Generally speaking, I’ve found that the Venn Diagram of the beauty of a centrally-located Parisian restaurant and the quality on the plate is two circles, but frankly, I was wowed by the sheer deliciousness on offer at Le Grand Véfour. This gorgeous restaurant overlooking the gardens of the Palais-Royal boasts a long and storied history, founded just before the French Revolution, in 1784. The gilded dining room evokes the style of Louis XVI to the fullest, with gorgeous neoclassical frescoes and gilding on every surface. And while the prices definitely match the ambiance, it’s the perfect destination for a special occasion lunch or dinner.
At lunch, a 68-euro three-course semainier is on offer in addition to the à la carte offerings which include foie gras (49), smoked organic salmon with blini (39), glazed salmon (49), and steak with roasted tomato and black garlic (45). There are also a few house signatures from Chef Guy Martin, like roasted blue lobster (96) or black truffle beef cheek parmentier (118).
We opted to split the semainier and complement these courses with a few à la carte options. While we waited, we dug into the delicious and generous bread service, which was accompanied by a grassy olive oil from Baux de Provence.
On a Tuesday, the semainier began with a farm-raised chicken terrine served with pickled mushrooms and a quenelle of mustard seeds in a vinaigrette. The terrine itself was delightful, studded generously with hazelnuts and rendered rich with the addition of chicken liver. And I loved the tiny pickled mushrooms, which were a welcome departure from the more classic cornichon accompaniment. The only baffling thing on this plate proved to be that quenelle of mustard seeds, which was devoid of the pickly flavor you often see with this sort of preparation. Ultimately, the dominating note was bitterness – unfortunate, given the success on the rest of the plate.
The à la carte appetizer was even more visually impressive: a pressed bass terrine seasoned with miso and chervil (39). It was settled atop a black cardamom-infused tomato concassé and dotted with a few yellow cherry tomatoes and some squares of heirloom tomato. Our visit took place in April, and the heirloom tomatoes unfortunately suffered a bit for their early appearance, but the concassé and fish itself were excellent. The bass had been char grilled with a blowtorch before being assembled, so there was a lovely caramelized note complemented perfectly by the slow-cooked concassé, which lent a note of sweetness to the ensemble.
I was tempted by the steak but ultimately decided to order the vegetarian à la carte main, and I’m glad I did… because it was disappointing. While it’s all well and good to offer a vegetarian main, many top spots seem to be phoning it in, serving a jumble of vegetables and assuming it stands in for a well-thought-out dish. This combo of courgettes seasoned with taggiache leaves, sundried tomatoes, olives, and pecans (29) might have made a nice appetizer, but the addition of a bland velouté halfway between soup and sauce does not a main dish make. If you’re coming here as a vegetarian, I implore you: get the cheese plate (22 euro) instead.
The main dish on the semainier was far more delicious: roast zander served on a bed of slivered snap peas and soy noodles dressed generously with an anise-scented herb vinaigrette. Draped over the fish were slices of pickled courgette, which added a lovely burst of acidity to the dish.
While there are some lovely à la carte desserts – and I definitely felt some dish envy observing a nearby table dig into a pistachio financier garnished generously with seasonal strawberries – by this point, we were feeling quite full and decided, instead, to split the dessert that comes with the semainier. This study in chocolate saw a milk chocolate tartlet topped with milk chocolate ice cream and scattered with crisp chocolate crumble and candied pecans. I am not a fan of chocolate ice cream, which I find too intense, but this one was actually relatively mild-mannered, allowing the richness of the chocolate cream in the tartlet to do most of the talking. (My chocolate-loving dining companion said she would have preferred more of a cocoa note to the ice cream, so take this choco-phobic’s opinion with a grain of salt. Speaking of which, I adored the touch of salt in the crumble and the phenomenal balance of textures.
The plates more than lived up to this beautiful dining room, staffed by true professionals intent on making each guest feel welcomed and fawned over. Despite the handful of culinary missteps I wouldn’t usually forgive as easily, given the price, I have to say, this may be one of my favorite beautiful Parisian dining rooms in which to dine.
Le Grand Véfour – 17, rue du Beaujolais, 75001