我沒有去過Pierre Gagnaire巴黎餐廳,原因是聽說他的菜很莫名其妙,有些實在是太天馬行空,要我花大錢在巴黎吃這樣的餐廳門都沒有!
所以決定來吃他在柏林新開的一星餐廳,年輕的主廚,單點三道價位落在100歐元左右,這樣就算吃到雷也比較不心痛!
第一次吃法國菜配德國的Riesling,還不錯!女的侍酒師Alex是我在Val Thorens之後遇到算很好心的,推好年份的便宜酒,非常難得!
前菜和主菜都一食材兩吃以上,和Pierre Gagnaire巴黎的餐廳雷同,以這樣的價格,CP值算合理,雖然在柏林以這樣的價格吃菜算非常非常奢華了!
Amuse Bousch四道,有些比前菜或主菜還要精采!XD
我拜訪四個晚上,每晚都是不同的Amuse Bousch,年輕主廚的拿星野心很大!
以76歐元吃到和Epicure雷同的黑松露膀胱雞兩吃,絕對不輸Epicure,非常非常值得!主廚可以再來一塊的雞胸肉嗎?不過可能只有松露季節限定!
用餐氣氛很棒,不知道是柏林人不喜歡這種餐廳還是實在太貴,即使是週五或六晚上也大概6-7成滿桌,外場服務當然很貼心,有包包椅!女生光臨絕對是公主級服務,雖然水杯不是Baccart
主廚不在家,菜的水準仍然在,在Roel Bouchen一年,之後再跟Pierre Gagnaire的奧地利籍副主廚Thomas表現非常出色!希望有一天他可以回家鄉把奧地利菜發揚光大!
我會再訪!
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Hi 酥芙蕾, By any chance would you have any recommendations for Munich? I am open to all options from bistro to restaurants : ) Thank you
Hello Silvia, Thank you very much for attention to my blog. Most good restaurants or bistros in Munich open only for dinner, so you have to stay overnight in this big city. I’ve been to some restaurants only for lunch, so here is my list: 1.Königshof: (one Michelin- star) If you want to celebrate some special occasion with a great bottle but reasonable price, it’s my top choice. Also, you can ask for a table next to the window for great night views. 2.Pageou: newly opened last November by a Turkish chef Ali, who has an one Michelin- starred restaurant in Hamburg. It has 16 points in German GM magazine, which is the level for most one Michelin- starred restaurants. Good news is the prices are little higher than a bistro, so its CP value is high. I’ve been there three times. The first time is for the signature dish on the a la carte: whole duck (two people) for two services, and it’s totally worth it. The second time I visited for my friend, who wanted to have a soufflé. The third time I ordered a quail and rack of lamb. They were delicious. They change menus and a la carte very often, and I like it. The kitchen is run by a Ali and Elisabeth (The sous chef was in Königshof. ) I guess soon the restaurant would obtain the first star. I highly recommend now is the best time to pay a visit. P.S. You can ask a table with sofa in reservation, if you want to sit more comfortably. 3.Zwickl - Gastlichkeit am Viktualienmarkt : Many foreign tourists admire the meatball dishes here, but I think they are too salty. However, the beef tartar is really as delicious as I had in France. It is a crowded bistro, so please book well ahead! P.S. Do not visit restaurant “Tantris” in Munich. The food over here doesn’t deserve the second Michelin star. If you have any other question, I am glad to help you out.
P.S. I happened to see many of your comments and recommendations on restaurants on 忠道巴黎 :) so we valued both your recommendations and use them as our guide. Hopefully you will update your blog more often too as I believe there are many people constantly reading your blog too!!!:)
Thank you very much for your visit my blog. To be honest, I don’t put everything on my blog and don’t want to brag about that I have been to many Michelin-starred restaurants. But if you want to ask me privately, I can still share some helps, I hope. Sometimes I visit the same restaurant alone for more than 3 meals in 2-3 days if I like the chef’s ideas about creating dishes such as L’Abeille, L’Arnsbourg….. If I want to visit a new restaurant in France, I usually ask忠道站長 first to see if he’s been there before. He is more professional and better than me. But unlike me, he can’t visit the same restaurant for more than twice if he likes the restaurant. Sometimes the restaurant only offer him menus, but I am the person who always order a la carte alone.
