real, and give a mental picture and taste of all your delicious meals.

Welcome!!!

←

Thanks Rachel!

Well, considering that either my wife or myself used the descriptor "awesome" at least once when typing up these notes, we'll let it slide.

Glad you liked the notes. We are still blissfully remembering, and trying desperately to relive through trips to Bouchon in Yountville and other bistros on this side o' the pond.