Brutal l'Arpege Review from Ryan Sutton

this sounds like a disaster.

fwiw.

I don’t know if I would have believed him had I not had a similar experience at Azurmendi this summer. Maybe the bar is set too high? Certainly Azurmendi was not that expensive but it wasn’t cheap.

Will be in Paris this Spring and Arpege is on the list of possible meals. (for lunch) Maybe not so sure. So many great places to go that don’t have 3 Michelin stars

George

That sounds nothing at all like our lunch at l’Arpege back in April. Maybe many of the regular chefs had Bastille Day off?

I think that for the Eater article money was a big issue. He expected the 145 euro lunch and had to pay dinner prices. I could see that really making for a difficult meal if you weren’t prepared to pay that much.

Jay - would you go back?

George

I was somewhat sick on the day I went and it was still one of my best meals ever; dying to go back for another Linda.

The article seemed to be political as well as a good writing.

Definitely. Somehow the small serving of peas on the side of the relatively uninteresting duck/chicken is still the best thing I’ve eaten all year.

I’m also wondering if the US rule of “Never go out to eat on Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day” applies to Bastille Day in France.

Funny, the same thing happened at Le Cinq. Went on a Monday holiday, expecting price fixe amazing lunch (it was our third time there) , got very expensive a la Carte meh lunch that had major construction noise (pounding nails) coming through the wall. I would have wrote a scathing article if anyone would have read it.

Never had anything other than a great meal at Arpege or Le Cinq. That said, I haven’t been to either in two years.

Went for dinner a few weeks back. Amazing experience…

My wife and I ate at Arpege last night. It has been consistently great the 6 times we’ve had dinner there in as many years. And our meal last night was as good as any.

maybe they saw mr. sutton coming…but either way how can you expect to eat in such a restaurant on bastille day.

“Is the big-game-trophy model of destination dining really worth it anymore?”

“Food, from the highbrow to the lowbrow, will always be a reason to travel, but my meal at L’Arpège made me think a little bit harder about the risks and opportunity costs of destination dining”

These two quotes struck me. As much as I love food (and eating out), over the past few years, I find myself shying further and further away from the Michelin star type experiences.

I think like most things, its.great in moderation

even moderation in moderation.

as i’m sure you’re all aware, i’ve had nothing but stellar experiences there. this comes off more than a little pissy and useless as a proper review as only 1 visit.

One of the things I like about Arpege is that the atmosphere is casual. The service is friendly, as are the patrons. Up until two years ago, I always wore a sports coat (as I recall, it was required/recommended). Last year I wore a black sweater. This year a purple one, with dark chinos. Next year, who knows?! The couple sitting next to us last night from Holland had just come from their sailboat in the Med. He wore jeans and a white t. There were more new to me items on the menu than I’d seen in quite a while. We probably won’t order the ravioli next visit, not because the broth ‘tasted like cough syrup’, but because we’ve eaten it every visit and there are new dishes to try. The ‘fettuccini’ made from celeriac was brilliant (and better than a similar dish we ate the night before at David Toutain, even though we ordered the dish at Toutain slathered with white truffles). The couscous was wonderful, as it always is. And we liked the 1/2 duck + 1/2 chicken cooked in hay much more than Jay did. I particularly liked the chicken breast, while my wife preferred the duck. So we swapped and were happy. All dishes were split in the kitchen. No Comte available, which was merely mildly disappointing. My wife made up for it by ordering full portions of both Paris Brest and Mille-Feuille. I won’t say who ate what… Having eaten both tasting menus, we prefer 4 dishes split (thanks, Yaacov). In my opinion, the tasting menus are overwhelming. The veg+meat/fish is too much food and the veg is limited by what is fresh from the farm, especially as fall becomes winter. My only regret is that we didn’t go earlier in our trip, while tomatoes were on the menu. My favorite Arpege dish is tomato carpaccio with geranium oil. This was our only visit when it wasn’t available (and we didn’t eat it). Somehow, I think that Mr. Sutton didn’t/wouldn’t like it.

not to mention arpege is the antithesis to the jet set destination tables that are booked 3 months out which are being referenced. arpege is a real restaurant with regular clients, not an overly rehearsed illusion meant to be a sole experience for a special occasion.

That tomato dish is dericious.

I should clarify that the dish was good (and fun to look at) but thought that the vegetable dishes which preceeded, followed and surrounded it were on another level entirely. I’ve had equally good duck and chicken elsewhere. I have had no peas which tasted like those peas.

What really puzzles me is the comments on poor service. We found the service unobtrusive, comfortable and impeccable. My favorite story from our last visit was when the server with the bread was scanning the room. She turned around just as Arnold had picked up his roll and in the 10 seconds when the roll was hidden from her view as he lifted it up she had swept another one onto his bread plate.

it is very simple minded to view contrived and insincere service as the standard for a 3 star restaurant. perhaps the service at arpege is not in line with modern views of luxury, but it is full of character and dignity.

My real take away from this review is to add Bastille Day in Paris to my list of days not to eat out.