Restaurant Le Gabriel, Paris, 4/16/24

hotel exterior – 42 Av. Gabriel, 75008 Paris, France

Le Gabriel is the signature restaurant in La Réserve Paris Hotel under the direction of chef Jérôme Banctel.  He invites guests to take a culinary journey with him without leaving Paris, through 3 different tasting menus.   The “Escale” is a 4 course menu that is only offered at lunch, while “Virée” and “Périple” are offered as 7 or 9-course menus at dinner.  The only supplement was the addition of a cheese course and 2 levels of wine pairings were available.  La Réserve was once a private mansion built in 1854 for Napoleon III’s half brother.  The restaurant opened in 2015 quickly earned 2 stars and in 2024 it was elevated to a 3 Michelin star rating.  At the hotel door the staff will lead you through the bar and other dining rooms to the small room with just 9 well spaced white cloth covered tables.  The elegant room has an elaborate ceiling and windows to the outside along 2 walls.  The stuffed chairs all come equipped with a slide out purse holder that is hidden in the seat of the chair.  The staff were friendly, efficient and helpful while keeping the meal at a comfortable pace.  I was excited to see that Gaëtan Lacoste from Le Clarence had joined the team as Chef Sommelier. Continue reading

Le Clarence, Paris, 11/30/18

exterior
exterior

Le Clarence has been around about 3 years and is in the private mansion of Prince Robert of Luxembourg, who is also President of a wine estate in Bordeaux, Domaine Clarence Dillon.   The building has been meticuously restored and decorated to provide a ‘lived-in’ feel while still being quite elegant.  There are three small dining rooms, each with a different decor, and a large area upstairs lounge to relax and have cocktails or after dinner drinks if you prefer that to sitting at the table.    There are also some private party rooms.  Some rooms have windows to the street and other have windows looking over the courtyard toward the glassed in kitchen area.  Beautiful carpet is on the floors topped with large widely spaced tables draped with pale green satin underskirts topped with white cloths whose color scheme perfectly mimics the charger plates on the table (marked with the CD logo).  Chef Christophe Pelé works some 2 star Michelin magic on the 3 different tasting menus that are offered.  Wine pairings are available.  There was also a truffle supplement offered the day we were there but we opted to just have their longer tasting, Menu Le Clarence. Pacing and portion control were great as was the service.  Every need was happily attended to and afterwards they showed us around some of the other rooms as well as having a printed menu of what we had for me. Continue reading