I don’t know how we’ve managed to do it but somehow we’ve brought the English rainy summer to Paris. Arriving this morning we’re tired, not exactly jetlagged but feeling similarly so due to the early rise to catch the Eurostar. We’re trying to find Drount, a Michelin starred restaurant and one of Paris’s chicest restaurants neat the Opéra but of course we can’t as the street that it sits on is not on any of our 4 maps. We finally find it, a light grey elegant building, with vivid blue Juliet balconies above.
Drouant is not just the centre for things culinary but also the centre for things related to Literature. Every year it hosts the Goncourt, Renaudot and Apollinaire awards (France’s most prestigious Literature awards) on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors of the building. The baby of Antoine Westerman it’s interior is given its zing by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. We’re greeted with broad smiles and deferential service. We have a few options for lunch, Drouant has a Plat du Jour for each day of the week-today it’s stuffed provencal vegetables for an absolute steal at €20. There is also a 3 course menu for €43 as well as an la carte selection.
A friendly fellow diner sitting next to us, the helpful Monsieur De Ville, sees our confusion and offers his suggestions. He has just had the €43 3 course meal and whilst it sounds great, I am still full from breakfast so we have to decline. Monsieur de Ville has tried so many items on their menu except for today’s Plat Du Jour and he explains that on Saturdays, there is an opportunity to meet some winemakers and enjoy a 3 course meal with 2 matching wines for €55.
Unusually, although we had read that Drouant does hors d’eovures sampler plates of 4 items, it appears that this is no longer the case. Monsieur de Ville, one of Drouant’s more regular customers confirms this with them and is surprised at this. My husband settles on the Plat du Jour and I choose the Duck Livers with peach, one of the “exceptional items of the season”.
Chateldon water €7
Apart from recommending us restaurants, he also suggests that they bring us the Chateldon water-the water that Louis XIV loved so much that he would order it be brought up to him at great trouble and is in such a limited production that it is only available at finer establishments like this. He flags down the manager who is bringing us regular sparkling to ask him to get us this one. It is actually markedly better which even my husband echoes (hopefully I haven’t created my own Louis XIV!).
Bread and butter
Stuffed provencal vegetables €20
Our meals arrive, the stuffed provencal vegetables look spectacular and fairly substantial. The eggplant, zucchini and capsicum are stuffed with a combination of pork and finely diced vegetables, in fact my mother makes something very similar at home, sauce and all!
Duck Liver with peaches €26
The duck liver with peaches are tender and lovely with a seared outer. I am ambivalent about strongly flavoured liver but this is so cleverly done as to reduce the strong liver taste. The peaches are a wonderful complement to it and are dressed with coriander. Even my husband, skittish with organs, is blissful eating this.
Petit fours
We’re too full for dessert, not used to eating this much for lunch although the desserts sound wonderful. We instead sip the Chateldon sparkling water, feeling just like Louis XIV and nibble on the delicious Petit Fours, sweet stewed candied orange slices and dark chocolate squares.
Napoleon’s Apartment, The Louvre
And speaking of over the top, I leave you with some photos of Napoleon’s apartment at the Louvre. A little over the top, but I’d say yes to that Dining Room any day!
Napoleon’s Dining Room, The Louvre
Napoleon’s Dining Room, The Louvre
Drouant
16 Rue Gaillon, 2nd arrondisement (8 minutes walk from the Louvre)
Open: Monday to Sunday 12-3pm, 7pm - Midnight
http://www.drouant.com
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13 Comments | Add your own
I’m puzzled. A “friendly” Frenchman? I thought they were all supposed to be full of Gallic snobbery!
Sounds like a lovely place - I’d be sitting there thinking “oooh are there any great writers around me”? Very Mr Deeds Goes to Town.
what a cool place! the stuffed veggies look incredible.
i had to snicker at sydneygal’s comment about the friendly frenchman–too funny.
Looks like a really nice place, would love to try the peaches with duck liver!
Sound like a great restaurant. Seem everything that they cook are great.
The Napoleon Dining Room, I’ve been there and I was seeing all red and gold. I would love to see how busy it was in Napoleon’s time and try the food, but I bet Drouant can cook better
Hi SydneyGal-Yes I sometimes wonder where is that famous French charm?
I tried not to gawk, but I may have failed…
Hi grace-It was such a great place to have lunch and such a good deal too! Hehe sounds like their reputation may have spread across the pond
Hi Popeye-The peaches and duck liver were out of this world good. And I’m not a big Offal person either!
Hi Lilia-Yes I think it would hard to get a bad dish here! Yes the Napoleon apartments were very red velvet and gold, quite stunning really!
How great to get a little bit of help from a regular! The food looks good too - a place I wouldn’t mind visiting.
It looks lovely, and photos of food were gorgeous!
Hi Y-I know, I was surprised when he just started talking to us but it was nice to get some tips from him, especially with the Chateldon! My husband still remembers the duck livers and peaches fondly.
Hi Non-Cook-Thanks! It was really great
gosh, i had no idea that drouant had a michelin star. i have to say i wasn’t overwhelmed with the food that i had either time i went. i had the sunday plate of the day (roast chicken and potatoes) both times (i thought it might get better - it didn’t).
what i did like was the people watching. there were a lot of older locals dressed to the nines there for their sunday lunch (the french are very neat).
Hi blythe-I don’t think the plat du jours are what Michelin would base their stars on (I could be wrong but I think they’d go for their a la cartes). The stuffed vegetables were good but the duck livers with peaches (an a la carte selection) was so much better. Plat du jours are good though, it’s at least a reasonable way to try some very expensive restaurants!
I felt like I was browsing at postcards Lorraine - it was all very beautiful!
I was impressed even by the dark chocolate squares and candied orange.
And how lovely to have met Monsieur de Ville. Somehow I can’t imagine something like that happening in London.
The food sounded lovely Lorraine, thanks for sharing
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[...] you know me, you’ll say “But you hate offal” I convinced myself that I loved the Duck Liver at Drouant so other types of offal are also welcome on my [...]
[...] Probably, and when it’s accompanied by the duck liver (stronger than the duck liver I had at Drouant in Paris) and cherries, it’s even [...]
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