Comments on: Troisgros – One of the temples of haute cuisine

By: Vedat

Vedat — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:31:50 +0000

My last dinner there is on October 21 Friday.
Unfortunately I fared less well than Mikael.
I am trying to play a little mental trick to myself.
Suppose I knew nothing about the ranking of this
restaurant and its history. Suppose it was an unknown
place in a non-descript city. What would I have said?
First, I would have praised the wine list. 95 Coche
Meursault Perrieres and 93 Ponsot Clos de la Roche VV.
The latter for 130 Euro. Great choices and fair
prices.
But unfortunately, the cooking, though promising for a
young chef did not match the excellence of the wines.
Personally I like acidity in my dishes and I did not
mind the (slightly too much) reliance on it. But I
found the chef’s attempts at “fusion” unconvincing. He
unfortunately destroyed some very good “ecrevisse
patte rouge” with too much ginger and tamarind.
The chef seems to have a sweet tooth too. He
counterbalances acidity with sweetness in the scallop,
oyster and escargot dishes. But it is doubtful that we
end up with an harmonious balance when we combine two
extremes. But maybe smokers or the lovers of Thai food
will appreciate these preparations more than I did.
But I have appreciated the reliance on good, carefully
chosen products. Fresh breton scallops, #2 Gillardeau
oysters, very good ecrevisse, plump escargots which
are local(mostly imported from other countries now).
My venison was not as good as Mikael’s. Had I not
known what it is, I would not have guessed. It had the
soggy texture and sterile taste of a long cooked beef.
Was it “sous vide”? I have not asked.
Cheese course was very good but desserts only average.
The sommelier seemed to have agreed with me that this
was not a particularly special show. But he said that
I should not have ordered the menu deg. I actually
usually don’t but here I somehow did. He told me that
scallops with hazelnut, crisp ceps and squab Kiev are
outstanding. OK. Next time I hope.
When I paid the bill I noticed that they really charge
huge premiums for phone calls. Hotels in Europe
usually do not do this. It seems like they have
adapted American hotel tricks. Have they also
concocted the menu deg. for an international
clientele?

By: Francesco

Francesco — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 01:06:03 +0000

Mikael,
I hope you do get around to give some more details about the Auberge. I have never been and for a few years the press was extremely favorable. Recently, however, I have read and heard less and less enthusiasm for this place: it sounds like I will have to take it off my “to do” list.

By: alexhills

alexhills — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 21:08:45 +0000

Thanks for the very nice review. I was at Troisgros at the beginning of September and had some similar feelings. A wonderful meal with a few mis-steps because of the risk taking. Interestingly, the main dissapointment was a chinese-ish lobster dish with chili oil that really didn’t do much – the lobster was a touch overcooked and the seasoning didn’t add anything. Have you had more succesful asian shellfish dishes there? I was a little underwhelmed by the cheese as well, to my suprise, a wonderful epoisse aside they seemed a bit dull. That said, everything else was pretty stellar, especially a rouget with jus d’arrete which was pheneomenally intense.
Was Yuzu the kitten terrorizing the dining room? That was nearly as entertaining as the food.

By: Mikael

Mikael — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 06:04:52 +0000

Francesco,
There are a lot of posts to catch up on but I may write something next week. Regis Marcon was not what you expect for the money and I do not see it as just a bad day for the kitchen. His new restaurant has a lovely setting even if the dining room has a corporate high-level staff restaurant feeling over it.

By: Francesco

Francesco — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 05:56:02 +0000

Mikael,
glad to read you again. Please tell us about the Auberge de Clos et Cimes.
Francesco