To tell the truth, when entering the abode of one of the highly acclaimed citadels of haute cuisine in Paris, restaurant Alain Ducasse at the Plaza
Athénée, I was quite unsure of the prospects. This is because, the Chef de cuisine I had admired, Jean
François Piège, had left a year earlier to take the helm at Les Ambassadeurs in
Hôtel Crillon and I was not quite sure about the pedigree of the new Chef, Christophe Moret, who had come not from a fine dining place, but from the Parisian brasserie owned by Ducasse, i.e. Spoon.
My first impression, which fortunately did not change throughout the course of the meal, was positive. In my prior visit, I had found the overall decoration of the room to be too much like a luxurious hotel ballroom, which in fact it is. The decorator had tried his best to hide this with a few gimmicks, but the overall result, well, was not convincing. My conclusion may have been shared by the management too as, instead of hiding the fact that this room is essentially a ballroom, they have decided not to hide its essential nature but tried to balance the gilded/luxurious elements with contemporary motives, such as well chosen wood paneling depicting a stylish and anonymous man and woman, quite avant-garde but very comfortable chairs, wall to wall carpeting with geometrical designs, etc. In addition, some original sterling silver sculptures, designed by Folon, decorated each table and added a sense of contemporary chic. In short, in the new dining room which had received a successful face-lift, the old and the new coexisted in fine harmony.
The same can be said about the cooking style. In fact, I always associate Ducasse with a certain Cartesian
cum Baroque tradition in the sense that, among the notable Chefs of the time, he is probably the one most concerned with harmony and symmetry and excellence in the details of execution, and, at the same time, his traditional dishes in his Parisian temples tend to be quite elaborate and display a sense of grandeur. To some, such qualities may denote a lack of originality and perhaps may border on being boring. But close attention to his dishes reveals extraordinary qualities. Especially the most successful dishes one can get in Paris or Monaco at Louis XV reveal a certain subtlety and attention to detail which flirts with perfection. These dishes are quite complex and attempt to balance several tastes, but the combinations are well thought out and never fussy or random. That is, typical Ducasse dishes try to bring out the inherent intricacies of the main ingredient by associating it with several complementary tastes and the resulting marriage is symbiotic in two senses of the term. First, when the association is successful, the inherent qualities of the main ingredient shine through. Second, when the secondary ingredients respond well to the center ingredient, these more “pedestrian” ingredients, such as a crunchy cabbage or a potato, somehow gain in status and, although they remain supporting actors, they significantly enhance our culinary pleasure without stealing the show. Last but not least, the different elements of the dish are bound together by intense sauces, which are
Chef d’oeuvres in themselves, as they give no concessions to the dictates of market place and contemporary fads. No shortcuts are taken and honestly after tasting some classical dishes at Ducasse one feels both a nostalgia for
la belle époque and also a sense of spiritual bonding with the gourmets of the generations long gone.
To illustrate this rather abstract claim, take the
turbot en matelote, one of the six dishes we have had at Ducasse. Cut from the bone of a seven kg. turbot from Brittany, the thick turbot retains its unique qualities and is clearly the center of the dish. At the same time the rather hearty elements which surround the rectangular cut, i.e button mushrooms, country bacon (lard fermier), smoked eel and pearl onions, each retain their identity and bring out the rustic and meaty qualities in this glorious fish while they themselves are somehow tamed and taste more refined by this association. The limpid red wine and stock based sauce served with the dish reminds one of the true meaning of haute cuisine, that is a way of cooking without taking shortcuts and with no concession for cost and scarcity of labor. In the meantime, even the most minute details are thought out: such as the inclusion of a French version of croutons to soak up the sauce and to add a subtle textural contrast. Close examination reveals that all of the supporting ingredients are of equal size, perhaps revealing the Cartesian influence as well as a certain conception of excellence and respect for the client which I associate with the best of the French tradition.
