Dinner at Goust, Paris

Paris is a mecca for Michelin star dining.  The city (and surrounding metro region), boasts 70+ Michelin stars (10 of which are 3 stars).  Given my Michelin star dining crusade from Tokyo, where I consumed 8 stars in 3 days, you'd think I'd be in my element there.

But, during my first trip there, we mostly decided not to do fancy dining.  One reason was simple: fine dining in Paris is crazy expensive.  I was traveling for business, and I certainly could not use my expense account for those sorts of meals.  Second, many were closed for the August holiday.  And thrid, most Michelin establishments only offer very large tasting menus, aka, 12 courses with no choices for any, and I just wasn't in the mood for long, drawn out meals during the busy work week.

So during my entire time in Paris, I only ate three Michelin stars.  Two were at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon for lunch the first weekend with Ojan, which was good, but not outstanding (although an incredible deal, price-wise).  The other was dinner at Goust our final weekend in Paris, with two other colleagues.

Goust was recommended by our hotel concierge.  It was located only a 5 minute walk away.  I'll be honest: I assumed it just another one of the slew of mediocre single Michelin star places in Paris, recommended only due to proximity.  It also didn't seem very popular, only a handful of reviews could be found, unlike more famous places.  But the reviews that did exist were positive.

What really drew me in to Goust was the menu.  Online, they just provide the basics, explaining that there is a seasonal menu, always evolving.  I of course needed to know more, so I e-mailed the restaurant to find out the advance menu.  Unlike other places I contacted, they responded, and did so in English, and in a friendly manner.  The moment I saw the menu, I was sold.  I was able to easily make a reservation via e-mail (appreciated due to my not speaking a word of French!).

A small fraction of our dishes!

We had a good, albeit long, meal.  Since I'm used to eating earlier than folks in Paris, I opted for the earliest reservation time, the moment they opened, at 7:30pm.  It was after 11 when we left.  I went into the meal not knowing much, because there just weren't many reviews online, so I had no idea that what I thought was going to be a reasonable 3 course meal was really going to include so many bonus dishes.  If you count every dish, we had ... 17 different dishes ... EACH.  I had spent the day walking around Paris, visiting all the patisseries I wanted to check out, so uh, I'd been indulging and eating all day long.  I wasn't really prepared for that level of indulgence.  Next time, I most certainly would not be eating pastries at 4pm before heading to dinner a few hours later!

There were some misses (desserts weren't great, mains were fine but unremarkable, and amuse bouches looked better than they tasted), but the starters were incredible, with one very memorable high, the best non-dessert/pastry that I had in Paris.  I'd go back again just for this one dish alone, in a heartbeat.  The food was also just very interesting, and kept us engaged throughout the entire meal.  Lots of molecular gastronomy, some more successful than others, but again, interesting and enjoyable.

The Setting

Service was stellar.  Our server seemed to anticipate our needs before we even realized we had them.  He was friendly, and easily spoke English with us.  It was the only place we dined where I didn't feel bad that I was speaking English.  As you'd expect in a Michelin starred establishment, the basic service elements of having cutlery swapped out between courses, crumbs cleared, etc were handled, but it also never felt stuffy.  When I got up to use the restroom, my napkin wasn't refolded, a practice I always find just too much.

Interior.

The space was broken up into two small rooms, each with only a handful of tables.  Our room had only 4 tables.  It was small and intimate, dimly lit as you can tell.  The noise level was very low, but, it certainly didn't feel like somewhere you weren't allowed to enjoy yourself either.

Place Settings.

Tables were set elegantly, with white tablecloths, fancy gold embellished plates, and ornate silverware.  Tables all had small candles, and real red roses in fancy glass holders.

Still, it managed to not feel stuffy.

I don't have a photo, but the bathroom was stunning, with slate sinks, and real towels to wipe your hands on.

Food & Drink

The menu was not large, only 4 options each for starters and mains, and 3 desserts, but you don't need tons of options when the menu is all great.  Most importantly for me, they actually offered a la carte at dinner, a rarity.  I wanted to be able to size my meal appropriately, and pick my dishes, so this was very appealing to me.  The other menu option was the tasting menu, for the whole table only, 4 courses for 85€ (wine pairings for a very reasonable 35€).

Prices were reasonable ... for Paris, and for Michelin starred.  Starters ranged from 32-36€, mains 39-45€, and desserts were 16€.  Certainly not for a random night out, but no where near the insane prices of many of the other Michelin establishments I researched.

The wine program was unique.  Yes, they had a wine list, by the bottle.  Besides that, you could opt for a wine pairing at the per dish level, at a fairly reasonable 10€ each.  The interesting part is that they wouldn't tell you what the wine was, until after you had it.  You had no say in what you were getting.  No other options were available by the glass.

We ended up enjoying this creative wine program.  The server made sure to bring us the wine before our dish would arrive, so we could taste it and think about it.  He always asked us to guess what it was, before presenting us with the bottle.  He congratulated us when we got the wines correct.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Crackers, Amuse Bouches, Breads

The moment we sat down, we were offered still or sparkling water.  Our water glasses were kept refilled throughout the night.  This was nice, except, it ended up being fairly pricey.  We weren't aware of the water prices in advance, but the price for all those bottles really did add up to a shocking amount.

And then, our meal began.  With 8 dishes (!), before we even got to our appetizers.

Welcome Snacks: Crackers and Grissini.

Also, within moments of sitting (literally, less than 3 minutes), we were brought initial snacks: grissini and colored crackers.  They were served in paper cone, with a metal holder.

The grissini were crispy and crunchy, with tons of olive oil flavor.  If I was at all munchy-feeling, I would have loved them.

The crackers came in three colors (red, green, and yellow), but all tasted the same.  They were thin and actually fairly flavorless, but fun for nibbling while we settled in.  None of us had any idea what they were.

I hadn't even settled into my seat, much less brought out my pad of paper and pen, so I entirely missed the description of what they were when the server brought them.  One diner commented that they reminded him of fish food, you know, the flakes that you sprinkle over a tank?  He wasn't wrong, although I know that makes them sound unappealing.

These welcome snacks set the tone for what was to come.  So much food was about to come our way, more than half of which we weren't expecting.

Welcome Bites.

Soon after, probably still within the first ...5 minutes that we had been seated, more food arrived.  This was a trio of welcome bites, all stunningly presented, on a slate.

Note, at this point, we had not even ordered anything.  I hadn't even told them about my allergy.  Food was coming fast and furious, and I was totally unprepared!

From back to front, we had: daikon and goat cheese "ravioli", a carrot gelee "airbag", and a Bloody Mary juice sphere.

I sat back for a second, stunned.  The calibre of the meal about to unfold started to become obvious.  I was clearly not just going to perhaps share a starter and get a main dish myself, and have a easy, but tasty, small meal as I had anticipated.  It was about to get far more involved than I expected.  We were in for the long haul apparently.  Well, ok then.

The others all dug in immediately.  I was still frantically trying to pull out some paper and a pen, and jot down the descriptions before I forgot them entirely.  My companions comments however made me very excited to dive in, as they were very intrigued by the flavors and textures of the bites.

Since I don't like goat cheese, I didn't have my ravioli, but these were ridiculous cute.  A thin slice of daikon, stuffed with goat cheese, folded in half, and secured with an absolutely tiny clothespin.  So cute (the clothespin was just for keeping it together, it wasn't edible).

I started with the "airbag".  I thought this was going to be a filled item, but I'm not quite sure why I thought that.  Rather, the "airbag" was just the base, a puffy, but unfilled, crispy cracker.  On top of it was the carrot gelee, formed as a round disk.  I didn't particularly taste any carrot.  The garnish on top was a tiny bit of Spanish sardine. This I liked, as it brought some saltiness.

The final item was the one that the others all couldn't stop talking about.  A Bloody Mary juice sphere, perched atop pearl spoons.  We were told that yes, it had vodka.

You clearly needed to put the whole thing in your mouth and eat it, as it was liquid inside, and burst easily.  It was a very flavorful bite, I understand why the others were raving.  The tomato flavor was very strong.  I didn't taste any alcohol.  They all really liked it, but to me, it was far too oily.  Oily tomato juice wasn't very interesting to me. 

So, overall, I didn't actually like these bites.  One was just a cracker, with a flavorless gel, and a bit of salt, and the other, an oily tomato juice.  They did show off a lot of technique though, and were a fun way to get started.

Bread and Butter.

Once we ordered, more food started arriving, this time bread service and an amuse bouche (no, those other things were not the amuse!).

