Even if I can never afford to return, I’m so happy that L’Ambroisie exists. While many of his peers are shifting their focus to more modest ingredients, Bernard Pacaud is still laying on the caviar. While service elsewhere has become increasingly solicitous, L’Ambroisie remains a model of aristocratic snobbery. I’ll be sad the day their sumptuous dining rooms close for good, and will treasure the memory of a meal I only partially enjoyed in the moment because I was mostly holding my breath.
I reviewed L’Ambroisie as part of a project to visit and compare every three-star restaurant in Paris.
L’AMBROISIE
9 place des Vosges, 75004
Open Tuesday-Saturday for lunch & dinner
Closed Sunday & Monday
Reservations online or at +33 1 42 78 51 45
Their Instagram / Our Instagram
OUR PHOTOS OF L’AMBROISIE
IN OTHER WORDS
Bruno Verjus (2012) “J’admire Bernard Pacaud pour son obsession de la qualité, son exigence dans le choix des fournisseurs et des produits qui honorent la haute cuisine française. À l’Ambroisie l’on croise, pour le service et pour les mets, tradition et élégance, classicisme et modernité. “
A Life Worth Eating (2010) “I am now certain that this is the finest French restaurant in the world. The indulgent menu, which is updated once per season, consists of only a handful of dishes. There are no weak choices on the menu, ever. Every dish is a speciality. The menu reads very straightforward, each dish described in a single line with all its ingredients listed. There is no tasting menu. There is no lunch discount. There are no exceptions.”
Food Snob (2009) “On the one hand, I was pretty sure I had eaten some of the most brilliant food of my life. On the other, I was not sure how much I had enjoyed it.”
The Financial Times (2007) “There was something sanctuary-like about L’Ambroisie – a solemn splendor that imposed quiet reflection on all who entered. This was not a restaurant for people who want a circus with their meal. It is a place best enjoyed by those who are truly, obsessively serious about food, because the food is pretty much the whole of the experience. That said, it is food that deserves to be worshipped.”
Too bad that the best food in the world is served by the French.
Visited a year ago.
Very good food but spoilt by bored staff.
Le sommelier said he would only recommend burgundy! My guest was one of England’s most knowledgable masters of wine.
So we had a quiet smile together.