Le Chiberta

Le Chiberta - 1Guy Savoy is one of the biggest names in French gastronomy, with four restaurants in Paris (opened a lovely oyster house recently) and a luxurious restaurant in Las Vegas, Guy Savoy’s cuisine excels in the mastery with which the ingredients are worked, letting them shine without overpowering too many components or elements. After leaving overwhelmed from the amazing Les Bouquinistes (see), in our last visit to Paris, this time we experienced the Le Chiberta, next to the famous Champs Elysées, awarded with a Michelin star and famous for being, early in 2014, the stage for the dinner where President Obama and François Hollande gathered, with all the media attention a meeting of this type gets.

But leaving the gossip aside and on to the gastronomy, Stéphane Laruelle is in charge of the kitchen, one of the right arms of Guy, with the responsability for the room falling on Jean-Paul Monterllier, former master at Bristol. The decoration and the design of the space were made by Jean-Michel Wilmotte, who previously worked at Guy Savoy and also at Les Bouquinistes, creating a modern and refined restaurant, with the black and the red taking the lead, and as usual, with the cellaret having a spotlight.

  Le Chiberta - 9The counter, perfect for the lunch hour 

After being well received by the entire team and already installed at the comfortable and wide tables, we started our taste with the usual toast, an excellent cocktail based on champagne and to go with some small appetizers, brand of the restaurant, a Pâte à Choux with cheese and salty biscuits and chestnut cream. Following, as of course it should be, the bread, once again of very good quality (and you know how much I love a nice bread), the famous Guy Savoy’s algae butter and a fabulous vegetable croquette sided in perfection with a tartar sauce.

Le Chiberta - 8Le Chiberta - 7

 

 

 

 

Le Chiberta - 6Duck Foie Gras with celery, pear chutney and ginger bread
The combination of the celery and the Foie is already a classic of Guy Savoy, with a very well prepared tureen, with right texture and flavors contrasting nicely, in addition to being served at the right temperature. The light combination with the pear was very good, both the fresh pear and the chutney, and so was the strenght and dimension the ginger added to the dish. Very good.

 Le Chiberta - 5Sea Trout, tapioca pearls, mushrooms 
On spot trout, with a crispy skin and still moist and succulent. Well accompanied, in a connection between Earth and Sea, by the mushrooms and tapioca pearls cooked like a risotto, in a good texture and contrast game given by the vegetables. All nicely involved by the delicate fish sauce.

Accompanying a Albert Mann, Pinot Gris Cuvée Albert, from 2012, a wine from Alsace, with expressive notes from the fruit, with highlight to the quince and a slightly smoked touch that worked very well with the first dishes.

Le Chiberta - 4Lobster Ravioli, lemon and ginger, Lobster Bisque
Two texture lobster, creamy ravioli with a filling of lobster and vegetables, wrapped in a very thin dough and cooked on spot; and a piece of its loin, flawlessly cooked. The Bisque, connecting all the elements, is made from lobster and crayfish, a strong and tasty sauce that wins dimmension and freshness with the ginger notes and lemongrass and also the fresh herb olive oil. Excellent.

To go with, a Burgundy white, from Domaine Chanzy, a Rully en Rosey from 2012, of the usual Chardonnay caste.

Le Chiberta - 3Viel Rump, Carrot and Orange textures 
A reinvention of the classic rôti, over roasted carrot with orange sauce. Here, with the rump seasoned with coriander and perfectly cooked. Accompanying, a game of flavor and texture played by the usual orange and carrot combo, from the cream, the chips and the sauce. Simple and harmonious, a great dish.

To harmonize it was served a Château Potensac from 2007, a red wine from the Médoc region, simple but harmonious that let the dish shine.

Le Chiberta - 11Pre-Dessert

As pre-dessert was served a beautiful game around the orange, with cream, meringue, mousse and fresh orange, in a dish that could easily get more spotlight and that worked perfectly as transition to the end of the meal.

Le Chiberta - 10Opera cake, coffee ice cream
The dessert was the most classic and less creative part of the meal, with a well prepared Opera cake (all the layers have to be perfectly equal), full of detail and tasty, with an amazing coffee ice cream (and I usually dispense coffee).

To finish, nothing better than the wine we took with us in this trip, the Graham’s Tawny 20 years, which not only worked perfectly with the dessert, but also served as a gift for the restaurant team to celebrate another excellent service in a full house night.

The wine list expresses the importance the same have in the restaurant, with all the main French references, particularly the most classic ones, with some less usual proposals.

From the room Service we couldn’t ask for more, with all the details respected, no rushes or agitation during a full house night, actually it felt like we were the only ones in the room.

Final Remarks

Le Chiberta is the representation of a new and modern French haute cuisine, with a less formal environment, and much more cosmopolitan, we easily feel like we’re in New York or London. From Stéphane Laruelle’s kitchen leave dishes that represent Guy Savoy’s philosophy, in a combination of creativity and tradition and the respect for the ingredients. In all the dishes we could easily count the ingredients that made part of it, and in all of them feel their flavors and function, bluntly and without masks. In a slightly higher level than Les Bouquinistes, Le Chiberta is another great option for those wishing to enter Guy Savoy’s world, without going to his most exclusive and therefore more expensive restaurant, with three stars in the Red Guide.

Le Chiberta (*Michelin)
3, rue Arsène Houssaye, Paris
+33 (0)1 53 53 42 00
chiberta@guysavoy.com

Graham’s Tawny 20 years with the support of Symington Family

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