40th Birthday in Paris

My wife and I are going to Paris in September to have a blow out for my 40th birthday. We are staying in the First Arrondissement for five nights and, although, location is not the issue, are looking into where we should eat while on our trip and in particular where we should have my birthday dinner. The obvious choices for the special dinner are Guy Savoy, Pierre Gagniere or Alan Ducasse. Since Joel Rubichon doesn't do reservations, we are going to save that meal for a lunch. Has anyone been to any of these fine establishments lately? It has been awhile since I have been to Paris so I am looking for some intel on special places we should go for our five dinners. Thanks in advance.

My wife and I went to France and Italy last fall and eat at some amazing places. While none are at the level of those you mentioned, some may make a great choice for your other nights. Note that many restaurants are closed one or two days a week and reservations for dinner are appreciated, if not required, even at causal restaurants.

Le Repaire de Cartouche
8, Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire
75011 Paris, France
01 47 00 25 86
Closed Sunday and Monday
Bistro recommended by Patricia Wells and Robert Parker, among others.
http://www.patriciawells.com/paris/ptables-combined.htm
http://www.erobertparker.com/members/gazette/hg493.asp
We ate here on our first night in Paris and it could not have been more perfect. This is a small, cozy bistro. Classic bistro cuisine, excellent wine options, and friendly service. On my other computer I have some notes on what we ate, which I'll try to dig up and post at some point soon.


Au Trou Gascon: Cuisine from Gascony.
40, Rue Taine
75012 Paris, France
01 43 44 34 26
Open Monday to Friday, for lunch and dinner.
autrougascon.fr
Lots of mentions on Liebowitz’s site. See http://www.davidlebovitz.com/paris/
We ate here for dinner on Monday night. This place has one Michelin star, if I recall. Excellent, creative food. Again, I'll see if I can find notes on what we ate.

La Rotisserie du Beaujolais
19, Quai Tournelle
75005 Paris, France
01 43 54 17 47
From David Leibovitz: “Spit-roasted meats spin continuously, at this Seine-side restaurant. Roasted game and chicken are good bets. Open Sunday.”
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/paris/
From Le Figaro “[Open] every day except Monday from 12h to 14h and 20h to 22h15.”
It was slightly more difficult to find a place open on Sunday night, but this place was recommended as a quality, causal choice. We enjoyed the food -- we had a roasted bird of some sort and a rabbit terrine, if I recall. It was good, but not great and I think we'd be much more excited to try other places next time we visit.

Les Fines Gueules
43 Rue Croix des Petits Champs
75001 Paris, France
01 42 61 35 41
lesfinesgueules.fr
This is a very casual, cute place that we went for lunch one day specifically to try the famous steak tartare. It did not disappoint!
From David Leibovitz (if I recall): "As an American in France, getting into the French staple of steak tartare means getting past it's resemblance to an uncooked hamburger patty. At Les Fines Gueules (2, rue la Vrillière, 1st) near place des Victoires they have cap-and-gowned the French standard by hand chopping Limousin beef (the best in France) and tossing the raw meat with white truffle oil, parmesan and sun dried tomatoes. Certainly not a traditional preparation, but an unbelievably delicious part of this American's weekly diet."

Chez Virginie
54, rue Damrémont, 18th
http://www.chezvirginie.com/gb/index.php
This is a cheese shop that specializes in raw milk cheeses from small farms in France. We told them we are raw milk newbies and asked if they could put together a selection of things for us to try. We grabbed a baguette at a nearby boulangerie, a butter knife from a nearby hardware store, and found a nice park bench to sit and eat.

Informing the sommelier that you “know food”,
followed by “Garçon, have the chef cook for me!”,
might lead to an interesting experience,
or so I’ve read.

I had lunch at Savoy in December. They had a one table per day internet reservation only lunch special for 100 euros a person and you could order any three courses off of the regular menu. I suspect that this offer was extended to more than one table per day but I'm not certain. I believe it is still available but you may have to send an E-mail and specifically ask for it. I've previously dined at Ducasse and Gagnaire. I think the quality of food at Gagnaire is a bit uneven and Ducasse is just no fun. As an overall experience, I much prefer Savoy (I've also had dinner there 3 or 4 times over the years). By the time you finish your dessert you'll be cracking up. The place is lively, bright and the service is wonderful. I did have a problem with the wine list. Finding something decent for less than 100 euros was not easy. I don't know if this is any different than the current state at Gagnaire or Ducasse. So maybe lunch at Savoy and dinner at L'Astrance or L'Arpege?

We ate at Guy Savoy for our 10th wedding anniversary five years ago. Definitely one of our most memorable dinners ever. The wine "list" is a massive book that has to be wheeled out. There was a bread sommeilier. There was a guy at the front door whose only job that I could see was to wipe off our fingerprints after we touched the door. As our waiter explained, if you want it, just ask. Dinner does not come cheap. I believe it was roughly $1400 american back then and the exchange rate was 1.28. Would I do it again? Yes.

I've hesitated to jump into this but since Guy Savoy is on the table, I'm going to recommend another of his shops:
L'Atelier Maître Albert, which is in the Fifth (hence my earlier hesitation), not the Sixth. It's located on r. Maître Albert (nicely enough : ), which is right across the river from the middle of Notre Dame, just to give you co-ordinates. Wonderful space, excellent food, amazing wine list, and very very warm place overall.

Just a thought...

Geo

i made a reservation at guy savoy for the day before my birthday since i turn 40 on a sunday and they are not open. i am going to have to find somewhere else to turn 40, these are the kinds of problems i dont mind.