Here’s a sneak peek of the review from the Guida di Identità Golose 2019 (available online from the 3rd of December) of Alain Ducasse’s restaurant at the Plaza Athénée in Paris, 3 Michelin stars. Ducasse will cook at Identità Golose Milano, on Tuesday 11th December with Massimo Bottura, during a fundraising event for Food for Soul
At his gourmet restaurant inside the Plaza Athénée, Alain Ducasse imagined a completely new culinary offer for this kind of place: there are no dishes using meat in his menu. Instead, he gives large space to vegetal products, especially legumes and cereals. In other words, this project marks a clear break with the French culinary tradition, something the multi-starred chef considers an obvious choice given the food scene is already full of animal proteins.
However, this naturalist cuisine, an invitation to eat healthier food, is not a simple cuisine. With the help of his collaborators, including his head chef Romain Meder, Alain Ducasse tries to reach excellence – in terms of taste, appearance, emotions – looking for extreme flavours in all the products used.
Ducasse and Massimo Bottura, colleagues and friends since they met when the latter was an intern at Louis XV in Monte Carlo, in 1994
He works with the best food producers and artisans, taking care of every detail, including plates and service, creating a surprise where you least expect it… so that the time you spend dining becomes an unforgettable, unmatched experience.
So it’s hard to forget the simple slice of gluten-free bread served as amuse-bouche, paired with Caviar and lentils, Stock fish tripe, Mullet in civet and the dessert with almost no sugar from pastry chef Jessica Préalpato. This genuine approach is an exception but it would be nice for it to become if not the rule, at least a model for the evolution of French fine dining.
Meanwhile the master never stops learning. He humbly told us: «I’ve never managed to make a proper pil pil sauce, until I learnt to make it in San Sebastian. It’s a seemingly simple sauce, with just four ingredients (salted cod fish, olive oil, garlic and chilli pepper) but it requires great technique. It could well sum up the essence of our cuisine at ADPA, a seeming simplicity of great complexity».
Ducasse with Romain Meder, head chef at Plaza Athénée
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée
25, Avenue Montaigne
+33.1.53676665
Paris, France
Average prices: entrées 135, main courses 150 and desserts 45 euros
Tasting menu: 210 and 395 euros
Closed on Saturday and Sunday. Open at lunchtime only on Thursday and Friday
