As promised, here’s the review for Senderens. Note: This report is really for foodies. It’s very long, but necessary to fully convey the experience.
First, a bit of background. About a year or so ago, Alain Senderens of Lucas Carton became the first chef ever to tell Michelin that he wanted to return his stars. Apparently tired of cooking stuffy 3-star cuisine, he wanted to simplify his menu and reduce his prices. He did exactly that, transforming both the décor of the restaurant and the nature of the menu. Within just a few months, he was rewarded 2 stars—I believe it was the “youngest” restaurant ever to be granted 2-stars.
Senderens is most definitely a “must” on any list of Parisian starred restaurants, and easily deserves its reputation. It’s a quiet, refined restaurant without any garish “flash” quotient—definitely not the sort of place you’d see Paris Hilton! The renovation retained the fabulous Beaux Arts/Art Nouveau walnut boiseries on the walls, but the ceiling has now been covered with a stretchy white fabric with peaks and valleys (think old-fashioned circus tent) highlighted with colored lighting. The banquets are covered in taupe leather. One dining companion commented the leather was nearly exactly like that in a Rolls (not that I’d know anything about that….) The carpets are dark and the draperies simple. The tables are constructed of a white composite substance that reminded me of melamine and are left uncovered (at least at lunch). Overall, the balance between old and new in the décor works fairly well. Caveat: If you make lunch reservations for the summer, be sure to specifically request a table away from the windows. The window treatments are café curtains and there are no coverings for the upper two-thirds of the large windows. If you end up in the sun on a bright day, as we did, you will be extremely hot. I really doubt if the kitchen itself was any hotter than our table. This was, in fact, the only part of the experience that was totally unworthy of a good restaurant and one that could truly have marred the entire experience. (The very chic gentleman--think %26quot;French television personality%26quot;--at the table beside us wore his sunglasses through the meal while his two Chanel-clad lady friends snuggled together at one side of the banquette to try to get out of the sun).
One of the first things I noticed about the restaurant was that the maitre d’hotel was, in fact, a maitresse d’hotel. Now, while this is common at the local Red Lobster or Cheesecake Factory, you just don’t see female maitre d’hotels in tiptop Paris restaurants. Add to the mix that our sub-waiter was a young Franco-African man. How refreshing! Our service staff included a head waiter, the sub-waiter, and the sommelier. Service was efficient and accommodating, without being obvious. I never had the sense that my every spoonful was being monitored, but I’m certain that any need would have been immediately attended to.
G %26amp; I were fortunate to have two friends join us, one an American now living in Paris and the other a fellow Washingtonian. For meals of this nature, I think it’s always best to have four people. Lunch lasted around 2-3/4 hours and four people makes conversation easier and also allows for some (very) discreet taste-testing of the others’ selections!
As in any other restaurant, you may choose your own wines, but it had been recommended to me that the sommelier’s choice for each course would be superb, and we chose this option. The benefit is that it allows you to taste a variety of wines, each chosen for the specific dish, rather than choosing a middle-of-the-road wine that will go with both fish and lamb.
Truffaut’s Selection:
Apéritif: Martini Bianco
Amuse Bouche: Avocado Cream w Crab Head %26amp; Chives
Entrée: Lobster %26amp; White Peach Salad
Entrée Wine: Riesling “Furstensturm” 2002—P. Blanck
Plat: Seared Cod %26amp; Baby Vegetables
Plat Wine: Vin du Pays du Var 2004—Chateau des Sarrins
Dessert: Poached Apricots in Vanilla with Apricot Marmalade and Almond Ice Cream
Dessert Wine: Coteaux du Layon Rablay “Le Chant du Cygne” 2002—Les Sablonettes
Coffee/Sweets: Caramelized Palmier, Dark Chocolate Truffle %26amp; Raspberry Macaroon
G’s Selection:
Amuse Bouche: Avocado Cream w Crab Head %26amp; Chives
Entrée: Lightly Smoked Scottish Salmon with Cucumber Ribbons
Entrée Drink: Bowmore Chieftan’s 10-year Scotch Whiskey—Islay
Plat: Tenderloin of Salers Beef with Vegetable Raviolis and Potato Galette
Plat Wine: Côte du Rhône “Le Claux” 2004—La Roche Buissière
Dessert: Millefeuille of Tahitian Vanilla Cream
Dessert Wine: Muscat de Rivesaltes 2003—Domaine Cazes
Coffee/Sweets: Caramelized Palmier, Dark Chocolate Truffle %26amp; Raspberry Macaroon
Friend #1:
Amuse Bouche: Avocado Cream w Crab Head %26amp; Chives
Entrée: Lobster %26amp; White Peach Salad
