Saturday Night Paris Restaurants open

[Gary Marshall]

andy,

l haven't been back to l'ardoise since that review but i'm sure sam f has who regularly works in paris now.

from memory it is only 2 minutes from le meurice so you could check it out on arrival, i think it'd be up your street.

in the vague area is willis wine bar which has a pleasant ambiance, i've often drunk there but haven't eaten there adrian from my local wasn't overly impressed though the menu reads quite well.

near willis is chez georges which is a very old school bistro that i liked too on a previous trip.

cheers

gary

[pim]

We will actually be dining in The Winter garden at Le Meurice rather than the main restaurant. Does anyone know what menu is served there? Is it more in the brasserie style? If so, I'm now thinking that a bistro meal might well be do-able.

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Jardin d'Hiver is gorgeous during the day. I've never eaten there but I know they have a separate kitchen from the restaurant, though also overseen by Yannick Alléno. I've thought about having tea there, but haven't tried yet.

Let us know how it goes.

I second L'Ardoise, Belotta Belotta, and also Le Verre Volé. La Cave will be an interesting choice too if you didn't mind the trek.

[Busboy]

I don't wish to be rude, but if you're in Paris, you're travelling with your wife and you've already had a grand lunch, why not settle for cheese and baguettes, accompanied by a fruity vin du pays drunk out of one another's navels? No need to leave the room.

Quite the opposite.

[Andy Lynes]

What if we split red wine on the sheets though? That's going to cost a bob or two at Le Meurice!

[Andy Lynes]

Jardin d'Hiver is gorgeous during the day.

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From the photo on the website, the decor of Jardin D'Hiver looks to be far more to my taste than that of the main restaurant. I'm told that the food is "more toned down than Le Meurice, but still fairly serious" and gets the thumbs up in the 2004 Time Out guide to Paris restaurants, which lists dishes such as tomato and mozzarella in pesto sauce, Caesar salad, steak tartare and duck with black cherries and cabbage. No menu on the website however which is a bit frustrating.

[Gary Marshall]

[

From the photo on the website, the decor of Jardin D'Hiver looks to be far more to my taste than that of the main restaurant.

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are you going soft in your advanced years andy?

when did the room matter

it does look very grand the main room at le meurice, almost as grand as the prices which are pretty eye-watering even on the set lunch!

agree despite a very fancy web site they've missed the menus off which is a serious omission for a 2 starred restaurant.

cheers

gary

[Dorie Greenspan]

The main dining room at Le Meurice is grand in that over-the-top mosaic and gilt way old French dining rooms can be. But it's also beautiful -- in that same over-the-top way -- and not at all intimidating. We ate there shortly after the new chef arrived and I remember feeling very comfortable, in large measure because the staff was so accomodating and seemed as excited about the food as the diners were. My two-cents worth is that if you're going to eat at Le Meurice, you should consider breaking the bank, if you can, and eat in the main dining room, because that is where you will get Alleno's "real" food. Although he may be overseeing the kitchen in the Winter Garden and although he might make the best tomato and mozzarella salad in town, a dish like that is not really his style and you won't get a taste of what he really can do.

[Andy Lynes]

For one reason and another, we have no option but to dine in the Winter Garden at lunch (life's hard eh?). The main restaurant at Le Meurice is still on my list for dinner on Friday night, but we'll only be having three meals in Paris and I find the idea of having two of them in the hotel we are staying in a little bit unadventurous to say the least! I do want to have a 2 or 3 star experience while I am there, and Alleno is definately a name to watch, but I just like the idea of getting out and about a bit.

I am however having severe difficulty in deciding which restaurant to plump for. Guy Savoy is leading at the moment, but the cost is breath taking. For that reason Taillevent is looking appealing - an "affordable" 3 star. Despite what Gary says, I think the room is very important. I really couldn't imagine paying hundreds of Euros to sit in Le Grand Vefour for example. On the other hand Le V looks gorgeous, but I don't fancy paying 80 euro for "Risotto Carnaroli aux olives vertes et aux morilles". Decisions, decisions.

[Busboy]

What if we split red wine on the sheets though? That's going to cost a bob or two at Le Meurice!

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True. On second thought I suggest a blanc de blanc, with tiny bubbles to reflect the glow of the city of lights.

You have the best dilemmas.

[Gary Marshall]

For one reason and another, we have no option but to dine in the Winter Garden at lunch (life's hard eh?). The main restaurant at Le Meurice is still on my list for dinner on Friday night, but we'll only be having three meals in Paris and I find the idea of having two of them in the hotel we are staying in a little bit unadventurous to say the least! I do want to have a 2 or 3 star experience while I am there, and Alleno is definately a name to watch, but I just like the idea of getting out and about a bit.

