Ordinarily it would be easy to feel a bit sorry for vegetarians when they are eating in the world’s top restaurants as often they are fed a toned down and muted menu, often missing out on some of the restaurant’s best dishes, but in L'Arpege you wouldn't be missing out on anything. L'Arpege isn't a vegetarian restaurant, meat and fish may be served on a course or two, but vegetables are most often the star of the show. 
 
The idea that vegetables are just there to accompany a protein is a bit outdated and over recent years more chefs are realising that no ingredient is more important than another, regardless of its cost or its rarity. The taste is all that matters and all that should matter. Who is to say that a piece of beef is more important than a carrot, that some john dory should take certain stage over an artichoke? The diversity in the vegetable world is far greater than the meat world, the possibility of new combinations, new flavours, and new dishes is near infinite without touching a piece of meat or fish. Eating in L'Arpege it is easy to see that chef Alain Passard is passionate and excited about the potential of the vegetable world.
 
It is very rare, it has maybe only happened to us a few times, that you realise you are eating the food of a one-off chef, a chef who is unique and who’s talent and approach cannot be copied, but this is exactly what we felt about Alain Passard when eating in L'Arpege. Passard is still fully involved in the creative process, he is just as passionate and excited as ever, this much is obvious, not just from the way he talks to his guests during the service, but from the array dishes he is sending out. He has a palate which could be rivalled by very few, delivering powerful yet delicate tastes in the one dish.
 
A gazpacho enhanced with a floral mustard ice cream raised the curtain on a meal that would both excite and delight us. A beautiful, deceptively simple serving of tomato carpaccio with germanium continued this floral theme. Germanium and tomato combined again with brilliant effect on another dish, this time with a ravioli of courgette and aubergine, which gave an earthiness to complete this stunning serving. A rich and creamy celeriac risotto with ceps came in the middle of the meal as to mark the end of the fragrant summer and the onset of the vegetal and earthy autumn. This continued with a moreish serving of mushroom, leeks and dill.
 
Pomme purée and olive was one of the more interesting and clever dishes on the meal. The tarteness of the olive marrying surprisingly well with the richness of the purée. Perhaps the best dish, it would be hard to pick just one, was a rich and addictive egg with hazelnut and red cabbage. A dish of ratatouille was the only slight let down on the meal; the charred smokiness on the aubergine was not enough to elevate it to more than just a good ratatouille. Desserts were also fantastic, in particular a rhubarb mille feuille; the sharpness of the rhubarb, which seemed like it was just slightly stewed was excellent with the sweet and delicate pastry.
 
Throughout the meal there was nothing that was over or under seasoned and the balance on each dish was extraordinary, there are few other meals that come to mind with this level of balance and it was clear that Passard is a man that understands flavours like few others.
 
There is still a youthful excitement about Passard that permeates throughout his restaurant. No two tables seem to get the same dishes, even when on the same menu, instead it seemed to us that the kitchen seemed to be reacting to each dinner’s enthusiasm and appetite. There is a brilliant spontaneity that is very rare in a restaurant of this class. We had no idea what was coming next on our lunch menu, but we got the impression that the kitchen and waiting staff were not sure either.

The service was friendly, with the right level of formality. €140 for a lunch menu that will contain around 10 courses, but that varies by day and by table, seemed like a bargain, especially for a restaurant of this calibre in Paris.
 
L'Arpege is a unique restaurant, run by the equally unique chef and highly recommended.

See L'Arpege on World Restaurant Ratings

​There is something highly addictive about a French bistro. The chaos, the commotion, the noise and the atmosphere can suck you in, and when you match that with some great French food it is an experience that we would never tire of. Le Chateaubriand has managed to keep this quintessentially French dining experience, but instead of traditional bistro style dishes, it serves a modern tasting menu. This practice, now called Bistronomie by people who like to give everything a name, is starting to become more popular, but Le Chateaubriand are at the forefront of this movement.
 
The menu, served as a surprise tasting, changes daily based on the markets and the season. The food is inventive, interesting and on the whole excellent.  After some brilliant and quite clever amuse bouches, the meal was opened with a delightful, natural and earthy serving of cepes, with bilberries and lovage. The best serving of the meal was next, ling with white corn cooked in butter – it's simple and austere appearance hiding a very moreish, perfectly balanced combination. A dish of salted lamb with cauliflower and olives with a light curry was sharp, astringent and one of those dishes that grows on you the more you eat it, but did not deliver the same deliciousness as the rest of the menu.
 
Desserts were also delicious and quite good fun. A cassis sorbet with Angelique cream was delicious with some grated goats cheese adding a bitter and almost umami note. But even better was a serving based on the Spanish dessert of tocino de cielo; a delightful caramelized egg yolk served on a little piece of pastry - you could easily and quite happily eat a lot of these.
 
The service has the fast paced hustle that you find in any French bistro, but the servers were knowledgeable, engaging, funny and seemed to take a real pleasure in their work. €70 for this tasting menus felt like great value, but the matching wines are definitely worth paying an extra €65. The wine flight, which also included cider and gin, contained some unusual choices that worked brilliantly with the food.
 
After a meal in Le Chateaubriand it is easy to see that Chef Inaki Aizpitarte is extremely talented and why he has earned himself such a reputation in Paris. His food is contemporary, at times a little bit challenging, with some interesting and unusual combinations that could only be pulled off by someone with vision and an amazing palette.
 
Besides this, and what is maybe the best thing about Le Chateaubriand, is that it still feels rooted in a traditional French bistro. Despite serving modern and sometimes daring food, it has kept that bistro essence and this is a fantastic combination which makes for a wonderful evening. It would be hard for us to return to Paris, even with the plethora of top class restaurants that grace the city, and not stop by Le Chateaubriand.

See Le Chateaubriand on our world ratings list.