{"id":76,"date":"2018-11-09T11:44:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T11:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/2018-10-30-le-clarence-the-return-of-french-fine-dining\/"},"modified":"2024-03-03T15:47:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T15:47:16","slug":"2018-10-30-le-clarence-the-return-of-french-fine-dining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/2018-10-30-le-clarence-the-return-of-french-fine-dining\/","title":{"rendered":"Le Clarence: The Return of French Fine Dining?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This relatively new high end dining restaurant in Paris has all kinds of features we love to hate. It has two gorgeous small salons<\/em> equipped with red velvet chairs, a glittering forest of crystal glasses, an armory of silver cutlery, beautiful candles, and very professional well-dressed servers who effortlessly build a rapport with diners without being patronizing and too intrusive. This is all very anachronistic in an age where most of us, including French restaurant critics, feel threatened by \u201cla grande cuisine fran\u00e7aise dans sa plus belle tradition<\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Possibly there has never been an era in history, with so many diners with some tie to social media, who take themselves seriously while displaying an inverse relationship between knowledge and their inflated sense of self-worth. In contrast, the so called \u201cleading 50 restaurants of the world\u201d, with chefs who are \u201ccreative artists\u201d rather than \u201cartisans\/ouvrier<\/em>\u201d, now serve a long series of incomplete \u201cideas\u201d that are beautiful to photograph for Instagram, with waiters who have memorized lectures on the source of each ingredient. Because these restaurants know how to cater to these \u201cinfluencers\u201d and \u201cmedia personalities,\u201d they have succeeded in creating a demand for almost anything that they cook, independent of taste, as long as the dishes look good to photograph. Because the globe-trotting \u201cinfluencers\u201d have been paid to promote restaurants that are sponsored by business conglomerates, the overall result has been the decline of true fine-end destinations, in general, and \u201cla grande cuisine francaise<\/em>,\u201d in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \u201cla grande cuisine francaise<\/em>\u201d is not yet gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How else can one explain the sudden arrival of Le Clarence<\/strong> onto the dining scene in Paris? It is really rowing against the tide. With some possible exceptions, there are not too many Michelin three star or top 20 restaurants in the Western world which cook without a nod to Japan, to Kaiseki, and to Nordic fads. Luxury ingredients, such as caviar, lobster, foie gras, are on the unofficial black list in favor of ingredients supposedly foraged from the forest. There is nothing wrong with this, except that we are witnessing the transformation of chefs from kitchen professionals to media oriented, story-telling narrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Le Clarence chef Christophe Pele<\/strong> and second chef Giuliano are true professionals with an identity. I am familiar with their style from the La Bigarrade<\/strong> days in the 17th arrondissement, which was a small space with a cheery atmosphere. The chefs especially favored shellfish which was cooked with the precision of the great Spanish masters. The French often overcook the seafood.  They have shown the typical obsession of great French chefs for getting every detail right and for achieving an overall harmony. The cooking was elaborate, but not fussy. The emphasis on the best possible ingredients was on par with L\u2019Astrance<\/strong> (It was Monsieur Rohat<\/strong> who recommended this restaurant to me). The sommelier was capable of pairing the dishes with inexpensive great wines. Overall La Bigarrade was like a hidden gem, and I had hoped that it would stay that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it did not stay that way, as the chefs sold the restaurant. Five to six years later Christophe and Giuliano reappeared on to the Paris scene in a diametrically opposite, very luxurious, yet refined environment. The basic tenets of their cooking philosophy remained unaltered: top quality ingredients, focused and precise cooking that shows respect for products, and combinations which are complimentary and well thought out in the sense that the elaboration of a given product is solely aimed at adding an extra layer of complexity without losing the overall harmony. There is almost an obsession with detail that is not aimed to impress the chef\u2019s ego or to show his \u201cpseudo-cerebral\u201d approach to cooking. Instead, the tremendous work and detail is disguised so well that one can surmise that the only concern of the chefs is to cook what they themselves love to eat on special occasions. This is why they are great chefs, and this is why this exquisite restaurant will never top any list or become too trendy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one salient difference between La Bigarrade and Le Clarence is that they now use more luxurious ingredients, such as caviar and lobster. I love that! So far we have visited the restaurant only twice, mid-March and July 3rd. Here is a brief summary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

March 2018 Meal<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is sometimes possible to drink your champagne and taste amuses in the beautiful 3rd floor room, before being ushered to your table. Bereche et Fils is lean and minerally. Amuses are just right in number, such as an excellent gougere<\/em> (only Pacaud<\/strong> offers it); a puff pastry with tender spinach and ricotta; and gratineed clams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The March meal started with an oyster wrapped in kadaif<\/em>, topped by blood orange and a kiss of XO sauce. It had well-calibrated flavors, with the sharpness of XO sauce cut by blood orange. We tasted Petit @ Bajan \u201cNymphea\u201d rose champagne with it. We were taken aback by the deliciousness of the brioche and the quality of their bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kessler Alsace Grand Cru 2014 Dirler-Cade was served with the second course: scallops in two forms. The raw scallop was dressed with a cream of buffalo and sat on top of baby veal tartare from Correze. It was delicious. Equally good was the barely grilled scallop with amazing tangerine from Sicily and sorrel cream. This dish tasted like a burst of flavors with intensity which paired very well with the Riesling.  The Riesling had good tension and an agrume component.<\/p>\n\n\n\n