Guy Savoy Paris
THREE AND A HALF STARS, out of four; almost there.
Michelin Three Stars; Recommended.
Visited on March 16th, 2017
Lunch a la Carte
Monnaie de Paris
11 Quai de Conti
75006 Paris, France
+33 1 43 80 40 61
I met Chef Guy Savoy himself!
Aside from that hype, it is an exceptional restaurant. Located in a museum, the décor is impeccable. So is the food. So is the service. I will explain why I did not award it my highest rating, but for me Guy Savoy is certainly in the Top 3 among Parisian Michelin three-stars.
Menu is presented… Evian and Chateldon.
The first bite is their signature foie gras and toast, with just some pepper. The toast is really crispy, and this is really simple, but really good. (Did I just use three “really” in one sentence? You get the idea.)
Then some more amuse to share. Vegetables of this season. All very good.
Then a little cup of soup: cream of carrot with very good consistency, accented by a little lemongrass. Taste the season!
On the bottom was hidden a little tart.
For entrée, I had the famous artichoke/truffle/Parmesan soup. This combination is seen across the board in Paris and elsewhere, but for me the most perfect recipe is in this bowl. Artichokes had a mild base and a slight acidity, while Parmesan added a little body. On the side some crispy mushroom brioche with truffle butter, which you will dip in the soup… Heavenly.
Lentil soup with langoustine
It was as good cooking as it needed, with intense sea flavor yet a light body, but I would have the truffle soup first.
Red Mullet “swimming in the sea”
This fish is extremely hard to do well, only second to codfish in my opinion. Sometimes chef uses hot oil to express its crispy skin, but here it was pan seared. Then it went on to swim in its liver sauce (rather horrific, but tasted good), with a little spinach and some squid. I really could not fault it by all means, but it lacked a sort of character. But the plating is great. Hmm.
Veal dish is also a signature. The juice is cooked en croûte, and served with some root vegetables. Simple cooking.
Pre-dessert
A sorbet of mint and lime, balanced with some yoghurt moose and lemon jelly. As good as it gets: texture, sweet and sour, temperature…
Mille-Feuille à la minute
Made to order! It was crispy yet light, and the vanilla cream… Look at it! The thickness and abundance of vanilla seeds was just mind-blowing. In the end I just ate all the cream. Must order.
Mango (in a smile)
This was very Chinese-inspired. Sweetness was accented with just a little touch of honey that they harvested from rooftop. Then jelly added some texture on top, sorbet some temperature, moose some creaminess. On the bottom some olive oil cake (very light though) for a base. Must order, again.
Dessert Cart
More desserts to come… Hopefully you will still be able to breathe at this point. Get the pink rice pudding. Get some sort of sorbet (salted caramel?). The passion fruit atop the cheesecake was incredibly sour, for an adventure if you so desire. Just get whatever, really.
For the end some more sorbet… Apparently it was made out tea, but dominantly sour, with only a hint of tea left. Served with some unsweetened vanilla sauce.
Espresso…
More cookie!
As a parting gift, a sweet brioche.
Go to Guy Savoy. He is great. His food is great. Most of his classics are just faultless, though out of my self-proclaimed strict standard I only awarded it second highest rating. Some of the clicks were missing, aka not exciting enough. It was really faultless, though. So I will strongly recommend many visits.
Un-Loaf 