Hi 酥芙蕾, Thanks so much for your prompt response :) Much appreciated!! The amounts of recommendation is said to be optimum as we will be there for a weekend only. And dinner's certainly a better option in our situation too so that we could do some visits during the day and enjoy the dinner at a more relaxing pace :) I've decided to go with Pageou and zwickl, especially pageou as you have visited it for 3 times.. Also, certainly you have been to much more restaurants that what you've uploaded, even 忠道站长described you as "frequent michelin visiter" XD And hopefully I manage to dine at restaurant Jean Sulpice this summer : ) Anyway, I'll be in France for few more months, so you might see me buzzing you more frequently :P
Hello Silvia, Since you can have dinner service in Munich, you have certainly more options than me. In Pageou, my personal suggestion is to avoid dessert. The desserts dazzling me in Germany were cooked by the pastry chef in the restaurant “First floor”. Even the restaurant Pierre gagnaire opened in Berlin can’t offer me a Soufflé in French standard. Save more money for desserts in Paris, if you visit later. If you are lucky enough, you can be served by one of my favorite waitress, Sarah, who is friendly and caring. If you want to visit other Michelin-starred restaurant in Munich, you have to understand that Michelin-Starred restaurants in Germany are not at the same level as those in France based on my dining experiences. For example, if the restaurant has two stars in German Michelin guide standard, it probably could obtain one if it were located in France. What I want to tell is you can’t have the same expectation as you had in French ones. Because I started my dining experiences from Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, I was a little down when I visited the restaurant of the same level in Germany. Moreover, German likes different temperatures from French. For example, French prefers the duck breast to be pink, but German prefers it to be “well-done”. For beef, French prefers “medium-rare” or “Rose” but German prefers “medium well”. As for local German pork leg, please avoid it in Germany. It’s very disgusting to have deep-fried pork leg with beers like locals. Obviously, it is like Swiss cheese fondues. The best place to have pork legs is in Alsace and for Swiss cheese fondues is in Chamonix. Only French chefs know how to cook them well. As for the chef Jean Sulpice, he is probably the most passionate chef I’ve ever met. I will never forget the moment last August when I met him for the first time in my life. As soon as I got down the taxi and enter the hotel L’Oxaly, he came out of the restaurant and gave me such a friendly hand-shaking. He knew I am a mountain person, so after dinner he showed me where to go for beautiful views on the map. However, the map was hanged on the wall in the reception area for public, so he personally took it down and handed over me. Very crazy, isn’t it? One more thing, he doesn’t speak English very well, so he asked his sommelier to do the translation to know how I feel about his dishes. Also, his restaurant doesn’t have receptionist, so his wife, Magali, is the person who answered my email and made the reservation. It’s way too dreamy. I will visit his restaurant for longer period this August, because I want to see if he has limits and if I can drive him crazy like one of his teachers, chef Jean-Georges Klein. After dining in his restaurant, only one problem comes: I enjoy eating with eyes and I believe that if the food doesn’t look appetizing, then they’re probably not good. The presentation in other French restaurants cannot compare with his. I am very welcome to share some suggestions with you about some French restaurants. P.S. 1. 忠道站長paid a visit to “restaurant Jean Sulpice” last winter and he told me he would never return due to bad presentation on his plates. I suppose it was busier for the winter than the summer. But I am still looking forward to visiting his restaurant this August. P.S. 2. If you have more budgets for accommodation, I will suggest you stay in Hotel Wernberg. It’s 1hr with a train to Munich. It’s a chateau hotel with a two Michelin-starred restaurant, and it’s worth the stars. I think most girls would scream about it. I’ve been there twice for its restaurant. Chef Thomas is a young passionate chef. At the same price for a menu, you can only dine in a restaurant in Munich with one Michelin star.
Hello 酥芙蕾, Lol so I should skip dessert in Pageou?:p But.. meal without a dessert feel so incomplete T_T like lack of a perfect ending XD And reading your blog, I found out that "first floor" is in Berlin instead of Munich yea.. Yep yep, I totally agree with you that Michelin Guide is more reliable in France than anywhere else. I learnt that over the years with experiences in Austria, Czech Republic and USA. Standards were certainly incomparable. Often the food were beautifully presented but taste wise, they were good but not great. Occasionally, I got more surprises in some bistros and restaurants in France. Thus, I started to visit bistros or restaurants of local cuisine or non-french cuisine and save money for french cuisine at restaurants in France. However, I have to say that Copenhagen and London are two exceptions!! :D Lol I did have pork leg in Munich a few years ago, it was overcooked and bland in taste as you described. Went to Strasbourg last December, should has asked for your opinion >"< And regarding cheese, I do not eat cheese but I love chocolate!! I know it's such a waste to live in France and not appreciate cheese ..Well..Hmm..Anyway Absolutely loving Bernachon chocolates in Lyon and Christian Camprini in Valbonne!! Knowing that you have a sweet tooth too :) would greatly appreciate if you could share more recommendations for chocolates and patisseries in Lyon and Southern France :D Regarding your