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Taillevent Stays on Top
PARIS – In almost any field, getting to the top is the easy part. You just work harder and longer and with more discipline than anyone else and the top prize is yours.
Staying there is another story. After time, some
lose the energy to keep fighting, age sets in, or maybe
boredom or routine or all of the above. And there are
no prizes for just staying in the game if the top is
your aim.
Well, we could all take a lesson from restaurateur
Jean-Claude Vrinat, the perfect example of what one
can and might and should do to
get to the top and stay there.
The first time I dined at his Michelin three-star
establishment, Taillevent, in 1979, it was also the
first time a waiter filled
my wine glass without my ever noticing it. On later
visits, it was the first time someone arranged
the silverware to accommodate the fact that I am left
handed. Oh, yes, God is in the details.
How else could Taillevent have maintained that three-star
rating since 1973? Vrinat does it not only by his own
rigid, unfailing
self-discipline but by demanding the same of
everyone who works for him. And he knows that change
---
in
some form or another -- is always necessary.
You’ve got to keep moving, and moving ahead.
I have to say that his newest change – the employment
of the talented Alain Soliveres as chef – is one of
his most brilliant to date. Recently, I had two of
my finest Taillevent meals ever, and look forward to
plenty more in the future.
Soliveres has added a needed light touch to the Taillevent
table. The 39-year-old native of Beziers, in the Languedoc,
has a fine history,
having trained with Jacques Maximin at the hotel
Negresco in Nice, at le Chabichou in the Savoy, at
Lucas Carton
in Paris and with Alain Ducasse in Monaco. Since
1992 he performed brilliantly at the city’s Les Elysees
Vernet. There, he introduced the world to his famous
(and now much-copied) epeautre (spelt) prepared like
a risotto. His cuisine has always been distinctly Provencal,
distinctly personal, and distinctly pleasing. (It’s
curious that at Taillevent he replaces chef Michel
del Burgo , who is now at the La Bastide de Gordes,
where Soliveres served as chef in 1989. In a game of
musical stoves, at Les Elysees Vernet Soliveres is
replaced by Eric Briffard who was basically moved aside
when Alain Ducasse moved into the Plaza Athenee.)
But on to the food. Perhaps the best compliment you
can pay any cook is to wish for seconds, maybe even
thirds. Run, don’t walk to
sample his remoulade of truffled celery root topped
with paper thin slices of scallops and truffles. This
pristine, elegant first course arrived like a pastry
shop millefeuille, a neat, crisp-looking rectangle
with its infinitesimally chopped celery root laced
with truffle bits. Atop it, alternating black and white
discs of fragrant black truffle and sweet sea scallops,
added a cool, refreshing balance. A tiny mouthful of
this creation, followed by a studied swallow of Francois
Jobard’s Meursault ought to throw any self-respecting
gastronome into fits of ecstasy. I had to hold myself
back from asking for seconds, for I knew what was next
to come.
He did not disappoint with a gorgeous piece of bar, or sea bass, cut into a big
fat chunk and bathed in a bouillon rich with shellfish
stock and artichokes. The marriage of sea and land
was perfect, oh so light, and oh so satisfying. The
moist, perfectly cooked bar was flanked with the freshest
of artichokes, and just the right amount of baby clams.
Again, the dish did honor to Monsieur Jobard, and vice
versa.
I think it’s brave to put something as seemingly homey as rabbit on such an august
menu, but Soliveres pays homage to the meaty rabbit Rex from the Poitou, again,
pairing it with the tiny violet artichokes from Provence. Here, the red Nuits
Saint George of Henri Gouges seems right at home.
On one visit, I was very disappointed by the moelleux au chocolate warm
molten dessert. It just did not seem dense or chocolaty enough for me.
But on another
visit, I was blown away by his crepes craquantes au citron, a tangy, puckery-sweet
lemon concoction, a fine play of crunch and cream, and the kind of dessert
that simply allows you to get up from the table with fond, sweet memories.
Taillevent
15 rue Lamennais
Paris 8
Telephone: 01 44 95 15 01
Fax: 01.42.25.95.18
Email: mail@taillevent.com
Closed Sunday, Monday, and the third week of July
to the third week of August. Private dining rooms for 12 or 30 diners. Menus
at 130 € and 180 € , including service but not wine. A la carte, 110 to 150 €,
including service but not wine.
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