Arpege - Chef Alain Passard - Paris

I'm just back from a brief trip to Paris that was part work, part vacation. After a couple of days at a trade show, my wife and I spent a few days in pursuit of some great food. Needless to say, we found it in droves everywhere in town, from the most modest neighborhood spots to the most well-known temples of haute cuisine. At Arpege, where we had a 4+ hour lunch that has forever changed the way I think of food -- and will forever affect the way I think of vegetables -- chef Alain Passard blew our minds with his mostly vegetable cuisine. After cooking meat-focused food for decades, chef Passard opened Arpege, where the cuisine is largely based on food Passard grows in his gardens. We actually ordered The Gardeners' Lunch, which was a spectacular, multi-course menu in which intense and varied flavors were masterfully coaxed out of meatless dishes plate after plate. At the end of our progression, we did have a few optional meat courses -- and they were also fantastic -- but the immense success of the meal we had didn't rely on those meat courses. I would have left the restaurant equally awed if we'd skipped those dishes.

What follows is a photo recap of our meal with some very limited notes. We were served several courses that didn't appear on the written menus we received -- and those menus do not contain many details. Descriptions for many dishes were given verbally and I didn't stop to take many notes. But in the end, the glory of this meal was the emotional experience it provided, not necessarily the technical elements of the food we were served, flawless as they were. Not pictured are some house-baked bread, delicious almost-orange butter and an outstanding bottle of 2005 Domaine du Collier Saumur Blanc.


Arpege - 84 Rue de Varenne, Paris



Arpege - 84 Rue de Varenne, Paris



Arpege Folding Picnic Knife
I thought it was a bit odd that the knives (which were sharp as a mother, btw) noted the year, though I had a hunch as to why. Sure enough, after using the knives through our entire meal, our server wiped them down for us, folded them up and gave them to us to take home. I know I'm just an easily impressed flatlander but I though this was exceptionally cool.



Amuses | seasonal vegetables
Various root vegetables, including beets, parsnips and carrots in a plethora of forms.



Hot & Cold Egg
This famous dish was not on our menu but our captain made it clear that they would be happy to accomodate us with any combination of dishes from any of the 3 menus being offered during this service (full menu, Gardeners' menu and a shorter menu). As such, I had to order this because there was no way I wanted to dine at Arpege without having it. It was deliciously rich and creamy, and true to its name combined hot and cold elements all in one elegant shell.



Hot & Cold Egg
Inside the egg.



Radish Sushi
In this play on sushi, a delectable radish slice served as the fish atop a delicious mound of rice.



Onion Gratin | parmesan, butter
I could not believe how utterly delicious this awesome gratin was. It was bursting with a perfectly conceived and executed combination of flavors. I was sad to finish it.



Parsnip | praline
Creamy savory puree with a sweeter praline sauce in the center.



Orange Plate | carrots, bell peppers
We were told this was the orange plate and it was cool to experience such a theme carried out so expertly. There were carrots, bell peppers and other orange elements in a tasty medley.



Pumpkin Veloute | speck cream
A great savory pumpkin soup . . .



Pumpkin Veloute | speck cream
. . . garnished tableside with a rich cream that tasted just like its namesake meat.



Yellow Plate | squash, peppers
A companion dish to the orange plate, this one consisted of squash, more peppers and some other yellow ingredients that I'm forgetting.



Scallop
I loved this perfectly seared scallop, which was grilled in -- and still attached to -- its shell.



Celery Root | horseradish, Parmigiano Reggiano, lemon confit
These slightly al dente "noodles" were actually thin ribbons of celery root, garnished with horseradish, parmesan and lemon confit. Spectacular!



Robes Des Champs | argan oil, cous cous, merguez legumiere
Probably the most beautiful plate we were served. I'm told that robes des champs translates loosely into dressing up the countryside. So here, I imagine, the theme of the dish is essentially showing off what the fields, or chef's gardens, have to offer. The dish was amazingly delicious and the entirely vegetable merguez tasted very much like the traditional version, even though it was meatless.



