L'Arpège is Paris is one of those restaurants that I really wanted to write about. I wanted to write a glowing review of a restaurant where you can enjoy three star Michelin food that tastes amazing but at a restaurant where the shining star is vegetables. But I can't write a glowing review. L'Arpège is a good restaurant and the vegetables are the shining stars but it is not the mind blowing experience I was hoping for. In January 2001, Alain Passard made the headlines, having declared that ‘my menu will be entirely and exclusively dedicated to vegetables’. His decision was motivated mainly by personal choice, but in part by health concerns too. Though his vegetarianism is more theoretical than practical—L'Arpège still caters to fish and poultry eaters—he does cultivate his own vegetables outside Paris, which are then zipped into the city by high-speed train. Passard purchased L’Archestrate, located on the corner of rue de Varenne and rue de Bourgogne, from his mentor, Alain Senderens, in 1986. He renamed it L’Arpège, in tribute to his love for music, and gave it an Art Deco style interior. It earned one star in the Michelin Guide in its first year, and earned two soon thereafter. It earned three Michelin stars in 1996, which it has maintained since. I went with the Les Jardins en Septembre tasting menu, and they were able to cater a full vegan tasting menu for my wife as well. After some very tasty Amuse Bouches, we were served starters. My favorite was a perfectly cooked egg yolk with syrup. Very rich and rewarding. Another great course was the Tomato sushi - we could tell that tomatoes were in seasons since a lot of courses had these as main ingredient. They were colorful and packed with flavors. I am a tomato man so this fitted me like a glove. The next two courses really highlighted the tomatoes, the first one was a tomato tartar, the second one great tomato gazpacho with mustard ice cream - sweet but with great mustard undertones. The next two courses was a vegetable ravioli and a gratin with onions and Parmesan cheese. The second course was my favorite where the onion worked really well with the strong flavor of Parmesan. Some herbs on top and four wonderful baby tomatoes completed the the dish. My wife was served a similar course at this time of the menu. It was gorgeous to look at with small tomatoes and rings of caramelized onions together with herbs, corn and wonderful vinaigrette. She loved this course. My favorite amongst the next three courses was lobster cooked with transparent vegetables. The lobster was fresh and cooked to perfection, but it was somewhat bland. Three courses of non-vegetables followed. A good monkfish and a lamb that was cooked well but lacked personality. The standout dish a soup that was topped with ham-flavored whipped cream. It sounds weird, but it was delicious. I wonder if you can use the same technique for bacon. My wife had two red pepper dishes that looked great and tasted very good as well. Her favorite was the couscous with vegetables, the couscous added a nice crunch to the dish. The menu ended with cheese and desserts. The standout was a melon and strawberry ice cream that had great flavors and depth. So to summarize, L'Arpège is expensive, it is unique in its focus on vegetables. The service is top-notch and the wine selection is impressive. The atmosphere in the dining room is great and it has three stars. Still, I leave L'Arpège feeling a little disappointed, I was hoping for more. Maybe the Chef had a bad day, maybe my expectations were too high, but the food was a little too bland for my taste and some ingredients very repeated too frequently. L'Arpège is a very good restaurant but it will not crack my Top 20 list.
2 Comments
4/30/2016 02:50:51 pm
The quest for truth and magnificence is a circle of action in which we are allowed to remain youngsters every one of our lives.
Reply
8/9/2017 02:59:00 am
Though I haven been to this restaurant in Paris but the review of it makes me visit them soon. It shows so yummy presentation of the food which is also very tempting in its essay writing. The prices will not seem to much high in reference to the yummy food which will make the price worth it. For me it becomes a must try place!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Eating out
In this section you will find blogs about restaurants all over the world. Maybe you will find your new favorite?? Archives
October 2017
Categories
All
|
Eating out |
Web Hosting by FatCow