The last 2 days, we ate lunch at 2 of the best restaurants in Paris. Why did we decide to do lunch rather than dinner? Basically, dinner is expensive. Like, really really expensive. Both restaurants have lunch options in which you get to experience these first class restaurant for less than 1/2 the price. Each one is a classic French fine dining production. I don’t use the word “production” loosely. Not everyone appreciates what goes into these fancy shmancy meals. That’s OK. It’s not for everyone (my own sister thinks the whole thing is ridiculous). But, we both love to sit back and watch all the ritual and tradition that makes these meals so special.
Both Le Taillevent and Le Cinq are located in the Champs Élysées (a word that Justin and I have both been trying to pronounce since we got here) and just a short metro ride away from the hotel.
I’ll start with Le Taillevent: Justin said that this is the more “classic French” of the 2. We really had a fabulous meal here. When we first walked in, I noticed that it was very crowded and somewhat “bustling.” Perhaps it is a Friday hotspot for the Parisian business lunch crowd?
The lunch menu consisted of your choice of an appetizer, entree, cheese course, and dessert. You could also get 2 glasses of wine, water, and coffee for a little over 100 euros per person (about 130$). This was a super bargain as water can sometimes cost up to 15$ per bottle. So we each got the menu, including the beverages and Justin drank my wine.
Sidenote on the wine: Apparently, the traditional way to decant wine is to pour it into the decanter over a lit candle so that you can see where the sediment starts. I have never seen this but it was really neat to watch!
The amuse bouche was a shrimp roll thingy (although much fancier, of course) and it was very good. For my starter, I got Foie Gras, and Justin got oysters.
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