Entrée Wine: Riesling “Furstensturm” 2002—P. Blanck
Plat: Tempura-Battered Dover Sole, Zucchini %26amp; Celery Leaves
Plat Wine: Viognier “Piedes de Samson” 2004--Vernay
Dessert: Almond Shortbread with Rhubarb %26amp; Grapefruit Compote %26amp; Salted Caramel
Coffee/Sweets: Caramelized Palmier, Dark Chocolate Truffle %26amp; Raspberry Macaroon
Friend #2:
Apéritif: Vin du Pays du Var 2004—Chateau des Sarrins
Amuse Bouche: Avocado Cream w Crab Head %26amp; Chives
Entrée: Lobster %26amp; White Peach Salad
Entrée Wine: Riesling “Furstensturm” 2002—P. Blanck
Plat: Charentes Lamb with Baby Vegetables
Plat Wine: Côte du Rhône “Renaissance” 2001—Domaine Viret
Dessert: Millefeuille of Tahitian Vanilla Cream
Dessert Wine: Muscat de Rivesaltes 2003—Domaine Cazes
Coffee/Sweets: Caramelized Palmier, Dark Chocolate Truffle %26amp; Raspberry Macaroon
Amuse Bouche:
The amuse bouche was a shotglass partially filled with a very light mousseline of avocado, sprinkled with minced chives and topped with a small pile of raw meat picked from the head of crab, and garnished with a small savory tuile. The taste was very fresh and light, without the heaviness of guacamole and not the slightest “fishy” taste from the crab.
Entrées:
The lobster/peach entrée was amazing. It featured both items in the natural state—a single lobster claw and a ½ tail, as well as slices of white peaches. To the other side, a tower of salad formed from both ingredients mixed together. The sweetness of the peaches really brought out the natural sweetness of the lobster, white the acidity of the fruit helped to cut the richness of the meat. The Riesling had that nice, almost sparkling quality that worked really well as a foil to the sweetness of the peaches.
G’s dish of half-smoked Scottish salmon was quite a surprise. We hadn’t noticed that it would be served slightly warmed. Since it was only half-smoked, the texture was quite raw inside, while the outer surfaces had the firmer texture of smoked fish. The contrast was superb. Cucumber, cut lengthwise into thin slices and resembling pasta, finished off the dish. The portion size was enormous and would easily have served as a main dish. The sommelier’s choice for the salmon was not a wine, but a Scotch whiskey. Neither G nor I are fans of Scotch, but this was a revelation. The liquor had a very smoky taste that was magnificent with the salmon.
Plats:
The cod was one of the two best fish dishes I’ve had anywhere (the other being the sea bream two nights earlier at Bistro le Petit Pamphlet). The fish was cooked very quickly at a very high temperature so that the skin was caramelized while the flesh was still creamy and opaque. I personally find fish so hard to cook to perfection, but this couldn’t have been more perfect. It was served on a bed of green vegetables including crunchy fava beans and asparagus flavored with basil, and napped with a buttery stock. Large, thick slices of parmegiano regiano added saltiness and chewiness. Again, the wine was right on the spot.
G’s beef tenderloin was excellent. It’s a simple dish that relies completely on the quality of the meat itself—probably the single best beef produced in France. It was served with a crunchy potato galette and raviolis filled with fresh vegetables. I would have expected that combination of potato and ravioli to be way too starchy, but the dough of the pasta was so light that it barely existed. It’s only real purpose was to hold the finely chopped vegetables together. The wine was dark-tasting and rich.
The Dover sole was an extraordinarily beautiful dish. The fish was accented with sticks of zucchini and the frothy tops of celery, all fried in the lightest tempura batter imagineable. The batter was so light that you could easily see the pale green color of the celery leaves through the fried surface. I’m sorry now that I didn’t taste it!
The lamb dish combined chunks of roasted lamb along with a sort of minced lamb meatloaf (sorry, but I can’t think of a more elegant description), all served with a variety of sauteed baby vegetables in a light demiglaze sauce.
Desserts:
I’m not a particular fan of apricots and I’m not sure exactly what made me order the apricot dessert, but I’m so very glad I did. The presentation was extraordinary. A large oval plate with two whole apricots poached in vanilla syrup to one side. A pile of apricot marmalade in the middle. A ball of almond ice cream to the other side. Fresh almonds (still in their bright green husks) scatted about the plate and a small dish of vanilla crème anglaise on the side. Towering over the plate were two pencil-thin almond sables. The wine for such a dish could have been a disaster because of the strong flavor of apricot, but the sommelier had found a Muscat with a flavor so intensely apricot that it stood on its own alongside the dessert.
