What's the French Laundry of Paris?
October 29, 2014 10:42 AM   Subscribe

So Mr. Kitty and I are doing a vacation in Paris and want to set up some amazing reservations to look forward to. We will have one big blow, out once in a decade, kind of dinner. Where should we go?

So i looked through the previously's - and most are looking for restaurants on a budget, unknown gems, etc etc. We want the 4 star michelin experience. We're running in the Paris Marathon and need something huge to look forward to after that. The marathon is in April 2015 - so something that has a 6 month waiting list isn't out of the question. It's why i'm asking now - so i can go and make the reservations ahead of time.

We'd generally prefer classic french, but are fine with any amazing cuisines.

We're staying in the Marriott on the Champs-Élysées, but are happy to travel to wherever we need to go.

I ask here (instead of just reviewing myself) as sometimes restaurant reviews don't age with the restaurant, and big names overwhelm the quality of the food.

So Parisian MeFites and world travelers - where should we be have our giant blow out dinner to celebrate finishing our marathon? (assume we know to rest after running and will not schedule this dinner too early)
posted by Suffocating Kitty to Food & Drink (21 answers total) 20 users marked this as a favorite
 
L'Ambroisie

But there are Other traditional three stars that will fit the bill.

Could easy get into the four figures for two there.
posted by JPD at 10:46 AM on October 29, 2014


The caveat of course is that more money and more Michelin stars won't necessarily get you better food. The Michelin star places in Paris are usually a bit older and more traditional.

But based on what I think you are looking for, I'd say Pierre Gagnaire.
posted by vacapinta at 10:59 AM on October 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


Gagnaire is more "modern" but still very classic.
posted by JPD at 11:03 AM on October 29, 2014


Another one I'd throw in is Le Cinq which I've been wanting to go to.

There isn't "The One" in Paris like many other cities. Many restaurants are competing for that top spot. And reservations are usually do-able at most of the top end places.

The hardest reservations to get are the places currently getting buzz. Parisians are slaves to fashion. I had lunch at Septime last week mainly because it was impossible to get dinner reservations (and even that lunch booking was a challenge). Most don't have waiting lists. Instead you must call on a certain day exactly X days in advance and then find everything is already mysteriously gone.
posted by vacapinta at 11:18 AM on October 29, 2014


Best answer: I just did this and decided to go back to Taillevent. I had an excellent experience. Taillevent is somewhat rightly criticized for being a little uninventive, a little hidebound. It is not the place to go for the forefront of culinary experimentation. It is however consistently excellent and takes the traditional old formal service more seriously than any place I've been. Both I and my friends all have bad experience stories about some of the finest places in Paris. No one I know has ever been treated poorly at Taillevent (although stories of that exist, too).

Michelin stars go to 3. Stars rate the service, the experience, the room. Pretty much any place with 2 or 3 stars will qualify as a top-of-the-line experience in Paris, and even 1 star is well beyond the service level of any but the finest American restaurants. Michelin also rates restaurants from 1 to 5 forks, which is specifically about the cooking. Again any restaurant that's even listed in the Michelin guide will have better food than most American restaurants. But for what you're looking for, I'd look for 4 or 5 forks. (And a listing in red, for something special.) The 2014 guide gives Taillevent 2 stars and 5 forks; I guess they lost the third star this year because the flowers didn't quite match the napkins the day the reviewer visited, or something.

Compared to the rest of France, Paris is a tough place to eat at this scale. It's terribly expensive and most of the high end places are dominated by business clients or chefs with something to prove. But any place with 2 or 3 Michelin stars will likely impress you, there are 24 in Paris this year. Beyond that you need to pick the place based on the room or the chef.

Of course, don't book the dinner the night before or of the Marathon! And please dress appropriately; I watched some fellow American jerks last month awkwardly trying on jackets at the entrance and was just flabbergasted.
posted by Nelson at 11:22 AM on October 29, 2014 [2 favorites]


Le cinq fired its chef earlier this month. But hired a big name to replace him. But maybe not one to risk in the spring if this isn't a regular thing.
posted by JPD at 11:42 AM on October 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Seconding Taillevent, based on the beautiful descriptions of the food, the drink - and, above all, the service - provided by my friend. Definitely not cutting-edge, but fucking legendary.
posted by kickingthecrap at 11:50 AM on October 29, 2014 [2 favorites]


We went to Pierre Gagnaire's to celebrate our anniversary in 2006 and it was even more impressive than it was expensive (and it was EXPENSIVE).

