Ducasse Baccarat, 11 Place des États-Unis, Paris 16
I had expected to be writing today about a restaurant in the eleventh arrondissement where we ate Saturday night and for which I had very high expectations. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a complete dud.
But a sensational lunch on Sunday at the new Ducasse Baccarat restaurant fully wiped away any lingering disappointment.
The restaurant is located in the townhouse known as the Bischoffsheim or de Noailles building, built in 1895 on the Place des États-Unis (officially, it is the Place Thomas Jefferson, but that address is not used any more).
Marie-Laure de Noailles, the noted art patron, occupied the building from 1920 to her death in 1970. The building was the location in the 1920s for her balls attended by the likes of Picasso, Matisse, Giacometti, Picabia, Balthus, Dalì, and others.
The Baccarat crystal manufacturer eventually acquired the building and in September of this year, Alain Ducasse opened a restaurant there.
The chef is Christophe Saintagne, who from 2016 to 2022 had the outstanding restaurant Papillon in the 17th arrondissement where I ate frequently. Before that Saintagne had been the chef at Ducasse’s three-star restaurants at Le Meurice (2013-2016) and Plaza Athénée (2010-2013). Saintagne is assisted by Robin Schroeder, who has his own list of impressive credentials.
Our meal at the restaurant proved superb, but the visual aspects of the location and the restaurant are equally dazzling. Moreover, there is a Baccarat showroom in the building, a bar, and also a space where concerts, readings, and the like are held.
Entering from the street with decorations by Harry Nuriev:
Displays of Baccarat crystal as one climbs the stairway to the restaurant:
The entrance to the dining room:
The dining room:
We were there for a Sunday lunch. The dining room was about half full; as far as I could tell, we were the only non-French table.
Our seat next to the window looking out to the Place des États-Unis:
OK, let’s move on to the meal:
We took the three-course lunch.
The wine list is excellent and very reasonably priced, especially for an establishment of this order. There are good, reasonably-priced by-the-glass selections and good bottles as low as 60€, as well as the expected very prestigious bottles. We took a bottle of Bourgogne-Hautes Côtes de Nuits red from Nicole Lamarche:
2022 is a great vintage in the Côte d’Or, Lamarche is an outstanding producer, and Hautes Côtes de Nuits is an appellation that has benefitted immensely from global warming yet is still much undervalued in the marketplace. The wine fully lived up to expectations, providing elegance along with freshness and precision to its red fruits.
The amuse-bouche was roasted chestnuts with miso butter and rosemary:
The plates on which we ate the chestnuts:
The chestnuts were full of autumnal flavors enhanced by the rosemary.
The first course consisted of (1) a round of squash covered by crisped ground coffee and parmesan with a lemon-butter-olive oil sauce, and (2) a dish of olives, pine nuts, celery root, carrots, and cauliflower with turmeric which we were instructed to mix together before eating.
The partially-eaten olive, etc. dish after being mixed, as we were instructed to do:
This was a light, but very flavorful first course with finesse and elements suggesting North African cuisine.
For the main, continuing the North African elements: delicious, thinly-sliced lamb on a bed of spinach with candied orange peel. Also, flavorful pied de mouton mushrooms with a parsley sauce and parmesan:
Toasted brioche:
A remembrance of things past: engraving on a saucier (sauce spoon) from Ducasse’s ill-fated New York restaurant that closed in 2007:
Dessert centered around pink grapefruit granite, sorbet, and candied pink grapefruit, covered by a sabayon made with gin:
With crusted walnuts:
The glass is on display even in the washroom:
The chandelier in a room off the main dining area:
The bill:
For the meal and wine provided, this represents extraordinary value, and prices will surely rise after Michelin awards its stars next year, so I strongly urge you to go now, if you can.
Not just the food of great refinement, but the whole experience is extraordinary. I can’t wait to go back.
Ducasse Baccarat
11 Place des États-Unis, 75116 Paris
Open daily, noon to midnight
Telephone: 01 84 75 13 15
Métro: Boissière, Iéna