descriptions for Jean Sulpice, he sounded so much of a warmth person. Must be a pretty good experience to have so much interactions with the chef, especially you know so much of food : ) But your description regarding his food presentation really lift up my curiosity :P I'd like to try his restaurant as he seems to use much local seasonal products, fresh ingredients from the mountain or local area, as I always believe "fresh ingredients, great food" Anyway, I'm glad to read that his restaurant is not as busy in summer in comparison to winter, that means it will be easier for me to book :P LOL, so unexpected to read that 忠道站長 would not return to his restaurant because of the not-so-good food presentation XD As he frequently suggested le baratin in paris for good and simple food with minimal or nil food presentation. And yea, That's another one that I would want to dine in too. But thanks for the heads up, most michelin-starred or equivalent restaurants mostly have their food beautifully presented, so as customers, we are so spoilt with these : ) Frankly speaking, unique or amazing food presentation will give me a great first impression but it's usually the taste that will bring me back to the restaurants :) And thanks for your recommendation for Hotel Wernberg but I've already booked the accommodation for this trip.. Some of the rooms do seems lovely and charming, not too extravagant as most luxury chateau hotel.. Perhaps next time ;p However I am going to choose to visit Dachau concentration camp to neuschwanstein castle.. Guess I must be the odd one -_-"
Hello Silvia, I know a menu without dessert is incomplete, but the desserts in Pageou didn’t blow me away. But it’s my personal opinion as a big sweet tooth because my expectation for a dessert is like Parisian sweets: beautiful presentation with elegant flavors. It’s way too high for most German pastry chefs. Sometimes I had sweets for breakfast when I stayed in Paris, crazy? The restaurant “first floor” is in Berlin, I know. You won’t visit Berlin for her desserts like what I did twice in Chantilly, will you? Unfortunately, my personal sweet list is only in Paris region. None of them is located in Lyon and Southern France. I am sorry that I can’t help you. I love chocolate, too. Who doesn’t? Le baratin is still in my wish list, because I had too much in Ledoyen last November. The presentation of the plate shows the beautiful colors and precise cutting skills. Then aromas and flavors stimulate and bring links to our memories. That’s why fancy ingredient truffle is so expensive. I don’t like cheese, either. I don’t understand why Europeans can have cheese platter. But I like combination of cheese and other ingredients. The reason why I visit Jean Sulpice in summer is the mountains can offer him many fresh herbs and flowers. Last year I saw one chef from his kitchen came out to pick up herbs directly behind the restaurant. In the winter time, all ingredients have to come from other area. He can’t cook truffle and caviar in the summer time. Therefore, he has to elevate normal ingredients with cooking techniques. For example, his egg dishes are the best I’ve ever had. Don’t look down on eggs, they are big time bitches, believe me. In my opinion, applying fancy ingredients is for a lazy chef. I want to see cooking techniques and chef’s personality on my plates. This is the beauty of cooking, isn’t it? Jean’s personality is all over every plate, and I am very sure about this. I tried his teachers’ dishes: Chef Jean Georges Klein, Pierre Gagnaire and Marc veyrat. They don’t have presentation like a painting, so the presentation is deeply into his heart. Also, his egg dishes reflect the memory of his childhood. In his book, it is said his mother cooks him eggs like the sun for breakfast. Last but not least, ehe is still striving for his third star, so he shows his best and bring perfection on every plate. I can feel it during the visit. Compared with other famous chefs with three stars, he is definitely more passionate and energetic.
Hello 酥芙蕾 :) It's okay that you are not familiar with chocolatiers or patisserie in Lyon or Southern France. Your recommendations for other cities in France and other countries already filled up much in our restaurant wish lists :D It's doesn't sound too crazy that you have cakes for breakfast if it's in Paris. I am totally agree with you that Paris is still the best place to find fancy decent but delicious desserts!! And sounds like Chantilly has nice desserts too. Maybe if I visit Chantilly one day, I should extend my stay in area to try them out :) And I agree with you that Ledoyen by Yannick Alleno was not as impressive. We went november last year for dinner and we were lucky enough to have him as the chef. Frankly speaking I prefer Eric Briffard to Yannick Alleno.. And I presume Jean Sulpice must be super amazing, even foodie like you who has tried so much good food yet still so high impressed by his cooking. If I manage to make a reservation at his restaurant for this summer, I will share my experience with you on your blog :) Having said that, I managed to book Michel Bras/Sebastien Bras restaurant for this summer. Have you been? May I know your opinion? :)