Since our meal started with the crackers, I thought that there might not be a bread service, but I was wrong.  The server came with a bread basket, and served us each a slice of two breads, one was a soft white bread, the other a crusty wheat bread.

The white one, focacia-like, was soft, but lacked the decadence of an oily focaccia, so it was fairly unremarkable.

The wheat had a nice crust, and was soft inside, but it was a bit sour (as in, sourdough), which I don't like.

For a city known for amazing boulangeries, the bread did let me down.

As I was pondering the bread, my table mates were going crazy over the butter.  The butter was served with a special knife alongside, able to stand up on its own end (as you can see above).

I understand why they were going nuts.  Butter in France is unlike anything I've ever had in the US.  Our hotel had a highly mediocre breakfast, but even there, the butter in the buffet was better than any I've had in the US.  And I don't have words to tell you about the absolutely incredible butter we had at my office.  I had no idea butter could taste this amazing, really.  I ate it with toast or croissants at breakfast.  I ate it with walnut bread after lunch.  I may or may not have literally eaten it by the spoonful.    I don't want to think about how much butter I consumed in my two weeks in France.  So, I understand freaking out about butter.

But to me, the butter at Goust, while certainly good, certainly better than US butter, was nothing like our office butter.  I'm not sure any of the others had tried the office butter though.  They all kept slathering more and more butter onto their bread.  I quickly rationed some for myself, worried it was going to run out.  Which it did.  I gave the ration I had claimed away to the highest bidder, who eagerly took it all.

Of course, our attentive server noticed the moment the butter ran out, and brought out a fresh one, including a fresh knife as well.  Bread plates, for those who were loving this course, never went empty.  Our server was excellent.  He also told us about the butter, where it was made, etc, but I missed the details.  I just know it was handmade?

Amuse Bouche: Almond Panna Cotta / Red Pepper Jelly / Black Garlic and Greek Yogurt "Foam".

So as I said, all those previous surprise dishes were not actually the amuse bouche.  The amuse bouche was much larger.  It was ... savory panna cotta!

Oh, be still my heart!  And as I said, I didn't even know Goust served an amuse bouche, let alone one right up my alley.  I love puddings and custards, sweet or savory, hence the reason my blog has a label just for puddings, and, yup, for panna cotta in particular too.  I love to see savory spins on these.  As I jotted down notes, trying to capture the details, the others dove in.  Are we noticing a theme here?  I was always a few steps behind the others (which isn't actually normal for me).

You see, normally when I dine, I have a notes template ready.  I write out the known components of the dishes I order in advance, so I can fill it in as I go.  If I'm going somewhere that I know has extras thrown in, I have those ready in the notes too.  This makes the dining experience more relaxed, and takes away the awkwardness of frantically writing things down at the table, even if my fellow diners don't mind it.  But here I was totally unprepared.  Thus, I was always behind the others, which gave me a chance to take in their responses as well.

And again, they all loved this.  I think Ojan had even finished his before I took my first bite.  I dug in with eager anticipation.

The panna cotta was creamy, with a decent almond flavor.  The red pepper jelly, just like the Bloody Mary sphere, was very flavorful, but again quite oily.  The foam had a nice texture, but I didn't taste any black garlic.

So again, another dish that was presented in a beautiful fashion, full of textures and flavors, demonstrating great technique, but fell pretty flat for me.  But like I said, the others really liked it, and Ojan gladly polished mine off.

Starters

So here we were, not even having received our starters yet, and we'd had two types of crackers, two types of bread, 3 bite size items, and a very large amuse bouche.  I feared for my stomach, but, the starters were the courses I was most looking forward to.  And indeed, the turned out to be the highlights of the meal.

The menu had only four choices for starters, but, quite frankly, I wanted them all.  And ... I got to have them all.  I ordered one myself as a starter, and opted to have another as my main dish, since I wanted a lighter meal (note, we ordered long before I knew how many extra courses were going to be sprinkled in, I had wanted a smaller meal from the start!)  It was no problem to have a starter as a main.  Our other two dining companions each ordered the final two choices, and of course let me try a few bites.

Wine Pairing for Foie Gras: Late Harvest Gewurztraminer. 10€.

Three of us opted to have the wine pairing with our starters, not knowing really what we were getting into, but we all wanted wine, and didn't want to pick a single (very pricey) bottle from the list.  Plus, this way, our wine would best match what we were each eating at the time, right?

As I mentioned earlier, our server was sure to bring us the wines before the starters themselves.  We each tried our wines, trying to figure out what we all had.  Since we all had different dishes, we all had different wines.

I enjoyed the guessing game.  When my wine arrived, I took a sniff.  It was clearly a sweet wine, appropriate to go along with my starter involving foie gras.  But it wasn't as syrupy sweet as a sauternes.  Thus, I decided it must be a late harvest riesling.  I wasn't far off, it turned out to be a late harvest Gewurztraminer.

It was fine, and the right thing to have alongside foie, but not really what I wanted at that point in the meal.

Mediterranean Red Tuna Tartare, Mango Egg. 35€.

One of my dining companions opted for the tuna tartare, a dish I was interested in, not for the tuna tartare itself, but for the "mango egg".

The plating didn't shock me at this point, as I'd come to expect things to be fairly elaborate.  Tuna tartare, topped with microgreens, with the mango egg in the center, and dots of purees in assorted sizes and colors on the plate.  It did look like a classic steak tartare, egg and all, from a distance.  It looked yet another application of molecular gastronomy.  Honestly, I was a bit let down by the restaurant so far.  We had seen all these spheres and gelees, but none really delivered any flavor. Great techniques, yes, but, I wasn't impressed.  Until this.

To begin, the tuna tartare was itself one of the best I've ever had.  I do like raw fish, but for some reason, tuna is rarely my favorite.  This however, was quite excellent.  The seasoning was just spot on.

But the really amazing part of this dish was that "egg".  Wow.  It wasn't just another sphere, another gelee.  It was ... mind-blowing, really.  I expected that it would be just like the bloody mary sphere, liquid when pieced.  But it wasn't.  Instead, it was gelatinous on the outside, and runny inside, but not liquid.  It oozed just like an egg yolk.  I couldn't get over how well they nailed this.

I also did like the mango and tuna pairing.  My favorite sushi restaurant in San Francisco has a roll on the menu with tuna and mango, so I know the flavors go well together, but they were a new combo for the others, and they found it a bit strange.

Anyway, a successful dish for sure.  Finally, a dish that delivered on flavor and not just looks.  My second favorite dish of the night.

It was paired with a pinot gris (which we all guessed was an unoaked Chardonnay).

Albufera Bomba Rice with Razor Clams, Cockles and Lemon Emulsion. 32 €.

My other dining companion opted for the specialty of the chef, paella.  The chef is Spanish  and this is a dish he is most proud of.  It was also available as an add on to the tasting menu, the only one with that option.  She got it because she figured someone needed to get the chef's specialty, right?

We were warned when she ordered that it would take at least 20 minutes to prepare as he cooks it al la minute, but, given our parade of other food, this was not a concern.

I am not really a fan of rice dishes of any kinda (except dessert rice pudding of course!), but the appeal in this one for me was the razor clams.  I've only had razor clams a handful of times in my life, but when I have, I've really enjoyed them.

The molecular-ish element at play here was the lemon emulsion, which was really more of a froth.

The rice was nicely cooked I guess and flavorful, but I was in it for the razor clams, expecting a full razor clam perched under the foam or something, but instead it was just bits of clam, chopped up and mixed into the rice, with bits of cockles as well.  They all just turned into chewy little bits.

Not my thing for sure, but the person who ordered it loved it.  Even Ojan, no never likes paella, really liked it and kept talking about the great flavors.  My second to last favorite.

This was paired with chardonnay, served in a wider mouth glass than our other two white wines.

Duck Foie Gras and Horchata Eclair Glazed with Pedro Ximénez, Caramelized Apricots. 34€.

And last, but most certainly not least, my choice.  A foie gras eclair.

This was of course the reason I decided to visit Goust.  You know me.  I love pastries.  I love foie gras.  I've probably mentioned a few times how much I like horchata too.  This dish sounded like, well, a pretty perfect dish for me.

And ... it was.  Ojan and I had decided to share a starter, and the moment I took a bite, I regretted it.  If I hadn't thought it was too late, I would have cancelled my order for my second course, and just gotten another one of these.  I wanted another for dessert too.  It was, simply put, incredible.  It not only lived up to, but far exceeded my expectations.

So, what did we have here?

