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| The Dining Room |
Just before leaving home for St. Pancras and the Paris-bound Eurostar we read that Helene Darroze has been awarded a 2nd Michelin star - and though we later discover it's for her restaurant at The Connaught in London and not the one in Paris, we still bask in the warm glow of reflected glory - how clever of us to have made reservations at her particular restaurant on this particular day. So smug are we, that we mis-remember the name of the street (that should be rue d'Assas, not rue d'Arras!) and only make it to the right address by the skin of our teeth, moments before the kitchen closes at 2.30pm. Phew, that was a close one.
Stripped of our heavy winter coats and overnight bags, we are whisked upstairs to the dining room - there's a more casual dining option on the ground floor - and, with a sense of urgency, the Maitre d' recites the fixed price menu choices. The 4-course 54 euro menu keeps it simple with just 2 choices in each category, so it's easy to make a quick selection, and we both go for the same: scallop tartare followed by lamb. The wine list next and something I've never seen before: wines are divided into 4 price groups - the cheapest band being 80 euros and I think 360 euros was the top bracket. Eye-watering. So much so that I have erased the finer details from memory already. We ask for the by-the-glass list and choose glasses of a dry Vouvray and a Condrieu to start with.
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| Scallop Tartare |
Thin morsels of cured prosciutto-style ham are presented to graze on while we wait for the scallop dishes to arrive, which are so silky they melt in the mouth. Another interesting quirk is the use of the spork, though these must be the fanciest versions I've ever seen, and for the most part they do the job, if a little awkward with the slender discs of scallop. These are gently bathed in an oyster sauce and sprinkled with tiny caviar - such lovely fresh, briny flavors we have to remind ourselves that we are in Paris and not sitting by a rock pool.
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| Farmhouse Egg |
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| Lamb Rack & Rolled Breast |
We just have time to order a couple of glasses of red before the entrees arrive - a St. Joseph 'Offerus' and a Nuits St. Georges - to accompany a mini rack of lamb with a piece of rolled stuffed breast, button mushrooms and a puree of celeriac. Thankfully the sporks have now been replaced with forks and knives - the knives are stamped with the Darroze name and we're told they are a specialty of the Landes area, home of Chef Darroze. However the meat is so tender and perfectly cooked that even the sporks might have managed.
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| Dessert |
We've both chosen the chocolate dessert and are not disappointed - milky chocolate mousse sitting on top of a skinny chocolate financier with a slice of pink grapefruit and a dark chocolate sauce. The pink grapefruit is gatecrashing the party and is totally out of place, but otherwise all the right buttons are pushed.
By now the restaurant is emptying out - though one party is on to the Armagnac stage, at lunch! Only in France! We order coffee and it arrives with a dish of chestnut and cassis macaroons. Intense cassis masks the rich chestnut cream, our stomachs are groaning but we leave nothing but crumbs.
Service has been impeccable, if a little hasty, but then we were up against the clock from the moment we arrived so it's forgivable.
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| Macaroons |
This restaurant still has a way to go before it gets 2 stars, but it's making all the right noises. As we leave we run into a consultant who works with Chef Darroze in London as well as in Paris - there's clearly a connective tissue between the two venues which is borne out by the authenticity in the food. We've eaten better, and for less, at one Star restaurants in London, but there was a certain frisson to being here on the day that the Michelin Guide (in its 100th year) recognised Ms Darroze in both cities.
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