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Taillevent
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Restaurant
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Paris
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Credit Cards:
All major cards
Open:
Lunch and dinner Mon - Fri
Price:
Expensive
Score (/20):
16.5
Reviewed By
Sue Dyson and Roger McShane
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Phone Number:
01 40 95 15 01
Address:
15, rue Lamennais
Paris, 75008
Country:
France
Food Style:
French
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Taillevent is a wonderful restaurant and always appears near the top of nearly every list of top restaurants in Paris. We think that one of the major contributing factors is the 'comfort zone' that envelopes you from the moment you walk in. The owner who orchestrated our evening has since died, but the restaurant is still in good hands and is still worth a visit.Despite the grandeur of the sweeping stairs and the opulence of the dining rooms you are made to feel as if you belong.This feeling extends to the food. While technically perfect and served with style it is never challenging - once again it never moves outside people's comfort zone.We were lucky on the night we decided to dine here. We had arrived in Paris after a brief sojourn in Burgundy and in typical fashion assumed that we would be able to go to whichever restaurant we wanted to, even though we didn't have a booking. We tried Arpege and L'Ambroisie but they failed to be impressed by our entreaties.Taillevent, however, had just had a cancellation so we were able to secure a table.On our arrival we were shown to our table and two glasses of champagne were promptly served while we perused the menu and the extensive and impressive wine list.We had been eating a lot of rich food during some time in Italy and Burgundy so we were pleased to see that there were a number of dishes that were interesting but not overly rich.A dish of asperges vertes poelees au jus de truffles saw a plate of perfectly cooked (ie not underdone as is fashionable in some places) asparagus that had been lifted by a delicate sauce that had been infused with truffles. An artichoke soup was also very mild, very beautiful and very flavoursome.For main course we decided to share the famous Poulette de Bresse en Cocotte lutee. The chicken was cooked perfectly and served very simply. Once again, nothing to challenge you. Nothing on the edge.The manager graciously agreed to our request for a copy of the menu as we left and the owner, Mr Vrinat, was anxious to autograph it for us. A charming host, a charming restaurant and a lovely meal.Mr Vrinat died recently, he will be sadly missed.
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