The eclair was not a fancy spin on an eclair, it actually was just choux pastry, filled with a foie gras cream.  Now, this obviously sounds like something that would be good, except that I usually don't like eclairs/cream puffs/etc, because the choux pastry is always a bit eggy, and I don't like that flavor.  This wasn't at all eggy.  It was light, fluffy, and airy.  The filling was an incredibly smooth foie gras cream.  The foie flavor was fairly subtle, but the texture was just amazing.  It had a sweet glaze on top to just really seal the deal.

Pastry + creamy foie + sweetness = amazing.  This was so, so good.

The horchata showed up as a foam.  It too was light and fluffy, and was really full of rice flavor.

The apricots were soft, sweet, caramelized, and quite delicious.  A bit of additional apricot flavor came from dots of puree on the plate as well.

Every element of this dish was a winner.  The components all worked together in harmony.  Great textures.  Great flavors.  Amazing pairings.  I still can't get over how great this was.

Best dish of the night, best dish of my trip to Paris, and one of the best dishes I've ever had.

Mains

The main course menu also had only four options, two seafood, two meat.  While I wasn't excited by the meat options themselves (beef or pork chop), they both had side dishes I really wanted (one had gnocchi, and the other, sobrasada stuffed gyoza!)  One of the two seafood dishes sounded awesome too.

But I opted to get one of the starters for my main, trying to have a slightly smaller meal.  I was of course intending to share everything anyway.

Ojan and one other diner both got the seafood dish I was most eying, and the other opted for the dish with the gnocchi.  I couldn't convince anyone to get the pork chop, because no one wanted pork chops, no matter had badly I tried to sell the sobrasada gyoza to them ... seriously, how incredible does that sound?  Still, I got to try everything else.

Wine Pairing for Gazpacho: Rosé. 10€.

For our next round of dishes, we all opted for another round of wine pairings.

Mine was clearly a rosé .

It was dry, very floral.  Not something I would have ever picked, as I don't like dry wines, and I'm not into floral either.  This is the downside of the pairings, as I obviously would have rejected it if it had been described to me.

The only interesting part to me is that it was produced by Brangelina?  Yes, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had a wine made from grapes on their estate.  It actually gets good reviews too, not just celebrities slapping a label on a lackluster bottle.

 Strawberry and Tomato Gazpacho with Wakamé, Blue Lobster Medallions and Tomato Stuffed with Lobster (before). 36€.

My dish was technically a starter, chilled gazpacho with lobster.

It arrived at the table like this, not looking, well, like any gazpacho I'd ever seen.  Shouldn't there be a broth?  I assumed at this point that it must be a play on a gazpacho, and thought that perhaps some of the items in the bowl were not what I expected, and would burst open, letting out liquid perhaps? (which, was true, but not in the way I thought).

Instead, the broth was poured tableside, after I got a chance to take it all in.  This allowed me to see all the components before they got a bit lost in the gazpacho.

 Strawberry and Tomato Gazpacho with Wakamé, Blue Lobster Medallions and Tomato Stuffed with Lobster (after). 36€.

The broth was, well, tomato and strawberry gazpacho.  Such an unexpected combination.  Sweet.  I'm not really sure I liked it, but it was really quite fascinating.

There were four chunks of lobster in the bowl.  I never really like lobster, so I'm honestly not sure why I ordered this.  It was ... exactly what I think of as lobster.  Kinda chewy.  Never as good as crab.

The other components of the bowl were very fascinating however.  There was just a chunk of strawberry and a confit cherry tomato.  And then something that looked like a cherry tomato, which I put, whole, into my mouth.  Imagine my surprise when it burst open with liquid, and the flavor was most certainly not tomato.  It was strawberry.  Sweet, really sweet, strawberry.  I didn't like it in one bite like this, and it would have been good perhaps if I had cut it open and mixed it in, but, well, I thought it was a cherry tomato!

The final element was the "tomato stuffed with lobster".  It was highly unexpected.

To start, well, it wasn't a tomato.  It looked like a tomato, but instead it was a red shell, that I have no idea what it was made from.  Inside was lobster salad, I think with mayo.  Very ... different.

Overall, this reminded me of the earlier dishes.  Interesting, with assorted techniques at play, but I didn't actually like it.  Nor did Ojan.  One other person, who does really like lobster, said she did like it.  My least favorite dish.

Seared fillet of John Dory, Heirloom Tomatoes Tartare with Date and Girolles, Yuzu Hollandaise and Onions in Tempura. 42€.

The seafood dish I would have ordered, if I got a regular main, was the John Dory.  Ojan and one other ordered it, so I got to try plenty.

The fish wasn't remarkable, a decent sear, moist, but fishy.  Maybe that is just how John Dory is?  I've only had John Dory a few times before.

On top was the yuzu hollandaise, one of the selling points in the description for me, because, well, creamy sauce!  I didn't taste yuzu, which was fine by me, but it also just didn't enhance the dish at all.

On top were a couple tempura onion rings.  They weren't really crispy, but the batter was flavorful and I liked it.

Under the fish however was the heirloom tomato tartare.  This was delicious, super flavorful.  That alone made this my third favorite dish of the night.

It was paired with a white blend, again served in a wide mouthed glass.

Seared Txogitxu Beef Fillet / Pumpkin / Gnocchis. 39€.

Our final dining companion went for the beef.

I didn't try it, but he devoured it.

I did of course ask to try the gnocchi.  The gnocchi and the pumpkin were plated together, interleaved, similar shapes.  The gnocchi was just ... gnocchi.  Nothing really interesting.

This came paired with a red wine, a syrah and grenache blend, way too tannic for me.

This was easily the least innovative dish.  Nothing really interesting going on.  Even the plating didn't offer anything special, besides the gnocchi/pumpkin sizes.  This was only dish that really seemed overpriced.

Cheese, Pre-Dessert, Dessert, Mignardises

Ok, moving along to dessert.

The dessert menu had only 3 options, plus a cheese course.  None sounded particularly great though, but we felt lame not getting dessert, so we opted to all just split one.  We were all stuffed anyway, and of course, just like it began, the meal did keep adding on extra courses.

The one dessert turned into another hour and a half of dining, since there was a pre-dessert, and a platter of mignardises afterwards.  If we hadn't ordered dessert, I'm not sure how much of all of that we would have gotten, but the extras alone certainly would have been plenty for me.  The desserts were the weakest part of the meal, sadly.  I just wanted another foie gras eclair.

Marie Quatrehomme’s Cheese and its Glass of Wine. 19€.

But, before we got into dessert, the server came over with a huge block of cheese, and asked if we wanted cheese.  The other two said yes, not really knowing what they were getting into.

They each received large portions of cheese, a single, hard cheese, and another piece of the focaccia-like bread.  It really was too much cheese.  Share plates were brought for Ojan and I, but still, it took us a while as a group to get through all this cheese.  I think if we had known that it was just going to be the one cheese selection, and in such quantity, we might have decided differently, maybe just getting one portion?

It also had a wine pairing, which I forget entirely.  I was getting sleepy at this point!  It took nearly an hour between the cheese and our real dessert.

Pre-Dessert Prep.

After we finally got through the cheese, it was time to cleanse our palettes in preparation for dessert.

An elaborate cart was rolled over, with two large metal canisters.  One was a sorbet, the other water to dunk the sorbet spoon into.

Our server scooped us each out a scoop, tableside.

Pre-Dessert: Peach Sorbet.

The sorbet was peach, although it was red.  But the flavor was unmistakable.  Yes, this was peach.

The flavor was incredible.  Out of control peach flavor.  Ojan thought he tasted raspberry, but I think it was just his mind playing tricks on him.  All I tasted was peach.  Pure peach.  The peaches apparently came from a vineyard.

It was very sweet, very creamy, and served as full size scoops each.  The flavor was incredible, but in this quantity, it was just too much.  It didn't cleanse my palette, it left me with a sweet overload.  In a smaller serving, this would have been more successful.  Yes, I just said a dessert would be better off smaller.

Strawberry Bavarois, Red Berries and Pistachio Ice Cream. 16€.

For our single dessert, we opted for this.  None of us were particularly excited about it, but it was the most interesting of the choices.

I'm not sure any of us really knew what to expect either.  What is a bavarois?

Anyway, it was a layer cake, two thin layers of a light cake interleaved with two thin layers of a white chocolate cream, topped with red berries (raspberries and blackberries), and a scoop of pistachio ice cream on top of it all.

The ice cream was creamy, with a strong pistachio flavor.  They do know how to get flavors into dishes here.

On the side was fruit gelees, super sweet.

Nothing about this was very memorable, although it wasn't bad.

Mignardises.

