Le Grand Restaurant, the two-Michelin-starred flagship of acclaimed chef Jean-François Piège, is located in Paris’s prestigious Golden Triangle. Despite its grand name, the space is intimate and cozy, offering a romantic ambiance with dim lighting, just a few tables, a stunning glass ceiling, and thoughtful antique touches sourced from brocantes across France.
We were especially excited to visit, having previously dined at Piège’s restaurants in Gordes, Paris 1er and 7ème, and Saint-Tropez. From the moment we were seated, the experience was both personal yet highly-refined, and we loved the mixture of old-and-new. One of the most charming touches was being invited to choose a unique knife rest from a hinged box at the start of the meal — a small but memorable detail that offers guests a way to personalize the experience.
The dining room opens into a spacious kitchen, so diners can watch the culinary team working in harmony (and with beautiful copper cookware), and is framed by a striking wine wall that would be the envy of any wine lover. This transparency between the chefs and diners is unusual for fine dining and we thought it created a more engaging and immersive dining experience as well as a way to guests to witness Piège’s laboratory of haute cuisine.
Piège’s current menu, titled Tour de France des Territoires & Mijotés Modernes, is a tribute to French culinary heritage, offering refined interpretations of regional French cuisine. Standout dishes include the “large langoustine cooked on a Parisian cobblestone with black butter,” prepared tableside, and the “sweetbread cooked over walnut shells with whelks and a spiced broth thickened with spring lettuce,” acclaimed by the Michelin guide.
Several dishes were standouts to us. We were particularly impressed by the Radis beurre, a modern take on the traditional French snack of radishes and butter, with thinly sliced radish folded delicately into a floral shape and served over seaweed butter. The caviar served over scallops married French-produced caviar with the freshest scallops from Brittany. Perhaps our favorite dish of the evening was the Brittany blue lobster cooked tableside over smoldering vines.
Piège’s newest cookbook is being released in English so that a wider audience can appreciate his mastery of French cuisine. For those eager to experience the pinnacle of his craft, a dinner at Le Grand Restaurant is a must.
Note: Le Grande Restaurant provided support for the reporting of this story.