Hello Silvia, Paris is a good place for desserts. I do have another pastry list for Paris. I am not sure about the dessert in Chantilly recently, because my favorite pastry chef Ophélie Bares left Chantilly last November. I have not tried the dessert from the new pastry chef. I visited Ledoyen and met Yannick Alleno last November. His presentation of the dish is not so impressive. I am not sure if he still cooks or supervise every dish in the kitchen, because he kept greeting guests in the dining room. It's very bad, and I hate it. Eric Briffard is a chef still working in the kitchen. But I don't know where he is now. Jean Sulpice is trully outstanding. He was trained in Pierre Gagnaire in Paris for a while. Two weeks ago, I met chef Pierre Gagnaire personally and mentioned the name "Jean Sulpice". His master Pierre gave him a big thumb up. Jean Sulpice has Pierre Gagnaire's innovation, Marc Veyrat's herb and flower cooking and Jean-Georges Klein's cooking techniques. His dishes are full of advantages from his masters. His dessert has Parisian standard- beautiful and delicious. I haven't visited Michel Bras/Sebastien Bras, and I won't because I don't like a chef's story making a movie. A chef should work or travel in different restaurants and bring cooking techniques to the dishes telling thier own story and personality when they are young. I know promotion is important for a French resraurant, but guests will leave if your food is not that good. And I want to answer your question on 站長blog. I visited Flocons de Sel and La Bouitte last summer. It was a crazy trip. Chef Renaut(Flocons de sel) is another student from Marc Veyrat, his dishes V.S. Jean Sulpice is like Epicure and L'Abeille(Philipe Labbe). The quality for three stars is there, but a little lack of ambition. I've visited Flocons de Sel for two summers. The first one was WOW, but the second one was underwhelming. I am not as picky as 站長 about the room. But I like their warm service, much better than those prentious servcie in some five star hotel. If you visit their hotel, don't forget to have a breakfast with the mountain views. Their breakfast is the best I have ever had. As for La Bouitte,I pay the visit before it received the third star. It was WOW, and my first time in life to pick herbs and flowers in the Alps with the young chef Max. He had the ambition to fight for the third star last summer, but I am not sure about this summer. I don't know if you drive a car or you are a backpacker like me. If you are like me, then La bouitte can save money on your transportation, because it's on the way to visit restaurant Jean Sulpice.
Hello 酥芙蕾 :D Firstly thanks so much for giving me suggestions on flocons del sel and La bouitte :) I read your reviews on both the restaurants a few times :P Given that you mentioned that the dessert in La Bouitte was disappointing and 站長 mentioned that he was upset with one of the meal experience,sounds like the standard was not pretty consistent, a lil fluctuating to me, I decided to give Flocons De Sel a try :) Also, exciting to share that I've booked Restaurant Jean Sulpice in July too!! Looking forward :) (we will rent a car and do a road-trip or food-trip XD ) Regarding the Michel bras/Sebastien Bras, I haven't got a chance to watch the movie. I heard of him as 1-2 Australian chefs were used to trained in his restaurant and thus some of their dishes were "bras-influenced". When I dined at their restaurants, I was really fond of the "bras-influenced" dishes, and thus I am highly interested in trying his restaurant :) Paris dessert, I love many of them!! des gateaux et du pain, les patisserie des reves, jacques genin <3<3 but pls..pls share your list of paris dessert on your blog. I'm pretty sure many of your readers will be soOOo appreciated!!! And enjoyed reading your experience in L'Arnsbourg :) Another one to the wish list :)
Hello Silvia, may I know when you visit Flocons de Sel and Jean Sulpice? Are you going to stay in their hotel? I may ask them to take more care of you if I can have your name for bookings. Regarding Bras, maybe you can ask 站長.Perhaps he's visited that restaurant and can give you some opinions. My suggestion for you is put Bras booking in front of Flocons de Sel and Jean Sulpice. Because the French Alps are very cool in the summer(3-12 degrees in Val-Thorens), you don't easily get used to the hot sunshine after visiting the Alps. Because I don't have so many readers, I only want to share infos with someone like you caring about. Des gateaux et du pain has the best cheesecake.Jacques genin has good lemon tart, but his cheesecake is really disappointing. If you like chocolate, you have to try pierre marcolini. Wow! As for macarons, only Carette or Acide. In Pierre Herme, only Ispahan is great. Millefeuille is the best in the restaurant Relais Louis XIII. L'Arnsbourg will get at least 1 stars next year based on their dishes. I have faith in their chef.
Hello 酥芙蕾 So sorry for the delayed response. I was at overseas for the past week. I haven't booked the accommodation but surely I could let you know the details of my restaurant bookings and that's really kind of you!!:) Both are booked under my name: Silvia Sim. Jean Sulpice on 18/7 Saturday dinner and flocons de sel on 19/7 Sunday lunch. Also, thanks for the head ups for the climate. I wouldn't expect it to so cold in mid summer. Also, thanks for the recommendations for both Pageou and Zwickl in Munich. As recommended, the beef tartar in Zwickl was pretty good :) And for pageou, we didn't realise the waiting time for the duck to be around 70 minutes, so we ended up order stg else. Overall, we enjoyed both the food and the ambience. And you came to Lyon. Did you manage to dine at any restaurant in Lyon? Just a small recommendation, I had an amazing gastronomic experience in Le Neuvieme Art :)
Hello Silvia, it's fine. I can understant your situation. I forgot to tell you that the duck in Pageou needs a while. My mistake! But I am glad to know you enjoy dining in both restaurants I suggested in Munich. For Lyon, I know Le Neuvieme Art, but it is closed in August- when I visit Lyon. In Lyon, I have been to Pierre Orsi, and I like eating traditional French cuisine in his summer rose garden. For restaurant Flocons de sel, I've already asked them to take care of you as my friend. If you are not satisified with anything in the restaurant, please let me know. In this way, I can know how they treat my friend. For Jean Sulpice, his restaurant is still closed. But I will try my best to contact with them.