And finally, a platter of more sweets, four each.  I never really care for the migs at restaurants, but these were above average.

From top to bottom:
Chocolate Financiar:  My least favorite.  Crispy exterior, a bit bitter.

Lychee Lime Gelee:  Super flavorful and sweet.  Third pick.

Matcha and Black Tea Cake: Dense, moist, nice flavors, although quite strong.  No questioning that there was matcha and black tea in here.  I couldn't really enjoy this because I didn't want the caffeine so late at night, but, it was my second favorite.

Cream Puff: And ... my favorite.  A tiny little cream puff, stuffed with vanilla cream.  Fluffy outside, creamy inside.

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More Ice Cream Novelties from France

For the past few weeks, I've been posting about the assorted ice cream I found while visiting my Paris office, like the Mars brand ice cream bars and slightly more interesting Trufo bars from Kalise.

Dèli Roo?

This time however, I don't know who the manufacturer actually is.  Doh.

The best photo of the packaged product I have is this, and, well, no amount of Google searching was able to help me figure it out.

Please help dear readers, do you know what brand this is?

Chocolat Pistache - Top.

"Cône de glaces au chocolat et a la pistache avec inclusions de pèpites de chocolat, décor" de pistaches hachees grillèes."
I didn't see the flavor listed on my wrapper, so I didn't realize I had selected chocolate pistachio, until I opened it up.

The top "scoop" was mild milk chocolate, decently creamy, topped with pistachio bits, er, "pistaches hachèes grillèes", chopped roasted pistachios.

Pistache - Inside.

The rest of the cone was filled with the pistachio ice cream, which actually had chocolate chips in it, "inclusions de pèpites de chocolat".  It was ... fine, not particularly creamy, but not awful.

The cone was lined with chocolate and was a standard sugar cone.

Overall, this was not bad, but not notable in any way.

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Melon Pan from Aki Boulanger, Paris

A few years ago, when I visited Tokyo, my office had a special event the day I arrived: a melon pan popup.  I was entirely unfamiliar with melon pan, but I was jet lagged, and hungry, and all of a sudden sweet pastries were in front of me.  Everyone around was buzzing with excitement.  Apparently this wasn't just ANY melon pan, it was the best in all of Tokyo.

I grabbed a melon pan, a bit concerned that it said "melon", since I'm actually deathly allergic to watermelon and generally allergic to most melon, but I couldn't resist.  Foolish, but I blame the jetlag.

I took one bite, and I was hooked.  What was this thing?!! It was sweet, fluffy bread coated in a crispy ... sugar cookie?  I know this description sounds crazy, but that is really what it was.

Now, I don't really like bread.  I just see no point to bread in general ... I love baked goods, it isn't that I'm carb adverse, but just bread? Meh.  Put it in some bread pudding, and then we are talking!  But why would I want just bread, even if sweet?  And I don't really like cookies.  But somehow, if you combine them, magic happens.  It was light and fluffy, it was moist, it was crunchy, it was sweet.  I think it was matcha flavored, it was certainly green.  It was also insanely huge.  I saved some for breakfast the next morning, and it delightful then, perfect alongside my coffee.

This experience left me totally fascinated by melon pan, and tried to seek it out when I returned to San Francisco, but I've never found anything like it elsewhere.  Eventually, I sorta forgot about melon pan.

And then I started researching boulangeries in Paris.  And found Aki Boulanger.  Aki Boulanger is the sister boulangerie to Aki Restaurant, which I visited for okonimiyaki one night.  After our okonomiyaki, I couldn't resist swinging in.  Because ... they have melon pan!  And their melon pan is available in many flavors: plain, chocolate, matcha, caramel, even strawberry.  Or it can be stuffed with chocolate ganache or cream.  OMG.  Oh, and did I mention, it gets universal great reviews?  Tough for a boulangerie in Paris.

Aki Boulanger offers a slew of other temping sweets too, often traditional Parisan pastries with a Japanese twist (like red bean, yuzu, or matcha).  I almost couldn't pass up the Aki Brest, a Japanese spin on a Paris-Brest with black sesame cream filling instead of praline.  But in the end, I had to go classic and stick with my game plan: melon pan.

Aki Boulanger is classic boulangerie setup, with a long display of tempting treats, plus a menu for drinks to go alongside (classic espresso beverages, but also a slew of matcha drinks).  Items are available to eat there at a few small tables inside and on the sidewalk, but most folks take items to go.  Goods are a bit cheaper if you get them to go - bonus!

Melon Pan. 2€.

I went simple: classic melon pan.

If it were earlier in the day, I certainly would have opted for matcha melon pan, but I was avoiding caffeine in the evening.  I almost went for the strawberry just because it sounded unique.  Ojan said I should get the caramel.  I considered the filled ones, but in the end, I really just wanted the basic one that I remembered from Tokyo.

I clutched my bag with glee.  Yes!  I finally found melon pan!

Sadly, it didn't quite live up to my memory of the amazing melon pan I had in Tokyo.

The dough was light, fluffy, and sweet, so that part was what I wanted.  But a signature component, the crispy sugar cookie-like crust, didn't.  It was only slightly crispy, and not really sugary.  It did have the look of a melon like it should, but it was fairly soft on the outside.  I wonder if it was better when fresher earlier in the day?   It was 8pm, on a very, very hot day, perhaps it got soft in the heat?

Regardless, it was fine, it was still sweet bread, but the aspect of sugar cookie crust was lost.

It was also only about half the size of the one I had in Tokyo, but that I appreciated.  The Tokyo one was a monster, and this was still plenty large.  2€ price was reasonable for a fresh baked good.

If I was in Paris for longer, I probably would have returned earlier in the day to see if quality improved, but there were too many delicious things to eat during my short stay in Paris, so I didn't risk another precious meal slot for this.

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Okonomiyaki @ Aki Restaurant, Paris

When in Paris, go get ... okonomiyaki?

Yes, I know this sounds like a very odd choice.  But early on our trip to Paris, Ojan and I went to L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon for a epic 2 Michelin star lunch, large, and very rich.  We spent the afternoon playing tourist, checking out a bunch of sights as we meandered back to our hotel.  By the time dinner time rolled around, we had no energy left.  We were still stuffed from Joël Robuchon.  We didn't have it in us to sit through a long meal.  We didn't want to go far.

So I consulted my list, and Aki Restaurant jumped out.  A recommendation from a friend, which I had cross-referenced on Yelp and TripAdvisor.  A Japanese place, in "little tokyo", only a 5 minute walk from our hotel, known for the okonomiyaki.

Now, you may recall the last, rather unfortunate, run-in I had with okonomiyaki at President Chibo in Tokyo.  Yup, I got food poisoning, and the wrong order on top of that.  But the chefs at my office made okonomiyaki once for us since then, and I loved it.  I mean, I don't actually love the pancake base very much, but the sweet sauce and the creamy mayo on top?  Um, yes.  Plus, Ojan had never had real okonomiyaki before, and I wanted him to experience it.

So, Aki Restaurant fit the bill: unique, close by, casual, and easy to split something fairly small, since neither of us were that hungry?  Sounded good.

Setting

Aki was pretty much what I expected.  Simple.  Two levels, with the upstairs mostly specializing in soba dishes, and downstairs okonomiyaki, although you could order either in both locations.

Simple Wooden Tables.

Decor was basic: wooden tables, wooden chairs, cheap wooden chopsticks on the tables, a single paper napkin each.  The tables weren't really clean, ours was sticky.  I cringed when the server put the okonomiyaki cutter down on it directly.

Chefs Working the Okonomiyaki.

Okonomiyaki orders were all prepared on the teppan, in the open area on the other side of the room.  We weren't seated at the counter, so we couldn't watch the action directly, but that was fine.  We were too exhausted to interact.

Takuwan. €3.70. 

We started with an order of takuwan, just to have something to nibble on.

It was sprinkled with sesame seeds.  It was fine, nicely crunchy and fresh enough, but the flavor was more bitter than I'm used to.  €3.70 seemed a bit high for just a small plate of takuwan.

Okonomiyaki Calamar. €10.30.

For okonomiyaki, we had the choice of shrimp, calamari, pork, or shrimp and cheese (I had no idea cheese okonomiyaki was a thing ... is this just a French thing?)

We went for calamari.

It arrived after about 15 minutes, expected since it was cooked to order.  Served piping hot.

From an initial glance, I was sad.  It was much smaller than I expected, although that was fine, since we really weren't hungry, we were mostly eating because we were "supposed to".  But it also didn't have nearly enough sauce and mayo on it.  The sauces are WHY I get okonomiyaki!