If every single dish was as good as the turbot and the lobster or the squab, one could say that Ducasse merits a perfect score. Some dishes, however, did have some minor flaws. In our meal, these were the scallops or the lamb. The scallops for example
(Noix de Saint-Jacques: mache/avocat/truffe noire) were associated with some zesty flavors, such as avocado, mache lettuce and tart green apple, and with earthy flavors as well, such as Perigord truffles, used both as an emulsion surrounding the green sauce on which scallops sat and also sliced on top. One problem with the dish was that the scallops were a bit chewy, implying either overcooking or, more likely, not perfectly fresh scallops. This second is a more likely possibility as we had the dinner there on a Monday (March 14), and it is possible that shipment was received before the weekend. But even with perfect scallops, the association between tart apples and avocado and truffles is less than perfect. It is perhaps something that works conceptually in the sense that the inclusion of green apple in the avocado puree should help balance the dish in acidity. Perhaps it would have worked to use some apple juice instead of raw cubes of green apple. The problem is that, when the latter is used, instead of complementarity, and true association with the earthy (truffles) and sweet/iodine (truffles) elements in the dish, we end up with some unwelcome contrasts more reminiscent of a fusion dish than a classic dish, and our taste buds are put on alert but not satisfied as in the more subtle Ducasse dishes.
The problem with the lamb dish, on the other hand, was not that the association between the main and supporting elements was problematic. The problem here was the quality of the 6 weeks old Limousin lamb, which was not as succulent and tasty as one normally expects from suckling Limousin lamb. Indeed the preparation, which has been inspired both by Italian (farro and lemon peel) and North African (with dried nuts and fruits) traditions, was well thought out and synthesized, but unfortunately given the chewy and rubbery texture of the meat, even a great restaurant like Ducasse could not create a great dish. The problem here may be the fault of the management rather than the Chef. This is because, since the lamb is listed in the printed menu, even if the particular shipment is not of the highest quality, the Chef may be unable to take it off the menu until he receives a shipment to his liking. This is certainly not the case in some other temples of haute cuisine in Paris, such as L’Ambroisie and Arpege, where the Chefs are also the owners. These restaurants typically attract a gourmet clientele who will not be disappointed if Monsieur Pacaud or Monsieur Passard does not cook a dish printed in the menu if he is not satisfied with the delivery. ADPA, on the other hand, attracts a more mixed and possibly less discriminating clientele, and they may have a harder time to explain the absence of certain luxurious ingredients to their international clientele. So the surprising thing may be that unlike another Michelin three star restaurant, such as
Le Cinque at Hotel George Cinq, which essentially offers an assembly line version of Haute Cuisine, standards are so high at ADPA.
Fortunately, apart from the two less successful dishes, the rest and the desserts were perfect or near perfect at Ducasse. The langoustines, which was our first course
(Langustine, rafraichie, nage reduite, caviar oscietre d’Iran) before the scallops, were of exquisite quality even if the title is a bit misleading in the sense that, in this exquisite dish the langoustines play not the leading but the supporting role to bring out the qualities of the Iranian oscietra caviar. Of all the luxurious ingredients served in “great” restaurants I am often the most disillusioned with caviar and I miss the quality I was used to in my childhood where each grain of caviar literally looked like a pearl and exploded in the mouth and left a deep and not salty aftertaste. I was happy to see that the quality of caviar served at Ducasse was of much higher than the norm I have found elsewhere in top restaurants, and although it may not have been intended to be this way, the sweet langoustines did play a secondary role in this dish as a more interesting complement to caviar than the traditional blini. A novelty in this classical Ducasse dish, since the departure of
Piège, is that, this dish is now accompanied with a tiny cup containing shellfish broth with some subtle agrumes and ginger flavors, and this is a welcome addition to this luxurious and decadent dish, detracting nothing from the explosive taste combination of shellfish and caviar and adding a subtle contrast which balances the sweet/salty components with a touch of acidity.