I am however having severe difficulty in deciding which restaurant to plump for. Guy Savoy is leading at the moment, but the cost is breath taking. For that reason Taillevent is looking appealing - an "affordable" 3 star. Despite what Gary says, I think the room is very important. I really couldn't imagine paying hundreds of Euros to sit in Le Grand Vefour for example. On the other hand Le V looks gorgeous, but I don't fancy paying 80 euro for "Risotto Carnaroli aux olives vertes et aux morilles". Decisions, decisions.

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Went to taillevent last year for friends 40th, really enjoyed it, had the tasting menu very classical but with a few twists but certainly very enjoyable more of a no3 york place than a fat duck if you get my drift.

if you go email them and ask to be seated in the main room, some of the tables are in the hall way near the stairs, not too good. main room is a lovely panelled area. Or get mrs lynes to do so and tell them it's your 40th, they will make the effort.

and they do answer emails unlike many!

savoy was very good also but got a bit caught by the prices, booked it when it was a 2* finally got upgraded to 3* by the time we went and i'm sure the prices rose commensurately, and i wondered when i got there why everyone else was drinking half bottles of wine

taillevent is a nicer room, savoy is more fashionable, call me old fashioned but i want my 3* to be nice formal rooms, and service at taillevent is great they must have 50 waiters, i've never said 'bonjour' to so many people on entering a restaurant in my life.

was joking re importance of room, i'm getting more like my hero michael winner as i get older, i don't eat at restaurants, i eat at tables!

for my ten pence worth le meurice and les ambassadeurs would be the two i'd like to try, also gagnaire, but that would be an expensive weekend!

cheers

gary

[Andy Lynes]

In case anyone is interested, the itinerary is shaping up as Taillevent on Friday night (although I fear I have left it too late to get the booking, currently awaiting response to a carefully worded e mail), Jardin D'Hiver Saturday lunch and Aux Lyonnaise Saturday evening (again depending if we have let enough time to get a table). Definately not the most adventurous of line ups, but one that will suit us down to the ground if it comes off. Thanks to all for your input, I'll report back on all the meals.

[Dorie Greenspan]

Bon voyage, bon appetit and bonne anniversaire Andy! Hope you enjoy every minute (and every morsel) of your trip -- can't imagine you won't.

[Bux]

In case anyone is interested, the itinerary is shaping up as Taillevent on Friday night (although I fear I have left it too late to get the booking, currently awaiting response to a carefully worded e mail), Jardin D'Hiver Saturday lunch and Aux Lyonnaise Saturday evening (again depending if we have let enough time to get a table).  Definately not the most adventurous of line ups, but one that will suit us down to the ground if it comes off. Thanks to all for your input, I'll report back on all the meals.

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We've both been fans of Aux Lyonnaise. I just want to let you know I definitely noticed a small drop in quality between my first visit in 2003 and the one last September. It's not great enough

to keep me from still recommending Aux Lyonnaise highly, but the potatoes with my calves liver were superb the first time and disappointingly appearing as tired and reheated the second time. Everything else that came out was first class and we had a couple of tough critics at the table with us. If you're a fan of boudin noir, that which was on the menu last fall is as good as one is likely to get outside of the Pays Basque, which apparently is its provenance.

[magnolia]

...

and the food while in small portions, is so pricey, it's not worth it.

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Don't you mean, the food was offputting *and* the portions were so small?

[Andy Lynes]

Success with Aux Lyonnaise, but Taillevent have just e mailed me back to say they are fully booked for that Friday. As I only e mailed them on Friday, that is incredibly efficient of them, and they have very kindly offered alternatives, all of which I am unable to take them up on. Very disappointing.

I now feel rather foolish as I decided on Paris as a venue for my 40th at least 12 months ago, although we only confirmed exact dates quite recently. Do you think Le Meurice would be able to obtain a table for us in advance of us arriving? Does it work like that, or would we need to see the concierge when we get there?

[Bux]

Do you think Le Meurice would be able to obtain a table for us in advance of us arriving? Does it work like that, or would we need to see the concierge when we get there?

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Absolutely. If you're staying at a hotel, the concierge is available by mail, phone, fax and probably e-mail to make arrangements in advance for the time you will be staying at the hotel.

[pim]

If you ended up doing dinner at Le Meurice Friday night (which I think is a much more fabulous idea than a lunch at Jardin d'hiver), perhaps you should see about doing lunch at Les Ambassadeurs so as to vary your venues a bit, no?

