I loves luxury places and destinations, today we are in the french capital and checked in at the Plaza Athénée Paris, which is a true must seen in the heart of the french capital.
This Parisian luxury property filled with elegance and charm, is ideally located between the Avenue des Champs Elysées and the Eiffel Tower, at the crossroads of fashion, entertainment and business.
With fine décor “à la parisienne”, the Hôtel Plaza Athénée Paris features 191 guest rooms including 45 suites and offering great views to the avenue Montaigne, the Westside of the Eiffel Tower or the charming courtyard.
Take a look at the Prestige suite.
Since its inauguration in 1911, the Plaza Athénée Paris radiates an incomparable charm which has seduced an elegant Parisian and international clientele. The recent redecoration of the lobby recaptures the warm colour codes used by the hotel: “Plaza reds”, terracotta wares, gold and bronzes.
To enchant every guest, the hotel mingles glamour and tradition with the most updated technology.
Small things like a healthy breakfast is joyful.
At the Hôtel Plaza Athénée Paris, the pleasure of luxury is celebrated, cultivated and expressed in four different venues supervised by Chef Alain Ducasse; each combining the art of living with delicious cuisine in a unique way.
Paris, mon amour.
Resto tip in Paris: Arpege
Alain Passard is one of the greatest chefs of France, and has held three Michelin stars since 1996. In his earlier career he became a two Michelin star chef at the tender age of 26 at Casino d’Enghien, in 1986 purchasing an existing restaurant (l’Archetstrate) from celebrated chef Alain Senderens, and renaming it Arpege, after the perfume from Lanvin. Passard caused a major stir in culinary circles in 2001 when he announced he was going to concentrate on vegetarian dishes, and although there are now meat dishes on the menu, vegetables are still the star. Passard gets his vegetables from his own dedicated farms and gardens in the northwest of France, shipped daily by train to the restaurant: they are of superb quality. Arpege has a nice exterior in the 7th arrondisement of Paris. The dining room is simply decorated, with relatively small tables placed quite close together. The room is carpeted with some wood panelling along the walls. The only real luxury in the décor is the set of Lalique glass insets in the wood panels. The wine list stretched over 30 pages, and was all French other than a single page of wines from elsewhere in the world, plus a few German wines. Mark-ups were not as high as in many top Paris restaurants, though they varied considerably through the list. Growers were top-drawer, although the dessert wine list was surprisingly limited, with a rather small choice by the bottle and just a single wine by the half bottle (and that one being Yquem).
A set of little tartelettes appeared as we looked at the menu. A tartelette of Parmesan and celeriac featured superbly delicate pastry and celeriac with terrific flavour, as had tartlets of black radish. However even better were the tartlets of beetroot and parsnip puree, smoking of the beetroot in the process giving a fabulous flavour to the puree. This was an impressive start to the meal, immediately showcasing vegetables. The bread was excellent, made with natural yeast and served with salty butter from St. Malo. A long-term signature dish at Arpege has been the “hot cold” egg. An egg shell is the presentation vehicle for warm egg yolk with sherry vinegar and maple syrup, spices and a little salt, covered with a layer of cold cream. The key to the success of this dish is the quality of the eggs used and the perfect balance of the vinegar with the sweetness of the syrup, together with the blend of hot and cold temperature elements. A deceptively simple dish, and yet a lovely start to the meal
The best dish of the meal now arrived.
Just Ravioli, but of vegetables rested in a consommé of Jerusalem artichoke and celery. Such a simple description does not do justice to the stunning purity of flavour that came through in the consommé. The ravioli was of flawless texture, the mixed vegetable filling of the pasta again showing off a quality of vegetables that is hard to imagine.
Next was zander with lime oil and green tea, with an orange and carrot mousseline. The fish was perfectly cooked. This was followed by a “vegetable couscous”. Yellow beetroots, red beetroots and radishes were given an extra textural element of semolina flavoured with nutty argan oil. Amongst this was a particularly impressive vegetarian sausage, the filling of red vegetables and spices creating an effect reminiscent of the taste of a meat sausage. Hmm. Cheese is supplied by Bernard Antony of Alsace, and it was interesting see that Arpege does not serve a full cheese board, but selected just a couple in perfect condition, Moelleux du Revard and Gruyere in this case, served with more smoked potato. The main dessert was a magnificent chocolate millefeuille with exceedingly delicate pastry, a lovely and rich yet delicate dessert.
What is impressive to me is the simplicity of the cooking at Arpege. Many dishes have just two or three elements, but employing impeccable ingredients and put together with flawless technical skill. What a meal.
We love the Arpege.
My last tip:
Take a drink at Bar La Vue 33 floor in the Hyatt Etoile (former Concorde La Fayette).
You have a great view on the Tour de Eiffel.
Paris, mon amour.
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