G %26amp; one of our friends ordered the vanilla millefeuilles. Stacked several stories tall, the dark sheets of pastry were enriched with piped stripes of green vanilla-scented pastry cream. The pastry was crunchy and the cream was soft and sweet—everything a good millefueille should be. Our friend decided he needed ice cream with his, so out came an enormous platter of various homemade ice creams.
The final dessert was shortbread-like almond cookie topped with a compote of rhubarb and grapefruit. Most definitely an odd combination of sour ingredients, but sweetened with just enough sugar and cooked to a soft consistency, it worked beautifully. The dessert was topped with a dribble of caramel made from salted butter. Salted caramel is a wonderful thing that more people should eat.
Coffee/Sweets:
Although two of us did not order coffee, we were each presented with a plate of three sweets. One was a raspberry macaroon--beautiful, bright pink, the raspberry filling still with its seeds—and unfortunately, a disappointment. They were too sweet, too chewy, and altogether not worth the calories. The dark chocolate truffles, shaped into small logs rather than in the traditional shape were very good. The real delight, however, were the small palmiers. These can often be found in boulangeries/patisseries, and are generally sort of bland. They are made by stacking sheets of puff pastry, rolling the two long edges toward each other, and then cutting the log into thin sheets. The resulting shapes are rather heart-shaped. They are sprinkled with sugar which caramelizes slightly during baking. Senderens’ variation, however, are more caramelized and have a saltiness (see the above comment about salted caramel) that is remarkable, but they’re not overly sweet. I could eat these with every meal.
So, now, for the bad news. This meal will set you back about $650. One could reduce the bill by about $200 by eliminating the aperitifs, wine and coffee, but what would be use in that?! G %26amp; I certainly don’t eat like this very often—we do have to keep %26quot;Holly the spotted wonder%26quot; in puppy chow, after all—but it’s an experience well worth the expense. I will definitely return for a future meal chez Senderens.
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You really seemed to enjoy your meal at Senderens vs. Le Coupe Chou even though it set you all back $650.00. Sounds like a good deal.
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magnificent description, Truffaut! I feel like I was right there with you, enjoying every morsel. Only that would probably negate the benefits I%26#39;ve recently enjoyed from dropping twelve (much needed to be lost!) pounds, running around after my sweet angel BeauBeau. LOL
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Paris_1204, I don%26#39;t want to come across as a snob, but there%26#39;s a world of difference between the two restaurants. I certainly can%26#39;t afford Senderens very often, and I know there are many travellers who will probably never be able to afford it. And yet others for whom the experience simply wouldn%26#39;t be worth the money. No value judgments from me about any of that.
During our 12 days in Paris, we only went to two restaurants we had ever visited before--Chez Omar to watch the World Cup finals over couscous and Les Marronniers for dinner salads on a day when we had a big lunch. Of all our meals aside from Senderens, the most expensive was probably around $120 for two people, and most dinners were probably in the $80 range for two.
There is great value at all price points.
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Truffant, that sounds wonderful! What a great experience, thanks for sharing all of the details, did you write it all down while you were there?
Oh-and just a hint. if you write your report as a reply instead of a question, then everyone won%26#39;t have to scroll through the report again, when reading the responses. It%26#39;s especially helpful if people do this with a TR.
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Hi,
Thanks so much for the wonderful descriptions. I felt like I was there, except for not being able to taste anything. Was the $650 for two or the whole group?
We had such a great time in June that we are hoping to return for my husband%26#39;s 75th birthday in September of 2007. Senderens seems like a great place to celebrate for lunch on that day.
Keep on posting, please. I really learn a great deal from all your experiences.
Holger
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Holger,
The $650 was for all 4.
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500 € for four is pretty reasonable I think, especially since you spend the afternoon there and leave in a mood of greatest satisfaction!
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Kasthor, isn%26#39;t it you who has recommended Tête de Goinfre upon occassion?
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I saw the topic, went downstairs, poured myself a nice cool glass of pouilly fuisse, then returned to really savour the report. I was not disappointed. Thank you so much now I just have to figure out a time when I can pop over for lunch. Did you have to book far in advance for lunch?
Judy
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Judy,
The recommended time for reservations is at least 2 weeks for weekday lunch, 2 months for weekday dinner, and longer than that for weekend dinner. I called about 2-1/2 weeks ahead and had no problems. There were additional tables available when we were there on a Tuesday. I suspect after the mass return from vacation, reservations will once again be more difficult to get.
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