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 Véfour, 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 Véfour 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 desert 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 (desert), 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

Please visit Richard's website, "I Prefer Paris" at http://www.eyepreferparis.com and http://www.eyepreferparistours.com