The Best Restaurant in the World
Unlike most 3 Michelin star restaurants in Paris, Arpege gets it ranking neither for extravagant decor nor for perfect service but only for the wonderful dishes created by chef-genius Passard. The minimalist interior and the young staff make this place less touristy than others in its league which is (in my opinion) a great advantage.
The only two warnings that are in place are:
1. Don't take the 390FF lunch menu.
2. This place is *CREATIVE*. If you can't face almond candied pigeon or a stuffed tomato for dessert, go somewhere else    [20 Dec 1999 18:17:31]

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Recommended Dishes: truffle soup, lobster in yellow wine, wild hare with goose liver

     ­Orik   orik at orik dot co dot il

Culinary Mecca
I have been fortunate to have dined at L'Arpege twice (1998, 2000), and am going again in four weeks. Reservations are very difficult to get. Also, since I am not rich, I have to save the pennies (and quarters, jacksons, franklins, etc.) in order to afford lunch. But the money aside, It helps if you can get a concierge to assist you in obtaining your reservations. However, I did just show up at lunch the first time I went and they sat me in a great corner seat by the frosted glass windows at a table someone had cancelled their resv. for that day, so don't be afraid to try that.

As for the meal; you cannot get more refined service than what I experienced there. It is sort of like a subtle circus with platters of different foods being carried around the dining room by servers so that the aroma wafts by your table and makes you second-guess what you have ordered! The food is dynamic, you never get the same thing twice. Alain Passard is a genius and he has taste    [05 Dec 2000 13:31:13]

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Recommended Dishes: any fish offerings, don't cheap out on the wine.

     ­Beaufort Longest III   

Disappointing Performance at Arpege
Rude waiters, 40-minute wait for mille feuille dessert. They didn't have the courtesy to tell us it wasn't available: just served dry phyllo leaves. Slopped coffee. Onion stalk and husk mixed into cous-cous. Chef Passard must learn consistency and good manners.    [12 Nov 2001 11:54:16]

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Recommended Dishes: potage avec raviolis

     ­Anonymous   

Gourmet restaurants all espouse the rhetoric of putting primary emphasis on the ingredients themselves, but I haven't seen this philosphy delivered so pointedly as I have here at Arpege. Whereas most excellent chefs demonstrate their creativity in esoteric flavour pairings or in flashy, artful presentations, my experience at Arpege was one of fairly naked food, simply arranged. But honestly, I have never eaten better. Everything at the table really exploded with flavour.

There were no truffles, no foie gras, but there was salmon, olives, figs, haricots verts. It was all so basic, which made it that much more compelling; I will spend my life trying to find a tomato as succulent and sweet, aromatic, clear and direct as M. Passard's, and his matter-of-fact presentations show his confidence in the foodstuffs.

I was also impressed by the service. Fine dining usually entails some formality and reserve from the waitstaff. Thus, it was really great to have a waiter who was genuinely excited about the food and who was not merely polite but friendly; not merely patient with my French but helpful.

Portions were manageable, so that I was quite comfortable after dessert. The meal was expertly paced, too, so that I still had an evening ahead of me. Indeed, I spent several hours after dinner walking (or was it a skip?) all over central Paris, mentally reliving one of my finest gastronomic experiences.    [20 Nov 2001 14:55:06]

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     ­John Adams   

New Years Eve and Empty Eye Sockets
The word of the day is 'gouge'.

I had a reservation for New Years' Eve at L'Arpege (made two months in advance) hoping for some out of this body experience but alas my expectations proved to be too high.

We had the set menu thinking that this would be a right choice at the restaurant of this caliber but that turned out to be a mistake as the menu was a mixed bag of hit-or-miss cuisine. If having maple syrup in a poached egg counts as revolutionary, I'll apply for a mandate in the government of the New Republic wherever it may arise so as to be on the other side of the barricade when this revolution will be televised. Yuck!

Some dishes worked well and just to make sure we did remember everything we've consumed that night, they gave us the menu as a souvenir along with a thick English guide to restaurants of the world, the type of guide you'd find on a nightstand in a cheap hotel. A faux pas in a 3-star Paris restaraunt? You don't say.