Hello 酥芙蕾 Aww.. Thanks so much for taking extra miles to look after your blog readers !! Feel so touched!!:) Dun worry even if you do not manage to get in touch with them. Recommending all these good restaurants on your blog providing your readers access to such information already helps a lot : D And August sounds like a terrible month to live in France T_T Hot weathers + All restaurants are closed in August :((( Anyway, looking forward for more updates on your blog :P
Hello Silvia, If you are very satisified with the dishes in Flocons de Sel, you have to talk with the chef with admiration in the kitchen after lunch service.He is a passionate chef and can speak English.He likes to know about guests' opinions.Please remember to say Hi to him and his wife for me.If the front desk manager, Audrey, serves your table,it is your lucky day because her service is the best.Please remember to say hi to her on my behalf, too. If you want to order a la carte, except for pigeons, other meat courses(beef, sweetbread, and lamb) are still my No.1 ranking. August is a terrible for European big cities-like Paris,Lyon, Berlin, Vienna..., because most star restaurants are closed for summer vacation. However, it's a perfect month for French Alps. I like hiking in the day (very cool, so not sweat a lot and I need to wear a jacket in Val Thorens) and enjoy cuisine when I am back to the restaurants. The mountains provides these chefs in this area fresh mushrooms, herbs and flowers. Last August, I went picking herbs and flowers with the young chef of "La Bouitte".He told me how and where he can pick fresh ingredients and we ate fresh herbs and flowers without washing. I will never forget that moment. The south France is really too hot, but this August I am going to visit one best restaurant in Arles- L'Atlier Jean Luc Rabanel. He looks as ugly as Chef Gordon Ramsy, but I heard he is the best in south France.
Hello 酥芙蕾 :) Yea yea sure, of coz I could say hi to them on behalf of you. Which name are you known to them? coz I only know you as 酥芙蕾 XD sigh.. Lyon is hotter than Southern France. It was 38 degrees today and 39 tmr, unbelievably! Having said that, I've been to L'atelier Jean Luc Rabanel. He was pretty creative in using different ingredients and herbs (some of them might not even seems compatible, so thumbs up for his innovation) and willing to try out new combinations for his cooking and they had complex combinations of flavours. Taste-wise, I prefer Alexandre restaurant in Garons to L'atelier Jean Luc Rabanel. On the other hand, my partner prefer L'atelier Jean Luc Rabanel, but we certainly enjoyed both meals. :) Interested to know your thought after your experience :) Talk about Gordon Ramsay, have you ever dined at any of his restaurants, especially his in London? Just wanna know whether I missed out anything XD
Hello Silvia, In Flocons de Sel,they know I am Souffle, so it is fine that you just mention "Souffle". Chef Sulpice's wife Magali replieded my email and told me that Jean would take care of you and wants to speak with you. Please remember admire his dishes if they are delicious and say Hi to him on my behalf. I can't believe Lyon is so hot. God bless you! After visiting Chef Marc Veyrat, I am looking for who can be as great as him. Last summer, it is chef Jaen Sulpice. Then I am going to visit Jean Luc-Rabanel this summer to see who is the best. I am glad to know you've been to his restaurant. Based on your opinion, his dhishes is full of his personality.It's good, isn't it? I have never been to Chef Ramsay's any restaurants in the world.I don't like celebrity chefs like Alain Ducasse, Joel robuchon...Two years ago, I visited one restaurant from Ducasse and Robuchon in Paris. The dishes were good, but it doesn't have spirit or any personality, not to mention fighting efforts or potential. Those chefs just want to keep their stars instead of fighting for next one. Therefore, I've recently more chances to young chefs like Chef Labbe or Chef Supice or young chef christoph Rüffer in Hamurg,Germany. Their fighting efforts and potential on every plate show perfection in every way of cooking. I can feel it after tasting many and many restaurants. So far out of Frenche Alps, my favorite restaurants are L'Arnsbourg (Baerenthal in Alsace) and Haerlin (Hamburg, germant).And I am still waiting for chef Jean-Georges Klein's new restaurant in September. he is also a perfectionist, too. How was your dining experiences in Flocons de sel and Jean Sulpice?
