Peter, I’ve not eaten at Astrance, but plan to go in October. I like Camdeborde’s cooking a lot, but it is gastrobistro and not Michelin *** dining. I’m sure others will chime in, but I’d eat at Le Comptoir on Sunday and go to Astrance.
Le Servan is open for lunch/dinner on Saturday
Clown Bar is also open for dinner on Sunday, in addition to lunch, as mentioned above
Semilla is open for lunch/dinner on Saturday and Sunday
Mary Celeste is open for lunch/dinner on Saturday and Sunday
Dessance is open for lunch/dinner on Saturday and Sunday
Cafe Constant is open all day Saturday and Sunday
Thoumieux is open all day Saturday and Sunday
Atelier Robuchon is open for dinner Saturday and Sunday
Allard is open for lunch/dinner on Sunday/Sunday, but I haven’t been since it was taken over by Ducasse.
Concierge got it for us - so can’t speak to how hard it was. We ate at the chef’s table - really a barstool for two overlooking the prep area (the place is tiny). Was one of the best meals of the year and I highly recommend it. They also have a wine bar across the street and you can line-up (like Comptoir du Relais) in advance of opening so perhaps that is a more casual alternative.
In reviewing my notes, the other place we liked was Le Villaret in the 11th. A completely different category of restaurant from Frenchie - really a bistro, but it was very nice and had a nice wine list. Also felt very “neighborhoody.” I would definitely go back again.
I love Le Villaret, but mainly for the wine list. When I was there a few years ago, they had an insane list of dirt cheap Raveneau and good Northern Rhones. 04 Raveneau Blanchot for 80E was one of the best white wines I’ve ever had (hell, one of the best wines I’ve ever had). But I probably wouldn’t recommend it to a non-wine person because, although the food is tasty and the atmosphere nice, there are other places I’d rather go if it’s just for food.
Jay, I’d follow Jeremy Holmes’ suggestion and go to La Cagouille on your Sunday night - perhaps switch the falafel to lunch. The seafood is excellent and the white burg list is beyond excellent.
Thanks Peter. At this point I think we are going to make a game-time decision given that we’ve made reservations the other nights – I think it will be nice to have one night of spontaneity. But I have La Cagouille at the top of our list. Hopefully it won’t be booked up.
Toutain was easily the best meal of the trip. The dishes are interesting and delicious, playful and wonderful, and the combinations of ingredients are really ambitious. One dish that appeared to be pasta was actually noodles made from squid. You could always pick out each individual piece of the dish as well as seeing how the various pieces worked in unison. The wine list is short, but good. Selosse and leflaive at good prices.
Gagnaire is interesting. I wouldnt go back. I love the presentation and the thematic approach in theory, and I think it’s cool that the theme of “ocean” is tied together with the flavors of seaweed and ocean water exactly as they would be if you swallowed them on a beach, but seaweed and saltwater don’t taste good. Great prices on coche and roumier. I bet they get those at the cellar door.
Piege is delicious but gluttonous. I had to tap out early. Too much food, although I enjoyed what I ate.
Next time I will focus on the spring/frenchie price level. New York food is so much better than Paris right now it makes sense for me to focus my high-end dollars right here at home.
This is the route we went. Tried amex platinum concierge but they were told by the restaurant that frenchie doesn’t accept 3rd party reservations. We then reached out to the park hyatt vendome concierge who made it sound like securing us a reservation would be no issue. Mentioned that the restaurant only takes them one month out, closed Saturday and Sunday.
Seems much easier than trying to secure via the phone race with everyone else using their punitive 2hr window each day.
that’s really interesting, but not really surprising at all - given this you should, i think, target arpege next time. and/or astrance.
as for top addresses all over france, yes they buy the wines direct from the domaine. the producers love knowing their wines are on the list at gagnaire, etc.
^ I’ve done both arpege and Astrance. I loved arpege (although dessert is truly awful). I thought astrance was fine but not special. And the decor and setting are not particularly conducive to a great meal.
i usually order the apple tart and they send out a bunch of other stuff. i had the famous tomato a few years ago and it was insanely great. the aged comte is also a good move, especially with truffles! and of course the Mille-feuille is legendary. and then waves of chocolates, tarts, etc.
In August we ordered the tasting menu and they gave us a rhubarb mille-feuille, which was sensational, along with the famous aged comte, and a “tree” of Arpege’s signature rose-shaped apple tarts (looked exactly like this: https://chefgeeta.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/12.jpg). We also got a very large amount of what I guess they’d call mignardises, except they were a lot more substantial than the normal mignardises and included more of the apple tarts, macarons, chocolates, etc. We took those home. A killer experience, even the desert.
