It was in 2008 Nov.
Wow I really feel privileged . I was not good at blog writing those days so just jotted down a few lines then . pardon my haphazard writing .
Michelin is a Tyre company which comes out with good places to eat in their travel book every year . Around the world they travel to good hotels and go incognito as reviewers and rate the food and ambiance . 3 star Michelin is THE ultimate honor any chef can get . Every year this rating is done . If the number of star falls , ( insiders have told us ) most restaurants close down or some chefs commit suicide they cant withstand the insult.
One of the first and fine dining experiences of France is described underneath.
L'Arpege is one such 3 star restaurant in the heart of Paris. Many people come from Japan or New york here only for lunch and then fly back. Such is their reputation . We left our kids at 12:00 at the creche and ran to the hotel as our appt was at 2 pm . The waiter there was kind enough and he said he will decide the dishes and wine for us . Both of us were ill at ease as we were still not used to the French dining . We were hardly 1 year old in Paris .
The chef Alain PASSARD apparently realised that the French dont eat much vegetables. He is known for vegetarian cooking . We have heard that he grows his own vegetables.
We started with a good wine from Navarre. It makes the best wine in France . We had a 9 course meal . Starting with potato gratin ( potato, cheese , cream topped with Malaysian pepper ) , salad , beetroot gnocchi , potato gnocchi , eggs ) I don't know how they manage to do it , inside the original egg shell they add egg whites, yellow , creams and other spices ) , sweet onion gratin , dessert ( hazelnut sauce with crapes and choc sauce ) , a cheese trolley , sweets trolley ( all home made , no chocolate was shop bought ) and finally coffee. Did I miss out any course . whew !!! it was a full 9 course dinner and by the time i finished 6 courses I could go no more . I was full but managed to take a few bites.
It was just wow . I managed to click some pics of the dishes we bought . Next to us were some Japanese youth who were clicking pics like mad . They clicked pics of the knives, forks and what not ... by the time we finished it was well past 4 30 pm . whew took us more than 2.5 hrs for lunch . I was soo full that I could not walk properly and tired and sleepy from all that heavy food .The bill per head would have come to more than 200 euros . I don't think i will get any such chance to dine at such a fine restaurant again . Only one Indian restaurant has 1 Michelin star in London ZAIKA . The rest are French, American or Japanese. Wow its just wow . I can only thank my luck I got this chance.
L'Arpege is definitely worth more than one visit .
Wow I really feel privileged . I was not good at blog writing those days so just jotted down a few lines then . pardon my haphazard writing .
Michelin is a Tyre company which comes out with good places to eat in their travel book every year . Around the world they travel to good hotels and go incognito as reviewers and rate the food and ambiance . 3 star Michelin is THE ultimate honor any chef can get . Every year this rating is done . If the number of star falls , ( insiders have told us ) most restaurants close down or some chefs commit suicide they cant withstand the insult.
One of the first and fine dining experiences of France is described underneath.
L'Arpege is one such 3 star restaurant in the heart of Paris. Many people come from Japan or New york here only for lunch and then fly back. Such is their reputation . We left our kids at 12:00 at the creche and ran to the hotel as our appt was at 2 pm . The waiter there was kind enough and he said he will decide the dishes and wine for us . Both of us were ill at ease as we were still not used to the French dining . We were hardly 1 year old in Paris .
The chef Alain PASSARD apparently realised that the French dont eat much vegetables. He is known for vegetarian cooking . We have heard that he grows his own vegetables.
We started with a good wine from Navarre. It makes the best wine in France . We had a 9 course meal . Starting with potato gratin ( potato, cheese , cream topped with Malaysian pepper ) , salad , beetroot gnocchi , potato gnocchi , eggs ) I don't know how they manage to do it , inside the original egg shell they add egg whites, yellow , creams and other spices ) , sweet onion gratin , dessert ( hazelnut sauce with crapes and choc sauce ) , a cheese trolley , sweets trolley ( all home made , no chocolate was shop bought ) and finally coffee. Did I miss out any course . whew !!! it was a full 9 course dinner and by the time i finished 6 courses I could go no more . I was full but managed to take a few bites.
It was just wow . I managed to click some pics of the dishes we bought . Next to us were some Japanese youth who were clicking pics like mad . They clicked pics of the knives, forks and what not ... by the time we finished it was well past 4 30 pm . whew took us more than 2.5 hrs for lunch . I was soo full that I could not walk properly and tired and sleepy from all that heavy food .The bill per head would have come to more than 200 euros . I don't think i will get any such chance to dine at such a fine restaurant again . Only one Indian restaurant has 1 Michelin star in London ZAIKA . The rest are French, American or Japanese. Wow its just wow . I can only thank my luck I got this chance.
L'Arpege is definitely worth more than one visit .