But, once I took a bite, I no longer minded that.  I really, really didn't like the sauces.

The sweet sauce just wasn't very sweet, and had a really strange flavor to it.  I can't explain it.  I just didn't like it.  The mayo tasted like totally generic mayo.  These toppings are where the magic of okonomiyaki are for me!

I still tried to like it.  The base pancake was fine, loaded with chunks of soft, flavorful cabbage.  But it wasn't very crispy.

The best part was the calamari, actually nicely cooked, tender, soft, not chewy.

But given the lackluster pancake, and the toppings that neither Ojan nor I could stand, this just wasn't a winner.  

I think I'm still glad we went though, as it fed us easily, and for cheap (needed after Michelin star lunch!).  And they have a sister boulangerie across the street, which I promptly visited as Ojan paid the bill.  More on that soon.

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Breakfast at Le First, Westin, Paris

I've only been to Paris twice, both times within the past year.  The first time, I stayed at The W Hotel Opera, where, besides the jam, the breakfast really failed to impress (although the hotel itself was great).  So on my second visit I decided to try another Starwood property, this time, the Westin.

Breakfast is buffet style at Le First, the restaurant on the ground floor.  It was one of the best breakfast buffets I have ever encountered, on nearly every dimension: extensive options, always fully stocked, friendly and attentive staff, and of course, tasty food.

As I said, options are extensive.  If you want to be healthy and have some hot porridge, yogurt, and fruit, you certainly can.  If you want to go French and have a baguette with butter or cheese, or crepes and ratatouille, you can.  If you are feeling Asian inspired, and want miso soup and teriyaki salmon, also an option.  If you prefer things simple, and opt for toast, bagels, and cereal they have that too.  Generic American breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage?  Sure.  But if you want to be, uh, Julie, there is hot danish bread pudding, cheesecake (!), and absolutely stunning pastries.

After all, you aren't in Paris at a breakfast buffet too many days a year ... right?  Go big or go home?  Which, uh, I did, for a full 4 glorious days.  I highly recommend this buffet, if you can't tell.

Setting

The Westin Paris is an impressive place.  It was built in the 1800s, as the premier luxury hotel in all of France.  It is a full block large and quite a maze.  It was used as a military hospital at one point, and became a Westin in 2005.  It is the definition of elegant.

Restaurant at the end of the hall ...

To reach the restaurant, you walk down a long marble hallway, shiny and glistening.

Standard Seating.

The interior is quite regal - dark tones, lots of deep purple and gold, curtains everywhere.

Comfortable Seating.

Elegant doesn't normally equal comfortable, but, here it does.  The seats are all padded and it was very easy to stuff myself, and then just settle into these seats in blissful food coma, happy to not move besides lifting my coffee cup.

Tables were set with paper napkins, but they were purple too.  Silverware, mugs for coffee, and sugar/sweetener completed the place settings.

Food & Drinks

I had the buffet, usually 39€ each, but was the option I selected for my Platinum benefit, so, included in my stay.

Drinks

Once seated, literally immediately, I was always offered coffee or tea.  I went with coffee, and it was ... ok.  Fairly harsh.  Coffee was refilled regularly by a server who roved around the room.

Every day, I tried the regular coffee, and every day it was really acidic.  Is this just Parisian coffee?

Decaf Coffee, Hot Water.

After awhile I switched to decaf, which I needed to order from a server.  "Decaf espresso?", he asked.  "Uh ... Americano?" I offered.  He brought me a decaf espresso, and my own pot of hot water to mix in as I pleased.  Perfect!

I tried the decaf another day, and again, it was better than the regular.  Such a rare thing, not that it was amazing, but it was perfectly drinkable.

Juices, Water.

On the side was a self-serve cold drink station, with still water, sparkling water, grapefruit and orange juice in dispensers, and other juices, even coconut water, in a bowl on the side.

Tea Station (Jing tea)

Next was a tea station, with fancy Jing teas, but only 3 varieties.  They had a bunch of herbs to mix in on the side.

Hot Foods

Hot foods ranged from American to Asian to French, all served buffet-style.  You could also order made-to-order eggs, but no one tells you this and there is absolutely no indication it is an option.  Not that I care, as I'm not into eggs, but worth noting if you are.

Hot Buffet Line.

The main hot buffet contained all the items you'd expect.

Scrambled Eggs, Bacon.

Standard scrambled eggs and bacon.

Ratatouille, Sausage.

Sausages to complete the "American" style offerings.

Next was veggies, in the form of ratatouille.  Now we were getting more French.

Potatoes, Mushrooms, Beans.

The potato option was roasted potatoes.  More veggies included sautéed mushrooms and flat broad beans.

The mushrooms were unfortunately cold the day I tried them, but, I really liked having assorted wild mushrooms, well seasoned, and something savory with my sweets fest.

Vanilla Crepes, Baked Beans.

Baked beans completed the "European" style options, and some vanilla crepes bring us back to the French influence.  No pancakes, french toast, or waffles for hot carbs.

The crepes were ... ok.  Buffet crepes.  Thin style, crispy, a bit cold.  Not worth it given the other options.

The one thing I missed was some kind of whipped cream, er, chantilly, to put on the crepes (or other breakfast carbs).  I guess maple syrup and the fruits work for this, and it isn't like I needed more butter and cream, really ...

Rice and Oatmeal.

On the other side is an oatmeal station, in a beautiful copper pot held over of a flame.  Mix-ins like chopped pecans and cinnamon were on the side.

I tried the oatmeal, and it was really just a pot of soupy mush.  Even with mix-ins, it failed to impress.

A rice cooker started the Asian hot foods area.

Asian Veggies, Chicken, Glazed Salmon, Miso Soup.

The Asian station is rounded out by miso soup (with add-ins in little bowls in front), plus glazed salmon, chicken, and stir fried veggies with noodles in chafing dishes.

Cold Foods

Moving along to the cold items, things got far more interesting.

Cereal.

Ok, well, cereal isn't interesting, but, was there as an option for those who want their simple cereal breakfast.  Corn flakes, cocoa crispies, corn pops, wheat flakes.

Fruit, Yogurt, CHEESECAKE, Condiments, Milks.

To go with the cereal, or perhaps just to drink, was a large selection of milks, including skim, soy, and even almond milk.  This was a big step up from everywhere in Portugal (where I was prior to Paris) where only one kind of milk was offered.  They were all labelled too.

Next to this was the butter selection, fancy individual wrapped butters, with or without salt.  There were four types of jam in pots (raspberry, strawberry, apricot, and orange).  A pot of peanut butter.  Individual jars of honey, maple syrup, and even chocolate hazelnut spread.

Then came yogurt, fancy glass jars of yogurt (plain or fruit), plus one big bowl of plain yogurt.  Fruit toppings, like stewed prunes, oranges, grapefruit segments, melon, pineapple, and mango.

I tried the plain yogurt, it was fine, but nothing very special.  I topped it with jams and mango.  The jams were not anything particularly interesting, good quality, with real fruit, not just Smuckers, but not my mom's homemade jam.  The mango wasn't actually ripe fresh mango, instead it was somewhat stewed or poached I think.

And then ... CHEESECAKE.  Yes, CHEESECAKE.  For breakfast.  Oh be still my heart.

The cheesecake was fantastic.  A thick, buttery, sweet, graham cracker crust.  Super, super creamy, lemony cheesecake.  At first, I found it too lemony, as I don't really like lemon desserts.  The first day, I ate the crust alongside my coffee life a biscuit, and really enjoyed it.  Later ... I came back to the lemon flavored creamy cheesecake, and ate it more like a pudding or yogurt, and really liked it.  It is amusing, but, once I stopped thinking of it as cheesecake, I liked it.  I'm glad I discovered this on my first day.

I had a small slice of cheesecake every morning.  I never liked it as a complete package, but, whenever I ate the crust off first, with coffee, and then the creamy lemony pudding, I actually liked it.  It varied in quality though, some days the crust was soggy, and other days the cheesecake was weeping.  I think it must have been frozen, and just how well it was unfrozen varied.  Still, it was tasty, no matter.

French Cheeses, Charcuterie, Smoked Salmon, Salad, Hardboiled Eggs. 

The final cold items station had makings for salad (lettuce, carrots, cherry tomatoes, radishes), two types of olives and onions, cucumbers in yogurt, and hard boiled eggs, three (!) different types of smoked salmon (although no capers, lemons, etc), sliced ham, turkey, and chicken, and a stunning french cheese platter with dried fruits.