Hello 酥芙蕾 Finally went to both the restaurants and thank you sooOoo much!!! For the food, the requested special care and the picturesque environments ^^ However, I feel sorry as I think I might have revealed a lil too much of your information. I mentioned to Jean Sulpice that you have a food blog when he asked me how we met and he seems surprised to learn that you have a food blog. Anyhow, I'm sorry for that. Regarding Jean Sulpice, I was totally agree with you that he is quite courageous in using different ingredients, to certain extents, reminding me of L'Atelier Jean Luc Rabanel but his tastes were more distinctive. In general, I love desserts with tea flavours. But often the tea flavours are too soft and not outstanding. However his raspberry sorbet with Jasmine ice cream was pretty good, especially The jasmine ice cream which had a strong but soft jasmine taste. LOL I can definitely have a bowl of the ice cream XD Nevertheless, both restaurants were pretty good. Most of their dishes were flavoursome, have good presentations. Thank you once again
Hello Silvia, it is my pleasure to introduce my readers into my favorite restaurants. French Alps were not too hot and great for Haut cuisine in the summer, right? Don't feel sorry and worry about my information. I built this blog after my visit Jean's restaurant last summer. Of course he hasn't known this blog. I will explain to him when we meet in August. You love his dessert, don't you? The standard of his dessert is as good as or even better than I had in any Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris. He worked with Pierre Gagnaire before, so his creativity on ingredients is without limit. Tell me more about his dishes, please! Who did translation for you when talking with Jean? Magali(Jean's wife) or Fanny(the female sommerlier)? How about Flocons de Sel? Did they take good care of you? Did you talk with the chef?Tell me more about the food. Based on your reply, I am so looking forward to visiting Jean-Luc Rabanel. He learned cooking by himself, which is different from Jean Sulpice, who worked for Marc Veyrat, Jean-Georges Klein and Pierre Gagnaire.
Oops.. I probably shouldn't recommend you restaurant.. You've probably already went. 2 more days to August and presuming you'll gonna have more restaurant visits :D Anticipating for the blog updates!!:)
I have not visited any restaurants recently. My French alps starts in the middle of August. Therefore, you probably need to wait for a while. Of course you can share some restaurants with me. I like sharing very much. May I know your dining experience in the restaurant "Flocon de sel"?
Hello 酥芙蕾 OMG!! I typed a loOong page of my sharing report yesterday and message #11 was supposed to be come after that. Can't believe it's disappeared!! T_T Anyway, let me type another one. I am not too good with description but I'll try XD I think we met Magali at restaurant Jean Sulpice. She's friendly and smiley, such a lovely lady :) And now I forgot which restaurant actually asked me whether I like water at room temperature or cooler and I found that pretty attentive as most restaurants tend to serve water at cooler temp. Jean Sulpice's amuse bouches were beautifully presented and delicious in tasting. The meal experience started from the crayfish and egg yolk. The egg yolk really enhanced the taste of crayfish, making the dish more flavoursome. And then he showed his originality and innovation by serving lemon lake fish with sorrel and vanilla. Usually not a fans of vanilla but the taste of vanilla sauce was very fragrant, subtly sour but pleasant :) Following with snail plins pasta. A french dish with italian influenced and first time having escargots to be served in such way, pretty interesting! It's a little creamy but not overly rich, just nice :) And we had another beautiful seafood dish. For the main, we had the sweetbread. The waiter did check with us prior. Usually not a big fans of sweetbread or other internal organs but thought of giving it a try. It was acceptable and I finished it but probably next time I should just stick with the regular options =.= And as I did not eat cheese, instead he made me a bowl of mountain herbs/vege salad. A simple dish with fresh, clean flavours :) I enjoyed it! For the desserts, I probably won't repeat my opinions on the raspberry sorbet and jasmine ice cream :P but in two words, sublime and memorable : ) Next, we had apple meringue. This dish was aesthetic looking and elegance in taste. And we had the flame chocolate ball as our final course. I didn't know he was a creator of chocolate ball as I had similar dessert course in Paris in La Table d'eugene. I think both were pretty good but personally I prefer the chocolate ball in La Table d'eugene. On the other hand, I really like the interior design and woody decor of Flocons de sel, giving it a really relaxed and warmth ambience. Among the amuse bouche at Flocons de sel, my only fave was biscuit de savoie aux herbes as it had great flavours. We had the tomato and herb salad with the tomato-infused thin ice slab as our first course. Very refreshed and light, a good start for a summer lunch :) then following with the fera fish which was salt cured and served cold. Very palatable. And my fave in Flocons de sel was the pike biscuit with onion juice. The pike biscuit was so crunchy and the onion juice was full of flavours. We then had the venison fillet as our main. It was perfectly cooked to the rose color, juicy and tender. Fantastic!:) With the dessert, we had the summer fruit sald, wood ice cream and cedarwood chocolate tart. I was quite looking forward to the wood ice cream as I did not