While I'm nowhere close to a foodie and it has been almost a decade since I visited, if I were planning another no holds barred, best that money can buy celebration, I would most definitely consider going back there.
posted by fjom at 12:12 PM on October 29, 2014




Places like Le Chateaubriand are amazing (and impossible to get into!) But judging by the question I am assuming this atmosphere is not what the poster had in mind. I may be wrong.
posted by vacapinta at 12:49 PM on October 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


Daniel Rose's Spring
posted by Elsie at 12:54 PM on October 29, 2014


Spring is really not this
posted by JPD at 1:14 PM on October 29, 2014


Atelier de JR is a chain
posted by JPD at 1:15 PM on October 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


l'Atelier de Joël Robuchon is a very, very nice experience. We had a *great* meal there. Just as comparison, in the past 6 months, I have eaten at noma, frantzen, and geranium (yes, I live in scandinavia) and l'Atelier is definitely prominently placed among my "favorites" list.
posted by alchemist at 2:04 PM on October 29, 2014


l'Atelier de Joël Robuchon also has a Las Vegas location and while I don't doubt that the LV or Paris restaurant is better that 99% of all the world's high end restaurants I could definitely see wanting to pick a Parisian restaurant that was unique to Paris.
posted by mmascolino at 2:11 PM on October 29, 2014


Spring is really not this

I had one of the best meals of my life at Spring and I can't recommend it enough but I agree: it's not the answer to this question. Too casual, too modern.
posted by The Michael The at 4:13 PM on October 29, 2014 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Unfortunately, dinner is tough, pricewise. If you can afford €350 per person for food, Gagnaire or Arpège are both considered outstanding by people who have visited many Michelin-starred places. I went to Taillevent in 2007, and while the service and room made me swoon, there's a reason it's not a three-star any more. (And I went there for my honeymoon previously, so it pains me to say that.) Michelin is famous for being slow to add

I did a lot of research, and the best high-end value I could find in Paris for dinner was Goust. It "only" has a *, and it lacks the cavernous dining rooms of the *** places, but we had a spectacular time. Food was modern, mostly French with some Spanish influence (pretty much inevitable these days), service was superb without being formal, and it was less than €100 per person for food, with very reasonable wine pairings. There were supplements for some dishes, but we ate and drank like kings for something like €320.

For resolutely traditional food and an expansive view, the choice would be La Tour d'Argent, which is very pricey but classic.
posted by wnissen at 5:05 PM on October 29, 2014 [3 favorites]


Everyone should go to Taillevent once in their life, just to be treated like that for a couple of hours. I felt like Cinderella, and I'm a guy.
posted by briank at 5:55 PM on October 29, 2014 [3 favorites]


Another vote for Pierre Gagnaire. Intimate room, near the Champs-Élysées, with an array of chocolates brought to you in a jewelry box as you finish your meal. Then a wee cup of tea made for you as you put on your coat. Beautiful beautiful beautiful.
posted by MrBobinski at 6:25 PM on October 29, 2014


As others have said, there is no 4-star Michelin experience.

Frankly, if I were in your position, unless I really cared about being treated impeccably (which is what I've found to be the value added at restaurants with more that one star), I would find a promising, up-and-coming chef with his own restaurant, like the proprietor of Le Cotte Rôti, and ask what kind of meal he could put together for € 100-150 per person, plus wine. I think you'll get something far more memorable that what you'd get at Taillevent, or Le Grand Véfour.

I will say that L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon serves excellent meals, but the setting is definitely casual. Imagine an upscale lunch counter. Very upscale, but still a lunch counter. People without reservations sit at counters facing the exterior windows, while those with reservations (only two seatings, too early and too late!) sit facing the kitchen. For your money, though, you'll get a meal that would have cost twice as much at a more elegant restaurant, and they will not rush you. And they have a very nice choice of wines by the glass.
posted by brianogilvie at 6:36 PM on October 29, 2014 [2 favorites]


Nthing Taillvent...it's coat and tie for men, but I went in cords and a knit top and had the most gracious service ever.
posted by brujita at 4:06 AM on October 31, 2014


« Older Recording setup for 2 people in an office   |   Traffic Information and my Calendar Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.