Sole | roasted shallot, chestnuts, cabbage, beurre blanc?
Unquestionably the best sole preparation I've ever had the pleasure to eat. Everything on this plate sang to me in perfect harmony, even the chestnuts, of which I'm not normally a fan. The sauce (I think it was beurre blanc) was a perfect complement for the moist, tender sole. I loved the cabbage and the roasted shallot and did my best to eat the dish making bites that contained a little bit of each of the components on the plate.



Lamb
I'm pretty sure it was lamb 3 ways: shoulder, crispy leg and a piece of kidney. The other components were great with the lamb. I loved those little tiny tomatoes, which showed up in a few of our dishes.



Vacheron | smoked potatoes



Vacheron | smoked potatoes
As service wound down, some carts began to make the rounds. One cart held a variety of cheeses. The cart that came to our table (and most of the others) was serving Vacheron with smoked potatoes which, from what I can tell, is a fairly traditional combination. We were a little intimidated by the portion size here because we'd already had a fairly substantial meal. My wife actually declined this course. In spite of my concerns, I managed to polish off my entire slab.



Vacheron | smoked potatoes
As served tableside.



Mignardises
A beautiful variety of sweets to follow the cheese course. I really don't remember much about the specifics but we polished them all off. I think one of the macarons was green tomato and the other was apple but I'm honestly not certain. The little "flowers" are thinly sliced ribbons of apple that are rolled into roses and baked. More on these below.



Hazelnut Souffle
Phenomenal. It was so light, tasted intensely of hazelnut and was just barely sweet. Awesome!



Tart of Apple Roses
The little roses from the mignardise plate clustered together and baked into a pastry crust. This was even better than the single-unit versions.



Tart of Apple Roses | chocolate sauce
Oh, and it's drizzled with warm chocolate sauce, tableside.



Avocado Ice Cream | unsweetened



Raspberry Sorbet | unsweetened
At the very end of our meal, after we were so full that even the house knew and accepted it, we were served these, just for fun I imagine. It was crazy tasting them because they had absolutely zero sweetness. The avocado tasted just like a cool creamy version of itself. The raspberry was so tart my eyes nearly popped out of my head. It was a marvel to experience such silky textures given that no sugar had been added to either. Pacojet perhaps?

4 hours and 15 minutes after lunch began, it finally came to and end. It was a journey as much as it was a meal. It was spectacular at so many points and on so many levels, I'll always remember it as being truly special. When we said goodbye to chef and thanked him, he smiled and said "I did nothing special." Au contraire mon ami!

=R=

84 Rue de Varenne
75007 Paris, France
01 47 05 09 06

Holy cow, Ronnie! That looks amazing. I'm full just having looked at the pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Wow, what a great report! Definitely making me hungry and envious. What was the damage, if you don't mind?

fropones wrote:What was the damage, if you don't mind?

A fairly reasonable 130€ per person (+ the wine) which, for a Michelin 3-star meal is a very good price.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

fropones wrote:What was the damage, if you don't mind?

A fairly reasonable 130€ per person (+ the wine) which, for a Michelin 3-star meal is a very good price.

=R=

I was expecting a lot more! Definitely going on the list of places to eat if I ever take my dream vacation to Paris.

Given it's reputation, I'm surprised to see what looks like a rather plain decor and diners wearing polo shirts.

rickster wrote:Given it's reputation, I'm surprised to see what looks like a rather plain decor and diners wearing polo shirts.

It was actually a very elegant room but small. I think we counted 31 seats. I was also surprised to see such casual dress (which was coin of the realm when we were in Spain a few months ago) but it was lunchtime, which might explain it. Fwiw, the guy in the background of my pics was the only person not wearing a jacket or at least long sleeves. Being a person who always hates dressing up for anything, I pay close attention to such things.

=R=

Stunning!

Many thanks for this post and all the great pictures, Ronnie... Every single item served looked wonderful...

A

Fabulous experience and thank you for sharing.

Best,
Al

I don't know why, but I tend not to think of Paris as a place I want to return, but this meal has changed that for me. Just jaw-dropping.

A true joy to read. Thank you Ronnie!