know what to expect. Turned out the taste was pretty subtle. The cedarwood chocolate tart was classic but nice. I found these 2 french alps restaurants involve much locality and seasonality into their cuisine :) I enjoyed both meals, had my own fave in each restaurant and most of the dishes had pretty refined taste and great flavours. Thank you!! P.S. In my previous response, I was wanting to say the Jean Sulpice reminded me of L'atelier Jean Luc Rabanel but personally I prefer Jean Sulpice as his dishes had more precise flavours and the combination of ingredients complemented better. But that was just my personal opinion, you would probably have a different experince : ) And in my "disappeared" message, I was wanting to recommend you Geranium if you do visit Copenhagen one day :) It was mind-blowing :D http://bourgogne.pixnet.net/blog/post/30521541-%E4%BB%A5%E9%A3%9F%E7%89%A9%E5%90%9F%E8%A9%A9%EF%BC%8C%E4%BB%A5%E5%91%B3%E9%81%93%E6%B8%85%E5%94%B1geranium-in-copenhagen-%E2%80%93-
Hello Silvia, thank you very much for the sharing! I am so glad that both French chefs took good care of you as I asked. For both restaurants, of course I tried all the dishes you had except for the venison in Flocons de Sel. Maybe I will ask the chef to cook it this summer. For Jean Sulpice, that sweetbread dish is very daring to eat with light sauce because most French restaurants serves with strong salty sauce to cover an odd flavors from the sweetbread. The other French chef serving the same way is Jean's master, Jean-Georges Klein. Both sweetbreads are my favorite.For the snails, it's like a marriage of French and Italian, right?Traditional French snails are serve with herbs and garlic due to its odd flavors. Jean puts snails into beautiful pasta fillings with techniques to show finesse. You may find many acidic flavors in Jean's dishes (lemon, wildberries, apple, rhubarb..). I love acidity very much because it extend other flavors. For Flocons de sel, maybe you should visit next time for more meat dishes. Beef, lamb and sweetbread are still my ranking No.1 after trying many other French restaurants. Did you talk with the chef in Flocons de sel after your meal? He can speak good English.You didn't tell him I have a blog, did you? After I try Jean-Luc Rabanel, I will let you know my opinions. Thank you for recommendation of Geranium. I will try it one day!
Hello 酥芙蕾 My pleasure for sharing :) and thank you once again. We had a quick chat with the chef in Flocons de sel. He was quite occupied that day as the restaurant was approximately 80% full. Will certainly try more of his meat dishes if I do visit again. I do not recall of telling him regarding your blog. I think I only mentioned to Jean Sulpice as he asked me how we knew each other, and thus I told him that I got to know you starting from your blog. :)
Hello Silvia, I am happy that you would certainly visit these two restaurants again in the future. They did excellent job to "babysit" you, obviously. For the blog,I will explain it to Jean this summer. Don't worry! Chef Renaut was quite focused at his guests' feedbacks when I visit Flocons de Sel in 2013. However, he has been quite distracted from the summer 0f 2014.I think the third star brings him more guests and less time to understand our feedbacks. The other problem for him is lack of creativity. I think he just wants to hold the third star at his hand. He doesn't want to take any risk to create more new dishes. Therefore, I had 50% the same dishes for my second visit. However, I am going to give him one more chance this summer. But Jean is different. He is still trying his best to create new dishes. He is putting perfection on every plate. And you can find his presentation is more beautiful than Flocons de sel. Moreover, Jean's desserts are really amazing to match French pastry standard. Can you believe that I had the same desserts when I visited Flocons de Sel in 2014? They even served me icecream and sorbet for dessert. It is really emabrrassing to French sweet culture. I can't believe they did this to me because they are not a icecream shop but a great restaurant. In my opinion, I like Jean more recently.
Hi 酥芙蕾, I do agree with you that Jean Sulpice has been doing great jobs in satisfying the tastebuds of his customers. And personally I do think he has a 3 star quality or potential :) I found more surprises when dining at his restaurant in comparison to Joel Robuchon's or Yannick alleno's. In fact, I was a little unexpected to learn that out of all the dishes that I had, only one dish is new to you. From my understanding, these restaurants usually will retain their signature dishes and make gradual changes to other dishes according to the availability of seasonal products. But it may due to your friendly requests, I was lucky enough to get to try all the signature dishes on my first visit :D I actually do not mind to be served ice cream or sorbet at such restaurant but I do think the Delivery method and flavours do matter. I still remember having meat sorbet (as a side for one of the dish) at Le Cinq a few years ago, it had an interesting yet beautiful taste :) at Flocons De Sel, I actually thought of ordering the ice cream after the full course but I was being told that the flavours were wood Ice cream,1- 2 herbes and a few fruity Flavour ( can't remember what exact fruit flavours but they were conventional choice like raspberries, ice cream flavours that you can easily get from an ice cream store), so I did not order it. And having said that, it's rare to see solely ice cream in the dessert section in 2-3 Stars', more common as a palate cleanser or to accompany the dessert course.