The half kilogram Breton lobster which followed our exquisite turbot was also equally memorable. Served simply in its shell with fondant potatoes and earthy, smoky truffles, the simple looking association worked extremely well to highlight the dense texture and incomparable taste of the blue Breton lobster. The truffles were clearly sliced from a whole truffle just before they served the dish as they remained crunchy and very aromatic, and displayed the qualities of fully ripe Perigord truffles. Overall this dish was a textbook example of the so called
la mer et la terre type harmony, but what elevated this dish to a higher plane than just a very good lobster dish was the quality of the bisque that was served in the dish and left on the table in a saucepan. This shellfish reduction is often atrocious in lesser hands and when shortcuts are taken, but the version at Ducasse proves that a good shellfish reduction has no substitute in more avant garde cuisine. In fact, this very intense and flavorful bisque was at least on par with Roellinger’s version in Maison de Bricourt at Cancales, which serves some great lobster dishes. In fact, when savoring this dish, we felt transported to the beautiful Brittany coast at least in spirit.
We wanted to savor more of the high quality truffles before the end of the season and fortunately we got it with our final course, a squab
(Pigeonneau Rossini sauce Perigueux). This is very different than the Louis XV version (which is grilled and accompanied by a sauce which contains offals), but equally memorable. That is, in line with other dishes and great sauces, the dish sat in a pool of a true
Perigueux sauce which contained truffle
jus and a “marmalade” of crushed truffles and a dash of sweet Madeira. In addition fresh truffles were shaved generously on top and the thick sautéed piece of perfect quality duck foie gras that was served with the dish imparted an element of decadence and grandeur to the squab that one can associate with eating in Rossini’s times. The Madeira based
jus has lightened the dish and balanced the rather gamey flavor of the squab with a welcome sweet component. Finally the crunchy and non-oily potato chips or gaufrettes, which were served on the side, have added an element of humour and perhaps a textural contrast. As to the quality of the squab, I suspect from the size that it has never flown as it had not yet began to develop the slightly livery smell that pigeons develop as they grow.
The cheese selection also befits a restaurant of this caliber. Of the six cheeses we tried, I especially recommend a Comte from master Bernard Antony millesime 2001, a classic St. Marcellin from Mere Richard, and the best Stilton I have ever tried.
In the past, I have found the desserts at ADPA to be less than on par with the cuisine. Not anymore; now the quality is on par with Louis XV in Monaco. Indeed the wild strawberry dessert we were served in a Martini glass with pastry cream and meringue and accompanied by a buttery tart of wild strawberries was as good a fruit dessert as one can get. Similarly the two chocolate based desserts (one came as a courtesy of the management) that is,
Orange/Chocolat en fine barre crousti-fondante and
Choco-Choc sorbet cacao/granite café/mikados both displayed very rich but not cloying chocolate preparations in different textures, nicely balanced by complementary and time tested tastes of candied fruits, crisp toasted nuts and strong coffee granita.
The perfectionist instinct at work in the restaurant has extended to the tea service too. Infusions were served not from tea bags, as is the case elsewhere, but from live plants:
As to the service, under the general supervision of Monsieur
Courtiade who is the general manager, the service is perfect, courteous and efficient at the same time. That is, there has not been a single mistake or false step and the waiters were never seen staring at you, but they always appeared out of nowhere when you needed them or when they had to refill your glass.
The wine list in Paris, like Monaco, is also fairly priced and the sommelier is helpful and clearly opinionated. After quite a lengthy debate and testing each other regarding our stylistic preferences and the qualities of various vintages, we settled on a
98 Coche Dury Puligny Montrachet Les Enseignieres and a
99 Guigal Cote Rotie Ampuis. The former turned out to be even more intense and young tasting than my own bottle I had uncorked about a month ago in a distinguished California restaurant (Manresa), and the rich crème
brûlée taste it left on the palette was a perfect match for the rich turbot and lobster dishes. The Guigal Cote Rotie, on the other hand, was also memorable. It displayed the rather ripe (but not overripe) black raspberry and blueberry/chocolaty characteristics of the vintage, but with aeration it developed more interesting secondary aromas of smokey meat and an addictive depth of minerality. This was a perfect match with the gamey pigeon.
Is ADPA a must go among the three stars in Paris? In my opinion the answer is YES with one qualification. Given the eclectic nature of the clientele it helps to let the management know about your interest in the very best they can offer and to concoct your menu by seeking advice from Monsieur Courtiade and to have an open mind about wine by seeking assistance from the sommelier. You will then have an outstanding meal.
Gastroville ranking: 18.5
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