Restaurant Review: Le Grand Vefour

My tour client Sam Pryor and his daughter Toni are true New York foodies. Toni, who goes to Georgetown University and her father who lives in New York, do an annual trip to Paris on her spring break . It was mostly a food tour of the Marais and I showed them the great gourmet shops, patisseries, chocolate shops, and foie gras boutiques. As foodies showing their true passion, they talked about food during most of the tour, either reminiscing about great meals they had in the past (when they arrived for the tour they were raving about the steak tartare they just had at Ma Bourgogne on the Place des Vosges, which many Parisians say is the best steak tartare in the city) or spoke about the restaurant plans they had for the rest of the time they were here. Sam sent me this review he wrote (his first) for fun to send to his friends about his dining experience at Le Grand Vefour, one of the top rated restaurants in Paris. I thought it was so good that I decided to post it as my restaurant review this month. I suggested that Toni and Sam should write about their love of food and start a father/daughter food blog.

Even by my standards, Le Grand Vefour is spectacularly overpriced. Toni and I agreed that there is no comparison to assured restaurants such as Taillevent (later this week) or Le Bernardin (as often as possible). Vefour survives on its spectacular room and passable service and thus still might even get one star for decent takeout pizza.

I know that last comment is unfair but it is exactly what I wrote when I got back and seems more true than otherwise. The restaurant has lost its grace and poise, drifting, without any sense of self confidence. We guessed that the chef might be trying to use high style modern food to counterbalance the classic decor, but this did justice to neither.



It was particularly sad to see our French couple at the next table, he without jacket or tie, both on their phones throughout the entire meal. Where are the ugly Americans when we need them to preserve our illusions. Of course I was too wimpy to even think of asking for a new table.



The overall impression is of a restaurant trying too hard to get back to three stars with strange flourishes instead of real food. Basically the entrees and main courses were well prepared and interesting. But then there were these foamy sauces, served at the table, which frankly bore little relationship to the dishes in question.



So far we are both trying to keep an open mind, perhaps because of how much we are learning on a variety of topics from our charming young sommelier. He probably liked Toni more than me and actually was hoping that someone would get a corked wine so that she could taste it.



The scale finally tips irrevocably with a ridiculous dessert service which shows a restaurant utterly confused about its identity, or, perhaps more charitably, trying too hard. In addition to the chocolate tower ordered by Toni, we also got cream brûlée, not ordered, petit fours, an amuse bouche (dessert), and passed chocolates, and more oddly still, a slice of vanilla cake each, also not ordered. We both waved off the large basket of something like brightly colored salt water taffies which might have gone well with Dr Pepper but not my Condrieu.



Service was personable, some dishes were really good, but clearly this was a room from another century without a view of where it wants to be in this one. Even the long time maitre d’ who kindly advised us over the years on wine and cigars looked like a deer in the headlights.



We learned a lot. For your amusement, at my considerable expense.

Le Grand Vefour
17 rue de Beaujolais, 1st arr.
Metro: Palais Royal
Lunch -88 euros for three courses
Dinner a la carte 200-220 euros, tasting menu 268 euros
Open Monday-Friday lunch, Monday- Thursday for dinner
http://www.grand-vefour.com

A photo of foodies Toni and Sam in front of a food shop-where else?
Sacha Finkelstein, the best Jewish patisserie in the Marais on rue de Rosiers


New Tour Announcement

I am happy to announce a very special one-time tour opportunity. My friend and loyal blog fan Mary Gilbert and her close friend Phil Nuxhall both from Cincinnati, are coming to Paris the beginning of April. Phil is the Historian and Tour Coordinator for the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati where Mary is a docent. They are both longtime cemetery enthusiasts.

We are co-leading a tour of the lovely Russian Cemetery in Sainte Genevieve Des Bois just outside of Paris where Rudolf Nureyev is buried in a mosaic-encrusted sarcophagus along with other famous Russian expats and after we will visit the striking modern Evry Cathedral, the only 20th century church in France, built in 1992, designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta.

We would love for you to join us for this fascinating and unusual tour and we are accepting reservations for 10 people. Below are the particulars. If you would like to register for the tour please email me at [email protected] and I will email you further instructions.

Tour: Cimetière de Sainte Genevieve Des Bois and Evry Cathedral
Date & time: Friday, April 3, 1PM to approx. 5:30PM which
includes travel time
Cost: 40 euros a person not including train fare- approx. 10 euros
Meeting place: St. Michel metro

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Comments

[rosemary]

this guy is brilliant! LOL! so hilarious and at the same time, how sad! i went to this empire of fine dining a couple of time, years ago (past married life), it was amazing. how tragic that it's deteriorated so dreadfully, but I'm glad I knew it in its heyday.

[MadAboutParis]

Richard, you are soooooo right... they should have their own blog (or show on FN) - with Sam's snappy writing style and Toni's resemblance to Natalie Portman they'd be a wildy successful duo. Such talent!
See you in a week mon ami...
Mary

[Joe]

Don't forget Dessert has two 'S' because, Le Grand Vefour aside, you want more than one. Deserts are dry sandy places with few places to stop and eat.

[Stu]

Nom d'un chien, those people must be made of money.

[flirting tips]

Wait...dessert has 2 s's because you're supposed to eat more than one? Is that a trick to remember the proper spelling over a desert?