On to the food -- the poached egg with maple syrup was yucky although my better half liked it but then she likes maple syrup on everything. The ravioli with scallops in a bit of a 'soup' was great and made me think of a wonton soup. It was along those lines but tasted much better. I had mille feuille for dessert and that was excellent. The rest of the meal (7 courses total) was quickly forgotten.

Now for the bad part: the cost of the meal was around 800 USD. This was New Year Eve special -- the prix fixe menu is normally around 100 USD but we were 'lucky' to be there on the 31st and paid an inordinately high price for a good meal. Was it worth the price? No way. Was it fair to inflate the price for one day? Maybe but not 300%.

We had much better food and service at Taillevent -- as much as Passard is praised by everyone for his revolutionary cooking, next time we're in Paris other restaurants will get our business.    [07 Jan 2002 10:30:38]

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     ­Anonymous, San Francisco   mduchamp42 at hotmail dot com

Not Disappointed
I wasn't disappointed by Arpege. Probably in my top 5 gastronomic experiences, not #1 but at that level, who cares? I'm a vegetarian and the 9-course vegetarian tasting menu was a real treat. Overall Rating: Outstanding, Food Rating: Incredible

Food preparation was perfect, flavors exquisitely presented. My only disappointment was being served two different sweet-onion dishes in the middle of the meal. Nice to compare maybe but I like variety.

Service was fine - friendly and not the most expert I've seen but we felt quite at home.


==== Courses ====
(Champagne: Coupe Duval Leroy 1986)
Amuse bouche: shrimp carpacchio tart with onions and apple
Breton bread and butter
(Wine 1: Pouilly Fume 2000 "Asteroid" Cuvee Silex Daguene)
Avocado mousse with green pistachio oil and garnished with fleur de sel
Poached quail egg with chives, light cream, and drizzled with maple syrup
Sweet onion gratinee with black pepper, parmesan and arugula
(Wine 2: Sancerre 2000 Vacheron)
Sweet onion ravioli with cumin and coriander in a fruit broth
Celeriac root steamed with butter with hot grainy mustard
Asparagus stalk with parsley puree, shallot puree, balsamic vinegar
Cous-cous with fennel, carrots, parsnip, cabbage, parsley sauce
Cheese selection
(Tawny port: Noval, 20 years)
Candied tomato stuffed with 12 flavours: nuts, peppermint, kumquat, lemon, ?
... lemon-vanilla-caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream
Wafer-thin mints (chocolate mints and butter tarts)
Coffee / Mineral Water

Total meal time: approx 5 hours    [21 May 2002 15:14:08]

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Recommended Dishes: 12-flavor candied dessert tomato

     ­Keev   kevbwe AT hotmail DOT com

Great Way to Start my gastronomic experience
I went to the restaurant not knowing what anything meant on the menu. They made me feel very comfortable by translating the menu.

Excellent personal touch, very creative dishes, and knowledgeable staff for recommendations.

Make sure that you have high limit on your credit card.

Worth every euro!    [22 Aug 2002 00:23:48]

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Recommended Dishes: pick the weirdest sounding dish on the menu - worth it!

     ­MontyT, Houston, Texas   

I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this restaurant: the cuisine, the service, the little extras, the ambiance, AND Alain Passard stopping by our table to chat for a minute.    [19 Sep 2002 21:13:53]

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     ­Anonymous   

Genius!
I am a High end restauranteur and had laughed at the word "genius" being used in regards to a food service establishment until I ate at Arpege. Words cant describe the food, a conversation perhaps, but for now I think I WILL go with genius. No frills yet refined when it comes to decor and staff. I did Arpege and Ducasse back to back and could do without staff running to pull your chair out for you at ducasse Vs. engaging, knowedgeable, approachable, yet formal and professional staff at Arpege.    [21 Apr 2003 05:27:50]

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Recommended Dishes: Anything legume & brittany lobster

     ­Anonymous