When you think about dining in Paris what immediately comes to mind is ultra expensive formal white linen clothed restaurants, not complete without snobby French waiters looking down their noses at you. Le Chateaubriand is the antithesis of this. Situated in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, it is a néo-bistrot styled restaurant that has taken Paris by storm (translation: gastronomy redefined, being a new movement of restaurateurs with vision stepping away from the classic French restaurant to a more casual atmosphere focusing on innovative food with varying degrees of daringness, also typically prix-fixe). Others in this category include Yves Cambdeborde who started Le Comptoir du Relais in 2005 and Greg Marchand who opened Frenchie in 2009  – both of whom now have restaurants in London.   

Le Chateaubriand was voted the 40th best restaurant in the world by the well regarded San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards in 2009 (which actually does a list of the top 100 restaurants) and has featured on list ever since, currently sitting at 74th, with its previous rankings being: 2010 – 11th, 2011 – 9th, 2012 – 15th, 2013 – 18th, 2014 – 27th, 2015 – 21st. 

The restaurant is celebrating its 10th year and has been helmed by Basque chef Iñaki Aizpitarte since it opened.  Iñaki has always been unconventional as far as French chefs go, working in Tel Aviv, Mexico, Brazil and Spain before coming back to Paris to open his own restaurant. With the help of co-founder Fred Peneau, Le Chateaubriand was born.  

Now, don’t be fooled by the name.  When we were there there wasn’t a steak in sight (the restaurant gets its name from a bistro of the same name that was located on the same site previously).  There is no menu available online and with the menu changing daily, you never know what to expect – except that you are in for a treat!  

I had read on various online posts that bookings were only available for the first sitting, but I found that actually reservations open 21 days in advance for both sittings (7.30pm and 10.30pm).  It’s still ridiculously hard to get a reservation earlier than 10.30pm, however, given the time difference with London (making it only 9.30pm), it actually didn’t seem that late at the time and also leaves time before dinner to try out the local wine bars.

The restaurant itself was just what I would expect from a casual French bistro.  Distressed wood tables and not a white linen table cloth in sight.  The sommelier was still traditionally snobby, appearing to look down on us on our wine selection, but it didn’t matter as the waitress was friendly and informative, giving us one copy of the menu for reference but we chose not look at it at the start and just go in blind.  With a couple of notable exceptions (the boys disliked the cold cucumber and almond soup, and the last course which consisted of a raw egg inside a hard shell that we were told to eat in one bite was too much for one of us) we were raving about every course.  We ended up being there until about 1am, when the restaurant was just starting to quieten down.  With a menu that changes daily, I’ll definitely be back!

Go here for: a casual bistro styled dinner; if you’re not a fussy eater and are happy to go with a no-choice tasting menu (8 courses, including a few snacks for EUR70 a head (EUR135 with wine pairing))

Menu highlights: cheese puffs; caprese salad but in dessert form (I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since!); seared tuna

Top tips: make sure you secure a reservation if you don’t want to queue for the second sitting; if you don’t want to do dinner but are keen to sample some of Iñaki Aizpitarte’s delights then head to his sister restaurant Le Dauphin next door which is a natural wine and Basque tapas bar

Price: EUR400 (including tip) for the set menu and two bottles of vino for 4 people

#september2016