Dad’s birthday coincided with the trip, and while he had to spend the actual day on the flight home, we decided to pre-celebrate his 55th in a place fitting for the occasion. Taillevent, holder of Michelin stars for 60 years seemed a natural choice.
The cork off our bottle and Taillevent's wine card
The meal starts off with a warm welcome at the door by the maitre’d, who led us into the main dining room, one dressed in oak wood panels, neither too formal nor intimate. Perfect for business lunches, as many of our fellow diners seemed to be doing. Warm, cheesy gougeres appeared on our table while we considered the menu, a plate on each side of our four-top to prevent potential fights over the extra gougere. Our bread plates were freely filled by the conscientious bread steward, both white and wheat versions excellent, warm to the touch, crusty and with pillowy soft crumb. In general, service was excellent, from my email correspondence to the warm welcome by the maitre’d at the door, and the proper but not oppressive service by servers who seemed happy to serve, neither trying too hard to be your friend, nor coldy snobbish. Taillevent is known for its amazing cellar, and besides an impressive wine menu, they also provided a small card listing the different varietals and their most desirable age, a cheat sheet of sorts for the lesser vinophiles. Since it was a celebratory meal, we splurged on a 2000 vintage Volnay, smooth and restrained, no outsized flavors and pleasant with meat.
Game aspic and mushroom cream
The amuse bouche was a cold aspic made with game, topped by mushroom creme. Ma hated it, I thought it was alright, nothing distinguishing.
lobster + eggs
We had 3 choices of both appetizers and entrees from the 80Euro lunch set. Pa and I picked badly for entrees, the white bean soup with ravioli was too sour, too cheesy and thick, and ravioli undercooked. But Mum and Pak’s appetizers were heavenly, Mum’s scrambled eggs infused with the concentrated sweetness of lobster in every bite.
Foie Gras
Pak’s foie gras was as traditional as it came, a thick puck with a jam based top, served with what else? brioche toast. I totally had plate envy, it was very yummy.
Scallops with spinach puree
Veal chops
Ma’s scallops and our veal were well cooked but not impressive at all.
Hazelnut chocolate cake with amaretto ice cream
Pineapple napoleon
A cheese course preceded dessert, where three of us picked the sinfully rich, chocolately dacquoise packed with nutty flavor, while dad went for a pineapple based dessert, pineapple being one of his favorite fruit. Before dessert, the servers brought out an oversized glass sculpture with candles for my dad to blow out. Oddly, it was not a cake or even anything edible. Oh well.
petit fours
Petit fours were passed around at the end of our 2+ hour lunch, a plate for each of us to prevent disagreements. Classy. Of the 5 bites, the peanut brittle and sesame seed tuile resembled chinese desserts and the fruit pastille tasted like haw flakes. Big hits with my parents of course.
In summary, a good meal with exemplary service, but I can’t help but feel disappointed by the pedestrian cooking, reminiscent more of a high-end hotel buffet than a 2 star restaurant. I was not expecting anyone to reinvent the wheel, still, I had hoped for something special.
Taillevent
15 Rue Lammenais, Paris
www.taillevent.com