If you think food tastes better in a beautiful room, then you’ll love Le Mini Palais, where refined and playful cooking meets high design in a Paris landmark setting.Eric Fréchon of the Bristol is the consulting chef, present in spirit only, and the menu is as cosmopolitan as the crowd. Book a table on the terrace when weather permits. Open every day, all day.
It is impossible to overstate the fervor with which the second coming of Daniel Rose’s Spring was anticipated. Faithful fans and the soon-to-be-converted are all hoping to be saved by a meal here. The menu changes constantly, according to the season and D-Rose’s whim. Update September 2011 - Now serving lunch on Wednesday & Friday, in addition to dinner Tuesday through Saturday.
Yves Camdeborde’s beloved bistro, once neo and now classic. Book months in advance for weeknight, no-choice dinner, or just queue up at lunch or weekends for the so-called “brasserie menu”, a free-for-all that can feel a bit like a tourist zoo at times. At worst, it’s sloppy and hectic. At best, it’s delicious.
Gregory Marchand’s market cooking, honed during well-documented stints abroad, lives up to the hype. His house-smoked fish, which often appears as one of two starters on the regularly changing 38€ menu, is a revelation. As for getting in, it’s getting easier: Marchand has added a second dinner seating (but is no longer serving lunch), so your chances at night have just doubled.
Brash, Basque, and belly-filling, a meal at l’Ami Jean can be coma-inducing. Reserve in advance, and plan on walking home.
Hélène Darroze is one of the only women to have a Michelin star, which is an interesting sociological fact, if not necessarily a reason to eat at her eponymous restaurant. Darroze hails from southwestern France, and her cooking is strongly accented with flavors from that region, here elevated to one-star levels in a modern, luxe dining room, as well as the less formal “salon,” where small plates are available. Menus from 52€ (lunch) to 125€.
Pierre Jancou is alive and well, back in Paris, militant passion intact, doing what he does best: Offering the very best products, prepared “sans chi chi,” (his words), and natural wines.
That executive chef Phillipe Labbés name is nearly homophonous to the name of this luxe enclave in the new Shangri-La hotel is only coincidence. “The bee” (as it translates) is actually a nod to the building’s Bonapartian heritage; it was built in 1896 by a princely nephew of the former emperor, whose coat of arms included a few golden bees. A century later, critics are buzzing about this addition to Paris’ haute dining scene. Many dishes present a main ingredient in dueling acts; meat and fowl come from royal lineage; the room is fit for modern aristocrats. It probably goes without saying that the prices will sting.
There must be at least one marriage proposal at the Jules Verne every day. Perched high in the Eiffel Tower, the restaurant was taken over by Ducasse, and his chef Pascal Féraud offers a menu of classics, befitting of the location (foie gras in many forms, escargots, tournedos de boeuf, Bresse chicken, savarin a l’Armagnac). The only thing missing might be a view of the tower itself. One Michelin star.
The specialty at Gaya is seafood, but if you’re seeking grand platters of shellfish or sole meunière, look elsewhere. Gaya, run by Pierre Gagnaire, is a throroughly modern affair.
In the former spot of La Table de Joël Robuchon, Les Tablettes reopens with a new chef (Jean-Louis Nomicos) and a pop attitude.
Joël Robuchon’s empire expands again with the opening of another Atelier, this time on the Champs-Elysées. Expect deft use of global ingredients, pristine products, pretty people, and a wait, unless you nab reservation for lunch or the first dinner seating; otherwise, it’s first come, first served.
Pascal Barbot continues to impress diners (those who manage to get a reservation) with a culinary high wire act that is both grounded and innovative, French and global, serious and playful.
Critics continue to wax poetic over chef Yannick Alleno’s astounding cooking at this bastion of fine dining. But the real poetry is there on each masterfully composed plate. A Michelin 3-star.
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