In a world still recovering from the COVID pandemic, the convention of the often too long and often too expensive tasting menu would seem a likely relic. In cities like New York, Barcelona, Melbourne, and Copenhagen, a new taste for simplicity and spontaneity has been pushing them off stage.
But in Paris, the tasting menu, or dégustation, is regarded as an ideal vehicle for self-expression and gastronomic creativity, has never been more popular amongst chefs. And there is a verve and light-heartedness in these modern-day menus that is far removed from the stuffy, unfriendly version that had become so predictable. This is why it came as no surprise, for example, that chef Tom Meyer of Granite, one of the most anticipated new restaurants to open in Paris in 2021, chose this culinary idiom for his intimate restaurant in a 17th century building in Les Halles in the heart of the city.
At their best, Parisian tasting menus “have notes of originality, tension, flirtatiousness, and suspense, with the goal of delivering pleasure,” says chef Bertrand Grébaut of Septime, a vaunted restaurant in the 11th arrondissement.
In addition to showcasing a chef’s point of view, there’s a very real-time explanation for the current enthusiasm behind this formula: “Tasting menus cut down on food waste, because they allow you to order more precisely, and this means you run a restaurant on a more environmentally sustainable model,” says chef Anne-Sophie Pic of La Dame de Pic. Less waste and a leaner larder help reduce overhead costs, especially when so many Paris restaurants are still recovering from two government-mandated lockdowns.
And while some diners may balk at having no choice at the table, there’s something to be said for relinquishing control, allowing the chef to be the guide on a multi-course romp, with everything falling into place by design. Paris is the place to do so right now. And perhaps these labored-over formulas are just the post-Covid, take-care-of-me indulgence we could all use about now.
Here, ten of our favorite eye-opening tasting menus in Paris.
L’Arpège
There’s a reason this nonchalantly-chic Michelin three-star restaurant, with a décor of Lalique glass inserts and pear paneling in the silk-stocking 7th Arrondissement of Paris, is billed as paradise by so many vegetarians. No chef in French history has done more to elevate the role of vegetables in French cuisine than owner Alain Passard (he’s been at it for 35 years), right down to growing most of the vegetables he serves on his own two organic farms in the French countryside. The best deal here is the all-vegetable €185 lunch menu, usually ten-courses, which can include dishes such as a “risotto” made with finely chopped celeriac garnished with shaved roasted chestnuts and Romanesco cauliflower and apple tart with candied almonds and caramel sauce.
84 rue de Varenne, 75007, +33 (0)1 47 05 09 06
La Dame de Pic
Located in the heart of the city, near the Louvre, this Michelin three-star Paris outpost from one of France’s most influential chefs, Anne-Sophie Pic.is a showcase for her delicate lyrical cooking that spins on an axis of spices and Japanese techniques and produce. With her first restaurant in Valence, in the Rhone, Pic now has restaurants in a handful of cities around the globe. The tasting menu here reveals Pic’s intriguing gastronomic imagination, with dishes such as oysters with combawa, shiso ice cream and sorrel-pistachio pesto and barbecued beets with caraway cream and mango with jasmine ice.
20 rue du Louvre, 75001, +33 (0)1 42 60 40 40
