As part of an advanced celebration of my birthday, my wife organized a surprise by booking me in one of the restaurants that I wanted to try for a very long time, the Pré Catelan, Parisian restaurant of the chef Frederic Anton.
A look back at this exceptional experience.
The concept
The concept is not a very creative one, but simply perfect. It is a gourmet French restaurant, located in one of the most bucolic settings of the capital.
The setting
As I said before, the setting is the most bucolic in the capital, since it is a property bathed in the Bois de Boulogne. it is hard to believe that we are only a few minutes away from the Porte Maillot. Moreover, the Bois de Boulogne is considered to be within the City of Paris.
The menu
Few choices to make with this menu. Frédéric Anton offers a 14 courses menu, or a slightly shorter 10 courses version. Obviously, the executive chef will accommodate your dietary requirements, whether vegetarian, vegan, or any allergies or preferences.
The meal and the dishes
Let’s stop talking and start tasting!
Here are pictures and comments of all the dishes tasted during this evening.
- Aperitif with Champagne Rosé Deutz and delicious cheese puffs
- Bread and butter: warm bread, lightly salted butter
- Piperade : perfect combination between the roundness of the burrata and the acidity of the piperade
- Avocado: superb, very good fried onions and curry
- Crab Royale: a little salty but very balanced despite the aniseed
- Rouille: very intense
- Lobster bisque: never had anything so good, drank like an espresso
- Foie gras ravioli: I think the best thing ever eaten with gold leaf in the jelly, huge piece of scampi
- Cod Brandade : excellent and not very nauseating
- Beech smoked salmon with wasabi sauce: so melting
- Champagne sorbet, caviar: a superb combination of sweet and sour
- Squab: very good but a bit nauseating, would have deserved a side dish like mashed potatoes, but the salad brightened up the whole thing with its truffle bits
- Cheese soufflé, comté cream, truffle: superb and not heavy at all
- Pollen: incredible dessert, balanced in texture and taste and not too sweet. Superb yuzu insert.
- Chocolate pie with pistachio ice cream : Perfect to end this dinner.
The service
Despite the relative efficiency of the service, we will stay a little more than 4 hours to taste the chef’s dishes. The service will be perfect from start to finish
The atmosphere
The atmosphere is in accordance with what one can expect from such a property, that is to say quite posh, but inevitably very dependent on the table neighbors.
Bottom line
What more can I say, it is probably the gastronomic perfection, totally adapted to my taste.
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