Disclosure: I was a guest of the property for this meal.
I’m often asked where to eat in Paris with a view, and frankly, I don’t have a lot of recommendations. Most places with a view are either far from excellent or extremely pricey.
One-Michelin-star Le Tout-Paris falls into the latter category, with splendid views over Pont-Neuf and a fairly eye-wateringly expensive menu of food I’d characterize as crowd-pleasing fine dining. It’s not all that innovative or surprising, and it won’t bowl you over with deliciousness, but it’s approachable, and it’s tasty. And the desserts are truly exceptional… but we’ll get to that.
Let’s begin at the beginning with the amuse-bouches, which have long been a guilty pleasure of mine. I love their one-bite size, and I love the excitement that arises when they arrive at the table. A well-executed amuse, after all, is the very first peephole into a chef’s approach, offering hints at his or her culinary style. And the amuses at le Tout-Paris reflect perfectly the approachable, slightly seasonally-driven cuisine of Arnaud Donckele and his executive chef William Béquin, which feels less about ingredients than about emotions.
On this autumn day, everything was moreish and comforting, including this caramelized onion tartlet, which I loved… with the exception of the pastry crust, which felt brittle and a bit stale.
The second amuse was similarly uneven: I loved the blue cheese brioche (though in my opinion, it could have been slightly cheesier), but the slice of Comté draped over the top had already become congealed, greasy, and unappetizing by the time it made it to our table.
(Service, it must be said, was lethargically slow and occasionally poorly informed. We were seated for 20 minutes before we even got menus, and when I asked a few questions about various menu items, I was met with stricken faces.)
When it comes to ordering, you’ve got a choice among a 95-euro weekday lunchtime three-course prix fixe, a 160-euro prix fixe available at either lunch or dinner, or à la carte. We decided to opt for the former, so that we could split the feuilleté forestier (36), a savory tartlet with a puff pastry crust topped with Brillat-Savarin crémeux and a tumble of seasonal mushrooms. I loved the golden egg yolk just demanding to be pierced and soaked through the pastry, and the flavors here were spot on. The pastry itself, however, once more left something to be desired, a shame considering who’s manning the pastry department.
A la carte, mains come in one of two forms. You can either choose a protein and a side, mixing and matching to suit your palate, or you can choose a plate that has been conceived of as a whole main with a side. My dining companion went for the former, choosing the thick-cut Iberian pork chop (46) with a lovely, bright demi-glace spiked with mustard seeds. The pork was perfectly cooked – which is to say, yes, pink inside.
To accompany it, she chose the seasonal squash rose “vivified” with mandarin (9). The simple, beautiful pan with a crisp-edged ribbon of squash delivered exactly as promised.
I, meanwhile, opted for the boudin noir (48), and not just because blood sausage is one of my favorite things. The rise of small plates has meant that chefs who can really conceive of a main and side that accompany one another harmoniously are becoming rarer, and I was curious to see how successful it was here.
The boudin noir à la royale came coated with a thick red wine sauce, a garnish of just-fine foie gras cut into a flower serving as the other nod to the classic à la royale preparation. The sausage itself was delicious, savory and rich, and I adored the line of summer savory and cracked black pepper sitting on its surface.
It was surrounded by a little moat of gnocchi with juniper and summer savory. These tender little pillows were perfectly cooked, and while their cream sauce could have been too rich a gamble to accompany the sausage, I actually found the herbaceousness and relative mellowness of the cream to be the perfect pair for the boudin.
Overall, this is exactly what I’d expect of Michelin-starred fare served within a hotel, where the goal is to ride the median to, hopefully, appease a wide range of palates. It’s moderately successful in this, but I wouldn’t run back here for any of the savory dishes.
The same cannot be said for the sweet.
Whatever you do, you cannot skip dessert when you come to le Tout-Paris. Pastry chef Maxime Frédéric is at the helm, and his desserts are impeccable. This pear “douillon” is one of his signatures (23), a Norman specialty evocative of the chef’s origins. A slow-cooked pear is carefully wrapped in pastry rendered crunchy thanks to a blanket of raw cane sugar. Upon arrival, it’s dolloped with raw cream scented with vanilla. The natural sweetness of the fruit marries with just a touch of sugar from the pastry, making the dessert a not-too-sweet marvel.
I, meanwhile, couldn’t resist trying his approach to my favorite French pastry: the Paris-Brest (21). This wheel of chou pastry is typically filled with a hazelnut buttercream, though in recent years, many chefs have been gilding the lily with some straight hazelnut praline, which to my mind only improves on the classic.
Frédéric’s version is even more indulgent, with a blanket of thinly slivered hazelnuts atop an ultra-fresh, crispy chou filled with both praline and buttercream. This might be my favorite Paris-Brest I’ve ever tried… and that’s saying something.
Le Tout-Paris retains some of the coldness of a hotel restaurant, which means that while I liked it – a lot –, I did not quite fall in love. While the food here is quite nice, the ambiance, with its technicolor décor, does not scream Michelin Guide. If I return, it will be to sit on the terrace in fair weather to enjoy one of Frédéric’s pastries and the majestic views.
Le Tout-Paris – 8 Quai Du Louvre, 75001