THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Restaurant Paris

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Restaurant Paris Restaurant Review:

The youthful, prepossessing team, led by room manager Benoit Legros, has cast aside the oftentimes stern and pompous attitude of the great old palaces. Chic without ostentation, Restaurant Paris harbors a distinguished, bourgeois clientele from its prestigious neighborhood: the Senators, Representatives, and publishers who exchange soft conversations and watch through the oversized double windows the typical hustle and bustle of a lively Parisian artery. The décor is a replica of the Art Deco dining room of the famous pre-war ocean liner “Normandie,” with a touch of Sonya Rykiel and a couple of modern sculptures, blond wood paneling and sparkling tableware. The space is snug and inviting: the right showcase for the cuisine of Philippe Renard. This earnest artisan belongs to the vanishing category of chefs who stick to their ovens rather than running around the world to duplicate and multiply their original eatery. At the helm of Restaurant Paris, Renard has satisfied his knowledgeable patrons for years, maintaining a constant high level of cuisine with serious forays in modernity evolving with the seasons. In winter, his welcome greeting consists of a comforting cauliflower cream with foie gras. It’s difficult to resist spreading on a toast the seaweed butter presented on the table. On the menu, dishes can be served in half portions that make the bill lighter and also allow tasting more of the offerings. They are tempting, indeed. Expect, of course, foie gras, truffles and lobster of the best quality, and taste what refreshing complexity the richness of avocado and the sweetness of grapefruit and mango in a Colombo juice can add to the “Tourteau,” an iodized and salty crab from Brittany. The texture of the Brittany lobster, that of the John Dory, matches with the pig’s feet and ear and the contrast works well. Seaweed and lime enhance the brill cooked on its spine, accompanied by épeautre (a rare kind of wheat) perfumed with pumpkin. Dishes are crafted with minute details, including carefully proportioned exotic fragrances that do not collide or shock. Carnivores should not miss the roasted beef from Salers, a little-known breed from central France that offers some of the most sapid meat in the world. Desserts use many tropical fruits; passion fruit, coconut, pineapple, lychees and mangos modernize the traditional Saint Honoré and others. Chocolate, in its many aspects, is the highlight of the desserts. The superb wine list is commented upon by competent sommelier Philippe Sochon. At lunchtime, a business lunch is served, comprising three dishes in half portions, a glass of wine, mineral water and coffee for €65, which considering where we are is not outrageous.