Paris: Arpège, a vegetarian celebration

On February 15, 2006 we decided to celebrate our 26^th wedding anniversary in a big way. We called a week in advance and made a reservation for lunch at Chef Alain Passard´s restaurant, the three-Michelin stars Arpège (84 rue Varenne; tel. 01.45.51.47.33; http://www.alain-passard.com/) in the 7ème arrondissement.

We woke up, had breakfast at Café Fleurus (corner of ave. Kleber and Belloy) and then walked down to the Trocadero to catch the 63 bus line. We got off at the corner of Boulevard Saint-Germain with rue du Bac. This region has many beautiful furniture stores and some art galleries. We visited the Galerie Maeght (42, rue du Bac, 7ème, 01.45.48.45.15), which has artworks by Calder, Kuroda, Tapies, Miro, and many others artists we love. It is located almost in front of the Atelier de Joel Robuchon (5, rue Montelembert, 7ème, 01.42.22.56.56) as the Rue du Bac continues as rue Montelembert (or vice versa).

Then, we went to the Maison de l'Amerique Latine (217, bd. St-Germain, 7ème, 01.49.54.75.10) where we saw a great exhibition of works from Tarsila do Amaral, an important Brazilian modernist painter. The Maison de l'Amérique Latine had a very nice restaurant, especially pleasant during summer because of its beautiful terrace opening onto the garden. Unfortunately, the last time we were there, the restaurant was closed. We were told that it has now reopened.

All in all, we had an hour of strolling through the streets of the 7ème, before we walked towards rue Varenne and the Arpège. As we passed in front of the Hotel Matignon (offices of the French prime minister) and the Ministry of Agriculture. We joked that Passard makes a lot of propaganda about his vegetables just to attract grants and customers from the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Arpège is a relatively small but neat looking restaurant in a building devoid of any distinctive features in an expensive, but rather dull neighborhood. Once you are inside, things get better. The room has glass windows with a stylized wave made with sandblasting and a wall with wood paneling and Lalique crystal panels showing wine-related motifs.

One of Arpège´s well-known specialties is its vegetables that are grown on two farms not too far from Paris especially for the restaurant. Although the restaurant also serves meat and fish, the "prix-fixe" menu we chose was vegetarian.

The luncheon was good, but a bit disappointing because our expectations were so high. We had seen Alain Passard several times on TV Gourmet, a (now defunct) French food network. Therefore, to us, Passard was part of the Pantheon of the kitchen gods.

Our biggest problem was choosing the wine. We engaged in a lenghty back and forth with the sommelier who wanted to push some really expensive wines. While resisting gallantly his most outrageous suggestions, he ended up convincing us that our anniversary was worth a Chambolle-Musigny 1999, Geantet Pansiot, at the modest price of € 240, certainly the most expensive wine we purchased in all our lives. Let us note, in passing, that the wine was excellent, but at this stage of the game we already had indigestion just thinking about the final bill.

The tone of the luncheon was set by the first course, an egg, or rather an eggshell with a yoke and a frothy cream inside. Ultra simple, high quality, tasty, but a bit too low key to make an impact. In general, this visit left us with the impression that Allan Passad´s cuisine placed an excessive emphasis on simplicity and understatement.

The next three dishes also did not impress us much. The first was a trilogy of beets in lime/honey sauce. We are not very fond of beets, so I guess Passard could not make miracles. The second dish was a jardinière of vegetables with reddish carrots, “Boule d´Or” turnips and black radish. An interesting creation because of its unusual ingredients, but nothing to write home about. The third dish was smoked Pompadour potatoes with cabbage served in a wine sauce made with Côtes du Jura. For us, the star of the luncheon was the "celeri-rave à la fondue truffe noire du Perigord" with chestnuts. We had never eaten this type of celery. It was cut into thin slices maintaining a certain degree of crunchiness. Together with the chestnuts and the truffle fondue it was a winning combination.

We continued with an excellent cheese, a comté, served in tiny amounts, and ended the meal with a series of reasonably tasty desserts, none spectacular: a "mille-feuille de pomme et vinaigre balsamique, a "pâte de fruits beterrave/radis noire," and a "crème glacée de fleur d'oranger."

In short, this visit was a disappointment. Perhaps, as non-vegetarians we should not have tried a vegetarian menu. With our choice of wine, the cost of the meal was steep and we felt that for that price we could have had a much more satisfactory meal in many other starred restaurants in Paris. We still are a bit in shock at how we feel about this meal. We expected to be brought close to heaven in the able hands of Alain Passard. Was it a case of exceedingly high expectations? Should we come back? Will we ever change this negative opinion that clashes with that of most reviewers and our beloved Michelin? Time will tell…