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Report on Haute Cuisine

L'Ambroisie Restaurant in Paris | Paris By Mouth

Special Report on Haute Cuisine

Between September-December 2014, we anonymously tested all nine of the Paris restaurants that hold three Michelin stars, along with seven others that are considered to be shining examples of haute cuisine.  In total, we spent €7150 in tasting 200 individual compositions during more than 65 hours at the table. You can learn more about how and why we did this by reading Behind the Curtain: Examining Haute Cuisine in Paris.  Here are the articles that have come out of this: HAUTE FOOD PORN If you simply want… Read More »Special Report on Haute Cuisine

The 20 Best Bites of Haute Cuisine in Paris

Haute cuisine is not exclusively about what’s on the plate. Elaborately choreographed service, the spectacular number of dishes, the depth of a wine cellar and sumptuous surroundings – these are arguably the elements that separate restaurants with two and three Michelin stars from their starless competitors. If we look exclusively at the food, however, ignoring the chandelier that twinkles overhead and the plush pedestal propping up our handbags, there is still much to celebrate in haute cuisine.  In total, during our anonymous visits to sixteen restaurants that specialize in… Read More »The 20 Best Bites of Haute Cuisine in Paris

Behind the Curtain: Examining Haute Cuisine in Paris

More than 100 years ago, a tire company named Michelin began telling people about their best options for eating while motoring around the country. Travelers wanted to know what was worth a detour or a special journey, and that’s still the case today. The question I’m most frequently asked by our readers is where to go for a special blow-out meal. You want to celebrate a birthday, an anniversary, a victory. You want to seal a deal, whether business or pleasure. You’re willing to drop some cash, but you don’t want to feel like a fool.

Until now, I’ve had a hard time answering this question. I know well the landscape of the city’s classic bistros, modern French restaurants, and food-loving wine bars, but this class of two- and three-star tables is a different terrain entirely. There’s an obvious barrier to understanding these restaurants: the staggering, outrageous, almost immoral price of a meal. Prior to this project, in which I anonymously tested every three-star restaurant in Paris over a period of twelve weeks, I had only visited a handful.

Read More »Behind the Curtain: Examining Haute Cuisine in Paris