The cheese platter was clearly a showcase for the restaurant, with hard cheeses and soft cheeses, including a ridiculously gooey super stinky triple cream with a washed rind.  This was replenished constantly.  I didn't find myself gravitating towards the cheeses though, they were just never what I wanted at breakfast.

One morning, about 2 weeks into my trip, when my body was clearly craving something besides sweets and carbs, I actually made a salad.  For breakfast.  Which is ridiculous for many reasons, I never make salads, and I certainly don't eat them for breakfast.  But, I needed veggies.

The gem lettuce was fairly fresh and crisp, and the radishes crunchy and refreshing.  Only balsamic and olive oil were available for dressing though, so, that wasn't quite what I wanted.

Bakery

And now, getting to the good stuff.  The baked goods.  Sure, breakfast buffets don't normally have very good baked goods, but, well, we were in France.  I had hopes, although not necessarily expectations, since the breakfast pastries at the W in Paris were so poor.

That was not the case here.  They did a fantastic job with the house made items.

Gluten-free Corner.

To start, on the side was a cute little gluten-free corner, with separate cereal and bread.

Vegetable Quiche.

Next came quiche, presented on a marble slab.

I tried a small piece on the final day.  It had spears of asparagus in it, but was still quiche, not an item I really like.  The puff pastry crust was decent.

Breads ...

And then ... getting into the good stuff.  Sliced bread and loaves to slice, croissants, pain a raisin, chocolate swirls, apple turnovers, mini baguettes ...

I adored the fact that they kept the croissants under a heat lamp.

A toaster was available on the side as well.

More baked goods ...

Continuing along were the baked goods for the Americans: bagels and english muffins, pre-sliced and ready for toasting.

There was also some kind of pound cake that I never tried.

And then, the good stuff.  On the far right, were some croissant-like buns, labeled "puff pastry brioche".  They were almost like kouign-amann, just, not quite as buttery and caramelized on the outside.  Ojan took one look and asked if they were kouign-amann.  

These were clearly made in house, separate from the rest of the croissants, danishes, and whatnot.  They were perfectly flaky and buttery.  The outside was a bit caramelized and crispy.  I did find them a *little* bit dry, but slathering one in some chocolate hazelnut spread quickly fixed that.  I grabbed one most days, always thinking it was so close to great.  Really buttery, flaky pastry, but, just a bit too dry.

On any other buffet, the croissant buns would have been the best item.  I'd gladly eat a mound of them.  But, I actually liked the cheesecake more.  And one more item that was to come ...

Oh, there were also donuts, always welcome in a buffet, glazed and coated with assorted toppings: chocolate glazed with nuts, vanilla and caramel, sugar, vanilla and candies ... 

Vanilla Glaze Sprinkle Topped Donut.

The donuts looked very familiar, and I realized that they were exactly the same as the ones I raved about from the Sheraton Cascais.  Clearly, Starwood uses a consistent supplier for some of the baked goods.

While the donuts were a highlight in Portugal, there were so many other amazing things in Paris, that it took until the final day of my visit to finally try one, which, uh, I grabbed on my way out the door because I couldn't resist.  I selected the one that wasn't on offer in Cascais: a vanilla glaze with colorful round sprinkles.

It was basically exactly the same as Cascais - a soft, sweet dough, not fried, and actually pretty good.  This one was not filled.  I really liked the sweet vanilla glaze and crunchy toppings.  I gladly would have eaten more of these, but, there were too many other amazing things.

Like what came next.

Hot Croissant/Danish Bread Pudding.

And then there was this.  Yes, croissant bread pudding.  Also kept hot under a heat lamp.

I love bread pudding.  I love it for breakfast or for dessert.  I love it sweet or savory.  It is one of my favorite dishes, particularly when hot, particularly when topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

But this was breakfast, and although I did want whipped cream to go alongside, I think I'm glad they didn't provide it, given just how heavy the rest of my "breakfast" was.  Did I really need whipped cream on my mound of custardy bread pudding when I also had a slice of cheesecake on the side?  Yeah, I didn't think so.

That all said, I'm *very* picky about the style of bread pudding that I like.  I don't like it dense and homogenous.  I like to find individual chunks of the bread used.  Bonus points for using brioche, croissants, danishes, and the like.

It was labelled "housemade pudding", and I was thrilled to discover that it was made from croissants and danishes, perhaps actually the croissant buns that I enjoyed?  It was very close to my ideal style, super moist and custardy inside, a bit crispy on top.

The base flavor seemed to just be vanilla/cinnamon, which was fine for breakfast.  In the mix were some currants.  Not what I'd pick (nuts are always better in my mind), but, still, this was fine.  I ended up adding pecan bits from the oatmeal station to get my fix.

I really loved the bread pudding.  Custardy, moist, crispy, decadent danish bread pudding.  For breakfast.  I liked it even more when I drizzled some maple syrup over it, but to be honest, that wasn't necessary.

I had this every morning.  I went back for seconds every time.  I knew it was horrible nutritionally.  And yes, I had a big serving of bread pudding, AND a brioche croissant bun, AND a small slice of cheesecake.  For "breakfast".  Every day.  It was worth it.  I promise I ate salad and fruit for lunch.

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Lunch @ L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Paris

Over the years, I have been fortunate to visit several of Joël Robuchon's many Michelin starred restaurants around the world (he has 28 stars worldwide!), like the very solid meal we had at the casual 2 star L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Tokyo, or the one starred L'Atelier in London, or the kicked it up many notches and far more innovative, also two starred, dinner at La Table de Joël Robuchon, also in Tokyo.  So when I saw that there was a L'Atelier in Paris, I knew I needed to work it into my agenda.

We opted to visit for lunch, as the lunchtime prix fixe was one of the most reasonable Michelin starred meals I could find in Paris (and, Paris sin't exactly hurting for stars).  The experience was everything I've come to expect from the L'Atelier brand: an open kitchen where you could enjoy watching the elaborate plating, a very well crafted menu with perfect execution (but not necessarily the most exciting), and a highly consistent experience.  Its like McDonald's in that way.

We had a very good meal, at a price that is just unbeatable.  I'd gladly return again when in Paris, and will continue to seek out more Joël Robuchon restaurants worldwide. 

The Space

Fancy Foos Ball.

When you enter, the first thing you see is a very fancy foos ball table.  Yes it works, and has a ball, so you can play.  I'm sure there is a story behind this, but I didn't look it up.  I didn't do much research on this restaurant, since I pretty much knew what to expect from the L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon brand.

After our meal, I convinced Ojan to play with me.  The most shocking thing about it?  It was really quiet, which you wouldn't expect with all the plastic and metal parts.

Classic  L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon Red & Black Decor.

A few more steps into the entrance, and we were greeted by a very familiar decor.  I instantly felt welcomed and at ease.  In a city where I couldn't read any signs, and I felt like a fish out of water, suddenly, I knew this!

Everything was red, black, and glossy.  While not exactly the same as either of the other L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon locations I visited in London or Tokyo, it was pretty much the same esthetic.

I was amused by how comforting this felt to me, in the same way that I'm sure places like Starbucks or McDonald's feel to others.  Familiar, safe, something to rely on, no matter where in the world you are.

Counter Seating, Open Kitchen.

Like all the L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon locations, the concept is counter seating around the large open kitchen.  There was a small side (private?) room as well, but basically everyone sits at the counters, served by waitstaff from behind the bar.  Bar seating isn't the most comfortable, but they did have padded barstools and purse hooks, which alleviate a lot of the discomforts normally found in bar areas.

As always, I loved watching the kitchen.  I like watching cooks in action in general, but at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, they take it up so many notches that you can't help but be fascinated.  Even Ojan got engaged a few times to watch.

This kitchen runs like a finely tuned, extremely perfectionist, machine.  The number of staff is a bit daunting.  The ratio of diners to cooks couldn't have been more than 2:1.  And each staff member is busy.  But never frantic.  That was one thing that struck me.  Everyone was working, hard, the entire time, but they never were rushed.  No one was running around.  They were also fairly quiet.  Focused, precise in their actions.

Even more amazing was watching a cook work on a particular dish.  Say, a salad.  First, he or she would prepare the mise en place ... for a single salad (or two if there were two orders in at the same time).  But not a big batch.   That is, a single radish would be sliced.  Two tiny tomatoes.  Etc.  Each component would go into a bowl.  And only then would he start composing the dish.  Different elements were all seasoned individually.  There wasn't just a bunch of dressing mixed in, or a sprinkle of salt and pepper at the end.  So incredibly deliberate and precise.  There were lots of little tweezers in use.

