Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chaillot
near the
Eiffel Tower
(110 bis, av.
Kléber;
&
33/1/47-27-88-88
), and the vin-
tage-style rotisserie
L'Atelier Maître
Albert
in the Latin Quarter (1 rue de Maître
Albert;
&
33/1/56-81-30-01
). But while
Savoy helped develop the menus, in each
place he has installed a young chef trained
in his kitchen, whom he encourages to put
his or her own stamp on the place. As for
Savoy himself, he's not off jetting around
the world and making TV shows; he's still in
the kitchen on the rue Troyon, honing his
craft. That third star
meant
something; he's
not letting it slip away.
18 rue Troyon, 17e (
&
33/1/4380-
4061;
www.guysavoy.com).
(
De Gaulle (23km/14 miles), Orly
(14km/8
2
/
3
miles).
L
$$$
Hôtel Luxembourg Parc,
42
rue de Vaugirard, 6e (
&
33/1/53-10-36-
50;
www.luxembourg-paris-hotel.com).
$$
Hôtel Saintonge,
16 rue Saintonge,
3e (
&
44/1/42-77-91-13;
www.sainton
gemarais.com).
Temples of Gastronomy
136
Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville
The Swiss Diplomat
Crissier, Switzerland
In 1996, when the great Frédy Girardet
retired, a lot was resting on the shoulders
of his longtime assistant, Philippe Rochat.
Could he maintain the exacting standards
of his mentor? Could he keep all three
Michelin stars for this legendary restaurant
on the northern outskirts of Lausanne?
But of course, you don't rise to the pin-
nacle of the restaurant world by leaving
anything to chance—Girardet groomed
his successor with utmost care, and under
Rochet the Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville
carries on as one of the world's great clas-
sical French restaurants. There's no ques-
tion it's a conservative, Swiss-banker sort
of spot—set in a stout mansard-roofed
stone building erected in 1929 as Crissier's
town hall, and decorated with soft beige
walls, thick carpets, and recessed lighting
that swaddle you in first-class comfort.
Service is seamlessly gracious, and the
food is irreproachably marvelous.
With an institution this venerated, change
can be risky. With infinite diplomacy, Rochet
made a few discreet changes to brighten up
the sober decor, and gradually eased new
dishes onto the menu, always following the
classical traditions Girardet so fiercely
defended against barbarians with blow-
torches and canisters of liquid nitrogen.
Specialties change frequently, but recent
successes have included glazed sweet-
breads with wild mushrooms, crawfish in
caviar butter, turbot in creamy
vin jeune
sauce with crushed peppercorns, preserved
duckling in lemon and spices, and a ragout
of fresh quail with young vegetables. The
cheese cart features a spectacular choice of
cheeses, and the wine list is impeccable
(featuring, of course, mostly French wines).
One dish diners consistently rave about is a
mousse of porcini mushrooms, surmounted
by a fan of sliced porcinis, resting in their
own cooking juices. When something so
simple is so transcendently delicious, the
chef has to be doing everything right.
Perhaps the Hôtel de Ville's continued
excellence is only to be expected. At these
prices, a restaurant should never have an
off night (Michelin awards its stars on the
basis of consistency as well as brilliance)—
why should the departure of the founding
