Because I enjoy treating myself to a gourmet restaurant from time to time, last year I went to discover the lovely restaurant with Southwest accents by Hélène Darroze, which holds 1 Michelin star. It has been a while since I tested this restaurant, but I still wanted to write an article about it.
First of all, a quick presentation of the place. Downstairs is the lounge, where you can enjoy tapas, which we didn’t try, and then upstairs is the gourmet restaurant, laid out in a row with a chic and cozy atmosphere. The tables are spaced out enough to allow each guest some privacy, and I particularly appreciated this detail. For lunch, you let yourself be guided by Hélène Darroze’s “terroir” menu. It is truly a gustatory and olfactory ode to the Aquitaine region.
We start with thin slices of Black Bigorre pork ham, accompanied by Spanish “pan tumaco”. The icing on the cake is that the slices are even cut by a slicer right before our astonished eyes. Then two starters follow: a creamy Jerusalem artichoke velouté with a hint of ham, accompanied by a toasted slice topped with Basque sheep cheese and lomo Ibérico de Bellota. Then, the duck foie gras crème brûlée style, green apple sorbet, and sesame emulsion. A real treat!
For the main courses, two choices: the scallops from Port-en-Bessin with cauliflower mousseline, romanesco cabbage, and chive beurre blanc with imperial caviar, or the roasted Ibérico Bellota pork with root vegetables and Arbois yellow wine sauce.
Well, unfortunately, I thought about taking pictures of the dishes a bit too late, so you are seeing the state of the plates toward the end of their life, sorry! For dessert, I fell for Samana chocolate in cream, with steamed biscuit with Ceylon cinnamon and crunchy candied orange, citrus sorbet. All accompanied by four chestnut-blackcurrant macarons.
In the end, I was very satisfied with this restaurant, with quality raw ingredients and very successful flavor pairings. I’ll skip the details about the very pleasant service, without being too present (which is sometimes the flaw of some gourmet restaurants). We chose the wine supplement on our menu (two glasses during the meal to accompany the starters and the main course) and we didn’t regret this choice because the wines were really delicious.
The prices now: the lunch menu is €52 and €65 with the two glasses of wine. Which, honestly, remains fair compared to the service provided. The real best tip for gourmet restaurants is still to go test them at lunchtime for the lunch menu; you benefit from a much more affordable rate than in the evening, without losing the quality of the cuisine, and often there are far fewer people. A small example: in this restaurant, the evening menu starts at €125, which is almost double the price of lunch!
Restaurant Hélène Darroze 4 rue d’Assas 75006 Paris Open Tuesday to Saturday / lunch from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM
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To discover my other gourmet addresses, visit the gourmet restaurants section.
Photo credits: Mademoiselle Bon Plan Photos are not royalty-free; permission from the photographer is required before any use