The individual care went into every single ingredient, not just those where you can argue that the freshness obviously matters like with fresh, raw vegetables.  Even the sides, like frites or mashed potatoes, were done to order.  Yes, a single order of fries was fried at a time, a single tiny bowl of mashed potatoes painstakingly passed through the sieve.

You would think that this would make for slow service, but given how many cooks there were, the pace of the meal was absolutely fine.  I wouldn't have wanted anything faster (or slower).

Speaking of service, it was good.  Only a French menu was provided, but our server happily ran us through the entire menu in English, as she did for many other diners.  She was perfectly pleasant when we ordered the cheapest menu, didn't add any upgrades, or even order wine.  Our dishes were cleared soon after we finished, never so fast we felt rushed, but clutter was never left around.  It isn't the fine dining style with someone who comes to brush the crumbs up after you, and when I went to the bathroom my napkin wasn't re-folded for me, but really, I prefer this casual but attentive service, it is much more comfortable.

Place Setting.

The placemats were pretty cute, made from a hard paper, with a sketch of the Eiffel Tower on them, fitting given our location in Paris.  Behind that was a sketch of a bowl of produce, which matches the decor of the restaurant as well, as it too had the signature (fake) fruits and vegetables in glass displays everywhere.  (I still think the produce looks incredibly real, especially the bell peppers, so don't think this is a tacky way to decorate).

Lunch Menu Options.

At lunchtime only, L'Atelier offers the best valued Michelin starred dining I have ever found (which I'd say if they had only 1 star too, but it totally insane for a 2 star place!).  You just don't see pricing like this ... anywhere.  For 44€, you get a 3 course meal (starter, main, dessert).   If you'd like more, for 54€, you can add a second starter, plus coffee or tea.  Or for 84€, 2 starters and 2 mains.

That sounds too good to be true, right?  You might think that that price means that the menu is fixed, and you have no choices.  Or that the portions are tiny.  All not true.  You get your choice for each course, and you have many options.  The portions are all full size.  Oh, and they add in an amuse bouche, generous bread basket, and mignardises.  That's right, they don't skimp on the extras just because you are doing the "cheap" option.

So they must make up for it by upselling the drinks?  Well, nope.  A red, white, and rose wine of the day are all offered, in the very reasonable 9-12€ per glass range.  They gladly served tap water.

Everyone seated around us also ordered the lunch menus.  I didn't see a single dish go by that came from the a la carte menu, although the full menu was available.  For context, the regular tasting menu is 179€, starters range from 33-59€ (excluding the 88€ caviar), mains are 44-79€ (not counting the 158€ turbot for two), or you can design your own degustation from the small plates menu, where everything is (30-40€), and the portions really are small.

So yes, this is an incredible deal.

The Food

The food was incredibly solid.  The starters and desserts in particular were elaborately plated, and, even though we didn't love everything we ordered, that was mostly due to what the dishes were, rather than any shortcomings in execution.  The kitchen showed talent all around.

Bread Basket.

Once we placed our order, a bread basket was quickly placed before us.  Inside were 5 rolls.  Strangely, 4 were the same, and one was different.

Like all L'Atelier locations, the bread was served cold, and without butter or oil.  The folks next to us requested butter, and it was provided.  I previously found that I never really cared about having oil or butter, because I knew the dishes would have sauces that I'd want to soak up, and the bread would be perfect for that.

The 4 rolls were rustic style and ... sourdough.   Sigh.  Not in San Francisco, and still, the sourdough follows me?  I don't like sourdough!  It had a good crusty crust, soft and fluffy inside, but still, sourdough.  The odd one out wasn't sourdough, so I claimed it.

I wasn't thrilled with this bread basket, particularly when compared to the incredible fluffy croissant-like roll I loved at the Tokyo outpost (served with super cute petit pan a l'âme erre and petit baguette too),  or even the kinda lackluster bread basket at London location (it had sliced bread!).  But I wasn't there for the bread, so I didn't really care too much.

Very soon after the bread basket, an amuse bouche was presented.  I somehow didn't get a photo of it?  I'm losing my touch!

Anyway, it was a fried little red quinoa ball, filled with a creamy puree of some sort.  It was crazy crispy on the outside, since it was fried and the shell was made from quinoa, and the inside was warm and creamy.  A great little bite, full of contrasting textures, and it actually had some spice to it, so there was some kick too.

My palette was quickly awoken, job done!

Starters

Starters were broken into two sections, hot or cold, with 3 choices each.

For cold, there was haricot vert salad, octopus carpaccio, or tomato gazpacho with burrata (a 12€ supplement).  For hot apps, there was an artichoke dish, a poached egg and mushroom dish, and crispy fried shrimp (also a 12E€ supplement).

I was tempted by the gazpacho because I love burrata, but, decided it wasn't worth the 12E€ when I was choosing this place based on value.  After I saw the poached egg dish get delivered to a few other diners, I wished I had picked it.  I don't like eggs really, but it was in this amazing mushroom veloute, and when the yolk burst open and mixed in it looked so luxurious!

That left the octopus carpaccio, and the haricot vert salad or artichoke.  I gladly opted for the octopus, and Ojan went for the hericot vert.

 Le Poulpe.

"Poulpe en carpaccio, marinade minute aux épices douces et citron vert."

I went for the octopus carpaccio.  I love octopus, but so often it is poorly cooked, rubbery, and either fishy or flavorless, so I don't get it often.  I felt confident in ordering it at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon though.

When my plate arrived, I actually just took a few minutes to take it all in.  Since it was a cold dish, I was in no rush.  And honestly, I was stunned.  I've been to plenty of Michelin starred restaurants.  I'm familiar with elaborate plating.  But the level of perfection shown here was just extraordinary.  Every single element of the dish was so, so precise.

The overall shape was sorta a rounded star, or flower perhaps, with 5 bulbs to it.  Mirroring the round shape, in each of the 5 sections, was a thin, round slice of white onion.  The dice on the bell peppers, of multiple colors of course, was perfect as expected, and the same size as the capers.  Bigger were the small halves of tiny tomatoes, each the size of a slice of olive.  Wow.

This was the most stunning octopus carpaccio I've certainly ever encountered!

Once I finally broke out of my trance, I tried it of course.  It was as amazing as it looked.

The octopus was insanely thin slices, pressed together to form the elaborate base.  Tender, not fishy, really perfectly prepared.  The assorted vegetables added tons of flavor.  Seriously, this was a flavor powerhouse, which I didn't expect, given the fairly simple list of ingredients.

It was however drowning in oil.  The oil enhanced the flavor for sure, but, there was too much.  I gobbled up half the plate immediately, as it was so insanely delicious, and then took a moment to reflect.  Once I went back in, I was put off by the oil. Too much, and it did sorta spoil the dish.

But really amazing prep work and presentation, clearly a well crafted dish.

Ojan appreciated the extra oil, and used it with his remaining bread, since the oil was super flavorful.

Le Haricot Vert.

"Méli-mélo de salade, copeaux de parmesan à la carta musica."

Ojan opted for the green bean salad.  Yup.  I was kinda amused by the choice, but he doesn't like mushrooms, and actually wanted something light.

Like my dish, his was a sight to behold.  This was particularly amusing given that they call this a "méli-mélo de salade", that is, a hodge-podge.  Does this look like a hodge-podge to you?

His was a dish I watched the salad cook make a few times, so I knew exactly what went into it.  You can't see it well here, but the green beans were gathered in bundles, three groupings of them.  There were a few slices of mushroom, honestly the thinest slices I've ever seen.  Tiny chunks of radish. Itsy bitty tomatoes, that had individual dabs of dressing on them.  Parmesan cheese slices, that we saw the chef creating with a peeler, one at a time. 

Of course, unlike me, Ojan didn't sit there admiring it for a few minutes first, and actually just ate it.  His review?  It was light and fresh, pretty, well prepared, but not particularly interesting.  The dressing was dijon vinaigrette.

I did try a tomato, when Ojan repeated a couple times that the tomatoes were really good.  For him to volunteer extra review material is a rare thing, so I knew it was meaningful.  And indeed, wow, that was an amazing tomato!  My dish had tomatoes too, but they were actually different (mine were smaller).  Seriously, such a flavorful tomato, and, perfectly seasoned.  It really seemed like the chef had put a few individual granules of salt on it specifically.  Remember what I said about precision?

For a green bean salad, this was quite the salad, but, it really wasn't the most exciting dish.

Mains 

Moving on to mains, we again had plenty of options.  There was a single vegetarian option (risotto), four seafood options, and three meat.

