Over-estimated ?

The chef has a beard and is a star. All the male customers have beards and are convinced they are stars too. Welcome then to Le Chateaubriand, winner of best restaurant in the 2006 Le Fooding Awards.

And before I get started, what sort of name is Le Fooding? Ridiculous. Nevertheless, if you’re ‘down with the kids’ and love your food almost as much as you love yourself, Le Chateuabriand is definitely the place to pose for you and your emaciated black-clad girlfriend.

The chef is Inaki Aizpitarte, He’s young, basque, and his concept-style food has already earned him a very large reputation. His previous restaurant, Le Transversal, was part of the newest modern art museum in the Paris region (the MACVAL). The dishes were inspired by the exhibits (think ‘modern’, think art’) and the service was chaotic. Thankfully the Chateaubriand seems to have learned from those mistakes.

Situated in the 11th arrondissement not too far from Republique, the 1930s deco tastefully offsets the very graphic food; the word bistronomique could have been coined especially for the place.

Our first course was simply described as avocado and prawns, but arrived looking like an abstract painting. The prawn were cooked ‘minute’ (i.e. almost raw) and were lounging in a citrus sauce at one edge of the dish, whilst some of their dissected feet were at the other end, impaled in each stripe of avocado. It was tasty, but the old man in me actually quite likes food when it’s, er, cooked.

The main course was based on the concept of colour with red fish, blood orange and a perfectly smooth slab of sculpted green (mashed broccoli). Once again, the fish was barely cooked, but pleasing enough though hardly exceptional. We couldn’t help wonder however how nice it would have been to have the vegetarian platter (not on the menu, you’ll have to beg for it) which looked rather tempting.

Dessert is where were properly impressed. Rum baba is a classic that’s easy to get wrong, but ours melted in the mouth (and when we asked for extra rum, the waiter was happy to oblige). Also, the dark chocolate soup was gorgeous, and came with a couple of lychees, cubes of Chinese apple and a little biscuit suspend in a blob of cream that made the whole thing resemble some king of fiendish hieroglyphic.

The problem with going to a restaurant that has won a prize is that you’re setting yourself up for a fall; if it’s anything less than excellent, you’re going to be disappointed. A lot of people like Le Chateaubriand a lot, and – don’t get me wrong – it’s worth checking out for a stylish meal (indeed, a few tables occupied by tourists show that it’s renown is already spreading), but we think that there are many other restaurants that take themselves a lot less seriously, and where style isn’t more important than content.

You love it if you are: trying to impress someone / (deliberately) poorly-shaved / a web-designer / rich.
You’ll hate it if you: don’t smoke / prefer your food to fill at least part of the plate / are colour-blind / are poor.
Our favourite bit: the Morgon 2003. Astonishing (and lovely) cloudy red wine.

60euros per person wine and cofee included

Le Chateaubriand
129 avenue Parmentier
75011 Paris
Métro Goncourt
Tel : 01 43 57 45 95

Crédits Photos : JasonW