Musee du Quai Branly
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LES OMBRES & LE CAFÉ BRANLY
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La Belle France, October 2006 |
Our premise was that there was time to be saved by dining on museum premises. Not at this museum! Right now, Les Ombres is competing for the World’s Slowest Service record. Fortunately, the view lives up to all its hype so you can dine with your eyes. Views of the Eiffel Tower from the terrace are astounding and thanks to glass walls, inside tables also share a breathtaking, nearly 360 ° Paris panorama.
Chef Arno Busquet from the Robuchonesque Laurent is running the kitchen, yet we’re not sure that classic French cuisine is the right answer here. It would make sense to bring in recipes from Tanzania or Tahiti, but instead, there’s bass carpaccio, rouget with artichokes, foie gras with chutney, and lamb with zucchini ravioli. When our fish finally arrived, it was overcooked, cold, and served on a very hot plate. (It must have been done with mirrors . . .)
There are some service/kitchen problems that need fixing, but the Paris press has already dubbed Branly as the Place to be Seen this season. There’s a 32€ prix fixe lunch; an à la carte dinner is approximately 120€ for two before wine. The wine list slides from 2005 Saumur Champigny, 24€, to 1997 Clos de Tart, 268€.
The ground-floor Café Branly, opening onto a garden where 176 varieties of trees grow, also offers a fine view of the Eiffel Tower. Its menu takes much more inspiration from the museum’s exotic ethnography. The Chandernagore tartine, 13€, is a sweet, open-faced chicken curry sandwich featuring mango, raisins, and slivered almonds. (For the record, the First World-style chicken club sandwich — with bacon — is 15€.) Desserts — with chai or champagne — are definitely the best bets: Ethiopian moka cake, litchi sherbet, Madagascar rice pudding, and Caribbean babas au rhum. A flute of Jacquard’s delightful Mosaïque Champagne is 7€ . . . 3€ less than upstairs.
Planning: Make Les Ombres reservations ASAP . . . everyone’s going to want eat here during FIAC . . . but until the personnel problems are solved, be sure you’ve allocated enough time. Vicinity: 15-minute walk to Orsay; 10-minute walk across the Seine to Chaillot-area museums (see Palais de Tokyo notes).
Les Ombres
Musée du Quai Branly
27 Quai Branly, 75007 Paris
Tel: 01.47.53.68.00.
www.quaibranly.fr.
Museum open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Thursday until 9:30 p.m. Restaurant “Les Ombres” open daily. All major credit cards.
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Hostellerie de Levernois in Burgundy
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La Belle France, October 2006 |
Jean-Louis and Susanne Bottigliero acquired this quiet country hotel in 2004 when chef/owner Jean Crotet retired to the south of France. Thanks to their makeover savvy, Levernois will be Burgundy’s next “in” inn. Of course, the Bottiglieros were bound to bring brighter than average candlepower to the project. While barely 40 years old, Mr. Bottigliero is the former Resident Manager for the Hôtel Crillon, the ex-General Manager of the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes (six years), and most recently, the CEO of the Relais & Châteaux chain.
We visited soon after the massive renovations which took place in early 2006. Nestled in a 19th-century manor set in 4 hectares of parkland (with an 18-hole golf course just outside the gates), the hotel’s sixteen remodeled guest rooms pack considerable wow factor. Even one of the least expensive doubles rooms like bluetinted number 36, 180€, has nearly suite-sized floor space . . . more than enough room for a four-poster bed and an open-plan bathroom with a walk-in shower and a large oval bathtub. There’s almost enough room to get lost in number 41, 400€, a taupe-and-beige suite with a kingsize bed and exposed brick walls. All rooms have parquet floors and individual air conditioning.
Placing Ducasse-trained Chef Vincent Maillard from the Bastide de Moustiers in charge of the kitchen is a stroke of genius that should put Levernois on track for a second star by as early as 2007. While Maillard has kept Jean Crotet’s famous snail recipe on the menu (as well as some of the best parslied ham and goujons we’ve tasted recently), the rest of the menu has shifted southwards. The lamb — rubbed with Basque red pepper and served with garlicky vegetables spiked with dried fruit — comes with a surprise garnish of socca¸ the traditional Riviera chickpea pancake. It’s sensational, and so is the rouget with the lightest white wine lemon sauce possible.
Prix fixe menus are available at 65€, 80€, and 98€, and an à la carte dinner for two comes to 180€ before wine. The cellar ranges between a 2002 premier cru Chablis Montée de Tonerre (Regnard), 48€, to a 2003 Clos de Tart, 305€, with wonderful vintages like Anne Gros’s delightful 2004 Chambolle Musigny La Combe d’Orveau, 72€, between those goalposts. The service? It’s as perfect and perceptive as one would expect at the Crillon or the Martinez.
A bistrot has just been added in the former 18th century kitchen (stone walls, fireplace, and copper pots) with an outdoor terrace that overlooks the Bouzaise stream that winds through the property. Three-course lunches are available at 32€.
Hostellerie de Levernois
Route de Combertault, 21200 Levernois
Tel: 03.80.24.73.58.
Fax: 03.80.22.78.00.
www.levernois.com.
Sixteen rooms and suites from 130€ to 280€ (low season) and 180€ to 400€ (high season).
Breakfast: 201. No elevator. Restaurant Hostellerie de Levernois: Closed lunch except Saturday and Sunday. Le Bistrot du Bord de l’Eau: Lunch only; closed Saturday and Sunday. All major credit cards. |
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Cuisine |
Decor |
Service |
Wine List |
Value |
TOTAL |
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18 |
18 |
20 |
18 |
20 |
94 |
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