I quickly looked past the meat options (veal, beef, duck), and honed in on the seafood. For an additional 12€, there were two options: lobster spaghetti or john dory.  Opting not to pay extra, I moved on.  Another choice was a full, fried whiting.  I had seen photos of this, and while impressive, I didn't really feel like dealing with a whole fish.  Thus, the final seafood option it was: cod, a fish I always love, and we don't have in San Francisco (since it is an Atlantic fish).

Ojan basically wanted all the mains.  He asked the server for a recommendation, and she said that the duck is their most famous dish, so she pushed him towards it (along with several other diners, all of whom I saw ask the same question.  She was clearly used to this.  Perhaps she has stock in a duck farm?)  After we saw the other meat options go to nearby diners, I must say I was jealous.  The steak looked good, a thin style, but beautifully cooked.  And the veal, which Ojan decided against as it was a cold prep and this sounded a bit odd, came with the most fascinating sides ... a cone of matchstick frites, lettuce wraps, and toast points.  I saw the sides get delivered to several other diners, and eventually asked what dish they came with, because I couldn't figure out what on earth went with those three items together.

Anyway, cod and duck it as for us.  The plating of these dishes was nice, but no where near as elaborate as the starters (or soon, desserts).

Le Cabillaud.

"Dans un bouillon épicé au gingembre frais."

My cod was lovely.

The portion was insane.  I would have thought this was a large piece of fish under any circumstances, but as part of this value lunch menu it was even more incredible to me.  The cod was moist, mild, delicate, flaky.  Expertly cooked, you couldn't have asked for anything different here.

Of course, normally I prefer my cod baked with a coating, or fried, and served with tartar sauce, so this was quite different.  It was a very light dish.

On top was ...  a noodle?  It took me a while to figure out what it was, but yes, it seemed to be a rice noodle with a leaf printed on it in green.  I can't say I really understand this, but I broke it up a little in the broth, which turned it into a noodle soup almost.

Speaking of the broth.  It was really incredible.  So much flavor in here.  So many aromatics, including the prominent ginger, slightly spicy.  I couldn't stop lapping the broth up.

Floating in the broth was a bit of lettuce and two types of mushrooms, some sliced, some just tiny.  The vegetables went perfectly with the broth.  It was finished with a sprinkle of a red spice, and a drizzle of oil.

This was a fairly light dish, but given the size, it was very filling, particularly as part of a multi-course meal, at lunchtime.

I really enjoyed both the fish and the amazing broth with vegetables in it, and would certainly recommend it.

Le Canard.

"En aiguillettes, aux cerises et amandes fraîches."

Ojan's dish was more dainty, three slices of duck, with three almond topped cherries.

I don't like duck, and didn't want to try this, but Ojan insisted, saying I'd like it.  I didn't.

Yes, the duck was tender.  It was cooked medium, as Ojan had opted for (they asked how he wanted it cooked, he said however the chef recommended).  But I didn't like it.  He didn't either really, but was glad to have tried something different.  Given what I saw of the other dishes, I think he would have liked the beef the best.

Bonus! Pommes Puree.

While we were dining, the woman next to us asked if they could also somehow have a side of the pommes puree.  She tried explaining these to her date as life changing mashed potatoes, and I enthusiastically agreed, as I had them at the London L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, and remembered them fondly.

I set about telling Ojan all about the pommes puree too, and, when our main dishes showed up, so did some pommes puree.  And not just one small side serving, two bowls, one for each of us.

For the uninitiated, these are pretty famous potatoes.  Just search for "Joël Robuchon mashed potatoes", and you'll find more material than you care to read about them.

What makes them so famous?  Well, for starters, don't bother call these mashed potatoes.  You don't need to speak French, but at least call it potato puree.  Mash it is not.

You don't want to know what goes into these potatoes, from a nutritional, or labor aspect.  Some spoilers though?  2:1 ratio of potato to butter.  No joke.  And they get passed through a ricer.  And a sieve.  The process takes many steps.

But the result is indeed incredible.  It is impossible to describe the texture.  You have never had potatoes this creamy and smooth.  And the flavor is so rich, that you likely wouldn't know it was potato.

Delicious, insanely creamy, but oh so rich.  Did it go with my delicate fish?  Well no.  But that didn't stop me.  I did actually try dunking a spoonful in my broth, and that was surprisingly tasty, almost like a light gravy with the potatoes!  We appreciated the bonus dishes, again, a complete surprise as this price point.

Dessert

And finally, time for what is often my favorite part of a meal: dessert!

Except, at Joël Robuchon, I actually wasn't really looking forward to dessert.  The desserts were all pretty weak at every other Joël Robuchon establishment I visited.  When I was in London, I didn't even bother ordering dessert, the menu was that unappealing.

And to be honest, I wouldn't have ordered it here either, if it wasn't included.  We had the choice of a cheese plate, or three sweet options.  One was inspired by coffee, one was lemon, and one was apricot.

Cheese is never my dessert of choice.  Both Ojan and I really dislike lemon desserts.  Ojan can't have any caffeine, and I tend to avoid it, but I still opted for the coffee choice given no better options.  Ojan was stuck with the apricot.

Desserts are ordered at the same time as the mains, since it is a fixed menu.  They showed up with proper pacing after our main dishes were cleared away.  The plating was just as exquisite as the starters.

Decaf Americano. €5.50.

I always like coffee with my dessert, as I like the bitter pairing with a sweet dessert.  Since we didn't actually order our desserts at the end of the meal, no server came to ask if we wanted more drinks either.  I had to order the coffee when the dessert arrived, less ideal for me, but it was quickly delivered.

My decaf Americano was fine.  No strange decaf funk, not really remarkable though.  Served with sugar and no creamer.

I was glad to have it, but at €5.50 it was quite expensive compared to the meal itself, and even to coffee in other places I visited in Paris.

Le Cafe.

"Gelée périe noire, chantilly gianduja, sable au chocolaté orange."

I really had no idea what to expect with this dish, the server just told me it was a dessert inspired by, and used, coffee.  Even once it showed up, I still had no idea what I was eating, although yes, most bits did taste like coffee.

Starting with the center, a quenelle of ice cream, coffee flavored I guess.  Creamy and smooth.

Next to that were balls of a creamy mousse-cream (again, coffee?) coated with a layer of sweet ganache.

The other cream was smaller puffs of what I guess was the gianduja chantilly, with discs of chocolate perched on top.

Finally, some dark brown gelées, and a chocolate cookie crumble.

The ice cream wasn't anything special.  I didn't care for the gelée.  The two creamy components were good enough, but not particularly interesting.  I did like the chocolate cookie crumble; it was salty, and had some nibs in it.  It was nice to have bites of cream and crunchy cookie, but, satisfying this was not.

It did look lovely though.

 L'Abricot.

"Gâteau au formage blanc caramelize, glace à la verveine."

And Ojan's option ... the apricot.

Neither he nor I were excited about this, but the server did tell us it had cheesecake bites, which sounded like could be good at least.

The "cheesecake bites" were the "gâteau au formage blanc caramelize", which, while yes, technically a "cheese" "cake", it certainly wasn't cheesecake.  Instead, they were jiggly squares, most like a custard than a cheesecake.  I didn't actually taste anything remotely formage blanc-esque.  I did like the brûléed top though, a nice touch.  Really, this was more of a play on crème brûlée than cheesecake.

The star attraction was the apricot I guess.  It was ... a whole apricot, cut in half, and glazed.  Nearly impossible to cut into with the spoons we had.  We had no forks nor knives, so this was really awkward.  Ojan gave up after a few tries and just left it.  The glaze was just sweet apricot puree.

There was also a little orange colored cream, neither of us could identify that either, perhaps it too was apricot infused?

And finally, in the center was a quenelle of ice cream.  We didn't know what flavor it was, and I kept saying it was something Persian-like, perhaps cardamom? Or rose water?  Or saffron?  When I looked it up later, I learned that it was lemon verbena.

I didn't really like anything about this dessert.  While mine had some redeeming qualities, this one really didn't.  Neither of us bothered finish it.

Mignardises.

And finally, a little platter with mignardises.  Again, even with a 3 course lunch menu, these elements were included.

I'm never a fan of madelines, so the madeline was entirely lost on me.  I tried it, but yes, just a madeline.  Ojan took a single bite and discarded his.

The chocolates on the other hand were great.  Ojan got to his first, and immediately proclaimed that I'd like it, telling me nothing else.

Thus I was shocked when I bit into it, and the shell gave way to a smoothy, creamy salted caramel.  This was quite good, so I managed to leave the lackluster dessert portion of the meal very happy.  Bonus migs for the win!

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