[John Talbott]

...

and the food while in small portions, is so pricey, it's not worth it.

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Don't you mean, the food was offputting *and* the portions were so small?

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No, sorry, the door, the bar-seating and the price-quality of the food (albeit good) are off-putting.

As I said

sitting side-by-side at that horrid bar at L'Atelier after negotiating the unwelcoming no outside doorknob entrance is so offputting and the food while in small portions, is so pricey, it's not worth it.

Is that clearer?

[Andy Lynes]

No luck with Taillevent through the concierge, but I have now booked the main restaurant at Le Meurice for dinner on Friday night. This does mean having two out of three meals in our hotel, but the lunch at Jardin D'hiver is part of a package deal we have obtained and is too good an offer to turn down.

Although I have reservations about the dining room, everything I have read or have been told about the restaurant and the food leads me to believe that Alleno is the man on form at the moment and that it would be churlish of us to pass up the chance to experience what he can do. In addition, by Paris 2 and 3 star standards, at 170 euro, the tasting menu is "reasonably" priced. I can't wait.

[Bux]

. . . by Paris 2 and 3 star standards, at 170 euro, the tasting menu is "reasonably" priced. I can't wait.

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I think it's possible to reject the whole concept of 2 or 3 star standards along with Parisian pricing and still like food, but unfortunately those are the prices if one is attracted to that kind of meal. I am. It's why I found l'Atelier de Joël Robuchon as attractive as I did. The food is superbly crafted. At least what we tasted was of the highest quality I could expect at a multistarred restaurant. That a full blown tasting menu allowing me even just a taste of the food at less than 100€ seemed, if not a bargain, outside the range of questioning value. The calendar I get from a merchant with it's lovely photographs or reproductions of Norman Rockwell paintings can be hung on the wall and looked at as long as I want. Twenty dollars to enter the new Museum of Modern Art in NY will not allow me to walk away with anything to cover the crack in my wall or provide any tangible good. I found Robuchon's food spiritually satisfying. We were sated when we left, although even if I had been hungry, I'd have still enjoyed the experience. It's not unlike a Kaiseki dinner in Japan, which could have cost far more and which I'm not likely to appreciate fully. I don't fully understand why one stamp collector is willing to pay so much more money for one particularly rare stamp over another that's far more attractive, but I understand that the rarity of the stamp has something to do with it. The food at Robuchon is of a very rare quality. We all have our vices.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

  I think it's possible to reject the whole concept of 2 or 3 star standards along with Parisian pricing and still like food, but unfortunately those are the prices if one is attracted to that kind of meal. I am. It's why I found l'Atelier de Joël Robuchon as attractive as I did. The food is superbly crafted. At least what we tasted was of the highest quality I could expect at a multistarred restaurant. That a full blown tasting menu allowing me even just a taste of the food at less than 100€ seemed, if not a bargain, outside the range of questioning value. The calendar I get from a merchant with it's lovely photographs or reproductions of Norman Rockwell paintings can be hung on the wall and looked at as long as I want. Twenty dollars to enter the new Museum of Modern Art in NY will not allow me to walk away with anything to cover the crack in my wall or provide any tangible good. I found Robuchon's food spiritually satisfying. We were sated when we left, although even if I had been hungry, I'd have still enjoyed the experience. It's not unlike a Kaiseki dinner in Japan, which could have cost far more and which I'm not likely to appreciate fully. I don't fully understand why one stamp collector is willing to pay so much more money for one particularly rare stamp over another that's far more attractive, but I understand that the rarity of the stamp has something to do with it. The food at Robuchon is of a very rare quality. We all have our vices.

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Well said, Bux. I don't remember your stating your position more clearly nor so suscinctly.

[Gary Marshall]

http://miseajour.apicius.com/meurice/fr/restaurant.asp

meurice menu.

i still can't find it on the main site but i am told this is the latest version.

cheers

gayr

[Jamsie]

Could you guys help me.

I've got one night in Paris and it's a saturday. I was looking for something top end and cutting edge and have tried to book Pierre Gagnaire and L'Astrance but both are closed on saturday evenings.

Is there any restaurants you could reccomend of a similar ilk that i would be able to get a table for at 10 days notice.

Thanks for you help

[Felice]

How about Les Magnolias, they are open Saturday night

Les Magnolias

[John Talbott]

How about Les Magnolias, they are open Saturday night

Les Magnolias

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Wonderful idea, but you may want to check here too.