Joel Robuchon's restaurants is everywhere. I tried it once in Paris, but I won't visit it again because I don't know it is Chef Robuchon's or his young chef's personality. I visited Yannick alleno's restaurant Ledoyen for a week. He is the chef in this restaurant and works very hard. But I don't like he greets guests at every table during the serving hours.I know the promotion is important, but a chef should stay in their kitchen focusing their dishes when serving dishes. A restaurant can retain their signature dishes, but a chef should keep creating new dishes for the seam season year after year. Same menus for the same season every year means that the chef is lazy. When it comes to pastry, I regard them as importantly as main courses. They has to be presented beautifully as well as tasted with flavors. This is the spirit of French pastries. I can feel it on my plate if a pastry chef is willing to create a dish with passion and potential. Moreover, my standard to judge a dessert is from Paris and Chantilly. Ice-cream and sorbet on a plate are only a part of a dessert.Come on! Obviously, you have visited some great restaurant in Paris. Which one is your favorite now?
Came to check for updates on your website and came to realise that I have a long-due reply @_@ Joel Robuchon's, I went to his restaurant at Paris and he was there on that day. The food wasn't too impressive and I even think that his lamb was overcooked and too dry. Lol, isn't many chef greet their guests :P but I think many of them tend to invite guests to kitchen or greet their guests during dessert. However from memory Yannick Alleno greeted his guests before serving desserts. Besides, I went to Michel/Sebastien bras restaurant in early August. The dishes had great flavours but not much characters, like I dun get feelings of butterflies in the stomach. They also served ice creams too but in cones with very ordinary flavours :( I have only visited a few 2-3 stars in paris. My fave in Paris' still Le Cinq when Eric Briffard was the head chef. Frankly speaking I really love those parisian bistros. Good food at good price. My current fave is pottoka. I had a few pretty experiences with Bistro Belhara too. What about you? What is your fave restaurants and bistros in Paris? What do you think of Michel Rostang? I'm thinking whether I should pay a visit especially its salted butter caramel souffle sounds so attractive. Also, was planning to go to Epicure in June but had to cancel due to some unexpected condition. However, from 站長's latest blog, it didn't seem as attractive anymore. Do you think I should still go to Epicure if I haven't been there before or just try other restaurant?
I am sorry to know that your visit in bras restaurant was disappointing. There are some 3 starred restaurants in the French Michelin guide are better not to visit. When Chef Briffard was in Le Cinq, I love his dishes,too. But I love his student, Chef Phillipe Labbe, who left Paris and worked in the restaurant L'Arnsbourg. When he was in the restaurant L'Abeille, I visited this restaurant every night. Oh, I like his beautiful cooking techniques. I've been to Pottoka once. I took a seat at the bar. They served big portion of delicious food.It's very convenient for me because I always rent an apartment nearby.For my first evening in Paris, I always visit this bistro. As for my favorite bistro, it's neat Notre Dame. It's a scary bistro "Ribouldingue". I have been there many times for traditional food- claf's head and veal stomach. Wow, the best claf's head ever it was until I had it in Flocons de sel served with Sabayon. Be careful, this bistro is full of dishes with organs. Do you have guts to try them? I've been to Michel Rostang once.I will never forget his signature dish lobster salad-served in 12 small quare plates with 4 different sauces. It's one of my best lobster dishes.As for Souffle, I am sorry that we meet too late. The pastry chef Bares in Chantilly cooked the best souffles ever. She left the restaurant last November. As for Epicure, you can go if you want to try his signature dish- chicken stuffed in a bladder. This dish is more and more expensive. It would be better to sit in their beautiful garden. I have been there for three times, but I won't go for the fourth time. The reason is I didn't feel his creativity and ambition on every plate. The chef and the pastry chef just want to keep the third star with their signature dishes. Oh, this restaurant is very touristic on the weekends. Many tourists visit this restaurant. I don’t quite enjoy the noisy atmosphere. BTW, it’s very expensive, and sommeliers and some waiters/waitresses are arrogant. I hate them. I can suggest some restaurants for you Cobea (1 star)-I love the acidity on every plate. It’s small restaurant and full of local guests. I visit the restaurant every time when I am in Paris. L’Ambroise(3 stars)- I’ve never been there. But I heard it’s a good restaurant for traditional French dishes. Passage 53 (2 stars)- I’ve been there once. Very impressed with the Japanese chef. Akrame (2 stars)-I’ve never been there because they book a table with a credit card. I heard it’s a great restaurant. Relais Louis Xlll(1 star)- Signature dishes are delicious, but the sommelier is arrogant. La Table du Lancaster (2 stars)- I’ve never been there, but it’s always been in my wish list. Le Cinq(2 stars)-signature dishes are still delicious. But it’s a little too touristic due to four season hotel. Hiramatsu(1 star)- Japanese chef always works hard to cook in the kitchen. Great atmosphere.